The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-01-27
AN AL-FRESCO FLORIST,
By JOHN STRANGE WINTER.
Author OF ..Bootles' Baby Beautiful jim" etc.
Copyr.ghted. 1873. BY John sta .s- WINTER.

her sit quite stiil and listen listen with
all her ears. for 90 was the sound Of
her own name. spoken ia anything but
friendly vOice-thOugh IL was the voice Of
"a friend.
"a See Mrs. George haas gOt another
new gown. the voice said. in very tart
accents. ] don't know what she means
10 come 10. George Greville's income cam
not possibly stand the lengths she goes to.
As IL she need have get another new
white gown. just al the end Of the sea-
son. too"
Who have they been 10 mourning for:"
lir second voice inquired.
"Oh. for ana aunt of hers. I believe"
said the tIst speaker. They do say
that she expected to set money from her
aud that she has not left her a single
ha'pcnny. think 30 serves people very
well right. ] never can stand people
Who are waiting for dead mems shoes"
Nor g.. " reioiued the other.
"a wonder what they viii 10 now Jack
tells me that George Grrtille cannot pos
sibly hang on more than few days
longer. Ia fact, he heard yesterday that be-
had made definite ARRANGEMENTS for hand
Ing over the business 10 other hands"
You don't say SO, Wen, ! had no idea
things were so near to smash as that
! wonder how she viii like that"
Not al all, ] should think returned
the other placidly. Now We shall bee
able 10 see now iuutu Mfs. George HOpN-
larity Is worth"
At this Mrs George. from the shelter
Of her leafy screen. nodded her head ana
smiled saurcallv. But she never thought
Of moving or OF betraying her presence
by the slightest sound. And the two on
the other side Of the TAN palms chatted
enjoyable on.
"Of course" said the lady who had
spoken first of all-her name by the way,
sArFg N.rF Ia h..
worst Of knowing city peoplc-they are
always In the way of going smash; and
then one never knows what to do after
wards"
What shall you do?" asked the other
one. You've always been SO friendly
not TO say intimate, with her"
"Oh dear, no; that is quite a mistake"
Mrs. Verify exclaimed, In a righteous
tone she may have given you To under
stand so'-at which Mrs. George shook
her head az If she would shake It Of
but you never heard me say so. | know
her. of course, as one knows dozens Of
people whose houses one goes TO, but
nothing more than that-nothing, / as
sure YOU"
"Oh. really. You don't say So | quite
thought you and she were bosom friends.
/ quite thought so. Then. of course, II you
have only been acquaintance. IL will be
easy enough for you. Otherwise il really
is horrid when ones friends come to grief
they're always so terribly touchy. And
one offends them by next to nothing"
quite so. quite So" rejoined Mrs.
Verify. well, | must be going. | only
hope Mrs. George will have the decency
to fade away without making it too hard
for her friends. And | must say I'm sorry
for her dressmaker. They tell me she owes
her at least six hundred pounds"
Shocking" cried the other. II really
don't know how woman can go on spend
ing money at that rate. OF course every
one knows that the Grevilles have been In
difficulty and debt for years. / cannot tell
how such people get trusted TO such an
extent. 1 know l cannot Why, as a mat
ter of fact. ! owe Madame Ike hundred
and fifty. and. to Judge by the fuss she
| makes, you might think that / owed her
a couple of thousand"
"Oh. find dressmakers simply rapacious
and they care no more for the benefits they
have got out of you than a bird would
care for the crumbs you throw out of the
window on a snowy morning. If you hap
pen to be a little behind they don't care
how they worry you or inconvenience YOU
In fact, | believe they always make up a
big bill, which must be met within three
days"
"Of course, they do make n good many
bad debts, put In the other in modified
tone.
"Ah. yes, Ike Mrs. George" responded
Mrs Verify catching at the idea And
I must say 1t does seem hard that Won
and should have to pay for Mrs. George
hnery."
"Oh, yes, cruelty hard. declare never
looked at in that light before"
Then the two ladies' got up and walked
away, and Mrs. George, after waiting a
minute or so, slowly followed them, lust
in time to meet Mrs. Verify leaving the
| drawing room. after saying goodbye"
to their hostess
Just gong?" she asked in quite her
usual friendly tones. Mice party this
afternoon, wasn't it?'
Perfectly delightful" replied Mrs.
George. promptly. Il don't know when
I've enjoyed myself so much.
All, you always do enjoy everything so
utterly" said Mrs. Verify. as If she was
not capable of enjoying anything.
Mrs. George at once became in a meas
ure ribald.
why not?" she said. Then looked
straight at the other and quoted Let us
eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. -
and laughed wickedly at her friend
shocked face as she passed on.
They say that a woman cannot keep a
secret; but some women can, and Mrs.
| George was one of them. Not one single
word did she say to her husband about
the conversation which she had over
| heard, but she did say to him the next
| day in a casual kind of a way Il say.
| George, dear. If / do something very mad
| during the next few days, Will you alb
/ solve me2"
! why, of course. But. tell me, what are
/ you going to do?"
mo, no; that's my secret" she cried.
| with a laugh "Ill tell you this much.
| though; / am not very sure about the sin
cerity of some of our dearest friends. and
! I've got a little scheme in my head by
/ which think l can find out exactly the
| worth OF most of them"
/ well. my dearest, you must do as YOU
! like about that?' George Greviue an
swered. fondly. "But, at the same time.
! | must say that if ever a woman deserved
/ 10 have true and staunch friends, that
one is yourself for heaven knows. YOU
always think of them first and yourself
! last"
But the one does not always mean the
! other, George she replied, with some
! thing like tears twinkling i'm her eyes
For a few days nothing happened, ex-
! cepting that a rumor crept out to the
| effect that George Greville's business,
/ had actually changed hands, and that
now he might legally write gentleman
! after his name.
Stnl. there was no dehnite news of the
/ Grevilles having personally come to grief