Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1888-09-14
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have life. st the worst hc can only take
au tho money And thon. Wien you are
great and rich and famous, and more
beautiful than ever, and when the people
turn their heads IS you como into ne
room, like VIC used to IT school when the
missionary came TO lecture, ! know that
yon viii think Of me because you won I
forget nc as some sisters do), and of how,
years Cud years before so long ago that
Che time LOOKS quite small when you think
Of II, told you that il would be so just
,csore | died
Hare the girl, who had been speaking
with curioa. cir Vi certainty and with
gravity aud dclihcration extraordinary Tor
3nc so yopsAg, ,uddcnly broGr on TO cough
Her siste, threw herself ON her l;nCcs be
SID her and ciasping her in her arms
an ,1orcu hcr in broken accents not TO
blk of dying. Jcannio drew Augustus
golden head down on to her breast and
stroked it.
Very well, Gussie, I won't say any
more about it" she said; "but it is 70
good hiding tho truth dear. | am tired
of fighting against it; it is no good-none
at all. Anyhow, we have loved each other
very much, dear; and perhGps-some-
where else-we may again And the
cc1ne by the prescienco of approaching
separation they both sobbed bitterly
there upon the sofa. Presently came a
knock at the door, and Augusta sprung
up and turned to hide her tears. 1t was
the maid of all work bringing the tea;
and, as she came laundering in, sense
Of the irony of things forced itself into
Augusta's soul. Here they were plunged
into the most terrible sorrow, weeping at
the inevitable approach of that chill end,
and still appearances must be Kept up,
even before maid of all work. Society,
even when represented by maid Of all
work, cannot away with the intrusion of
drnestic gricfs, or any other gricfs, and
IN our hearts we know it and act Up to it.
Par gone indeed must we be in mental or
physical agony before we abandon the at
tempt to keep up appearances.
Augusta drank a little tea and ate d
ves'y small bit of bread and butter. AS in
&iS, case of Mr.. Meeson, the events of the
doY had not tended to increase her appe-
TIA Jcannie drank little milk, but ate
atMbing. When this form had been gone
through, and the maid of all work had
once more made her appearance and
cleared the table JEANNE spoke again.
Gus she said, Il want you to put me
Gohed, and then como and read to Inc out
Of tJemima's Vow'-where poor Jemima
dies, you know. 1t is the most beautiful
flsng in the book, and want to hear it
asspin."
Her sister did as she wished, and, tax
ing down Terminals Vow" Jcannios own
ansly as it was called, being the very first
firss had come into the house she opened
1t st the part JEANNE had asked for, and
read aloud, keeping her voice as steady as
size could. As matter of fact, however,
tae scene itself was as powerful as it was
pathetic, and quite sufficient to account
fw any uuseemly exhibitions Of feeling
On the part of the reader. However, she
struggled through it till the last sentence
vss reached. 1t ran thus: "And so Je-
Iusaaa stretched out her hand to him and
said 'Good-by.' And presently knowing
that she had now kept her promise, and
ssamg happy because she had done so, she
waat to sleep"
g "hh!" mJtrnured the blue eyed child
rdo listened. IL wish that I was as good
as Jernima. But though have no vow
ss keep can say 'Good-by, and | can go
So s3eep."
Augusta made no answer, and pres
gn,tg Jcannic dozcd off. Her sister looked
at her with eager affection. "She is Civ
Ing up" she said to herself, and. if she
givra up, she will die. | know it; it is
because We are not going away, Tow can
get tie money, now that that horrible
alau has gone? How can | get it?' and
she buried her head in her hand and
fhougfIt, Presently an idea struck her;
slce might go back to Meeson and cat her
words and sell him the copyright of her
ncw book for 600 pounds as the agree
uleRt provided. That would not be
eaosgh, however, for travelling with an
i:!yalid is expensive But she might offer
~ bind herself over TO him for o term of
yc4rj a. q tame author, like those who
~tai.rd III the hutchcs. She was sure
thu te' would be glad to get Ter, if only
no could DO SO al his own price. II would
be slavery worse than any penal servi-
sude, and even now she shuddored at the
Yrasfcct of prostituting her great abilities
70 the necessities of such work as Nelson's
,rs.3a their thousands out of-work out
tS which every spark of originality was
stamped into nothingness, as though it
were the mark of the beast. Yes, il
wouhi he dreadful-it would break her
fae@yt: but she was prepared TO have hci
kss:ast broken and her genius wrung OUT
Of her BY inches ii only she could get
ECO TilCrcWith TO take JEANNE away TIC
the Eout' of France Mr., Meeson would
no aanbt, make hard bargain-the hard
es. he could; but still, if she would con
sent 10 bind herself for sufficient number
of years at a sufficiently low salary, he
wcald probably advance her hundred
pounds, besides the hundred for the copy
right OF the new book.
And So, having made up her mind tc
the sacrifice, with sigh she went to bed
and, woaried on with riac"y. to sleep
and even as Size s!ept Il Piu.,.4,4 that she
'tsso4d not see was standing near her bed
and Il voice that she could not hear wa.
caIan2 through the gloom. Another
moral l0d bent low at the feet of that
uritnTyn sod whom men named death
zu1 tcnn borne away on his rushing
pins8Es Into the spaces of the Hid, One
moro humon item lay still and stiff; one
raofH account was closed for GGod or evil
She ecto Of one more trrGI had passc;
from TIE earth forever. The old million
uumhercd tragedy in which all must talk,
Poat had repeated itself once more dow
30 Es last and most awful scene. Yes
the grim farce was played out, and In,
hsiio actor JEANNE was white in DEATH
JDst 81 the dawn Augusta dreamed tina
k.,l - scIl ! J,