San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1888-03-21

"Of course, nothing! How could l ever
have been fool enough to expect it?' The
scales had fallen from her eyes and she
wondered at her former simplicity. How
was she ever foolish enough to believe
that she could be for anything in the life
of these great people? They had only
valued her as a servant, a machine, and
now that her services were no longer re-
quired they had cast her off like worn
out glove, like useless machine, without
pausing to inquire whether the poor
machine had any claim on their tender
ness. Every one would tell her, no doubt,
that her late employers had behaved
honorably, even generously, toward her,
and that she had no just ground for
complaint The yellow envelope she
held in her hand, which felt so
uncompromisingly hard and stiff, was
ample remuneration for her services.
Clara walked into the room which had
been turned into temporary chapelle
ardente, and almost violently she flung
down the wreath on to the bier; then,
without a glance at the little dead child,
she turned, and quickly ascending the
staircase, re-entered her chamber and set
about the preparations for her departure
with feverish haste.
She would not tarry day longer in this
great house where there was no room for
her, nor among these great people who
would have nothing more in common with
her, not even their grief Her pride had
been slow to wake up, but now, once
reused, it would not go to sleep again.
She felt as though every morsel she tasted
- ,,, ,Io1r N1,,
very roof which sheltered her were
heavy and oppressive. A few minutes
ago she would have been terrified at
the notion of having to take
journey of many hundred miles unpro-
tected, she who never yet in her life
had Travelled mile alone. But now she
had no room left for fear and was only
conscious of burning desire to be gone.
She made all her preparations with
breathless energy, and packed till late
into the night, having arranged to depart
at early dawn next morning.
When at last she rose to her feet, hav-
ing just locked the solitary trunk which
contained the whole of her not very eX-
tensive worldly possessions, it had struck
II o'clock
Clara contemplated her work with some
practical and experienced traveller Oh,
she felt quite equal to going all over the
world alone, without protection. She was
perfectly well able to take care of herself
and avoid all the usual accidents which
occur to timid or silly women. She took
some pleasure in reviewing all those I'M
pleasant possibilities which she meant to
avoid by her prudence and energy.
hn
pleasant of all the unpleasant contin-
gencies which usually suggest themselves
to timorous females. Unpleasant, GER
tainly, but then so easy to be avoided, if
only the unprotected female We're careful
not to step into the travelling compart-
ment occupied by the mysterious villain,
easy to be recognized by his coal black
beard and the false glitter of his dark eye,
even if the dagger did not happen to be
peeping out from under his cloak
nothing could in fact be simpler, and why
dirty ones boots by walking in the puddle
when there is dry road alongsideP
Secondly, there was robbery to be con-
sidered, not quite so easy to provide
against, since pickpockets, in particular,
she knew were in the habit of adopting
all sorts of strange DISCUSSES, without any
distinctive badge of their trade to mark
them. But here again, after half a
minutes reflection, the shrewd damsel
discovered an infallible antidote to this
evil. No one need really have their pocket
picked unless they pleased. You had
only to put your money-not in your
pocket, but somewhere else; and with a
smile of compassion for those impractical
people who allowed their pockets to be
picked, Clara put her hand into hers in
order to draw out the stiff yellow en-
velope containing her salary.
She had not thought of it since the mo-
ment Count Froloff had handed it over to
her, and was somewhat dismayed to find
her pocket empty. This was scarcely
promising beginning to the unprotected
journey. she must either have dropped
it in the gallery or left it below near the
little coffin.
1t was distasteful to Clara to have to
return to that room thus, in the dead of
night, but there was no other alternative;
so, taking a taper stand, she made the
best Of her way through the silent
passages, feeling rather like a thief bound
on some guilty errand.
The wax torches were still burning
brightly round the little Catafalque, and
nodding in one corner was a drowsy
domestic, who gazed at her with sleepy
incomprehension as she proceeded to ex-
anime the flowers on the coffin. Her
wreath lay half buried under newer and
fresher garlands, adorned with richer