Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-12-05
IN UNEXPECTED DENOUENENT.
lronsmsnsI


plicity have their charm, and yours are
undoubtedly good OF their siad; oat
ss have previously limited, we require
something more tbaa pretty description.
FROM your writings should infer that
,our life is q very retired ooe. aud that
therefore, you have not had the oppor-
,unity Of acquiring the experience so
r,eesssry In n writer OF ac,ioo. Yoar
late attempt TO put little more zest
into your stories, by evolving crimi-
nal out Of your inner consciousness,
gave The critics some grounds for the
fun they got out Of him. lie would,
N fact. be as Incapable OF the villainy
attributed to him as of the agoBies Of
,,morse he is depicted SIS undergoing
At the thought Of having committed It.
What we want is trutn Of character,
,pari from which there can be no sound
morsli,y--real men and women whose
lives We can sympsthise with or con-
denim, as the case may be. Failing in
This respect. we must. regre. to say,
decline further contributions from your
pen"
- Truth of chSracter-real men aud
women -" The letter, which had been
read through s &C. ms third or fourth
time. vas put down with low sigh,
and the speaker sat with compressed
Gps and dosncast eyes in troubled
thought, her elbows on the table and
her chin propped on the palms Of her
hands. A girl OF about nineteen years
OF see. slenderly and gracefully formed,
with the rare combination OF strength
and sweetness in her clcar-cut features,
and capabilities OF humor and pathos
in her blue. gray eyes and pensiye
mouth.
The room in which she sat was fitted
up in an unpretending way as a study,
and opened into a bedroom beyond.
/, was nearly midnight, and warm even
for the end Of June. The French win
dow looking on TO a balcony, from which
stone steps led down to an old-fashioned
garden, was open, and the perfumed air
came lsnguidly in, as though laden
with invisible flowers. The girl pre-
septly changed her position, lying back
in her chair beyond the ring of light
from the shaded lamp on the table, her
hands clasped above her head. In the
aim shadow her face took a more
dreamy expression, and she appeared
10 surrender herself to the mystical in
Auences of The summer night. Wooed
by the not, Of nightingale in neigh
boring wood, the yearning spirit in her
ewes was making 10 itself wings, when
she was suddenly summoned back to
realities by the sound OF light taps upon
the wall Of the adjoining room. She
rose to her feet, ksen-eyed and alert
il was summons she was accustomed
TO respond to without a moments de-
lay-and passed swiftly into tho adjoin-
irr room. \ large, cOmfortsble-looking
room, wherein were two beds, in one
of which lay an invalid woman of
about forty years Of age, upon whose
still beautiful zee suffering had only
bad a refining O. -ct.
Dear moth r. can do anything
are you in pair -
"No; less man usual tonight, dear'
But it is getting late, is it not? You
will not sit up much longer, Gladys:
Everything is so still and sugges-
tiye-I can think better at this time,
cearie. But ! shall soon be in now
my child How grateful | am that
YOU have the prospect Of making Jour
selfindependent by and by. How much
il comforts ne to think 50 What
would you have done without your
gift ?"
The girl stopped to kiss her mothers
pale cheek and smooth back her hair,
as she replied IN tone meant to seem
light and careless Something better
and more profitable, perhaps. dearle."
" But nothing that would have given
NE so much pleasure. Your mother is
SO proud of what you do"
"That'syOur Arcadisn simphcity,my
dear. | am more Ambitious returned
the girl, her lips curving with a pa
thetc little smile. Let me give you
your sleeping draught and shake up
your pillows. There That is more
comfortable, is it not; Try to sleep,
dealie. and dream that you have a
daughter who is"
Not ambitious, Gladys"
Well, then, possessed Of an inner
consciousness that does not make mis-
takes"
Once more kissing the invalid's cheek,
and carefully arranging tho bed-cur-
tsins so as to shade her eyes from the
light burning on the table, the young
girl moved softly away, passing into
The little study again.
Going toward the table, she took up
some pages Of manuscript and glanced
through them with critical, dissatisfied
eyes. "NO; it will not do" she MUIR
INJURED. L" lie is right, Of course. No
use sending unstable goods to mar
ket A." She stood bordering over the
situation, slowly tearing the sheets
across and across. How was she to
gain the kind Of experience she wsnted
in her quiet village home? Her sketches
Of country life had been favorably re-
ceiytd for some time, and she had de-
pended upon being able to 60 on in the
same way, earning sufficient to give her
mother the comforts necessary for an
invalid. That day had come the letter
intimating that change was required.
She had previously received two or
three friendly hints to the same effect,
and had endeavored to act upon them ;
but, as il had turned out, unsuccessful
ly. There was no mistaking the de-
cided tone Of this last letter nor did
she question its reasonableness.
II was characteristic of Gladys
Lenster that, having once accepted the
verdict, she wasted no time in bemoan-
ing her unfortunate circumstances.
Nor did she try to console herself by
dwelling upon the thought that her
work had been allowed to be good OF
its kind. Ii was not the kind in de-
mand, and her whole mind was concen-
trsted upon the one question, whether
she would be able to do what was.
Her father had been rector OF Green
thorpe, and, after his death, her mother
and she mad been invited 10 remsin at
the rectory, rent free, by his successor,
n family nonpsctinn vim thuz Gatistied