Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1881-04-02
MISS LOVELL'S LENT,
ITO starve thy sin,
Not bin"
tHarper's Bazaar

| the following branches or the willow the
| March wind whistled blithe quick step. and
Miss LoTeu, pausing for one more look az the
| Wide gaJ world. thought that If it were maj
! Ash Wednesday she would 60 out strajghIya ,
| to make holiday with the brave little s1ellarIa
well -o A--'" -
Across the way those aoornipable Lanriall
/ boys were swinging on the back gate WaO5e
creaE, mingled with the discordanJ chorus of
| tor were all jolly good fe-ei-lows.' vexed the
Iasu0lcuS ears OF Miss Lowell. No two OF the
staring White shades In the many-Windo we'd
cottage were drawn UP alike, and the crook
I edest ones seemed to wear defiant air OF not
/ caring tasSel whether they Offended her faS.
/ u0ious eye. The dingy patches OF snow
tsIanded In the sodden turf. looked dirtier than
/ their heigh6or5', and though nobody had yet
| thought OF gardening. MISS Lowell detected q
I shaobiDeSs OF pegiecr about the muddy flower
! beds OF the past and the dishevelei Lawn OF
| the future. And IT. as she turned into her own
! wellTegulated Enclosure, she did not murmur
| Lord, thank Thee that | am not as other
/ women are it was because words are less
| uloaest than consciousness and not more dis
/ tincrs
| Though the walking was und3niably bad, and
/ the TiLd high, Miss Lowell returned from morn
| Ing service elegant unruih3d. immaculate. as
| she always appeared. The shinlng windows OF
| her house, tue bright tiled veStIb1le, the gilt
! teif1g kQ0cher, were not more fawleSs Yet
| the sanctuary Of her own chamber she Goa
| dccted heightened and solemn rites or brush
! ing. sLakli Z, Substituting and putting away,
| az II she We're exercising malignant demons OF
dirt ana dis Tdpr. Descending from thtS So
lem6ity. dainty, tta!shed, Di'HDnnfe, from her
SHINING Aalf 10 The bows upon her slippers, she
Hitt the doctsTa wife running IL, IL friendly
country fashion.
"Ah M dear cried thar GREATNESS D,rca5
may Lave some luncheon? must be in the
village again this AFTERNOONS; moreover, l want
to settle the committee woman with you; sec
oLdarily, my own house IS atop OF the hill
hear yOu have belted LAZY thirdly. that
you have verified unjust things; and TO con-
Ciude, | desire 10 prove you lying knaye.'
Mss LOVell laughed as she uupiuned her
| friends shawl. Every BODY liked honest and
eager MIS-. Eliot.
'''Flrst ask thee what l have done; thirdly
| ask thee what 5 mine GGenS9; SiXt and lastly,
wEatI nave committed; and u conclude, what
you lay TO my change"
Not fnhospii allty, "a least, Laura so do give
me crust, ana then eau talk.
On auGty. &c H}fSt be a crust, then. never
cat OF fasC- days TIL after suadO Fn, and olga is
out for the day. Just tea AID bread and butter
seem too shabby
An, pO,u' tea and gD,t' bread ana butter.
Kings may be blessed, bit Tam Is glorious |
don't fast. you know. I'm too old fashioned to
walk by your new lights. But IL yo,i ind Chris
tian grace promoted Dy an empty stomach
Oh, Laura, what tea-cups! Aud dare you use
them. every day? They could never be
matched
.'Oh yes painted them mFseli, and, for that
matter. wash them myself; not That Olga Is
careless, but | fancy them cleaner"
land you worked this linen, know. How
glass, like shaped fro5t-work? Ana this prec
IouS OLD silver? Ny dear, It would turn my
lair gray. II 1t were !, on one side, ana moth
rust. thieves, spots, stains, and scratches Ga
the other, should Consider myself checkmaLad
before began"
But It's the instinct Of self preserv alton you
see. couldn't eat with q coarse cloth ana co n
mon dishes. Feeding Is SO vulgar a necessity
That Ii must be SpiTitu4lZe1 TO be endured. It's
my creed that one should get al the daily
'beauts into life that one eau compass"
Which is not true OF ali OF Us. These rooms
are perfect. Everything here has lowered
from sound roof aud strong stem. The
whole Is beautiful, harmonious, emlnently
characteristic. 1t fits you as perfectly as
the original environment which that accom-
plished decorator, Nature. gave you IN lavish
devote to the busting OF these draperies, csrg-
ing screens, cmbroteries, articles OF blgotry
and virtue In generai?"
