The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1881-12-31
WHAT SHE FOUND.

Isadore Stafford was a woman to be
envied. Why notP Rich, widow, and
still young, or at least far from old, the
wholeworldlay at her feet, and she had but
to reach out her hand to grasp anything
she wished; everything but happiness
that had eluded her and never seemed
farther from her than on this Christ.
mas Eve when we see her standing by
herwindow tapping impatiently upon ii
with her exquisite fan. Isadore Stafford
never forgot her fan. With it she toyed
constantly, and those whoknew her best
could tell from the movements of the
pretty thing just the state of its owner
mind. Her fans were as unique as her.
self, and l could no more describe them
all than / could describe her moods and
thoughts. Her favorites were pure
ivory, whose carvings were half an inch
in thickness, and executed by Italy's
finest sculptor; a jet black, at whose edge
swayed to and fro in the air frail lilies
of-the-valley; and one of gold, set with
small turquoise stones in heathenish de-
signs-but l am not telling the story of
her toys, but of the woman herself, as
she stood that wintry day amid her lux
urious surroundings, watching the lazy
snowfakes fall on the passers-by.
g Yes, the old year is almost gone and
the New Year will soon be here. Why
am 1 not happy? Who can tellp !
simply know am not, and for once re-
fuse to have my house thrown open to
hundreds of guests on New Years day,
who bow themselves in and out with
their senseless words, 81 wish YOU q
Happy New Year"
This woman, envied by all who knew
her, was, nevertheless, tope pitied. The
world had proved to her, as to many
another, a golden apple of Sodom, out
wardly brilliant and desirable, but with
in, ashes. She had never known nov
erty, never been compelled to toll, never
even soiled her tiny hands with work;
but she had missed also the mental dis
cipline that results from these. and the
love OF parents and brothers and sisters
even the love that woman has right
to expect when she marries, for hers had
been little more than business arrange
ment, made and urged by her guardian,
lest she should fall into the hands of
fortune-hunters, and when the shackles
were broken by death the sense of relief
was so sweet that no thought of marriage
had since ever entered her mind. OF
course she had been sought; and persist
emily, but with charming tirmness she
kept her lovers her friends by the mo"
she uttered, and lived the years that
came and went, as others weary hearted
have done.
Once only, and that in her schoolgirl
days, had she known the thrill of happi-
ness; but this was now so far away, so
faint in her memory, had flashed across
her life so suddenly and then vanished
forever, that it now seemed mere
dream Of her brain. Again she looked
from the window. The flakes were
falling more rapidly; great, soft flakes,
that tempted one to raise the face to feel
the winged things brush against it, and
children, wild with delight that Christ
mas was SO near, laughed and shouted
and danced as if they were one with the
snow-storm.
'Thirty-two! Life half gone and all
spent in a chase after what does not ex-
list. Pn make VOW on this Christmas
Eve, and if / fail to keep it may its
ghost rise up to condemn me. From