New-York tribune., 1889-12-22


And on her tongue imperfect accents oe; oe5odvssev
II was only that she had been forgotteh-ouV
that was the hardest part OF all
II IL had been explained to the little nlne-yeaII-
old Josephine that from any cause soeNel sianu ar
papa had been unable to bestow his CUSTOMARY
birthday Ten reasonable SUasie child, and quite
equal 10 comprehending serious ques.lUhI5i q'dUI5
when properly set before Ca neil hir,,od %oSlT Ser
hlne eyes and acauiesced without murmur III
the dictum of Fate. But when Fate. IN the shape
of grandpapa dealt her sucn anee cLHsi Of memory
the blue ewes filled with tears ana teIIlpG
of desolation and perpleXty TOOK posseSSlon @ 70 70
the little girls soul. lnis halI-Sot n;her times
her the great event of the year Az oIneI uIlee or
sixpenccs and shillings-and these al iohg @ ihVci
vals-were tie largest sums of money wicn !oard ud
their way TO her tte wG4qen been SO regn
lar with his golden coin, his small recipient hau
not unnaturally learned to count upon H. among
the presents of the day.
IN the birthday with which our story opens
these presents had been exceptionally handsome
for So youthful parsonage In so poor lallliS
for the family was DOOR ana tne n"e LITTLE heart
had bounded with pleasure and gratitude uieie
mad been a cabinet elaboratey carved ana l coi
q folding sceeen-ikewise homemade ana very
carefully made-from another. But wnaU hau
reoiced the Young queen oi ihe gay @ sun b;t
than either had been a lovely piiik-ahu-"Ia
h.
~ fingers and those the dearest IN tne W0I19 " "
her She had absolutely screamed WIN uenTnr 1an
when Nancy had first unfolded the silver papef
in which was wrapped lIls 1"'0oo "
Nancy was not only Josephine's elder and only
sister-she stood toward her In the place Oh
mother for both had been lelt Ho'helloSS "U 'i'0
birth of the little one. III,
Josephine worshipped Nancy: no one was ilke
her prettv sprightly Nancy: no one couiu HlNchO
and surprise and achieve as Nancy coulu ho i o1e
oi,o fho n trouble
that Nancy would. To think of NancyS having
sat up night after night. when she. JoseN' hau @
gone TO bed and the noSS. 100; in III G,1e done inst
ali that fary-hke edging and trimming uohe ,, iueU
as finely and evenly as it ought to Oe. ana every
little turn and hem as nicely hlsneo hsr own U dresses ar
40 sha could Nancy could not have what she
liked in that way-it was but seldom she coulo
have a nice dress at all-but she was resolved lh@'
Josev's should be fit for any little princess
Ali NJ This Josev had cOmprehended 10 ner
hearts core and presently there had come 10 Ier
the resolution of making Nancy such return II loI
all those hemmings and stltchhgs. .noSt ~
;nqs and ruflings as should not only evlnce lhe
marmth of her gratitude, but should open heI
sisters ewes very wide indeed. For once she hau
meant to spend the whole of grandpapa GUS 0lhd'S
donation npon Nancy The brothers would un-
derstand; she would explain it to them ana ana
Nancy should be the delighted recipient 0l-sne
knew what Thereafter She had peei Oh ,d tiic oip
toe of excitement untn gI"nupdp" oi ~
come and gone. -, ,so1 holird his
bump of his stick gong down the steps outside;
small figure stood stocksti In the place where s,e
had said "Good-by," struggling TO repIesS the
workings of a rosy mouth that wo' III qulNer, anu
~ been large gathering water-drops from splash
ing over on to a cheek redder than III shOulI nav
been For Josephine. as we have SAID, had oeeh
forgotten. -
Never before had such thing happened; ihe
bright little piece Of gold had never once 1aled 10
maIe its annearance along with the "GOod-by
kiss and God bless you, my dear, as ltS donor
took his departure. Every birthday OF uhe pre-
ceding eight had seen the little old-1ashlohed one
horse carriage deposit the old gentleman IN time
for the midday birthday dinner OF his youngest
Crandchild, and as regularly bear HIM away Wnel
the meal was & over with bfiOTe Bii gI fetch him
his hat. stick and gloves, and then-see hlm pnIl
out his purse. 1t was netted green SIN
purse and so well did the little girl know what
was coming that from very shyness and con-
seriousness she would have been fam to run away
and hide herself at this juncture If she couid
have done so. But when all the uncomfortaDie
"Thank YOU" part of the affair was over, ana tle
front door shut, who so happy as the little girl
left within?
Thenceforth what ponderings and wonderlngs,
what delicious huggings of secret plots ana plans
what grand pretence OF there oelhg no,nlng In IN
the wind nothing whatever TO be mysterious, ana
important and responsible about! Of course
neither her father, nor ST. John, nor Edmuhd' nor h00[
yet Nancy could possibly know anything: vi
course they were perfectly overwhelmed with Joy
and amazement when Christmas mornlng-Whlch
Was exactly fortnight after Josephine S birthday
produced four parcels, one for each member OF tlie
family with Joseys love- Only 10 think that
those beautiful, those magnificent gifts had come
from little Josey And TO think, moreover, that
they should happen to be exactly the very things
that everybody wanted. and that nobody was able
10 get! To be sure, now they thought Of it. now
that Josey reminded them, St John did recollect
that he had let fall something about good
strong. knife; and Edmund had remarked that a
Nancy had allowed that certain
shop in the village had warm, lined gloves
wonderfully cheap, and that the aforementi9ned
clever Josephine had been to pick it all up!
And-most wonderful OF all wherever had she
ATTAINED the money? The fiction Of ignorance
ond mystifcation had been the triumph of the
whole.
Now. alas! it was to be poor Josey's bane
Crandnapa had only forgotten her. il is true but
terrible to reflect upon she nad heard people say
samorv was failing; so that even the sight OF
tbe coin still within the netted purse lshoud he
by chance come presently across H. isI could not be
sare. ,vas 10 be done? Conide her difficulty
and dilemma to any one she could not. She coult
M moro have sought for sympathy or advlce thar
sIa could have begged for the sum itself. She
s,bo had AT no time let fall the veriest hint of
SUGGESTION as 10 the source OF her annual riches
and her munificent benefactlons, who 1rmly be
i;eved that not human being in or about TN
niace had OWNED it, TO whom half its charm ha'
heen its mystery-to have now 10 tear away I'M
veil from the present and dispel the glamour
the past She could not 40 H.
And vet did not such disclosure stare her Il
,h face when she was left alone within the little
mali Ct had always been tacitly understood tina
Erandpap pa and Josey had their parting scene BY
.tbemselyes)-and when the carriage was already
driving away from the door, The present fol-
Nancy. too For bonny Nancy, who-the little
chubby fingers clutched themselves over the aim
Med nalm. as if hoping against hope 10 feel the
ssccnsfomed treasure within She had thought OF
snch q present for Nancy She had found out
land this time il had been really finding OUT that
Nancy was as much in trouble as her CHEEKY, buoy
ant nature permitted her TO be about triftes. on
The score of-what do you think Pa pair OF ball
shoes Nancy was going 10 a ball in a foftnights
time, and had shaken her head rueiuliy over the
old pair of white satin slippers which lay In a
corner Of the old wardrobe drawer OF what had