Waterbury evening Democrat., 1892-03-26
BARBARA'S CHANCES.
Her Decision In the Face Of a Great
Temptation.

Her Decision In the Face Of a Great
Temptation.
"What a selfish, heartless world this
isl'' murmured Barbara Blake to her
self, as she sat by the window, mend.
ing with deft, delicate stitches tho
holes in old Mrs. Dickinson's silk hose.
"Here 1 ON, girl Of eighteen to whom
gayety, amusement and sunshine would
seem as natural as the fall Of the dew:
yet I am cooped up In a gloomy, brown.
stone house, the mere shadow Of q
cross, exacting old woman. whose
wants are never satisfied. Companion,
indeedl' as she broke off the needleful
of silk floss with snap "I am any
thing but that Drudge, menial-ma-
chine, if you please-but nothing like
a companion. And all to earn q paltry
livingI Oh, dear, why cannot people
live on flowers and fresh air, as the
humming birds doP Why is it neces-
sary to toll so for bread to eat and
clothes to cover us? It does seem to-
me as if life were all fai1urer'
Ever since she had risen from her bed
that morning she had been at Mrs
Dickinson's beck and call
Mrs. Dickinson was not always in an
amiable mood There was hot water
to bring up for her bath-it must be
steaming from the kitchen, and the old
lady would trust no one but Barbara
to carry it, because, as she said, the
servants were so careless and spilled it
on tho stair carpets.
just then the door softly swung
open, Hnd in tripped bright, pretty
danasel of two or three and twenty, in
a coquettish fall hat trimmed with
scarlet peoples and bows Of cherry
velvet, and q beautiful jetted mantle.
''Clara!' cried Barbara, nearly upset
ting tho work basket in her surprise
and delight. GLOW came you herer'
''In spite of the edict: No followers
ol!owed?'" laughingly retortsd Clara
DcIdcn. ''My dear. ran tho blockade.
l bribed tho housemaid, and crept up
the stairs as softly as q mouse. Don't
be alarmed-the ogress is snoring with
forty-woman power"
GLOW beautifully you arc dressed.
Clarl" said Barbara, with admiring sur.
vey. 'You have got situation at
last?"
Clara nodded, and adjusted glitter
ing new silver bangle on her wrist
"a good one," said she, emphatically.
''l'm in the company of tho Cecelian
theater," explained Clara 'We are
supposed to be singers, but our voices
don't signify pin. The Cecelian takes
pride in its chorus being the
handsomest girls in town. And you
are pretty, Barbara, you know very
well-prettier than I am, if you would
only give yourself a chance. could
make o frst-class beauty of youl And
it's only the evenings, you see, with
an hour or so at morning rehearsal,
and q matinee once q week-and it's
such fun. There's one young man in
the audience who has thrown q bou-
quet to me every night for eight nights
running. And there are suppers and
breakfasts, and all that sort of thing"
Involuntarily Barbara drew back
But, Clara-is it right to-"
"Rightl Oh. you silly little goose,
why not2 There's Mrs. Dowdin, the
bandmaster's wife, to chaperon US,
isn't there2 And she's an old woman
of fifty. Oh, assure you, it's q very
select company indeed. Sixty dollars
month, and your salary raised if you
do well And when heard that there
was a vacancy, I thought Of you the
very first thing. / knew you had g
nice mezzo-soprano voice. but, as said
before, that don't matter SO much, as
long as you are so pretty. A brunette,
too-we have an overplus of blondes
already. And knew, also, that you
were only.gettinR fourteen dollars here
with an old martinez for q command
ing officer. Come, am not a good
friend to you?"
Still Barbara looked with question
ing eyes at the handsome, voluble girl
Could it be possible that this self-pos
sessed, beautifully -dressed woman was
Clara Belden, her classmate at school
and only m onth older than herse1f2
Sixty dollarsI Yes, it was kind o.
Clara-it would indeed pe ON outlet Of
escape from this wretched, grinding
bondage of her daily life. Sixty dol
lars, with suppers, bouquets, ndmira
ton unlimited Barbara drew hel
breath with o gasp. It seemed almost
too much to realize.
just then Mary. the housemaid, tip
toed into the room, with her finger or
her lips
miss Blake" said she, with side
long glance of admiration ut the SNOWY
visitor in her silks, bangles and ''breatt
of roses" ''the ould lady is afthel
walsin' up as cross as two sticks. An
she says you We forgot her morning
tonic and Bijou's collar Is too tight, anG
this way, miss. pl'aze," as Clara rose
Il