The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1886-04-22
PINkIE'S REVENGE.
BY HELEN HUNT JACKSON.

Itt u perfect shame that she got
her to-dayr'
"Sh-Sh-, she might hear your
Nonsense! She is down in the rcccp-
ton room. | don't suppose, if she is
from the backwoods, she has got ears that
can hear through DOORS"
Girls, | amI ashamed of you. How
can you be so uniecling toward your own
cousin -
81 don't care, mamma, she is sure to
he awkward and dowdy. How can we
have her at the dinner table tonight? |
shall die of modification to have to intro
duce her to Mr.. Morrison as our
cousin"
"Pcrhaps she will be too tired to come
down to dinner after such a long ride 1t
is little awkward to add another to a
set dinner party"
"oh. mamma, bless you for the
thought. lou can tell her that She is too
tired. fou can arrange it know ~
"WeIl, I'll try!'
These were the sentences which fell on
the ears of Priscilla Bent as she sat alone,
waiting to see the aunt and cousins whom
she had come all the way from Kansas to
New York to visit, of whose welcome she
ielt as sure as If she had known them all
her HE. 1t was by a blunder of the ser
want that she had been shown directly up
stairs INTO the drawing room, which com
municated by folding doors with the
room where were sitting mother and
| daughters.
"Iinkie What name." continued
the speaker. "Who ever heard of such a
name except Gor dog %
Her name is Priscilla," replied the
mother; but Pnkie was given to her by
her father, when she was little girl, on
account of her pink cheeks"
Well, | shall call her Priscilla"
"And |. too"
our father will not like it," said
Mrs. Bent But we must 90 down."
A swift rush of three women down the
staircase, three loud excamations of dis
may at the sight Of the empty reception
rooms, looks of wonder and a smothcrcd
whisper of vexation.
"IIow stupid OF Ben. DO you suppose
she heard ~
These were the next scenes in the swift
| little drama which here began so inau-
spiciously under Mr.. Silas Bcnt's roof
this morning. And next to these follow
ed one which seemed almost a iustitica-
tion of all that the Misses Bent had said
in regard to their cousin. Slowly rising
to her feet, grasplng her umbrella firmly
in her left hand, rose a tall, an exceeding
ly tall young woman, who exclaimed in a
nasal voice: "Well, | was Jest a comm
to look ye up. Ididn't know as that fine
black gentleman O. yourn had conde-
scended to let you know | was here. Pm
most tired to death, tell you; four days
and four nights in the cars is enough to
kill an OK. But I'll be all right soon's I
cleared away by this time, but don't
want much, only cup of coffee, if the
cook hain't thrown it out. Pm real glad
to see you. Is'pose uncle got my letter,
didn't he? % And pausing in her breath
less speech, pretty Priscilla Bent looked
sheepishly into the face of her equally
shame faced relatives. If they had not
been too guiltily disturbed in their own
minds of fears of having been overheard
| in their inhospitable comments, they
might have detected strange look on
their Kansas Cousins face, a strange mix
ture of twinkle and terror. But they saw,
heard nothing except what so thoroughly
corroborated their worst fears. Even
Mrs. Bent herself, who had resolved be-
foreland to be thoroughly kind to the
child of her husbands fauorite brother,
was thrown off her balance, and in spite
of herself, the welcome she gave was curt
and cool.
But nothing appeared to daunt the ter
rible Pinkie. Radiant good humor shOne
in her face her tongue ran like clapper,
and when the dinner party was mentioned
Pinkie cried:
"Not much l amt too tired. Tn
lust bunk down, and by six o'clock I'll be
fresh as a rooster! We don't often get
chance to a regular dinner party out IN
Emporia, and | don't mean to miss one
this winter. Say-shall l wear my very
best 3? I've read about the kind Of clothes
you New Workers wear to dinners. But
I've got some A No. gowns, tell you.
Now, you just show me my room, and I'll
90 straight to bed and stay there till din
ner time You let your black man bring
me up tumbler of milk, will ye, along
about l o'clock, and doughnut or hard
tack. Pm used to eatin' heartily in the
middle O. the day."
When the door was finally shut upon
Pinkie, her aunt and cousin exchanged
looks.
"Horrible!'' cried the youngest daugh-
ter, Carrie. "It's worse than ever con-
ceived. How could papa send for her p
"He has not seen her since she was ten
years old" said Mrs. Bent dismally. "Of
course he could not dream that she would
be like this. He has always said her
mother was charming woman, and they
lived in Europe for several years
when she was little. 1t is horrible,
girls p
"Bunk DOWN. calculated the eldest
daughter, Sophia.
"Fresh as a rooster !" echoed Carrie.
"Mamma, l shall 60 to bed myself, and
be too i'll to appear tonight. never
can live through it-neverl / don't be-
lieve Mr.. Morris will ever cross our
threshold again.
"Then he is welcome to stay away"
said Mrs. Bent, hotly.
While this distressed consultation was
going on between Mrs. Bent and her
daughter, Pinkie, safe locked in her room,
was holding one with herself Tears
sparkled in her eyes, but her face was
full of mirth.