St. Landry democrat., 1882-02-18
And how was she to conceal the thing,

And how was she to conceal the thing,
anyway? was che sentence that kept
buzzing through her brain like bee
with sting. Pinch on the housekeep-
ing? Winter would be over long enough
| before she could save half of the sum
by any such doings as shutting off but
ter and eggs and sugar, and making
Susette boil the coffee over a second day
allowing that she could persuade her
father to think that the coffee was fresh
by buying second cuts of beef, by
making entrees of what they usually
gave the poor Foleys. Even if she dis
missed the table-girl, and got along with
Martha, the house maid, under the plea
that she could not suit herself yet with
another, that would not give her any
part of the money in season to use it;
she must have it to-day, or not at all.
She had nothing to pledge for any
money, for her father had not yet
given her her mothers jewels, not
thinking jewels proper to debutante;
and if he had, she could not have SO be-
trayed him as to let his daughter do
such thing. Nor, for his sake, could
she have borrowed it, had there been
any one of whom to ask the loan. Any
one? The throb that her heart gave
Just then did her aching head no good.
Well, what could she do? Nothing but
lie still, and let her bursting head throb,
and let Martha put hot water on it, and
tell the story of her old mothers blind
ness, which she heard like some one in
dream, while visions of her fathers con-
tempt for the heedlessness, for the van
ity, that so occupied her thoughts that
| they could not even remember common
caution, moved before her own eyes like
the figures of nightmare. = "
But sleep came to her relief at last;
and when she awoke it was dark in the
room. and her father was sitting beside
| her bed with his hand on her head; and
| she took down the hand, and held it to
her lips and kissed it, while her tears
silently welled forth again; and pres
emily Martha had brought her hot tea
and toast, and before long she was asleep
for the night. @#& @@ ~
The sunlight of another morning
brought with it some elasticity to meet
her trouble. She began pulling over
her wardrobe, and wondering if she
could not make this thing and
that thing do. She half thong hit she
could, although the blow was bitter
to the pretty creature that loved pretty
things. and loved to surround herself
with them, and although she dimly felt
it was doing injustice toher father again
to let his daughter make her first formal
appearance in the world in other than
fresh new splendor. "Although Idon't
believe anybody will ever know in all
the world,' she said: 81 have such a
knack."
But when she had decided on her
course of action, she still realized that
that hundred-dollar bill was her fathers
property, and must be restored to him.
"Well," she reasoned, "papa has just
given me the new horse for my coupe;
but walking is good for me, and can
use the landau horses all want. And
if lend him for three months to Miss
Humphreys, whose own horse has fallen
lame, shall save his board in our stable,
and that will be the same as paying papa
fifty dollars and saying nothing about
it. And if [ dismiss Ann, and get Mar
tina to take her work for while, that
will make up the rest in time" Still,
if her father chose that his daughter
should have her own little private car
rage, was not this, in reality, way of
cheating him? the under-current of
thought would come. And when he
had numbered and arranged Ills serv-
ants, what right had she to come and
make his state less? And then the de-
ceit of it all! No, it was more than she
could bear; and she came near breaking
down into another headache Il will
do the best / can with what / have,''
she said; land then will tell-papa
may be-" It was well she added the
may be, for it made her heart beat like
little trip-hammer to think of the pos
sibility.
1t was her own birthday party for
which this particular dress was to have
been provided, and garniture of differ
ent flowers and ribbons was to make
another dress of it for Mrs. Mountjoy's
German given to her on the following
night. She had come into the world
little Valentine, and perhaps that was
the reason they had called her Valentia,
as the nearest way in which they could
approach the name for her And she
had thought of such a4pretty dress for
that St. Valentines night of hers: the
whole front a broad wreath OF embroid-
cry in yellow pearls, and the rest a flow
.ot creamy Spanish lace, with no other
color than that of the broken wreath Of
great red roses falling from the cluster
at her heart; and the next night the
pearls and the lace were to 60 over her
old gold silk that she had worn at her
Fathers little dinners to gentlemen,
where she had been presiding, almost as
If she were rot present, in the two weeks
since her return.
Well, she had bloede lace shawl of
her mothers sufficiently creamy with