Often one of these women is the only white person of her sex for
hundreds of miles. Perhaps she is the first who has ever set foot in the
region wherein she lives. Yet her courage does not fail. When, as
sometimes she does, she writes a book describing her adventures, it is
sure to be full of high spirits and amusing descriptions of the
primitive methods of cooking and housekeeping to which she must submit.
The other side of the picture, the loneliness, the intense heat or cold,
the mosquitoes or other pests, the compulsion, through absence of
assistance, to do what at home could be done by a servant--all this is
absent.
Women may have changed, but certainly woman in the difficult places of
the Empire, whether she be missionary, squatter, or consul's wife, has
lost nothing in courage, in perseverance, in cheerful or even smiling
submission to hard conditions.
[Sidenote: A rural story this--of adventurous youngsters and a pathetic
figure that won their sympathy.]
Poor Jane's Brother
BY
MARIE F. SALTON
Ever since the twins could remember Poor Jane had lived in the village.
In fact, she had lived there all her life, though one could not expect
the twins to remember that, for they were very young indeed, and Poor
Jane was quite old.
Poor Jane did not dress like other folks. Her boots were so large and
sloppy that her feet seemed to shake about in them, and she shuffled
along the ground when she walked.
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