St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-03-22
Authors Copyright
A ROMANCE OF THE WEST.
PINKIE'S REVENGE.
BY HELEN JACKSON Or. H.

BY HELEN JACKSON III H.
Written for the Globe
'What perfect shame that she got here
to-dayln
''Sh-sh Do be careful! She might hear
youp'
"Nonsense OF course she is down in the
reception room. 1 don't suppose even if
she is from the backwoods she has got ears
that can hear through floors"
"Girls am ashamed of you. How can
you be so unfeeling towards your own cousins
have heard that she was lovely GIRL" etc.,
etc.
81 don't care, mamma, she may be ever
so lovely, she is sure to be awkward, and
dowdy, utterly unpresentable and do say it
is shame she got here just this day OF all
others. How can we have her at the dinner
table to- night? shall die of modification to
have to introduce her to Mr.. Morris as our
cousin.n
'Perhaps she will be too tired to come down
little awkward to add another to set dinner
party"
sob, mamma, bless you for the thought!
Of course she will be too tired! You can
tell her that she is too tired. You can arrange
it 1 knowr'
''Well, I'll try, but we must go down and
meet heru'
These were the sentences which fell on the
ears of Priscilla Bent as she sat alone, wait
ing to see the aunt and cousins whom she
had come all the way from Kansas to New
York to visit; of whose welcome she had felt
as sure as if she had known them all her life.
1t was by a natural blunder of the ser
want man who had admitted her to the
house, that she had been shown not into the
reception room on the first floor,
but directly up stairs in the drawing
room, which communicated by fold
ing doors with the dining room, where were
sitting the three whose unguarded speeches
were now turning the poor girl hot and cold
by turns.
''Pinkie! What name!" continued the
first speaker. "Who ever heard OF such
name, except for dog"
''Her name is Priscilla" replied the
mother, shut the name Pinkie was given to
her by her father, when she was little girl,
on account of her pink cheeks, and when he
died she stoutly refused to be called by any
other, so it has chung to her ever since.
Your father never spoke of her as anything
else.''
''Well, shall call her Priscilla!"
sEAnd l too,n exclaimed the daughters
simultaneously.
''Your father will not like it," said Mrs.
Bent, "but we must 60 down."
A swift rush of the three women down the
staircase, three loud EXPLANATIONS of dismay
at the sight of the empty reception room. a
slow return up the stairs, looks of dismav in
terchanged and a smothered whisper Of vex-
alton.
Chow stupid of Ben to have brought her
up! Do you suppose she heard"
These were the next scenes il the swift
little drama which here began so inau-
spiciously under Mr.. Silas Bent's roof this
morning.
And next to these followed one which
seemed almost justification of all that the
Misses Bent had said in regard to their
cousin. Slowly rising to her feet, grasping
her umbrella firmly in her left hand, rose
tall, an exceedingly tall young woman, who
exclaimed in Asal voice:
''Well, l was jest comm to look We up.
l didn't know as that fine black gentleman o.
was here. I'm most tired to death | tell you,
four days an four nights in the cars is
enough to kill an OK. But Fll be all right
IS soon's | get my coffee. l reckon break
fast IS all cleared away by this time, but 1
don't want much only cup of coffee, if the
cook hain't thrown it out. I'm real glad to
see you. spose uncle got my letter, didn't
he!,' and pausing in her breathless speech
IL hal
guilty., into the faces of her equally shame.
faced relations. If they had not been too
guilty. disturbed in their own minds by fears
of having been overheard in their inhospita-
BILE comments, they might have detected
strange look Oh their Kansas Cousins face,
mixture of twinkle and terror. But they
saw and heard nothing, except what so thor
oughly corroborated their worst fears, that.
their manner instinctively hardened and
grew more patronizing. Even good Mrs.
Bent herself, who had resolved beforehand TO
be thoroughly kind to the child of her hus-
bands favorite brother, was thrown off her
balance by the shock of fiuding her so glar-
ingly ill-bred in voice and manner, and in
spite of herself. the welcome she gave was
curt and cool.
But nothing appeared to daunt the terrible
face. Her tongue ran like clapper, and
ran on, too, from worse to worse, her cous-
ms gazing at her with increasing dismay,
until the climax came, when, in reply, Mrs.
Bent's stammering announcement that they
would be sorry to lose the pleasure of her
society on this, the first evening of her ar
rival, but dinner party had already been
arranged, and, Of course, she would be too
-, 70 i..f, E,rt
they hoped on the next day, ETC., etc, of
all the graceful flattering lies fashion
able tongues have to learn TO tell.
In reply to all this Pinkie cried
Not muchl amt too tired; don't you
worry about me. I'll just bunk down and
sleep the rest of the day, and by 6 O'Clock
you'll see I'll be fresh as rooster! We don't
often get chance to regular dinner party
out in Emporia. and don't mean to miss
one this winter Say, shall l wear my very
best! Want it lucky / had my trunks
brought right up with me. / wouldn't liked
to have shamed ye, wearing my travelling
dress. I've read about the kind Of clothes
you New Workers. wear to dinners. But I've
got some A No / gowns tell you. Ma, she
said she wouldn't spare nothing on my out
fit, and it was all over EmpOria that I'd got
as gOOd rs UIlue lIOuSecdu ~ cOiHe ~
New York with. Now, you just
show me my room, an I'll go
straight to bed an stay there till din
ner time You let your black man bring me
up tumbler of milk. will We, along about l
O'Clock. and a doughnut or a bareback, any
little bite I'm used to eatin' hearty in the
middle o. the day. an If / wake up shall be
hungry, but think it's more'n likely / shall
sleep over"
When the door was finally shut upon Pink
ie, her aunt and cousins exchanged LOOKS.
s'HorribIe ~ cried the Youngest daughter,
Carrie, the one who was disquieted at the
thought Of Mr.. Morris impressions of the
Kansas cousin. 1T is worse than / ever
conceived. How could papa send for herl"