''Oh, lot more than two hours; l SUPPOSE
And again. IL Is the instinct OF seif-pre5arva-
uon. I should starve in ugly rooms. some
stlnted virtues might survive But grace
/ should be simply worthless"
Whereas now you overflow with love and be-
neYolence? Then it is really Islander the story
that you called Mrs. Langdell limp, inefficient,
sentimental woman. vita whom You would not
serve In the ragged school committee?o
mo, said Laura, flushing deep 81 did say It,
though you cut Ine forever"
my dear Child, how cross that sounds, It's
plain that you're dySpeptic with yoir fasts and
lads. WHAT has poor Mrs. Langdell done to
YOU"
Nothing There's tee rub, She Will con.
unue 70 90 nothing TO the end OF time Would
you Ike my chapter OF the Lalgdell biography:
When they moved here from New Bah ION. my
aunt, who liked her as q girl, wrote me 70 call on
them. waited month. seeing that she mad
young children and unkempt look Ing maids, and
thinking that true poiltene5S would look the 9TH
afternoon, when every bird In the garden was
piping, Expect Visitors expect Visitors |
Sirded my reluctant loin5 anu went. maid
IN a s0tled cap let me In. 4 superb old DuLch
cred the fGor-and the stairs were dirty. The
parlor vas full OF mats and bronZeS and pic.
tures quite too eXtravagant for me-, there was
An archipelago of shabby toys 10 sea Of lint
aud dust; under the piano and everywhere I
could have written my name with my finger
Mrs. l.angGell Is 100 vel bred to keep me wait
Ing. But would have pardoned her the lapse
had she taken Off the ugliest, cheapest, shabby
genJeel, snuT- brown walking dress lady ever
ni5represente1 herself by wearing. Sheis Ger
tainly accomplished, her manners are lovely.
and she talks we'll: admirably, IN fact. But the
dirt, the disorder, the tastelessneS5-no auntv
Ii ii not IN instance OF natural selection, at
least her
nature is subdued
To what 1t works iu like the dyer's hand
PRESENTLY In stamped the two elder boys
dreadful cubs, dirty, ragged, lawless. Beliey-
ers In eminent domain are those young beliger
ehts, not 10 speak OF the right OF search OF
maIane and reprisals- Apparently they were
hSt ACSo iAoultSu lLau dtll0LSu at GAc geQllSSt
OF nints TO run away again. The younger TO
40 lin justice tardily retired, after testing the
adaptablllty OF my lace paraeol to the purposes
or hurdle. His brother flung himself down.
roared like Boanerges, kicked his mother with
MS copper toes, rent that objectionable gown
tInK1ng one virtue with a thousand crines0
an otherwise gently insinuated mis- desire 70
remain.
81 have heard that Harold Is peculiar child
my dear. And them"
Peculiar aunty: Let Us hope that he "a
unique, and the mould forever shattered tAnd
theb'-his mother bore him or Kicking. biting
ara struggling, TO some torture caamoer [
ICnGiy trust, whence issued yells as OF the rack
AID thumb screw, which made further CONVEX
sati0n embarrassing, and so / came away"
"And you cant do charity work With slch an
atrociouS woman? II strikes me ss.s a case FOR
Sy mpathy as well as severity
FIRST endure, then pity, then embrace
dear But this is only the first f1t OF my lament
which is as long as the Had. foroear TO relate
now she returned my call, In gloves that were
not mates-though both black admit--or how
| am daily afronted Dy the visible shiftlessness
OF her rule, or now / meet that handsome
Mr.. Langdeii IN frayed cuffs and collar
and, | have no doubt, half starved But
/ know, On her authority, that sne doaS
not whip those scampish boys | Know, In
the same Way, that she travels and has dinner
parties ! know they bay books And | saw
that II there's money for thsse outsoes there's
money for decency and order. ! say that the
woman who does not insist on them Is not q
lady at heart. say that cleanliness ana or1sr
NJ trfr Al