The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1891-07-29


which the different strata OF society are
held in their appropriate places. To snub
the right people, at the right time, in the
right place and in the right way Is all that
Is necessary In these days to maintain that
social position in which either birth OF
chance has placed you
Now, from the first day OF her appear
ance at her new school Rhoda Hamerton
was "snubbed." Even the teachers
neglected her. anxious, as they were, to re-
tain the good will OF the young women in
| their charge who belonged to the "oid
! families" OF the town. That she was
handsome, docile. clever, counted for moth
| Ing. In fact, her superiority as scholar
| only increased the unfriendliness that sur
rounded her, for jealousy was soon added
TO the feelings OF resentment that intiu-
enced her classmates. Who was this
| stranger who never Numbered, who could
speak French with a perfect accent. who
played classic music with the hand of a
| master, who moved with the grace and dig
nifty of queen and whose patrician fea-
| lures grew ever more charming as the
months went by2 Hamerton? Not bad
name, indeed. but one unknown to the
township. And then again, 1t might be as
sumed. At all events it was not safe to be
too Intimate with people who gave no ac-
count Of themselves and who did not even
tell whence they came.
Those were very unhappy years TO ffhoda,
and they changed her from bright. hope-
full, sweet-tempered girl into an ambitious,
jealous, emblttered young woman, dis
trustful Of others, self-reliant, restless.
She had measured herself with her con-
temporaries and had proved her superior
ity. Still she had no place In the social
life around her, no recognition from the
naughty descendants OF those righteous
immigrants who rejoiced that hell WAS hot
and gloried la the death-agonies OF q
charred and smoking witch.
Alice Inman had been one OF Rhodass
school-mates. Though few years
younger than the stranger, she had been
the only girl in the school who had made
the slightest advance toward the new
conner. About week after Rhoda's adj
mittance Alice had approached her desk at
recess. and, taking the new pupils hand,
had said:
Il fear you are not happy here. You
| look sad"
The tears came into Rhoda's eyes, her
f, pale checks flushed; then, as II ashamed
of her emotion, she withdrew her hand and
answered coldly:
Thank you; am very well content"
| An awkwark silence ensued. Before it
was broken, the recess came to an end and
| Alice Inman returned TO her seat And
never again, though the warp and wool of
their lives were strangely interviewer, did
these two women exchange words Better,
perhaps, had it been for both II the friend.
| ship then offered and rejected had been al
| lowed to flourish.
After her graduation Rhoda had led a
life OF seclusion, devoting her time to her
books, her music and her mother Mrs.
Hamerton, whose lungs we're not strong,
had been unable to withstand the treach-
cries OF New England climate and had
gradually become confirmed invalid
1t was at this time that Augustus Barr
rising young lawyer, in good stand
ing both professionally and socially had
fallen In love with Rhoda. He had seen
ner at church one morning, and from that
hour his sole ambition had been to make
her acquaintance and win her regard.
Being wealthy, handsome and perseyering
he had been successful In all this and had
finally made her his wife. Thus had
Rhoda's unpopularity In the community
been increased, for Augustus Barr, scion
OF an old colonial family had been one OF
the few really eligible young men In town
not over-stocked with marriageable bach
elors.
We need not dwell long upon Rhodas
married life. Her husband, madly infatu.
ated with her, had determined to place her
In that social position to which her beauty.
her accomplishments and her new naine en-
titled her. Hardly, however, had he taken
the first successful steps toward this end
than he siekened and died.
With that regard for the welfare OF the
community that had actuated their ances-
tIanv
gossips' OF the town whispered that Rhoda
Barr had exercised an evil influence over
her unhappy spouse, that she had coveted
his money and that in some mysterious
way she had been responsible for his
death. Thus 1t was that as widow she
was Stunned even moro thoroughly than
she had been as a schoolgirl.
Imagine the influence OF all this ON
highly sensitive temperament Is II
strange that Rhoda Barr lost faith in all
things; that she longed for some excite.
ment that would allay for time the bitter
pain that wrung her hearth
1t was nearly year after her husbands
death that she first appeared In public.
One evening In early spring when her
mother was feeling unusually we'll Rhoda
had persuaded her to attend a concert at
the opera house. Attired In deep MOURN
ing, Itilefou only Dy Duncn OF tVlOletS,
Mrs. Barr attracted instant attention as
she and her mother entered the crowded
auditorium. The best people OF tho city
were present." as the newspapers an
nounced the next morning, and the buzz OF
malicious tongues followed the arrival OF
the lamented lawyers wife.
Harlan Otis and three fellow collegians
occupied a box near the stage. Our hero,
who was then In his sophomore year, had
often heard OF Rhoda Barr, but had never
seen her As he gazed at her that night 1t
seemed to him that hc had not lived before.
The awful power OF beauty was revealed to
him and his poetic temperament thrilled
with q new sense, a mingled feeling OF hopo
and ecstasy,
Do you see that woman in black there,
old manw he whispered to Arnold. late In
the evening.
Eyes. 1t is Mrs. Barr"
'Well Jack, love her; and, before q
year has passed shall make her love me"
Arnold smiled at the boyish confidence
his chum expressed. He did not seem to
realize that with the nature of the poet IL
oftnn combined the mysterious power Of
the clairvoyant.
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