The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1877-04-21

table laid out to my entire satisfaction;
when everything was completed, survey
| ing the preparations with the utmost
! confidence in Mr.. Trevor's verdict. But
alas! for Henry's hopes and for my din
ner. Mr.. Trevor came, partook very
sparingly and silently of our hospitality
and departed without having dropped
one syllable on the subject which we
were hoping he would discuss.
Some ten days afterward, the advance
in business was bestowed upon one of
| Henry's Juniors who had never dreamt
of getting it. We were terribly disap-
pointed, having counted so surely upon
an addition to our means; and when our
wrathful feelings were at their height
who should suddenly walk in but Uncle
Jocelyn! He had never been in our house
since we were married. 1t was, in fact,
a great event for him to leave Coming.
ton, but the freak seized him. He want
ed to see his old favorite and his new
grand-neice, so he had come. He only
meant to stay for the day; in the evening
he intended to return home. In my in
most heart | was fond of him as ever; but
his visit was ill-timed. l could not rally
from my disappointment for Henry, and
our cares were now assuming too serious
an aspect to be set aside.
You have a beautiful little house.
Kate" he said. Il had no notion that
Henry was such rich man"
Hadn't you, uncle?" l said, trying to
laugh unconstrainedly.
81 am truly pleased to see you so
comfortable" continued Uncle Jocelyn,
kindly. This room must have cost
you pretty penny, Kate; and | dare
say you have a nest-egg somewhere as
we'll"
Oh, it isn't very much" l answered,
really referring to the room, but as he
thought to the nest-egg; and imagining
meant that the latter, though of small
proportions, did exist, he responded
most cordially:
Doesn't matter how small, Kate;
there's plenty of time to make it larger"
1t was no use undeceiving him, though
at that very moment an ominous en-
velope was delivered to me with the an
nouncement that the person who brought
it was waiting for an answer, to which |
returned the usual formula: that Mr..
Arden was out, but would call in a day
or two. tried to look as Indifferent as
possible, but | felt Uncle Jocelyn's eyes
were upon me, and my face colored pain
fully, nor did it escape the kind
scrutiny. l felt thoroughly convinced he
had drawn his own conclusions. Soon
afterward lunch was announced, and we
descended to the dining-room, where
Sophy, my parlor maid, had, to nv
horror, arranged some of our best china
on the table, with the best intentions
knew, meaning to impress my visitor
with our grandeur, but little imagining
the real effect such supertluities would
have upon my uncle. He noticed it d.
rectly, and admired it very much.
Where did you get that figure?' he
asked, indicating lovely china center
piece.
" l am not quite certain" I replied,
carelessly; eve have had it for some
time"
"Was 1t very expensive?" pursued
Uncle Jocelyn.
go no, not very; at least l didn't
think So" | answered, recollecting with
painful throb that it certainly had not
cost us much as yet, considering we had
not paid for it.
L need not give all the details of Uncle
Jocelyns visit. Suffice it to say that it
was one long martyrdom that afternoon
to me; and it was positive relief when
his kind old face vanished and l found
myself alone once more. He had gone
away, no doubt, thinking our lives were
in very pleasant places, feeling assured
not only of our prosperity but of our
happiness, Poor deceived Uncle Jocelyn!
He little knew that | was just longing to
throw myself into his arms and make a
clean breast of all our extravaganza and
consequent troubles. How l envied him
going back to peaceful COnington! How
| wished Henry and were just one-half
as happy as he was
However, our struggle then was just
beginning, for we sank deeper and deep
er. 1t was like quicksand, the more
we struggled the deeper we got. We
dared not openly retrench-we lacked
the moral courage; and our private at.
tempts were the merest drops in the
ocean of that mighty sea into which we
had drifted, simply and solely because
we had at the outset ignored the golden
rule, SO impressed upon me by Uncle
Jocelyn, to live within our means and
to pay ready money. And what had all
our extravaganza done for US? We had
large visiting list, and l periodically
paid host of visits, always hoping to
find my friends from home. We had a
pretty house, and were able to entertain
as elegantly as our neighbors. | had
heaps of fashionable dresses and useless
finery; and Henry was as perfect as ever
in my eyes; but we were both miserable
debt stared US in the face whichever way
we turned; and how long we could keep
our creditors at bay was beinning to be
a source of considerable anxiety to us.
Henry's position ia his business de-
pended solely upon the pleasure of the
senior partners. There were conditions
in their agreement with him; and if they
heard of his embarrassments no doubt it
would injure him greatly, and might
make them consider themselves justified
in perhaps something far more serious
than remonstrance. o that we had
acted differently! that the past could be
lived over again with our pleasant ex-
perience!