Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1890-07-18
BARBARA'S CHANGES.

hlrs. DICKINSON S black silk hose. UlIcrc
am, girl of eighteen, to whom gaicty
and amusement and sunshine would seem
as natural rs the fall of dew, vet 1 am
coopcd up i'll gloomy, brownstone-
house, the mere shadow of cross, exact
ing old woman, whose wants are never
satisfied.
"Companion, indccd!" rs she broke Off
the needleful of silk floss with snap.
II am anything but that. Drudge,
mountaineering, if you please-but
nothing like companion. And all 30
earn paltry living. Oh, dear! why can
not people live on flowers and fresh air.
as the humming- birds do? Why is it
necessary to toll so for bread to eat and
clothes to cover us2 1t does seem to me
as If life were all failurc''
Ever since she had risen from her bed
that morning she had been ut Mrs. Dick
Ins0n's beck and call
Mrs. Dickinson was not ALWAYS in an
amiabl mood. There was hot water to
bring up for her bath; it must be steam
ing from the kitchen, and the old lady
would trust no one but Barbara to carry
1t, because, rs she said, the servants were
so careless and spilled it on the stair
carpets.
There was her stiff gray hair to be
brushed and curlcd, her tea to be made
anu her toast to be toasted after an exact
pattern; the two chapters in the Bible to
DC read; the newspaper to be skinned
thronSh-and woe bctidc Barbara if
there was paragraph left out or Il
sensational item omitted; the two
poodles to be washed and ribboncd: the
Invalid chair TO be wheeled up and down
the length of the two parlors exactly one
hundred times; and when ut last she had
played Mrs. Dickinson to sleep with the
It old Scotch piano tunes that she liked,
there we're the old lady's caps to be done
up, her dainty silk stockings and mitts to
be cared for and thousand petty
occupations besides which Bariar,
Thought might just as well be delegated
to the hands of Mary, the honse-maid.
"She can stand ut the area gate with
pink ribbons i'll her cap, and tlirt with
the pustman and the butchers man."
thought Barbara, bitterly. az have no
leisure for even such rclaxations rs that.
And her wages can be sent home to her
mother in Ireland, while my mcayrc
salary scarcely more than hIary's in
actual dollars and cents-don't suffice to
keep me clothed up to my position, let
alone the possibility of laying by any
thing. And when hint at an increase
: of salary, Mrs. Dickinson wonders if
think she is made oil money, and asks
what more can want than such Il home
as this. believe Eugene Dickinson In
pretty flush lighted up her ordi.
narliy pale check as the thought
crossed her mind) ''would have
asked me to so TO the Casino con
cert with him last night if Mrs Dicl;in-
son had not said so Grossly that she
didn't believe i'll young girls being ont
so late nights. Oh, dear. what is the
use OF being IL young girl ut all?"
Just then the door softly swung open,
and in tripped bright, pretty damscl of
two or Internationally, in coquettish
fall hat trimmed with scarlet poppies
and bows of cherry velvet, ana beauti-
full jettcl mantle
''Cara!' cried Barbara, nearly up
setting the worS-basSet in her surprise
and delight. elbow came Won herc2"
SIN spite of the edict no followers
'allowcl!" laughingly rctortad Clara
Bcldcn. ''AIy dear, ran the blockade.
bribcd the honscmaid, and crcpt up
the stairs as softly as Il mouse Don't
be alarmed-thc ogrcss is snoring with
forty-wom:n power"
elbow beautifully you are dressed,
Clara" said Barbara, with atlmring sur.
vcy. "Iou have got situation at
last?'
Clara nodded and adjusted glitter
ing new silver bangle Oh her wrist.
ga good one" said she, emphatically.
"But how flushed you are, Clara! Are
you sure you are quite wcll2" persisted
Barbara. "And how strangely Your
eyes shine!"
Clara gigglcd and leaned forward to
look at herself in the plush framed glass
ppposite.
-''You are too innocent for anything,
Barbara said she. ''Every one does it
nowadays. It's Breath of Roses Per.
haps I've touched tup little too strong
to-day. And the eyes-it's the least
teenty line of bclladonna. 1t brings out
the sparkle, don't you see? Don't look
so shocked, child; we all have to make
the most of ourselves she added, with
superior smile. "lsn't it stylisha But
as l said, I'm getting sixty dollars
month, and almost nothing to do but to
dress and look pretty. And you can
do the same, you poor. pale, blcachcd-
out little thing, if you choosc!"
81 don't understand you, Claram
"1'm in the company of the Cecilian
Theatre" explained Clara awe are
supposed to be singers, but our voices
don't signify pin. The Ceclian takes
pride in its chorus beng the handsomest
girls in town. And you are pretty Bar
bara, you know very well-prctticr than
am, if you would only give yourself a
chance. could make tirst-cass beauty
of you! And it's only the evenings, YOU
see, with an hour or so at morning re-
hcarsal, and a matinee once II weck-and
it's such fun. There's one young man in
the audience who has thrown bouquet
to me every night Tor eight nights run
ming. And there are suppers and break
faetc and oil fhof cnrf nf tb;,o.