Democratic messenger., 1895-03-23
Cinderella'S
....Slipper.
BY POLLY KING.
BY POLLY KING.

home is tremendous even
in girls life; and Marion
Leslie's existence had been so narrow
ly bounded by the Southern tow
where her father had his parish tina
when she realized that she was reall,
going away from home, that she wa
going TO see New York and take par
in the wonderful city life, it seemed tC
her as momentous step as going t,
India or the Antipodes.
There was a large family of child
rem packed into the low rooms of tn,
rectory, and Marion, as the eldest, had
her hands almost too lull to give mucl
thought to dreams If now and theI
she had longed to see little more o
the world there was always some littl,
brother to be amused or some mend
ing TO do. and with her hands occu
pied her thoughts would soon come
back to a normal channel.
Mrs Leslie, who was Northern
woman, had kept in touch with sever
al Of the friends Of her girlhood by
monthly letters, the answers to which
were one Of the events Of the quiet
rectory life. Perhaps the most de-
lightl'ul Of these correspondents was a
Mrs. Harkness. n woman who had
married a rich New York merchant,
and who had daughter about Mar.
ions own age. Her letters were look
ed forward to; and you can imagine
the excitement that reigned IN Mar.
ions mind when her mother told her
that Mrs IIarkncss lad written for
her 10 come 10 New York and pay q
two months visit.
Marion's first feeling vas too iunul.
tu0ns 10 be- described her second was
that she must not think Of going, that
the expense of The journey wa- tar too
great. ani that she could not leave
her mother with the care Of alI the
children. Mrs. Irslic, however. soon
showed her that this feeling was very
wrong one, rising from ovcrco0scien.
tiOusDcs. and the rcctOry was sOot,
10 great wbirl Of cutting. sewing
and planning for Marion's modest
wardrobe. Everything was finally
finished. neat balEdozcn Of white
garments. u tailor. male dress. some
pretty morning frocks. aud. best oi
all. one evening drcss-ibe pale pink
silk 10 which Mp. Leslie had been
married years before. and which she
had put away lovingly, thinking 10
keep il 10 show her children and her
grandchildren. She felt that Marion
must have an evening dress, and she
brought out the wedding dress aud
spoke Of reiasbiOning il 50 calmly that
Marion could only guess at the sacri
flee that her mother was making for
her. There was an abundance of silk
in the full, old.fashioned skirt 10 make
a very modish gown according to
modern styles, and, with the aid OF
the fashion papers, which occasionally ly
found their way TO the rectory, they
made very charming evening gown
very simple it is true, but il fitted
well and hung well, and the bertha OF
old lace about the shoulders would
have carried off Il much worse gown
and adorned u much palmer face than
Marions.
Mrs. Leslie was more worried about
the details Of Marion's toilet than hen
daughter who was vet in ignorance oI
the enormous value OF shoes. glove.
handkerchiets and fans in Il we'll
dressed wonan's outfit. One of the
family treasures was Il little ivory fan
painted la Vatican, which had be
longed to some long dead Southern
beauty. The priceless treasure wa.
added to the girls scant collection oil
adornings. The question of pair OF
evening slippers seemed to be the only
one which it was possible to solve
adequately. There was pair ol
beautiful little bronze slippers in Il
shop in the town. but they were five
dollars, and the rector's narrow purse
had been stretched to the iurthest ex.
tent it seemed as though Marlon's
journey would have to be given up,
when an idea struck the girls mind
she said nothing to any one for fear OF
being unable TO carry out her plan.
Every spare moment she could get she
would ran oft to her room and work
away at Il mysterious something which
was wrapped carefully in q white
towel after many discouragements
and failures she finally appeared be-
fore her mother holding in her hand
the daintiest pair OF little pink silk
shoes she hal taken an old pair Of
slippers, and had covered them with
scraps OF silk like her dress the toes
were ornamented with big pink bows
and pair of old paste buckles. In
fact, they were as pretty and dainty
a pair of shoes as Il girl could desire
and it they did show on close inspec-
ton traces of their home manufacture
as Marion aud her mother agreed
who was going TO inspect them.
We will pass over Marion's arrival
in New York and the warm welcome
which Mrs. Ilarkne>s gave her. Mar.