Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1871-11-18

L followed Miss Bydexter down to the door
ana the wheels of the big chocolate oIored Ry
deNter carriage were laundering of over n,
uneven pavement, when mamma came dow
also, looking pale and perturbed.
could you" "
Hush, mammal" L put my hands, with ,
little hysterical laugh, over the soft materna
would take it?'' ff'o
But" persisted mamma, looking, if possible
more bewildered than before, al thought YOU
were intent on going to New YoTk?"
$50 am"
"Then how"
Mamma, am TO have forty dollars month
1 am going as COTnClia's companion Pshawl
Why DO j mince matters? | am going to he hel
mad, neither more nor less.
Forty dollars a MONTH" Mammals faded
eyes frightened. But OrneIia Bvdextcr',
maid.' And her cOuntenance fell again.
could not but smile.
d" 1t will be no such terrible matter, after all
mamma. On the contrary, it will he nun. Cor
nClia is as good natured as she can be- and yoU
know very well am adept in hair-dresSinr
and lace-mo Eding and frill-luting, thanks to the
best Of mammas, who knows everything, and
has taught her daughters the same!"
but what would your papa say?" gasped
mamma, hardly yet realizing the conditions
feIt myself grow pale.
Papal But he must never know. We will
Keep our own counsel mamma; You and and
JeanHette. All that he need be told is that am
going TO New York with COrnelia Bydexter; and
that Is true enough"
And mamma took me lovingly into her arms
"Oetavia, ought we to ask this sacrifice from
you?'
Nobody asks it mamma; it is my own free
will offering. And oh, mamma, could not look
DIR. MOrtimOre in the face when | remember
that his bill has lain unpaid for six months."
And mamma, also remembering this sternest
and most incOntroyertible of facts, had no more
to say.
az 1t seems so strange." said Miss Bydexter.
"Ihe idea of your being my maid, you dear little
MISUNDERSTANDING thingl And you used to
write all my compositions for me at school, too
Dear, deari only to think of iii Take care, Oc-
tavia, that bunch of curls comes i'm first under
the braid, you know. And how came you ever
NONSENSE cried, briskly. "The long and
the short Of it is that 1 want money and you do
not-so don't let's say any more abOutit."
Papa talked vaingloriously of ''my daughter
in New York;" Poor papa! he had so little left
to be vainglOriOus about. Mamma remained
wisely silent, and Jeanette, who was addicted
to hero-worship, firmly believed that her elder
sister was the noblest girl in the world While
DIR. MortimOre-at least so i afterward heard
contracted his brows, and thought that people
who could afford to send their daughters to pass
his very moderate bill.
The month of March was wearing itself away,
and April sunshine was peneiiing the sky with
golden threads, interviewer with crystal lines of
rain, when one day astOnished DIR. MOrtmore
by walking into his office. He looked up from
his books in some surprise.
Miss Hadleigh! L supposed you were in
New York"
81 have returned with Miss Bydexter. Next
week We go on to Washington"
DIR. MOrtimOre made no spoken answer, but
there was peculiar, inscrutable expression in
his eyes. Was he thinking OF mamma and can
nette on the tfead-mill of patient poverty at
home Was he tancyIng it a modern edition
of Cinderella and the proud sisters Involun-
tarily / spoke, with rising color and tremulous
voice:
"You are entirely mistaken, DIR. Mortimore
but it is not my province to explain"
- said nothing
"But you lOokeda great deal"
PLEASE to interpret my looks, he said, with
an amused face.
undignifed anger. l laid down a pile of crisp,
Tustling bank notes on the disk beside him.
- Be so kind as TO receipt your bill, SIR
He obeyed in silence, and | walked away, as
lac afterward told me, with the air OF an eight
een-year-Old Semiramis." And
THE rest OF the NJ ) is in a bold, masculine
handwriting. a. different from Uctayia Had
leighs delicate up and down strokes as it is pos
Sible to magine.l
And, Octavia TO the contrary nOtwithstand-
ing shall take the liberty of finishing this con-
feSSiOn after my own fashion.
I called that evening on Miss Bydexter. The
fair COTnelia was juhilant.
- never had a pleasanter season. she de
Clared. :" havnt been cHHGyee once. Octavia
Is such charming company.
- She L. with You at present.
"Oh, YES. She's my maid, you know"
| must have looked my establishment, for
saw it, reflex in Miss Bydextcr's face.
why, to be sure. Didn't yOI know it ?''
And Miss BydeXteT, who was no adherent to
the theory that 'silence Is golden" poured out
the whole story.
:. OF course | wouldn't tell every one" she
said, rather guiltily, as If remembering some
hitherto forgotten charge OF secrecy. But
knew YOU would appreciate it-and she is 50
sweet, and they are poor"
- Is she at home ?" asked.
@ No; she has gone around to her fathers. But
expect her back every minute"
- / will go and meet her. said /. And went
accordingly, thinking. with a strange thrill al
my heart. of that pOmpous, egotistic old father
who sacrificed them all so regardiesSly on the
shrine of his selfish ease; and the pale, patient
mother, and OctavIa herself, the fairest and
most dutifUl of daughters. And had believed
her all this time to be butterfly of fashion, for
getting utterly the piteous eXigenciCS OF heI
home.
when first heard of her going to New York
with COrnelia Bydexter | fully determined &c
put her away from my heart. Now knew how
impossible II would have been. | knew that
| had loved her all the while | was 90 for
getting" - Systematically. 1 met her in the
"a a flower.
- Octavia,'' said, Il have misjudged YOU
Will you give me an opportunity to explain ~
a. Certainly, Hr. MOrtimore."
. But there Is a question l should like you to
answer first"
What is it ~
"Win you be my wife, Octavia - The cues
ton. asked i'll a lowered voice OF intense sus.
pense, was answered frankly, after moment,
hesitation.
IL will -
i suppose / explained" satisfactorily after.
ward, fOi Octavia understands all about il: hut
| really don't remember how when it wa.
done. But she is content, and that is enough
Miss BydeNter had TO look out for another
''CcmpaHiOn,' and TO this day old Mr.. Hadleigt
firmly believes that Octayia was one of the belle,
OF New York society in the season of 1S6-.
And so she ought TO have been.-Harper's Ba-
car.
The MORNING STAR.-Venus is at her bri ght-
est now. and l. brilliant object in the eastern
shy before the dawn. We had the good fortune
TO catch glimpse of the starry queen Yesterday
just as the stars were paling in the first glimmeI