Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1883-03-22
TORRICELLI.

Ny old friends Jack and Helen Bur-
bank left me mistress of their elegant
mansion on the Hudson while they took
q one of their unexpected flights to Europe.
~ This time twas for Brides eyes. Birdie,
their idolized daughter, was then a
''sweet girl graduate" a fine type of
the frail American beauty. She had
been abroad several times already, but
no climate gave roses permanently to
hercheeks. Jack was a big handsome
fellow, who for some years had been
doing business in Wall Street. What
business precisely L never found out.
-- When he entertained his male friends
they always talked of margins and
'.pdts," and ''calls," and ''straddles,"
and made me think of what st. Augustine
says: 1.-The trihing of adults is called
business" Once Iventured to quote this.
One of the heavy men present looked at
me for long time, debating whether it
were worth the while to pay any atten-
ton to me, and then he said, ponder
Ously. MADAM, we brokers are the
Aliases that bear the world upon our
shoulders. All business is supported by
and through us" did not know how
to answer him, but all the same I felt
that he could and should have been
silenced instead of me. Subsequently I
learned a great deal about those Aliases.
a few words will give an idea of Tor
ricelh, the costly home of the Burban1s.
1r Jack, somewhere in his travels abroad,
had been greatly charmed by an old pile
with sugar-loaf towers-quaint, pictur-
esque, dreamy. Helen shared his adj
miration, and Torricelli was the result.
1.-The towers, already iVy-clung, were Won
r.a, derfully beautiful, especially in the moon
~. light, overlooking the lovely terraces,
g a9decked with fountains, statues and shrub
berry, that separated the mansion from
The river. Fl.
,osROne summer afternoon I satwith Helen
on one of the broad piazzas. Lovely
trailing vines curtained us from a too
glariHg light, and cast their shadows
upon the floor of real mosaic Birds
sang in the shrubbery or bathed them,
selves in the fountain basins; bees
hummed above the cups of luXuriant
flowers ofeYery kind that All extravaganza
professional florist could make grow IN,
the open air or in his greenhouses Helen,
tanning herself languidly as she sat in
luXuriant armchair, said: Chow are
you ever going to amuse yourself in this
barrack while we, are away?'l
''You call this barrack, and yet the
drapery of single window has cost
thousand dollarsn' / spoke reproach-
fully, for l felt that Helen was an un-
then what became very clear to nae
afteFward.
20, we'll, cousin. You know the
alpha and omega of Jacks business creed
is visible opulence.' He says nobody is
richonly SO long as people believe him
to be'so. We have two houses full of
costly things that we can not use and
really do not want, and all the world
envies US our grand fortune. Do YOU
knowI never think of US as fortunate?''
And with this Helen rose, made a turn
across the Veranda, and then dropped
back into her seat with a sigh.
''Helen BurbankI' / cried sDo YOU
mean to tell me you are not a happy
womanP Is not Jack the best of hus-
bands?''
40 yes. I suppose I am happy
woman, and of course Jack is a good
husband, but Come, Cousin Jane,
let us ride around the grounds. The
carriage'ha been waiting an age - And
Helen dragged on her hat and gloves and
her costly dolman. AS we descended
the oadssteps of the mansiona footman
in blue and cream-coiored livery ceremo-
niOusly opened the carriage door, shutit
when we were seated, and then mounted
his seat behind the elegant barouche,
where he sat like a statue with folded
arms.
tThepark of Torricelli was beautiful;
the day magnificent; yet as theluxurious
carriage, rolled noiseleSsly over the
graded roads. could see that Heller was
i'll ease. thought it was that COR
geous footman, and told her so. She
smiled, and said: slack thinks we must
have everything, and that includes
coachinan and footman in livery. hate
the whole thing and 1 know he does; and
now, Cousin Jane, never mention the
subject again. I" r
My cousin Helen had changed wonder
fully since she became a fine lady, indif-
1erent to all the, pleasures in the world,
re ,hs-.a3 -er La