The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1895-11-29

despised ~andsdetested by the servants,
who did not spare her many an In
suit. Even ELI, Who a not a bad
Heart, tried to insinuate herself into
ssMademoiselle's' good graces by her
rough treatment OF .s.the little donkey
driver" as she took the liberty Of call
ing her. Indeed, In the part Of the
palace where .'Mademoiselle" reigned
supreme, Tiomane was treated as a
servant. ELI loaded her with mental
work. while .Mademoiselle,', during
study hours, did not hesitate to inter
rupt her, on the most frivolous pre-
lenses, and Martha, following the bad
example of her seniors, considered her
merely a little slave, created to minis
ter to her caprices.
The little girls always dined alone in
a room adjoining the classroom. Made
moiselle Pascale presided at dinner. To
Tiomane this meal was an agony. At
breakfast, in the presence of Monsieur
n Madame de Sorgnes, the governess,
much too polite to show her malice to
her ~kind-hearted employers, confined
herself to a. affected Indifference, not
failing. however, to make the many
mistakes Of the little peasant girl as
conspicuous as possible; but in the
evening she vented all her spleen on her
defenseless pupil. Whatever she did,
Tiomane received the most severe re-
Dukes; her silence was hypocrisy, and
when she spoke, it was only to utter
an absurdity. Added to this, the.
amiable Frenchwoman never wearied
of %ridiculing her pupils personal APP.
pearance, her copper-colored skin, her
retrousse upper lip, her provincial man
nerS. Martha, unintentionally cruel,
laughed at these bitter thrusts, bitter
and cutting as only a woman's can be.
While Tiomane's heart swelled with in.
dignation n sorrow, with hat senti-
ment of strict justice peculiar to chill
dren unspoiled by the world, she recog-
nized the truth of the reproaches
launched at her ignorance, her awk-
Wardness, and her accent, at. the same
time that she found it quite natural
that h should take, in this opulent
mansion, the place.. and perform the
mental Offices, of a servant, just as she
had donein the rude hoyel of the fisher
mar in Picardy.
But there Pere Jeans harsh words
were often softened by a kind look or
smile from his wife, and, above all, by
h caresses of the little children, who
adored her. Here no. one loved her.
Her beautiful benefactreSs grew more
and more Indifferent, and the consul,
though always just and eve indulgent,.
frightened her-he was so grand.
Martha, whom she could have loved
as a sister, kept her at a distance by
the imposing airs which she assumed
and the willy governess tool good care
to allow no intimacy between her
pupils. Even the visitors to the pal
ace made the humble little stranger
feel the marked inferiority of her con-
dition, for they did not ~condescend to
notice her at all, while Martha was
treated like a little queen.
Even the girls of her own age who
came to visit the consul's daughter
were either quite Indifferent or openly
insulting to n whom they considered
immeasurably beneath them. And the
lonely little girl thought sadly Of the
glad shouts of welcome which always
greeted her appearance on the beach at
Berck; h affection of her humble COM
panions, as poor as herself; the atmos-
phere Of love in which she had lived in
the fsherman's hut, and, trained as
she had been in the school of adversely,
she compared the past with the present
and regretted it. Happiness was in the
past-in the poverty of the rude home
she had left; the luxury Of the ~consul's
palace was dearly bought at the price
of daily, hourly insults.
Nevertheless, childhood has in itself
such a we'll spring of JOY and hope,
such happiness in mere existence, that
this sad life was not without an occa-
sional CLEAN of sunshine. Sometimes
the little girls accompanied Madame de
Sorgnes in her afternoon drive to the
Jardin. Then the fairy godmother, de-
lighted al having an opportunity of
displaying her Partisan toilettes, was
quite amiable, and Tiomane sometimes
had an encouraging smile or a kind
word, which made her happy for days.
Sometimes, too, the consuIs barge took
the little girls, under the care of Kifos
and Eli, for a sail On the enchanting
bay. Tiomane had not lost her love
of the sea, and, besides, the absence OF
her dreaded g~overness was such a re
lief. At other times, always unde the
care of the two Greek servants, they
went to the Bezestein (the Turkish
quarter), and how enjoyable were these
visits to the narrow streets, with theil
picturesque bazaars filled with the
richest productions of the orient. But
what she enjoyed more than anything
else was her walks in the spacious gar.
dens Of the consulate, for her vigorous
nature delighted in exercise. While
delicate, petted Maritza, following the
example Of her INDECENT mamma, was
carried in a sedan chair, her robus,
companion enjoyed running about il
the gardens under the orange trees
Il No. ~ ~ a,xl III ~ Jt1x13 - - -. -. $500