Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1881-07-25
LOVE OF CLUTCHES.
IN Old Story in a New Way.

Dear. dear" said she, presently. peering cut
from q cloud of silks and iacej. ''w.lat shall l
do for dressmaker!"
''Why. where is Rhoda Tracy?"
Gone to fill vacancy mamma. In other
words, she has married a widower."
Mrs. Talbot laughed.
"Weil, let her so, my dear; you can have Mrs
Blake"
"Oh, but Rhoda is better. Only think of her
leaving me and becoming somebody's second
wife. For my part wouldn't thank any man
for his affections warmed over.
:" My little Persis. don't fret. No man will ever
offer you his affections, either freshel or warmed
over, you may depend on that
" Then he needn't. and shan't have to refuse
him" retorted Persis, gaily, as she dipped,
swallow like, this way and that, laying away the
silks.
But there was a painful flush on her young
cheeks, and moment aftef she swept gracefully
out of the room. Unless you looked twice YOU
would never have OWNED the cause of her pecu-
liar sideways motion. The gold-mounted crutch
which peeped in aud ont of the folds of her dress
was like wand of enchantment. and. as was
said OK Mile. Sale, ''all her steps were senti-
mcnts.''
When Persis was baby her perfect beauty
had well-nigh wrought her ruin The nurse
proud OF ner superb little figure and graceful
poses. was accustomed with criminal reckless
ness, to perch her on broad mantel and show
hef OH TO visitors. In this way the little crea-
tire had fall which made one limb shorter than
the other, and famed her for life. Persis had
suffered very little physical pain but the morti-
ncatIon mad been intense; it had given a morbid
coiorihg TO an otherwise r0Se-colored life.
No man will ever offer you his affections.
You may depend on taat, repeated she. bury
ING her face in a sofa-piIiOw. Mamma saws il
ana Ii is true; knew it all before Stanley
warner means nothing by his tender words and
tender glaEceS. He is is proud as Lucifer and
would never abide the modification of a lame
wife. 1t does Seem cruel But | will not eat
MY heart for any man." exclaimed she. spirited
s. springing up and dashine Off the llnshed
c'1TS and now for the party. and a cav new
dress. I'll send for Mrs Blake forthwith"
1t so happened that Rhoda in flying away with
ner WidoWef. had dropped her mantle on Mrs.
Blake, who used her needle and scissors like a
larry straight from the land of elves How mar
Fcious dress she fashioned out of ''such stnfr
as dreams are made OF" and how Perss fioated
Oh IN IL IKE a vision OF beauty As fair and
sweet. said Celia Warner as a wounded dove
Persis caught the words. and the little morbid
spot III her heart Gched afTesh
No, Mr.. Warner" said she proudly. as he
asked her to dance. prefOr to sit in this win
ton" ''' A1o-
Pardon me- replied Mr.. Warner. bitinc his
moustache, and moving away with a graceful
flourish. Il was thOughtless to make the re-
quest"
And he never dreamed that his words hurt.
ne lorgets sometimes that am wounded
uo'e, sighed Persis from the window-sent:
but sooner or later he always comes to his
senses ~ h''
There was one man who did not forget. and
that was Ephraim Zee. But, then. Persis did
net care very much what Ephraim remembered
or what he forgot. He was worthy vouno
man. and she said in her cirlish intolerance ..if
there's one thing stupder than another it ia
your worthy young mani" He taught school
studied law, and am not sure but he s.carried
on large farm at the same time: but when Won
TREE! u 10 Draw INN out in general conversation
IL was IKE drawing a sound tooth He was the
most industrious of men. and the kinCiest of sons
TO a widowed mother; but. then his ewes were
sea-sfeen. under ragged cliffs OF eyebrows. his
ii%iios We're horny, and all his angles as acute as
lawyers wits.
Seeing Miss Persis alone in the window scat
he Iehtufed to 60 up and address her. though
ms heaft thumped loud opposition to such
boidness ff ~ 'ooii
How do you do, Miss Persist" said he. Offer
,lis ms hottest hahd, while lis plain face mar
roWly escaped becoming expressive
very well. Ephraim; and how are vou,n ra-
piied she; roIsing from sad reverie She al
ways calls him 'Ephraim,' because she had
known MN from boy. He had lived year at
hef la.hers, and worked for his board While
TINS moment envied other youths their
noncnalance OF manner Here WAS no
standing beside the very woman no
wished most to please. but he was toDgue-tied
she sat there self-possessed and beautiful. scan
ming him from head to foot, he tbouoht She
was not naughty in the least. but She might
nave placed him at his ease. and she did NOT
care to do it. If she had once turned the con-
versation to ''Old times and the welI-remem-
oefeu incidents OF that too happy year, Ephraim
W. ou al'a lave peeh himself IN moment. Would
ne ever forget the afternoon ON the ..basp and
the efforts he made to teach her how to skate
having nrst modelled for the shoemaker a pair of
little skates which were mismated to ft
her unequal feet. How carefully he had pnided
her over the ice. He kept the precious red com
forer STILL the life preseryer" She had cailnd
1t. by which she had chung to him in her ti,nid
efforts to stand upright
In those old times Perss liked him: he was
sure she did He had sat in the kitchen while
ne pfodded at his Latin gralnmar-Ih was hard
student always-and her bright face had been as
good az an extra lamp. She had conided to him
ner Childish sOrr0wS which generally spranr
from one cause-her lalneness; and he had pitjed
her with all his heart. Then his aykWardness
and uGliness had raised no barrier between
them; but latteriy it seemed different. Persis
as young lady was much admired. She
had learned to set a high value on wealth
ana appearances; much Of the chidlike
simplicity was gone from her Character.
Ephralm never saw her now but he
thought of his unsanly hands and feet. and
every hole-hil OF a defect doomed IN like a
mountain. Persis had spent years at a boarding
school forming her mind and manners, and
though Ephraim was fully alive to all the ac-
CURED elegance, he incurred for the old-tjme
eordaty. 1t had got lost in the process of polish
ing. He was rising in the world; he thought
that she might sec one day that he had not been
laboring for naught; but his hope of winning
her for wife was dying a slow, hard death.
While he was still stammering before her. try
ing to find words for his t@ugSts. Stanley war
ner approached, sparkling Nth Me exhilaration
of his dance. Persfs had been watching him
while she talked absently with Ephraim: and
now, as he smiled down upon her k,raciousiy. she
looked up at him with a glow ip/her eyes which
the poor young lawyer could not bear He
turned on his heel and walked away, grinding
some rescntful thought under the sole of bis big
boot.
Persis scarcely noted that he went. Some
time hence, when years Of experience should
soften her harsh Judgments She would learn to
appreciate lump of genuine gold, even though
half buried in quartz not yet.
Vas it pleasant dance. Mr.. Warner?" said