The Red Cloud chief., 1880-12-30

say. what do you think? I've settled
1t all; You n coming with me- To-
night"
"oh. Jackl" I cried. "noussuse'
How could /? They'd never let me.
They'll know nothing about 10; yoa
Just do as ! tell you" And thea he
sat down and told me all about IL One
of the beautiful women hal got n bad
toothache; her face was ali swollen and
dissgured. and the tsblcau in which she
was TO appear was spolt. cit was in.
possible 10 Ill her place. 90 promised
that you would do IT," Jack went on
"ifsnothing; only just To stand for a
minute. She has her dress ready for
ron TO pm. on. and you'll see all the fun
a~iierxard. and no VIII know Won.
IL was really very tempting. and }
conldn'i resist this glimpse II the grea;
word. but | think I deserved al the
seedlings 1 got during the toilette oil
the sisters. Nv heal was running on
what was to come and could no, re-
member where a single thing was
IL do believe the girl j. feyerish:
look NJ the color Of her cheeks. 1
heard Cornelia whisper TO Adelaide.
Bat this idea did not make them .
bit more c~onsidera,e in shclr demands
At last they finished. and the sound
Of the ~retreating wheels Of their car
rage was like music q my ears. few
to my own room and made myself
ready.
don't in the least remember bow We
got TO the Hall. II all seemed like a
dream. But presently | found myself
in a large bedroom. getting on some
body's dress, with a :all. quiet woms
helping me. She took in hcre and let
down a little there. and the gossamcr
fabric fitted a IL it had been maie for
me. Then she asked me Ia look at my
| self, and when | stood before the large
mirror | started. Could this he the
same girl who a few hours ago had
been Knocked at by COrnelia and AIDE
laide Spicer? this lovely %apparition the
shabby, fearful child, the Cinderella Of
the house?
Presently Jack came for me. and his
deligh showed me that my vanity had
not deceived me.
bravo, little Cindv," he said; 81
knew you only wanted fair play. All
the women will be madly jealous Of
you"
don't think this prospect gave me
as much pleasure as he expected. but il
was ccrtiinly a delightful experience 10
find myself such an object of general
attention. Ny part in the tableaus was
not much. Once | stood for a few min
utes behind a gauze with two other
ladies'. while Lord Lavender. as Paris,
offered the apple to the center figure. a
very lovely girl. She was Lady Sybil
Lennard, "a Dukes daughter and a
great beauty" Jack whispered to me.
ave must have another set of tab
leaus next week." said Lord Lavender.
coming up To Us. elf your sister will
help us. Spicer, we could have Faust
and Marguerite and The Sleeping
Beauty and 'Pygmalion and Gala
tea"
His bright young face was a little
flushed with excitement and his dark
eyes sought mine with an expression
that, novice As / was. l could not mis-
understand.
"Tm afraid there'Il be two words to
that" said Jack, laughing. "Cindy is
kept in a glass case; | slipped her out
by mere chance. But, listen! they're
calling for The Judgment again
As soon as the tahleans were over |
had to dof my borrowed garments and
make the best of my way home. had
had my glimpse of FaTyland and must
return to slavery again. slavery more
uncomfortable now than eve l could
hardly believe it was real when | found
myself at home. waiting for the return
of my stepmother and her daughters;
still more unreal did it seem when the
morning light stole through my windows
and had TO take up my weary work
again.
at was all a dream" | thought;
impossible that all those compliments
were paid to me. all those tender
speeches and loving LOOKS. Ridicu-
lous!' But there, opposite. on my
table, stood the bunch Of lovely roses
given to me by Lord Lavender himself.
1t was all true. then! | got up; l sang
to myself as l dressed. 1t was one of
Adelaide's songs, andthe words were ali
of love. They had ALWAYS seemed rub
Dish, but o they struck me as pretty.
That morning all the talk was of the
tableaus. The Spicers found great
fault with everything except "The
Judgment of Paris" They held forth
at great length on the beauty of Lady
Eva Beauchamp and declared that she
was far handsomer than Lady Sybil
Lennard.
That's ridiculous!" said Jack.
"She's quite a young thing. and Lady
Sybil is very fine girl-such n iigure!'
LADY Eva'sa beautiful creature, and
every one in the room said Lord Laven-
der was quite epris. | am so glad Lady
Sybil and the Duchess will he disaD-
pointed-nasty. stuck-up-creatures!'
LADY Eva is as like Cindy a two
peas" said Jack mischievously; $50
I'm glad You admire her so much"
"Cindy! how absurd! Lady Eva is
the most elegant figure. Every one
said she'll be the Beauty next sea
son."
..She is IKE Cynthia" said my faith
er suddenly; land that reminds me
that Lord Lavender talked about com
ing here this afternoon. think he said
he wanted to see Cynthia"
Cynthia! what nonsense. How car
you be SO ridiculous. sir William? It,
huttdlucs III tuufiiCS II SINKING ~
to the MUSHROOM, Adelaide"
mot at all. Cornelia, you had bet,
ter go down to the Rectory; and. Gin
dy. there's poor Mrs. Brown want
some SOUP"
Nv heart sank. 1t was evident
should have no chance Of seeing o
Lavender. l was to he sent to the othel
end Of the park! But just rs we wer,
speaking a carriage drove up with Lore
Layender's aunt and Lady Sybil Len
nard. You may imagine my step
mothers excitement. Cornelia got hel
innings. and made her way into thu
MUSHROOM.
Il have come" said her Grace, ''tc
beg, Sir William, that you will spare u:
your daughter for a few days. The
young people are going to get up some
more tableaus. and she was Invaluable
last night; l don't wish to flatter. but,
really. anything so lovely as she
looked"
I'm sure I'm much pleased" an
swered my stepmother. Their dresse:
were very pretty; but, indeed. your
Grace. your daughter was splendid, ant
Lady Eva, too-most lovely!"
y Tn D.l. ~-o r..