The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1879-10-03
Select Story.
AN april FOOL" STORY.
BY MRS. s. VAN BENsCHoTEN.
From Chicdgo Inter Ocean.

Iva hillIpS sat III HeT ldtHer y library,
with her dainty feet encased in the tiniest
slippers, and covered with bows and buckles
perched on the fender, while she gazed with
far-away look into the fire. Her eyes were
red and her face gave one the impression
that she had just buried her last relative, OF
had quarreled with her latest lover.
The little hands were clasped tightly to-
gether, and one could see by the very close
ness Of their grip that she had made up her
| mind to do something desperate.
'Tll not care a straw any more I've
made up my mind he is not worth crying
about. So, there's an end of it. He shall
not have the satisfaction of knowing ever
cared about it. l woul ldnt care much if il
| wasn't for May and the other girls. They'll
laugh at me, for l always have Dragged so
| about Harry's devotion
A door was softly opened, and her father
stood looking at her for some time, with a
sad, sober look.
At last he spoke her name gently, and
Eva turned and rushed to his arms, say.
ing:
why, papa, didn't know you had come
home. How tired you look. Mother and ]
have been so worried about you
Poor little puss,' said Mr.. Phillips, you
will have more to bear than l shall. TIC
think of that scamp, Harry Miller, desert.
ing you under such circumstances 1 never
would have believed him capable of such
| avarioiousness.'
And Mr. Phillips sat down, and taking
Eva on his knee, ,caressingly stroked her hail
and sighed YEARLY.
Never mind about me, papa; l shall gel
| over his desertion shortly. / don't believe
| | care as much about him as do about wha
Cousin May will say. She alwaye liket
Harry,Iyou know,and has often told me she
could get him away from me if | wasn't {
greater heiress than she.' / wish had lie,
her have him long time ago, and had fal.
leu in love with George Starr instead of such
treacherous fellow as Harry is. believe
! should if May hadn't called him prosy
and stiff and raved so about Harry i
serves me right, for being so proud of Har
ry's preference for me, in the face of May
beauty and expected wealth. But I've madt
up my mind not to care, and am glad W.
released him from the engagement
| Mr.. Phillips ground his teeth with rage a
Harry Miller's perfidy, and felt like rush
ing out and scslping the young vagabond.
He thought Eva's tears fell on account o
her disappointment and unrequited love.
He didn't understand woman's natur
enough to see how her pride could be tn
cause of her grief, and that after she hat
crushed that, no love would be lost upol
young Miller. But he sent the note, a
Eva's request, giving Harry his freedom
longing to say what he thought of tn
"young scamp" and wishing him all tn
ill-luck possible.
Mr.. Phillips had been wealthy busnes
man all his life, his business interests havin
been handed down from two or three gen
erations.
AT his fathers death Eva had received
large proportion of her grandfather
wealth.
But Mr.. Phillips had erred in judgmeu
when he sold off the greatest part of her es
tate and invested it in mining and othe
great paying bonds.
As the times grew harder and harder, h
had drawn more and more upon Eva's ri
sources, hoping eventually to recover hin
self and reimburse Eva two-fod.
, But the mines failed to return an eight
of what had been promised. The railroa
stocks went down so far that instead of d.
claring large dividend, as they had dor
l when Mr.. Phillips first invested, they we
drug on the market
Now nothing was left but their home an
a small country house a little distance u
the Hudson river, and to which Mr.. PHILLIP
!, had determined to go as soon as their hon
e in New York was rented.
This turn in her affairs did not effect E,
as much as it did her father. She was a
, ways hopeful, with very little false pri'
= about wealth.
/ Beside, she was a littlv romantic, al
- when her father gently broke the news
her of their losses, she received it with
: much ease, and built so many castles abo
their happy little country home that NJ
Phillips felt himself growing more hopef
than he had been for years.
Eva sat down and wrote a little note
/ Harry, telling him to come Immediately
see her, as something of Importance hi
= happened that might cause him to wish I
L engagement broken.
But down in her heart she trusted hil
with a trust that knows no shaking.
rs Sitting in the twilight, waiting for him
answer her summons, she built many cas-
- in the air, and laid many plan for the
it tnre when she and Harry had settled