The Opelousas courier., 1889-11-02
CINDERELLA.

reverted to her favorite fairy tale, the one
she liked to read oftenest in those child
lsh days not so far away, for she was not,
yet seventeen, before her father filled her
dear dead mothers place with the over
wllelming presence of the Widow Hum
pheries, whose twin girls had quite
thrown Efie into the shade from the time,
that they entered the house.
~ should have been christened Cinder-l
ella" she used to say; "only I certainly
have no fairy god-mother, and no one
will ever change the rats, that frightenI
me so when / go down the kitchen stairs
in the dark, into horses, or one of thel
big pumpkins l am forever stewing forI
pies into a carriage; and certainly, GER
tainly, certainly the young prince will
never fall in love with me or one of my
shoes"
And then Efie would give the stout,
~serviceable boots, which her step-motherI
always bought a size too large for her, al
contemptuous look, which would have
withered their soles, had they been any,
thing more sensitive than leather and
prunella.
If Efie never said all this to any one but
herself, certainly not to her step-mother,
who, now that she was a widow once
more-for Efie's father had not lived
long after his second marriage-was
completely mistress of the house. Every
thing had been left to her and she had
her own ideas of Justice. She neither
abused nor illused Effie, but she had asoft
way of coercing her that was just as bad.
Melissa and Amanda, her two girls, were
older than Efie, and of this fact the
mother made good use. Efe was tjust
a child, "and she could wear calico dresses
and serViceable boots, while Melissa
and Amanda must have trained dresses
and dainty coverings for their feet.
Efie was SO young that she could "runI
of errands," yet Effie, being a mere girl,
needed sleep at nights and must retire
early; and as the young ladies sat up
later she must rise earlier than they and
help get breakfast. A wsoman was kept
to wash, and cook, and scrub, and Efie,
only had E'niee things, that a child should
learn to do" to attend to, said STEP
mamma; but the little hands were always
busy and the little feet tired, and, like
Cinderella, when there was nothing else
to do she had her sisters handsome
dresses to work upon.
1t was provoking, with nothing for
herself but her every day ~calicoes and
step-mamma's old brown silk, made short
and scanty, for Sundays church going.
it was only lately since it had seemed so
hard, though-only since Leslie Good
wood had come home from college, and
she had seen, as plainly as young eyes
do see these things, that he admired her,
even in the brown silk and Melissa's
last years hat, which was, in step-mam-
mas estimation s'quite good enough for
a mere ehild.n
Since then she had called herself Gin
derella oftener than before, and when at
last the Goodwoods gave an evening
party, and not only Mrs. Merwin and her
daughters were invited, but also Miss
Efie Mervin, in a little note addressed to
herself, she fairly rebelled as her STEP
mother expressed it to To her opinion
that she might take Amanda and Melissa,
but that "Efie could not really CO."
@Why not, l should like to know,
when I've an invitation?'n asked Efie.
aYou're not in society yet, DEAR" said
Mrs. Mervin, blandly; s'and it isn't good
for young girls to go out in the evening.
In a few years--n
in a few years the Goodwoods' party
will be over" said Efdie; s'and I want to
go SO much. Oh, do let mel"
my deari" cried Mrs. Mervin, 'sthere
are only three days to get ready in, and
you have no party DRESS
81 ought to have, = said Efie. stIt's q
shame
s'Dear mel" said Mrs. Mervin. GAS if
I didn't know better what you ought to
have than you.n
ssShe might alter my blue g~renandine
to fit herself. !" said Amanda.
And Effie gave o start, for the second
daughter Of the step-mother in Cinder-
ella, being more good-natured than her
sister, cried: aGive her one of my old
dressesln when the famous ball was in
question.
But though Mrs. Mervin did not cry
out frankly, as did the step-mother of
the fairy tale: my dear, the Kings SON
win be there she thought much the
same thing. She remembered Leslie
Goodwood-such a good match for any
one who was happy to catch him; and
she remembered also that Efie was much
prettier than her Melissa.
mo, my dears; mo- she said, with a
smile that she could always command at
will, and that gave her such q reputa-
ton as an amiable oma ssNo. chill.
dren 1 know what is best for young per
sons Efie will be a woman soon enough
and wish her childish days back again.
With which words she left the room to
dress herself for a shopping expedition,
for lace and flowers and ribbons and
dainty shoes, were needed for her girls,
even though they had handsome dresses
enough already for the Goodwoods'
party.
SO Efie was not to go. She was to
remain at home and sit up for the others.
And her little face was as long as il
well could be as she took her seat beside
the CRATE fire, and put her feet upon the
fender.
sOinderellal Cinderellai' she chsd
iaload. s'If ever there was a Cinderella
OF earth, it is /. I wish
tsWhat do you wish, my dear2'' said q
voice behind her; and EfRie turned hel
lead toward the door with q little
cream, and there stood d tiny little old
udY. not exactly In d red cloak. bull
certainly Id i red shawl, which nearly
covered her.