St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-03-22

|
ing on between Mrs. Bent and her daughters,
| Piukie, safe locked in room, was holding
one with herself. She sat on the edge of
the bed-her travelling dress still untouched,
her hat on, even her gloves she had not re-
moved. Tears sparkled in her eyes, but her
face was full of mirth.
| 81 will" she muttered, ~ will do It'll I
will be good enough for them, know can
| will teach them good lesson. But will
have to work like Trojan TO
get the dress ready. Let me see,
what have | got that will do? Ha,
have it. That old tahleau dress will be just
the thing" and springing up and again
making sure tnat her door was locked she
began to ransack tray after tray Of her we'll
filed trunks.
'How luckyI brought it," she chuckled as
she shook out the folds of white
muslin made in the most Anticipated
country fashion. ''Now | can 90 to
sleep and rest easy for an hour Awkward
and dowdy,' that is what l will be, just as
they said, =" and il five minutes mischievous
Pinkie Bent was sound asleep.
The day was shorter to her than to her I'M
happy cousins. Anxiety and yeXation had
made Carrie very i'll, and it was with most
Tn becoming flush on her harrassed face that
she appeared in the drawing room few mo-
ments before the dinner hour. The sight
which greeted her eyes did not tend to cool
her checks. There sat the cousin from Kan
sas. Was ever such figure seen in New
! York drawing room before! Plain
white muslin, made in the shepherd
ess style, very full and very short, scarlet
stockings, broad scarlet sash, and worst of
all, on the head a turban OF white muslin
with scarlet poppy Haunting in front. This
was what the malicious Pinkie had done
with herself; malicious Pinkie, whose trunks
were full of exquisite French gowns, such as
her cousins had never worn and not often
seen; malicious Pinkie, who knew very well
that, spite of the turban and red poppy, she
was pretty, and that the necklace of opas on
her soft, white neck would command GER
tain sort of respect, even from her inhospit-
able relatives.
s'What lovely opals,' cried Carrie, striving
to cover her confusion and embarrassment
at sight of her Cousins extraordinary tot
lette.
"Thank heaven she wore them" she was
saying in her heart. ''That will show peo-
pie she, at least, has money. That neck
lace couldn't have cost less than a thousand
| dollars.''
EYES," replied Pinkie, nonchalantly.
''Ma likes 'em best of all she's got They're
mas; they amt mine. She made me bring all
her joolry. l amt overn' n above fond ont
myself. l like flowers better. I'm great on
artificial howers-always wore 'em every day.
The guests were already arriving, MIR.
| Bent, himself, among them, he having, ac-
cording to the fashion of the New York bust
ness man, reached home only in time to
| dress for dinner. His heart was so full of
affectionate welcome for his niece, whom he
remembered well as a beautiful child of ten
only half dozen years ago, that ne did not
at first note anything except the lovely up
lifted eyes, and the affectionate voice, ex-
claiming, ''dear Uncle Silas." For a second
Pinkie forgot her role, only for second, and
the lapse betrayed her to only one person
in the room, and that person was of no i'm
portance in Pinkie's comedy, being only
| Black Ben. Black Ben had had a strange
suspicion at noon, when he took
the glass of milk to the
Kansas young lady's room. ''She didn't
speak in the same voice, not at all she didn't
as she was a talkin' in the parlor,'' he said
afterwards, an | was a turnin' it over in
my mind more'n once in the afternoon,
whatsomever it meant. But l gave it up.
But IS soon IS I heerd her say 'Uncle Silas, ,
I see she was up to some play or ruther, IN l
jist watched her at dinner. got so took up
watchn' her l forgot the sherry, first time
such thing ever happened ter me-"
As the dinner progressed even uuobservant
Mr. Bent became aware that his niece's at
tire was not what it should be, and that her
voice was too loud. 'But the women folks
can soon straighteu that all out,' thought
the loving uncle, and the child's as pretty as
- /. 1, |, Io,.
So also thought the Hon. Mr.. Morris, who
on being told by her in an aside. meant to
be com passionate, that the young lady in
white was cousin who had
arrived most inopportuney that very noon a
cousin from Kansas, had exclaimed. ''From
Kansas How delighted am to have the pleas
ure of meeting some one from Kansas That
is the state of all others | am most interested
in seeing. l am going out there in the
spring"
! ''Going to Kansas" calculated Carrie, in
a tone OF such unaffected horror that Mr..
| Morris laughed outright
eyes, - he said. ''Do not be too shocked
Miss Bent but really the West is the only
part of America greatly cared about seeing.
That is where lies the real strength of your
country"
If he had spoken Greek what he said would
| have been no more unintelligble to poor
] Carrie, and her face heightened to a doleful
extent as he continued, eff all the Kansas
! ladies have 50 wonderful a complexion as
| your cousin that is another reason for visiting
! the region. Pray present me to her, will you!
| | should like to ask her many questions:
Perhaps, ah''- he stammered with the curious
| mixture of ditfidence and audacity one so
often sees in Englishmen, ''perhaps your
mother will be so very good as to let me have
| the pleasure of sitting by her side at dinner,
that is if it will not derange your plans"
! 81 am quite sure mamma will not reln-
| quish the pleasure of having you chiefly to
herself at dinner" quickly replied Carrie.
Her heart is full Of anger and modification,
and / fear it is too late to change the ar
rangement of the guests and as she spoke
| her color deepened at the recollection Of the
| skilful planning by which Pinkie's seat had
! been placed at the lower end of the side on
which the Hon. Mr.. Morris was to sit, so
that she should be out of his sight and hear
ing as much as possible. Nevertheless, sew
eral times in the course of the dinner, Mr..
Morris heard the shril voice and the loud
laugh, and thought TO himself, what pity
| the American voice is so high pitched 1t
seems to be somewhat worse as you go
Westr'
Neither Carrie nor Sophia would have been
able to sit through the dinner, if they had
known how small attention their honorable
guest was giving to their artificial thin tones
as compared with the rough nasal voice,
| which was the worst Pinkie could make out
Of her naturally deep, ow-pitched notes.
| When the gentlemen joined the ladies In
the drawing room, Mr.. Morris looked eagerly
| for the Kansas cousin. Not seeing her, he
accosted Mrs. Bent with true English bluff
ness: II don't see your niece from Kansas.
hope she has not gone, was counting on
talking with her all the rest q the evening"