The Lafayette gazette., 1894-05-26
ELEANOR'S TRIUMPH.
A. Profitable I.esa0n for Many
: Young Graduates.


"a carriage, and, white satsa slippers,
pea rl-colored kid gloves aboxe eaas ell
bow, fan and bouquct-1 must have
all those. mother, if am to be gradu-
nted with the other girls The gown
won't be such n dreadful expense, for
my last summers cashmere can be made
over, if can get few yards of surah,
and Aunt Millics old point will come
in splendidly for trimming. But" and
pretty Eleanor heaved n deep sigh, II
must have a sash, an elegant one, Of
broad white MORE; fifty dollars would
n about cover tho whole expense, moth
err
Neither lifted a. tired face from her
sewing. Eleanor was too self-absorbed
to notice it, but mother was looking i'll
as well as tired. She had been under
great strain lately, and this dear
young daughter was now bringing her
weight to add to the burden. How
blind Il girls eyes can sometimes be!
'Mothcr," said Eleanor, pleadingly,
lyon will manage it somehow, won't
you, dcar?"
All through her eighteen years Flea
nor had been used to seeing mother
cont-ivc to bring order out OF con-
fusion, straighten tangled slseins, per-
form what looked almost impossible.
That there might be limit to mothers
ability in this direction, tho girl did
not dream.
II asked father last evening if he
would ill my order for any reasonable
amount" Eleanor proceeded, 'nnd he
laughed and told me to go to you,
mother. lie said: OF course l want
my little girl to look nice the
others, after she has worked SO hard.'
And. mother. you know in the autumn
I'll be suro to have Il position myself,
and money will be coming in then
every month, SO that l can pay you
back
Still mother was silent. An inscru-
table expression, hardening aud aging
the quiet face. had stolen over it a the
ulluaion to father, tho casy-Going,
cniablc, impecrnious mar, whom
everybody loved. and~ whose children.
thanks to his wifc's tact, did not sus-
Pect his weakness. He always left it
TO mother to say no. She must always
q" the denying and rcproving
"a conflict was going on in the mothers
ri.iiis. S"ch q conflict as only mothers
similarly situated eau understand. To
deny Eleanor. at the culmina ton of her
school career, the pretty dress and the
other luxurious indulgences which her
class were to have, was icexpressibly
painful Iut never had it. been so diff
cult to CRAFTY her, for never had need
full wants SO hcaped themselves up.
And the load Of debt in tho background
had never pressed SO heavily. MIR. Hyl-
toms business was huctuating one at
best; returns were slow and often every
csnt was anticipated before it came.
There was the interest on the loan n
rich cousin had made, there was tho
fire insurance to be renewed, the boys
were too large to wear homemade
clothes, evolved from cast-off suits of
their fathers, and they had to bc fitted
out anew. And now, when mother was
harasscd half to death, to have Eleanor
SO s!yeetly end naivcly present her pc
tition OF wants, it was more than tho
poor wearicd woman could endure.
She almost gasped for breath as
Eleanor went screnely
"A carriage, n fan, white satin shoes,
long, pcarl-colored gloves, u bouquct!'
The items licked themselves off in the
mothers mind, rs she desperately Won
dcrcd how they WSre to be gotten hon
estly. They seemed such must-haves
to the child that it Gid not occur to her
tOs ay no at once. For little while
there was silence, and please,
mother!'' began Eleanor again.
But she went no further, for Il very
alarming thing took place; mo other had
quietly tainted away. Nothing more
could be said on the subject that day.
"Elcanor Hylton,' exclaimed Puss,
her younger sister, as that evening.
late, the two were preparing for bed,
II don't know whether you have no.
ticcd it, but mother is just dying by
inches Of worry over money. We all
go to her; and she wears herself out
trying to satisfy our demands, wrctchcs
that we arc. Common sense, to say
nothing of love, shows that we must
stop spending, if wN arc to keep our
mother. Father doesn't SEQ it, but
do. Arc nobody e1=e's eyes to be opened
in ti1nc?''
''How is it that you know SO much
more than the rest of us, Puss?'' Quer-
led Eleanor ironically.
Puss Hyltcn was fifteen, and a Grip
pie. She had stayed at home for tho
last year, studying by herself with Il lit
tic help from Eleanor, and sharing
more of her mothers life than the 9TH
ers. Bit by bit she had penetrated the
secret of the pinchinS economy in some
details, Offset by the lavishness in 9TH
ers. Little by little it had cSme homo
to her that things could not go on at
their present pace.
Eleanor" she said. "there is nobody
else to whom we CAP go for q loan, and
the butcher looks cross when he sends
in his bill. Dan goes around three
squares, sooner than pass the grocer's,
hos SO ashamed that we owe for tho
last barrel of -four. And now your
graduation is coming to finish tho work.
If l were You, dear, I would wear my
old gown just Us it is, and my old shoes.
and walk to school; but I'd get my
diplon,,, and take it with independ-
snce. pct feeling like a sham and .