The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1874-02-19

fathers had ridden in their carriage, had
supnlied their table with the fat Of the
land, had stocked their cellar with rare
old wines. Her grandmothers had shone
in stiff brocades and farthingales, had
had their waiting-maids and their jewels
and laces, had slept beneath cider down
and silken canopies; but they had left to
poor little Rebecca only "a sweet attract
i've sort of grace" q native refinement
and intelligence, that seem the birthright
of those people whose ancestors have
been gentlemen and ladies for genera.
lions, no matter what their circumstances
may be. Rebecca was possessed of an
education that would have served her
we'll enough if it had been her fortune to
sit In q drawing-room and handy airy
nothings, but which counted for little in
the great struggle for existence.
In those famous old days the Lang.
straths and Gerrishes had been intimate
friends, On an equal footing of wealth and
cultivation; but the grandeur of the one
had fallen into decadence, while the other
still maintained fair show of prosperity.
So when Rebecca Gerrish had decided to
learn dressmaker's trade, and go out by
the day to earn a livelihood, remembering
not above a certain respect for good blood,
Mrs. Random had been among the first to
give Rebecca patronage.
No doubt it gave Mrs. Random pang
to regard Rebecca with ever so little dis
trust-it is always a disappointment to
find our friends falling shorto of our ideal /;
l Nd %r,> u, Mrs., Inn
what she was slow to believe, that even
and, furthermore, Rebecca made the best
unique fancy for trimming, which she
was pleased to call the poetry of DRESS
making; and thus it would require a
great sacrifice in her employer to give her
up.
But Mrs. Random was not one to take
the blame of any accident upon herself if
there was any proxy at hand; besides, she
was by nature suspicious, and when her
| mind had once received an idea it closed
| firmly upon it, like a bivalve upon an in
truding substance; and it would have re-
quired an angel from heaven to disabuse
her mind of prejudice. Moreover, who
knows if she had not observed the grow
ing interest of Mr.. Langstrath in the little
dressmaker who spent so many hours
beneath his roof, under whose hand dry
goods blossomed into such perfect tot
lettes, which he could not choose but adj
mire? There was no earthly objection to
Rebecca herself-every inch lady, and
as sweet as new rose. But what would
Mrs. Grundy say should Langstrath ally
himself to working-girl? There were
new people in Elmwood society who
knew not Joseph. but whose opinion was
of value to Mrs. Random. And then there
is a class of women who dislike to see
themselves supplanted even in the affec-
tons of brother, or in the management
of pleasant home Mrs. Random knew
by instinct that the part Of second fiddle
at Elm Place would prove utterly dis
cordant to her feelings. Yet not for the
world, nor for all the Kingdoms thereof,
would she have charged such thing rs
this to Rebecca's account if circumstances
had not put it out OF the question for q
mind constituted like hers to repel the
suspicion. If the facts had not seemed to
prove 1t, Mrs. Random would have been
the last person to willtully imagine such
scandal. She did not discharge Rebecca
at once from her employment, but she
watched her, and was conscious that
lIduH StIdtu " alCAcu ACA wv, WIN - ooA9
| of miserable, heart-aching anxiety. But
the bill did not put in an appearance,
| though they left no stone unturned.
Langslrath ordered the carpet in the sew
| ing-room to be taken up: a rat had been
known to carry off valuables to his nest:
But there was no rat-hOle to be found, and
no bill either.
ats not the money" said he. II
would give all l have to find that fifty
dollar bi H." Mrs Random hardly echoed
the sentiment. Rebecca had lately APP
peared at church in blue silk that
would stand alone. She had not been in
the habit of indulging in such luxuries !;
she could i'll afford them.
did you see Rebecca to-day?' Mrs.
| Random asked her brother.
"Certainly''-a little morosely, as if he
| thought it hard enough upon him to be
obi ICED to perceive another proof of her
unworthiness without bearing evidence
to it.
"Strangc she has never bought herself
a silk before. She once told me that she
never should while she mad to work for
her living"
"Win gold and you may wear it," he
! returned, putting bold face on it.
"Oh, certainly: but that blue silk must
have cost three dollars yard, if it cost a
cent"
"Then fifty dollars couldn't have
bought it." he replied: but he was far
from easy. What difference it would
have made to him could he have known
that the silk dress was present from a
friend in a distant county who had just
gone into mourning!
"Well, time will show" said Mrs. RAN
dom. But time seemed in no hurry to
show. When Miss Gerrish came to the
house Mrs. Random observed that Lang
strath did not find it so convenient as it
had once seemed to drop in to
lunch, to make an errand into
the sewingroom, to walk home with her
to her lodgings at twilight, and spend the
evening. There had been a. time when
he had invited her to concerts and lectures,
had given her little keepsakes, and con
suited her taste with regard to the hang
ing Ofpic,ures, or any Improvements in
the house, as one whom such things con-
cerned. Now Mrs. Random saw, with
some pity and more pleasure, that all this
was at an end Caesars wife should be
above suspicion. Yet he treated Rebeccs
with q courtesy that tried to be cordial
and one day Mrs. Random found it more
to her purpose to have her gowns made
in the city! ..'ftE r, =
4 "Do tell me why you no longer EN-
ploy Miss Gerrish ~ asked Mrs. Sharply
"Werent you satisfied with her fits?"
ooh, perfectly; but l can't bear to DE-
her an injury, you see. Well, to tell thu
truth, lost confidence in her. Nov
pray don't speak of it outside. wouldn'
have II pet abroad for the world: hut