The true northerner., 1895-04-05


being unable To carry out her plan.
Every spare moment she could get she
would run off To her room and work
away at a mysterious something which
was wrapped care ully in a 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 had 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 girl could desire; and
II they did show on close inspection
traces of their home manufacturers
Marion and her mother agreed-who
was going to inspect them?
We will pass over Marion's arrival i'm
New York and the warm welcome
which Mrs. Hardness gave her Marion
was too well-bred To feel out of place in
the beautiful city house. although there
was much that excited her admiration
and surprise. In IA few days she felt
thoroughly at home, and she seemed
To have 50 many thoughts and tastes in
common with Mary Hardness that the
two girls bid fair To establish friend
shl p which would rival their mothers.
The dictator of New York society
was once heard to say that if girl was
sufficiently beautiful and had the
! proper people to introduce her, she
might go triumphaptly through the
season, an acknowledged belle though
she had not "A penny of her own and
but one evening gown to her back; and
he cited in support Of his theory sew
eral notable ladies, now millionairesscs
and members of titled English families,
who in their girlhood days could
heighten their charms with little more
than one black lace dress of genteel
poverty.
Marions rich, statuesque beauty, her
freshness and her perfect simplicity
made her favorite at once;
and although her appearance at
the horse show was scarcely
| greeted by that storm of APP
plause with which the popular
novelist is wont to announce the APP
pearance of his heroine as a rcigning
beauty, she did not pass unnoticed. AS
the winter festivities advanced Marion
felt that she was living in "a perfect
whirl of gayety, and the rectory
at home was kept on the qui ere of ex-
element over long letters concerning
her wonderful doings. Yet to many a
New York girl Mary and Marion
would have scarcely been going out at
all; for Mrs Hardness was judicious
woman, and would not allow them to
undertake six or seven engagements, as
SO many girls do all through the win
ter. Then there were district visiting
and sewing classes and other things To
be done during the morning, So that
Marion in many ways was quite as busy
with doing for oAhers as though she
were still at home.
When her visit was aboue half over
Mrs. Hardness only son Jack came
back from a trip abroad. Although
never much of "A society man he did
not seem averse to sharing the girls
pleasures. The night of the first
Patriarchs' ball came, to both of the
! girls an important one. as being their
first ball Mrs. Hardness. with ready
kindness, was anxious to provide Mar
ion with beautiful new toilet as hand
some as her own a.. lighters; but it had
been Mrs Leslie one stipula tion that
Marion should ac-ept nothing more
than the love ar l-indness thatanade
her visit So dcligltfll.
There was a pany, such pang in
Marion's heart VIXEN she saw Mary's
beautiful tulle dress; her own silk
seemed old and shabby, and the little
pink shoes she had been SO proud of at
home seemed shapeless and ugly beside
the tiny white ones that her friend
wore She stifled her covetous long
ings very qui cl,ly, however, and, took
herself we'll to task for finding one
thing amiss when she had so much;
and by the time they reached Sherry's
she had quite forgotten all her bad
feelings, and her face was bright with
anticipation OF the pleasure before her.
When the Hardness party entered
the ballroom Marion was observed
from every side; there were plenty of
tulle dresses and plenty of pretty girls
there, but Marion's beauty was of such
a rema rkable style and was so height
ened by the rich simplicity of her
gown that she soon found herself sur
rounded by court of admirers, and,
indeed, had the greatest difficulty in
saving the two dances which she had
promised Jack Hardness
How late it was in the morning be-
fore they returned home I will not say
city people keep very strange hours;
and Marion was terribly shocked to
6nd how late--or shall | say, how
early-it was. 1t took her some time
to get over her excitement sufficiently
to go to sleep, and it seemed as though
she had scarcely closed her eyes when
she awoke 70 find the sunshine stream
ing into her room and Mrs. Hardness
standing beside her bed. She folded
Marion tenderly in her motherly arms;
there was something so gentle in her
voice that the girl felt at once that
something was wrong.
We will draw veil over the next
few minutes-the saddest and most
terrible of the girl'slife. A telegram had
come the evening before while they were