The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1880-02-13
busy writing the cards of which she had

4 lSSt
AOh, here's Miss Fairgamel'' cried IN
bridesmaid cousin, rs | appeared "She'i
! help ia, perhaps A blank card. pleas,
fer Miss Fsirgame. Nov, let Us see
I whose naEle il 10 be written Eiexts"
set my teeth sad Steeied my resoIu
ton. l suppose one always does so a
he nrst application Of torture; and 81
for the moment [ cane off victorious
waited to be told the name I was to write
Nc may as well have card read,
for Miss MOnypenny," said one of tn,
robhers- 'Shs's sure to give something.
wrote down, with sense of fiendisI
malice, the name of Miss Monypenny.
happily, before things went further
come callers arrived. They staid to lun
cheon, after which there was an exhibit
ton OF the presents. 1 don't remember
what these new victims contributed, bu
L know 8omethi8g was disgorged by
| thsu, for l heard murmurs of diSsatiSEac
| tisn alter they had driven away We'll
do think, with lheir fortune, they nigh
have gives ao;ne,hin. better than this.
| took care TO hear no more [ also io-.
| iuIIJ accepted al inEitStion from the
SoVerness and sOme of the children &c
50 SRd look at the poultry and rabbits
| Among these Innocent dumb creatures /
should surely not hear of wedding pre-,
sents.
Toward five O'Clock went back to the
house, too sick of the rabbits and too
weary for my tea 10 think of the certainty
| OF Flora's having returned from her raid
on the hermitage. As | approached the
! draHing-room a CHATTER of Iea-cups and :,
/ Babel OF voices drowned the sound of
! my stepS. The door was open. Shall |
| be condemned if confess l stood still
and listened? The full peril OF my sit
uatiOn hal returned to my mind, and
were not any means fair which might
help 10 eytricste me from my dilemma ?
"Oh, Flora! and you've really got that
dsiiclous quaint old cream jug! But
how did you manage it? [ thought
nothing would make Miss Monypennv
give up that old silver cream Jug
well, | thought 50 too.
Really l never hoped for Ibis But what
do you think ii WAS she did mean to give
me? You'll never guess. 4 copy of
Millions Paradise Lostr | saw il living
On the table. (Houls OF execration. !
Wen, you know, when she began talking
OF my being fond OF poetry-I really
couldn't help i'll said, oh, dear Miss
MonyPenry, 1 can't bear poetry OF
course said it quite naturally, and the
dear old thing never suspected | had
noticed the abOminable book And then.
after luncheOn-and at luncheon I had
been admIrlng the cream Jug so-welI,
she took Kitty aside and asked what /
had got, and which I would like best,
the book or something else. And Kitty
was so clever, and said, oh, you know,
Miss Monypenny, book just lies on the
table. Now something that Flora could
use every day, and think of YOU And
then she gave a1e the cream jug. Wasn't
1t nice of herr"
The cousin bridemaid-"Yes, yes ;
very nice. And now if Miss Fairgame
would oniy make haste with that coral
she's 10 give you! | was quite provoked
that We hadn't it to-day to show to those
shabby -. Perhaps if you had staid
at home to-day, Flora But still it was
worth while going to the Hermitage for
this"
am once more in n1y room They
bring nae my tea. I say have head
ache. Ny maid comes to ask me where
she is to put the bottle-imp which still
stands on the drawers. Its so in the
way, ma'an." Put it in the fire." | re-
ply, with savage gloom. My maid looks
frightened She has heard that there's a
sort OF low fever" going about
Ay headache is forced to yield to the
multiplicity OF remedies pressed on me
by my brigard hosts, al anxious, no
doubt, to keep ze alive long enough to
let them carry cut their designs on my
property. The captain nurses me like a
sister. The robbers take it in turn to sit
by me and "amuse me" Once more I
AIA offered q sight of the wedding pres
ents, and l hear the tale OF Julia Mac
fms wrongs. By-the-bye, the afternoon
post has brought news of a reported en-
E.gemeAt of another of that hitherto I'M
fortunate sisterhood
Let me hasten over the painful con-
c!uslon ct ny tale. The next morning,
after another night of mental struggle, /
succurnbed to my fate. The case of coral
passed into the hands of my foes. As
yielded 1t up, l tried hard to wear face
Of smiling calm, but the effort was too
great Tor me. 1 saw, too, that Flora fail
ell equally in calling uson her face an
expression Of pleased astoniehmeat.
There vas certain relief and triumph
In her cyS-that wss all. She seemed
even to have some difficulty in finding
suitable words Of admiration for the very
ornaments on which l thought she had
set her heart. | don't know what she
had expected them to be like. 1t was
altogether an awkward scene, and we
were all glad, am sure, when it was
ended.
Then, when all was over, l retired
again, to write my letter of apology and
explanation 20 my injured friend-my
letter OF congratui.tion, such as I could
make II, 10 my godchil6, whom, for the
first time. | wished somebody else's god
child letter of uneasy inquiry into the
truth of the reported Macfinn engage
ment. / used TO feel kindly pity for
those poor girls; now the still remain
ing six pass before my minds eye in
procession terrible as Banquo's kings,
nd atfty-F, -, i
rial wishes regarding their future.
Before concluding I might have de
scTibed the Wedding with ali its attend
ant festivities, which I am bound to say.
passed of to perfection. But ! will on
iy chronicle one more little incident. ]
lad been mortified, as I think NAV have
been seen, with the reception accorded
even to the beautiful coral ornaments
which had at last screwed myself up
u sacrificing on the altar of friendship.
After the wedding, and while we were
waiting for the breakfast, / was standing
IN corner near the table, round which
buZzed the crowd of wedding guests,
loudly admiring, and no doubt, like my
self secretly criticising, the gifts thereon
displayed. Amongst these | beheld nv
poor coral, pushed rather aside to make
room for Mrs. Brown Richardson's
sumptuous bracelet, which, to the Joy of
the whole fsmil y-whose credit seemed
to be st&ked on the due sDlendor of this
exhibition of, l had wellnigh said, stol-
en- goods-had just arrived in time
to add its lustre to the show.
Ny present had got wedged in be-
hind plated silver teapot, milk jug,
and sugar basin of the most fiorid type,
hiGeous in design, and utterly useless to
Flora in her future home, but which, as
q 11Ifa hara6 c-,r,a ha-
ants-as was duly set forth in the inscrip-
ton ernblaZoned on theu1-held apost of
honor in the centre Of the table, along
with great silver and pebble brooch,
the offering of the household retainers.
do l sneer at the idea of inviting our
humble friends to show their sympathy
with Us IN our rejoicings? Surely not
but as l looked at the expensive and ugly
trophies, could ,notIetrain from wonder
ing if the poor housemaid, who must
have subscribed her five shillings or so
for the purchase, bad been allowed even
as free choice in the matter as had been
left TO myself. Is tyrannical social
pressure brought into play in the kitchen
as well as in the drawing room: And
why, in the name of taste and fitness
must her present take the form of testi-
monisl so valgarly destinations? But to
go back for moment to my coral.
ana MISS Falrgame-where is her
present 81 heard somebody say. "Ah"
As the bits of coral one by one thrust
forwaTd-''pFetty enough; but / should
have thought SIZE would have given
something really handsome. A rich wo
man like her. with nobody to think of
but herself!''
Let me conclude this melancholy
story of extortion end injustice by max
ing an appeal to our legislators and
rightful protectors. viii no benevolent
NJ. 2. move forthe introduction of bill
specifying the exact amount of the tax
which may be levied onpeople when, for
their misfortune, their friends get mar
riesi: Should not certain rulc OF con