The Cape Girardeau Democrat. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1876-1909, 1893-04-29
YELLOW CUSHION.
Its Contents Gave a Start to q
Foolish Couple.

IL was a sofa cOsnlnn OF 1adcd yellOV
silk. badly stained in half q dozer
places and clumsily ripped down one
edge. A handsome bull cabinet wa.
Its resting place and it stood in the
Smaller drawing-roon.
Everything else around was hand.
some and tasteful. the general scheme
of the coloTinS being a brownish red.
The bilious staring yellow of that
dilapidated cushion was the one incon.
gruOus spot and the eye was irresisti-
bly, drawn to it.
None of the family ever ven men,
toned the yellow sofa cushion, though
] often noticed one or other of them
would turn toward the buhl cabinet
and stare at IFS contents thoughtfully.
However. the tale came out at last
without my asking for it. I was dining
At the house one Christmas day, and
Hrv host lifted his glass and said:
My dear. in remembrance of the old
yellow cushion, the best Christmas box
ever had" and then the pair of
them drank the toast.
Nothing more was said then, but
afterward in the small drawing room
my hostess nodded toward the buhl
cabinet and asked if I knew the histo-
nv of its curious contents Isaid: No"
She seemed surprised
II thought Douglas (her husbandD
had told you the story years ago, but
as he hasn't I'll take upon myself to do
it now. II will be something to talk
about. and we old folks are often hard
put to it to find subjects for cOnversa-
ton.
Now, you always took us for rich
squatters from Australia, didn't you?
Perhaps, then, if you didn't know
you'll be surprised to hear that we had
another life before that, a life in the
whirl of society in London, n life as
different from the other as possibly
could be invented or even imagined.
we married very young, Douglas
and l.. lie was just of age and I vas
only eighteen when we set up house.
keeping on our own account, ard I'm
afraid we were both very. very brain
less. We'd got plenty of money, and
our one idea was to have as good a
time as possible.
1--WE went everywhere, did every
thing and lived in ducal magnificence.
The expenses we were let into were
something awful to contemplate and
our limited income went no way to
meet them; but to withdraw from the
scene was a thing which we we're far
too young and happy and foolish wen
to think of, so we kept on dipping into
the capital time after time only just
for this once
ut will complete the sum Of our
when I tell you that jew
elry was one of our greatest extrava-
gances Idoted on gems. and Douglas
loved to see me wear them: he said
that I set them off so well, and so they
a good investment, or something
witty. And we got more and
more hard up and had fewer and fewer
resources to draw upon; and yet we
gave small thought for the future then.
20 happy was our present
.'One morning a crash came. We
woke up to find out that my jewel box
mad been plundered. BY afternoon all
was ringing with the news of
he robbery. 1t was 10 odd in its de-
tails. Nothing but stones had been
aiken away. The gems had been
from the settings and the bat
cred goldwork left Uttered in an I'M
Idly heap.
Under the public attention which
Watched their efforts, the police au-
strained every nerve. They
searched the house for signs from cell
ar to garrett They watched suspicious
They had theories innumer-
IbIe. They confidently expected to
ay hands on the thief tomorrow
But nothing came of it. The daily
bulletins in the papers became shorter.
md at length ceased; and in . months
ime We ourselves had given up all
lope of seeing the jewels again. Torn
rom their settings they would be east
carried away and disposed of; and.
moreover. it vas probable that most
# them had been reground, so as to re-
love the faintest chance of Identifies
ion.
ITO any couple possessed of the least
Of sense the loss would have
,een a warning. but to us it seemed
MY a spur to new extravaganza
said life would be unendur-
bile without new jewelry, and /
greed with him So we started to re-
lace what had been lost. And, oh,
what fools, silly. silly fools we were!
: hats the use of repeating a tale of
urh foilics? We spent all, and then.
rise still. were owing money. There
!. q bankruptcy and a shameful sell
nc MP of our stock and sticks at the
'eginning Of the winter season.
Everything and everybody seemed
gainst n then At the sale things
re had given pounds for went for as !
,any pence; and the proceeds were all
Matched up by the creditors After il
relations wrote prim letters to say
nat they washed their hands of MS
douglas had been brought up to no
.ofession and knew no trade. We S
tell what to do. We were 4
enuiless; we were in despair; we {
ere unable 10 keep eve those humble j
so-roomed lodgings any longer. 1t /
n awful. !
Then Q curious note reached US,
in a struggling, scratchy hand. J
nd signed by the man who till recent. d
had been our butler. 1t was word !
| half in the third person, half in the
rst, and was SO painfully respectful Y
places that the sense was almost !
st The writer had taken a liberty, v
great liberty, but he could not help q
things had been going for I
ana months uaSt Be honAd ~ r