Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1882-03-30
SAVED BY SIGNS.

"What an odd whim it is of yours to
employ mute for a dressing-maid,
Blanche." cried her elegant but rather
f1ippant friend, Mrs. Percy Waltham.
''DO allow me to warn you against what
can not help but deplore in girl of
your positiOn-a touch of eccentricity."
So 1t was a touch of humanity in ZOe's
case, to begin WITH" returned Blanche,
quietly. 81 employed her aunt as
seamstress first, and the poor woman,
dying suddenly, left her niece totally I'M
provided for. 1 took her home and
found her good and useful girl, who
has made herself in one year really in
dispensable to me-"
"But the idea of your learning the
language of signs, and learning to make
those odd motions for everything you
want!" persisted the woman of fashion.
"My dear, how can you do it? how can
you take so much trouble and bore your
self just for the sake of a-nobody?"
"I am sometimes very glad to find
something that interests me-" said
Blanche, seriously. "It's dreadful
confession for girl not yet twenty-one;
but | must tell the truth, and say that
at times 1 am heartily tired of my idle
life.''
w
a little scream. ssMy dear child, how
can you be idle with Il visiting list like
yours, and long array of invitations,
that keep one going all the while the
season lasts, not to mention dresses. At
this very moment expect a box from
Paris that will occupy me, in the mere
trying on, nearly all day tomorrow; yet
I've promised to drive out, to 90 to the
opera for an hour, and finish the even
ing at Mrs. Harrington's Dances
ssYes, know Blanche said, little
YEARLY; shut one doesn't think about
those things all the time-at least do
not. / learned the mute language for
Zoe's sake, and 1 found it rather an
amusement than a study"
Mrs. Percy Waltham shrugged her
pretty shoulders, and arched her deli
cate brows in silent protest against such
absurdity. Then, imploring "her darling
pet" not to become that dreadful thing,
1'a character" the gay queen of fashion
kissed her lightly on the edge of the
cheek, and, gathering up her draperies.
futtered away to her carriage, like any
other gorgeous butterfly of a season.
Blanche followed her departure with a
faint sigh. Rising, she moved uneasily
about the room, till having caught sight
of her own perturbed spirit in a mirror,
she stood still and tried to reason
against her growing discomfort and loss
of spirits.
Young, rich and an acknowledged
beauty, she could scarcely form a wish
without the means of its qualification;
and yet, as she was just thinking, there
were only a few hours in every week
when she was happy-the rest of her
time was spent in longings she could not
define, and regrets she strove in vain to
combat.
Her early orphanage left her in the
care of a distant relative, to whose only
son she had been engaged since infancy
by the will of her deceased father.
A family feud on the subject of an an
Gent and long contested lawsuit would
thus be forever extinguished, for Donald
Irving and Blanche Beauvoir were the
last members of their respective families.
Being in this manner provided for,
and knowing from her earliest child
hood the future that awaited her, the
imaginative and ardent nature of the
girl was robbed of youths dearest heri-
faoe-castle- building and dreaming out
the secrets of destiny; and without re-
belling openly against fate, she had
grown morbid, and at times gloomy.
Yet the future in store for her was
surely of the brightest in a worldly point
of view, for Donald Irving, as she had
heard-for they had not met for half
dozen years-was a brilliant and fasci-
mating man, and in Continental circles
was regarded by maneuvering mann
mas, who did not know of his engage
ment, as one of the most desirable
catches in the matrimonial market.
But he had been abroad for years, and
abroad he meant to stay, as it appeared,
until the last moment-and this fact