The Red Cloud chief., 1880-10-14
PHEMA'S WAY.
J. You arc very silly. Eunhemia IS

convicted of extreme Stiffness on On,
count"
Let the matter drop, my dear, i
YOU please. We won't argue il. You
have consented to wait till September
before a final decision, and the thing i
too disagreeable for discussion" Mrs
Bayard drew her soft shawl gracefully
about her and left the room.
If ever anybody was ..born to tn,
purple in this republican country
Euphcmia Bayard had been. Her fl
Their belonged to n of its oldest fami
lies, her mother counted Dutch anccs
tors back To the time when that stolio
nation "took Holland" The Vande
veers had been rich before Mrs. Bay
ards time. She was the seventh
daughter of a ninth son. and the famil,
wealth would not bear such infiniteS.
imal division as this, for all the nine
sons had their own families, and mill
ion will fade fast under division and
subdivision. She married Mr.. Bayard
because he had position and money, and
why he had married her nobody knew.
Perhaps he did not. She was sallow,
skinny, green-eycd. dull-haircd and
cold-bloodcd as n fish; graceful and
stylish, it is true, but, TO ~travesty an
old quotation, Look in her face, and
you forgot il all" Mr.. Bayard was a
handsome, genial, prosperous young
fellow when they were married, and
Euphcmia, their only child, was tended
and educated like Il princess. Velvet
and Nalcncienncs, swansdown and
linen cambria were scarcely good
enough To lap her tiny, lovely shape.
and two nurses combined with her
mother to spoil her utterly; but she in
herited from her father keen sense,
quick perception, humor, generosity.
and deep feeling. These went far Ia
atone for the high temper, the educated
seltishness, and the willful disposition
of Miss Phema.
1t would have been better for her il
her father had lived, but at six years
old she lost him. lie was killed instant
~ by a fall from a too spirited horse
which he was trying, and Phcma had
only a childish memory left.
She grew up under the most expens-
i've g~overncsscs into the most fashion
able finishing schools, pctted, admired,
pampered with every luxury, and her
vanity fed and fostercd from hour to
hour. That she had her own way was
n foregonc conclusion; but her charac-
ter was SO strong that il asserted itself
even in its willfulnesS, and "Phema's
way" was %proverbial, both at home
and at school.
At eighteen she came out into socie-
ty, beautiful. accomplished and head
strong. Mrs. Bayard had spent all
these years since her husbands death
in a rccklesSly extravagant life, and
now, 10 her great surprise, found her
property was deprecated and her in
come suddenly lessened. She repaired
at once to her husbands lawyer. and.
having learned the full state of the case,
determined, entirely against his advice.
sell everything she owned and buy
m annuity. In vain old Mr.. Paine rep
resented To her that this would utterly
impoverish her daughter, in case of her
own death.
II cannot help that" she replied,
with n cool selfishnesS that chilled him.
Il can never live. nor can Phema,
without our accustomed Injuries. She
must marry well; and she cannot do
that without an entrance of the right
sort into society. l trust she will
not need much more. L think not"
And Mrs. Bayard's green eyes flashed
with. a pride that might be called ma
but did not deserve so sacred a
name. So she bought a handsome an
nuity. without consulting or even in
Euphemia, the property having
been all left in her hands, and then
the young lady n triumphant in
PRODUCTION into society.
But scarcely had she appeared on the
stage when Mrs. Bayard's mother died,
and, since Phema must be withdrawn
at once from the scene of her glories,
Mrs. Bayard resolved TO send her for
the early part of the summer out to
Desborough, n country town of some
Importance, high among the Massachu-
sets hills. Here, under the wing of
m old aunt of Mr.. Bayard's, she would
not be seer too much TO make her fu-
debut stale and Improbable, and
she would acquire a freshness of COM
that boarding-school up to
and a fortnight of balls directly
after had a good deal impaired.
Aunt Allen was a clergyman's widow,
a lovely. gentle old lady, living in a
square white house, set in its grassy
yard like a flower on a leaf. and canO-
pied with dropping elms. Phema was
charmed. Her city elegancies and -af-
r,a+,+,o,s fnll honl El-a tla ool-x &c.
rosebud, and she delighted her Aunt
Allen by her keen enjoyment. her COM
non sense. her eager desire to learn
Ill wholesome country WAYS, and her
interest in everything.
Nobody in Desborough knew more
about this pretty Miss Bayard than the
act that she was Mrs. Aliens niece;
md. as she laid away the finery her
mother and her maid had packed into
her trunk, and contented herself with
gowns of delicate lawn and printed
with now and then a white
for Sundays, and nobody there
NEW enough to recognize the hand of
N artist in the exquisite simplicity of
heSe garments or 10 know that the
chip hat, with its gold buckle and
feather, was really fresh from
Paris, she was not suspected of being
ich or fashionable; and, being very
merry and g~ood-natured, she
Don made friends in Desborough, and,
moreover. carried away captive the
leart of Mr.. Mather, the only lawyer of
he place. a handsome. intelligent
Dung fellow, come of a good race, !
turdy and self-reliant, only-he was
,oor, But this did not disturb Euphe-
MIA. She fell in love with him as ut
erly and simply Is if Arcadia was her
and before her signal of re-
all came both were plunged fathoms
eep in an honest, old-fashioned pas
with which society and money had
O more to do than they have with
Aunt Allen did not interfere, for she
aw no occasion to-. 1t vas all right. in
er unworldly eyes. She knew Stephen
was good enough for anybody,
5 she had often declared, and both she
nd Euphemia thought John Bayard'sl