, 1874-01-11

sont mo golden curl Of har daughters hair,
braided With lron-gray, which che insisted was
her own. sat twisting it about mT finger with
| my heart full OF rebellion against the evil fate
that had taken her clean out Of my sphere when
/ had counted on double shpre Of her socit ty
for tho rest OF my life.
This is tue conclusion of the whole matter, -
I eaid to myself. for want Of anybody else to say
| j. to- - Blessed be those who expect nothing.
for they will not be disappointed"
And on that instant tile postman, dartlns up
tbs steps in tho rain. hsld up letter to nv VIM
| doT. It was very tAin latter. and held only
I these words:
Russell Strait Inhraary possible after re-
celvtnS THIS note. you may ba do some good, aud
greatly o0hse' 1our. "a ~. truly, >,...,,.a
| Doing, good in hospitals had never been my
| forte. and WAS morally certain that I had never
! laid ayes on woman Of the name OF Maria
| Stone. .
| Besides all this, it rained as il it we're
the first day of another deluge, and most
| likely tho letter Was meant for another Miss
Dannison Dennison being common name,
and the prefix Miss conmouer still. and GROWN :
| more so-
/ am ashamed to say that I besitated some
minutes. With my rubber ahoes in my hand but
| curiosity, rather than benerolcnce, fnally car
] red the day, and went forth on = long, wet
! walk to Russell street.
Are you Miss Donnison :" said 3 woman
who seemed to be waiting to let me into tho In
drmary.
:Yes"
miss Eleanor Dennison :"
| Eyes"
tThen you are tho lady wanted"
| It was comfort III my soaked condition to hear
even that, though put No faith in it.
WAS led through d room containing seven or
eight beds, all occupied by conyalescout PATIENTS
into small one. SO dark that could not dlstin-
| guish anything for moment.
"1s she hcre = heard woman's voice ask
| family, and, guided By the sound saw wotaan
| lying on narrow bed, propped up With pill
| lows
II am Miss Deunison," 1 eaid, but I Am very
wet, aud may give you chill" il
''1k don't matter" she returned, after waiting
tor prolonged coughing fit to pass. '' Nothing
can hurt me. and must sag quickly what have
to say"
| Even then felt certain impotence that I
had been dragged out on such day. to hear the
dying confession Of . stranger. who probably In
| tended it for some other person.
| How often, but fos our hard-work'ng guardian
| angels, We should pass by with q sniff and miss
| forever the most blessed opportunities Of our
| lives!
| sat down by tho woman's bed. and abe
| graspcd the cape OF my - waterproof as il to
! DO certain that should not escape her. She
| was much emaciated cher cheekbones stood out
| like rocks At low uater), and having been a dark
| brunette in her best days, her coal-b hair
! and extreme sailowness made CHASTITY contrast
| With tie white pillows at her back.
"Aro we alone :" she asked when the Matron
| vent out aad closed tho door, without noticing
my silent entreaty for her to remaio-
| / glanced over the room and perceived
| another bed, in which the outlne Of . human
figure was visible under the covcrlct-
| u Not quite there seems to be sone one
| asleep in the other bed"
Yes, shs's asleep fast enough, and sho won't
| trouble us with her dreams IFS the only kind
Of sleep worth having. She died while tho Ma
| tron was down staita."
"For mercy's sake 10! me 70 and tel hc1i"
said. horriGel at ller careless manner.
"It is for mercy's sake to the living that !
have sent for you. Never mind the dead"
Ths woman WAS not in the least Wild in her
manner, and paused only to cough at intervals.
WORKED three mouths ouce for MEs- John Deane,
making up the wardrobe for one Of her ba bies.
think it wan the second boy. used to see you.
Miss Dennison. e1esy day. and you have changed
very ltslo. But was handsome then, with
brilliant, Spanish sort Of besuty; you would not
suppose it, to see me now ?"
II have given no thought to the mat
ter At d ;" said, littlo sharply, recognizi.s
her at last whom had formerly disIkea,
| and auApectins that she was about to confess
OF tie sort. !, se
Il suppose not. but you must give both
thought and understanding to til. rest Of what
have to say. Mr. Deano aud hts wife. ~ pos
sibly yon have noticed were the most perfectly
happy married people th?t ever sav. D,inS
so long under their roof, 1 had every oppor.
tunity to observe it. l always sawed in q httlo
room, adjoining their hed-chamb:r, which Mrs.
Deaue used rs nursery; Indeed, shs usually
Sat there with the only I'D she had then.
"She treated me kinlly, after fashion, but
somehow she seemed to mako no difference be-
tween me and the servants in the house. was
JUS. tie person who served her purpose, and she
wanted no more to do With me- had been
taught that my good looks we're to be my for
tuuo, ard she never noticed them at all.
"She was q plain-lookans woman ut
times when chs had no color bu: il she
had been q full-lcdsea aaSe, Mr. Deane
could not havo been more convinced OF
her beauty. He fairly worshiped the ground
ing and cooling over their boy. would grind my
teeth with sheer onvy of her happiness.
II tried in every way to attract Mr.. Deano's
attention, even to lacinG his wfa's boots after
sho found it difficult to stoop; hut he had eyes
only for her foot, aod never saw the scarlet
tlo:rer in my hair. 1 held his boy till nv arms
acne1, and Tried to maguotize him with my
touch; but might as well have been so much
empty air; for him, there was but one woman
in tie world.
'.It is not safe occupation for ! young girl
to try such experiments. l had not beeu in the
house two months before loved him With all
my heart, and he scarcely knew ms bv sight.
He hal habit Of reading aloud to his wife for
al hour or two every dav, and one book. in
which they were much iuterested, was James
Grecnwood's Seven Curses OF London Mrs.
Dcano pretended great syupathy with tue poor
wretches that it described. aud talked very loving
IL Of the fallen oncs OF her Own sex; OF course.
Atr. Deane loved her for it more than ever, II
that were possible.
"They gave it up, however, after reading .
few chapters, because she said in her mawkish
way that it WAS too painful to be true hopo
she las found out by this time that beca1se
things are painful they are all the moro likely to
be true. got the book out Of tho library again
as soon as they returned it, and finished it my
self. II you have read it land il you have not,
I recommend it to you and all other starched-up
women. who hare seen nothing but the whited
side Of this serulchre Of \ wor!d)-I say, If yoa
hayo read it, you cannot fail to remember cer-
tain chapter which. after describing many forms
OF rllaioy in the way Of ANONYMOUS letters,
goes on to detail very ingenious method OF