had
settled in North Carolina. Before the war they had been able to live
up to their pedigree. But the war brought sad changes. Miss Myrover's
father--the Colonel Myrover who led a gallant but desperate charge at
Vicksburg--had fallen on the battlefield, and his tomb in the white
cemetery was a shrine for the family. On the Confederate Memorial Day no
other grave was so profusely decorated with flowers, and in the oration
pronounced the name of Colonel Myrover was always used to illustrate the
highest type of patriotic devotion and self-sacrifice. Miss Myrover's
brother, too, had fallen in the conflict; but his bones lay in some
unknown trench, with those of a thousand others who had fallen on the
same field. Ay, more, her lover, who had hoped to come home in the
full tide of victory and claim his bride as a reward for gallantry, had
shared the fate of her father and brother. When the war was over, the
remnant of the family found itself involved in the common ruin,--more
deeply involved, indeed, than some others; for Colonel Myrover had
believed in the ultimate triumph of his cause, and had invested most
of his wealth in Confederate bonds, which were now only so much waste
paper.

There had been a little left. Mrs. Myrover was thrifty, and had laid by
a few hundred dollars, which she kept in the house to meet unforeseen
contingencies. There remained, too, their home, with an ample garden and
a well-stocked orchard, besides a considerable tract of country land,
partly cleared, but productive of very little revenue.

With their shrunken resources, Miss Myrover and her mother were able to
hold up their heads without embarrassment for some years after the close
of the war. But when things were adjusted to the changed conditions, and
the stream of life began to flow more vigorously in the new channels,
they saw themselves in danger of dropping behind, unless in some way
they could add to their meagre income. Miss Myrover looked over the
field of employment, never very wide for women in the South, and found
it occupied. The only available position she could be supposed prepared
to fill, and which she could take without distinct loss of caste, was
that of a teacher, and there was no vacancy except in one of the colored
schools. Even teaching was a doubtful experiment; it was not what she
would have preferred, but it was the best that could be done.

"I don't like it, Mary," said her mother. "It's a long step from owning
su