Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1876-10-19

an e0lCOr III Albany, Cue IuOusut lldSIl'
ed upon me that had known her as a
young, pretty, and innocent girl; a
favorite of the young fellows on &C.
count of her lightness and grace in the
dance, and the respected daughter
then of poor but very honest and re.
spectacle parents. she asked me to
20 and see her. and curious to know
how she had drifted into such life,
and determined, if possible, to get her
out of it, went.
She had married., she told me, after
I had left Albany, a man who had
treated her so cruelty that she finally
ran away from him with another per-
son, who took her to Paris, and when
he was tired of her deserted her. She
had visited the Jardine Mabille with
this man, and her dancing had attract.
ed the attention of the proprietor,
who complimented her upon it.
Alone, penniless, in a foreign land, it
struck her she might turn this one
gift to account. She applied for a po-
sition as paid dancer and obtained it,
and had been there ever since, doubt
less turning an ';honest' penny in
other ways, for she lives too luxurious.
ly for the mere salary of paid dancer
to suffice. "Do your parents know
anything of your career, or your
whereabouts" l asked. no." she
replied, 'sand should die with pain to
have them know it. I beg of you to
keep my secret and not betray me.
assured her they should learn nothing
disadvantageous to her from me. But
l begged and implored her, with
tears and prayers, to return home, re.
ieve the anxiety Of her parents and
lead a virtu0us life. She would not
promise, and left her, mentioning to
no one the secret of her past history.
A year afterwards l was in Albany
walking down State street, but who
should meet but this very girl, very
modestly and quietly dressed, and
walking sedately with friend. She
acc0sted me at once and drew me
aside: "You see am at home," she
said. l expressed the pleasure it af.
forded me to witness tho fact, and
asked her if she was contented and in.
tended to remain. She replied, with a
sigh, that she "didn't Know that
now she had seen her folks, and the
novelty Was over, it was horribly
''slo " and humdrum,' and he con-
claded, though he did not know it Ger.
tainly, yet he considered it entirely
probable, that she had returned to
her old haunts, and was engaged in
kicking off the hats of other American
visitors at the Jardine Mabille.
''Life has strange vissitudes,' re.
marked Mr.. Hoey. we all know the
little Massachusetts singer who is now
the wife of the uncle of the King of
Portugal, and your story reminds me
of an incident which befell ME at Ba-
den Baden. While there I could not
help remarking a very handsome and
MISUNDERSTANDING woman, covered
with diamonds, who, rather to my EN-.
barrassment, from the first moment
that l saw her, singled me out as the
object of peculiar and especial regard.
1!shall say nothing about how it might
have affected me if I had not been a
married man, but I am a married man,
the father of a family, and my wife
and family were along with me. / was
not, therefore, inclined to begin or
pursue any romantic adventure. At
last one day l met the lady face to face
when I was alone, and she then asked
me with some hesitation and embar-
rassment if was not John Hoey from
New York. answered in the af1irma-
tive, and she then recalled to my me.
mory a certain dancing academy which
l had attended in my youth. and sew.
ing girl, poor, but pretty and intelli-
gent, who had for time frequented
the same place, but, owing to her plain
dress and reserve of manner, received
little attention. 1 had often singled
her out for a partner on this account,
and had once or twice treated her to
ice.cream, and once invited her to go
to the Olympic.
Her gratitude for these little civil.
ties, which l had quite forgotten, was
unbOunded. These were the only
bright spots in her life, she assured
me, and she had never forgotten the
person to whom she owed them, all
the more because she knew that he
was utterly unconscious of having
done anything to excite her gratitude.
She invited me to breakfast at her
house, which was a magnificent villa
in the environs, but this declined. I
promised to cali, however, at her ur-
gent request, and afterward did so. I
found the establishment and retinue
of Princess, and was introduced to
three lovely children. She told nae
some part of the story of her life, and
it had more of romance than a novel.
She had been the favorite of King,
and during that period had accumilat.
ed wealth enough to buy a nobleman
for a husband aud insure a fortune for
the future. Her name, concluded Mr..
Hoey, lis so well known in distinguish.
ed circles if should mention it you
would recognize it at once, yet she
was a poor sewing girlonce in the City
of New York has been the mistress of
a King, and is now the courted wife of
the representative of an ancient line,
and a string of of names as long as
from this to Albany - --..