The record-union., 1895-04-09


while we hung upon the oracular words
Of wisdom he was about to give voice to
breathlessly. He was evidently not in a
hurry about it. for he gave prodigious
cough that caused me to jump, took off
his huge spectacles and carefully wiped
them on the exact left-hand corner of q
silk pocket handkerchief; when this was
done he replaced the handkerchief and
adjusted his glasses and spoke, and this
is what he said: "Change of air, my dear
sir, change of air is all the lady wants.
Good afternoon" took up his hat and dis
appeared.
Exactly a week later, in spite of my
feeble protests that l did not want TO
leave home. l was bundled off, bag and
baggage, To a certain city which is not
very far away from Portland, but where
one can get pure ozone. fresh from the
sea, which is the best tonic in the world
Tor building up damaged systems and re-
pairing shattered nerves.
did not have time to get lonesome.
Not only my old friends, but great
many new ones as we'll came to call on
me, and one day, when my card basket
was heaping full, [ started forth to return
the calls. had not been out very long,
when L began to notice that with one ac-
cord each and all of the women were
unanimous in their unconcealed dislike
OF certain Mrs. Savage-and right here
it might be said that j have met Mrs
Savage, and do not find her half as for
midable as her name would indicate. On
the contrary, found her to be a decidedly
good-looking woman, in rosy sort of q
Way-the way which suggests plenty OF
roast beef and good living, bat nothing
ethereal. Added to this was q loud voice
with slight provincial burr on the
''r's" and hearty ''hail fellow we'll met" :"
IL want to be friends with everybody"
/ ,1,rr 4
Savage should be tabooed. That there
must be some reason could not consist
emily be denied, and | resolved to get at
the bottom OF the mystery.
A woman IS not going to revile one OF
her own sex for no reason whatever, and
l will say this for them, that there is not
that man living who can as gracefully
and in as uncOncerped manner un-
sheath his talons and give vent to as long
and deep and sharp a scratch as can a
woman, especially when the victim of
her anlmosity is of her own sex.
Another thing, everyone is cogniZant
of the fact that woman will overlook
even giaring fault in a man, while for a
trivial reason they will ostracise one OF
their own sisters and knowing in which
direction the tide of disfayor was turned, /
do not hesitate to say that L took posi-
lively tiendish delight in calling upon
Mrs. Savage. and | gauged my time so
well that one-half the neighborhood
saw me go in and stay just twice as long as i
did at any ofthe other houses. Then | came
out again and made my final visitation.
l had purposely left this one for the last
because L did not consider it in the light
of the formal affairs 1 had been going
through with all afternoons; this was on
the order of a visit.
1 knew pd be invited to take off my
outdoor wraps, be seated before the fam
ing ire, given cup of tea and regaled
with the latest news. l was not disap-
pointed in my expectations. My little
friend, who, by the way, reminds me
more of George De Maurier's TriIby than
any girl Pve ever met, received me with
enthusiasm, and, while l was supping
my tea and luxuriously toasting myself
she told me the story of Mrs. Savage.
1t seems that the Savages had come out
from the East. Mr.. Savage had plenty
of money, but he worked to increase his
pile with good Western ducats. He built
u big house, in the SWEETEST part of town,
into which they moved and gave round
of entertainments. Mrs. Savage was
pretty and painstaking, with beauty ol
pronounced order which appeals more
strongly to men than to women, the lat
ter preierring something more delicately
subdued. Added to these physical
charms, Mrs. Savage was the possessor OF
and sweetness. With all these advantages
it was small wonder that ere long Mrs.
Savage became leader of the most ex-
elusive 400 set the city contained. For 3
time all went we'll, when it was whispered
low that Mr.. Savage was losing his
money; the people began to find fault
with the class of entertainment and
amusements furnished at the big house.
Then the women complained of her man
ner; they said she had a little way OF
hurting out unpleasant truths about peo-
pie which was not at all pleasant to the
people whom they concerned the most.
They one and all admitted that she might
| have said those things from pure good
heartedness, and had her husbands cash
pile been on the increase instead of just
| the opposite this little fault of hers would
have been smiled at and called one ot
dear Mrs. Savage's delightful eccentrici-
ties" But this fault, if fault it may be
called, of Mrs. Savage's was not over
looked-in fact, it was magnifed to such
an extent that as it rolled around from
tongue to tongue it lost all sem blance
of what 1t had been originally.
Whether Mrs. Savage heard the ru-
mors or not it is certain she did not heed
them, outwardly at least, for all during
that most trying time when she felt her
butterfly friends turning away from her
one by one not one word against any of
them passed her lips. Finally almost the
last one deserted her; she was alone now,
with no one but one or two friends who
still remained faithful. To a brainy,
clever woman this action on the part OF
her erstwhile friends, while it hurt
would not have wounded mortally and
she could and would have risen superior
to such petty actions. A clever woman
would have found compensation for the
tieeting transitory joys of society in her
! u VaG4.a T.at- hoo II. III
these things which appealed to the higher,
more spiritual part of ones nature.
But, unfortunately for herself, Mrs
Savage was not that sort of a woman.
She lived and breathed only for and in
society. The singing was subservient TO
1t, as was everything else-it was only a
means to obtain an end. Having OBJ
tanned that end and lost it, her singing
suffered and she gave it up. Had not a
feeling of pride restrained her, she would
have given up entirely and sunk under
the blow. AS 1t was, she wanders around
the big house gloomy and deserted, like
a restless, unhappy ghost. The end OF
the whole affair Is coming soon Her
husband IS going into the wiIds of new
and comparatively explored country
to try and retrieve his fortune, while
his wife, glad of any change which will
take her away from the scenes of her
former triumph, will accompany him.
and together they will start lie anew.
That is Mrs. Savage's story; that is the
secret of the animosity displayed against
her, and as l wended my way home |
thought it was much better to have one
or two good and sincere friends who
would stand by you through veal or
woe rather that the heeting, transito1y
friends one SO often finds in society's par
lors.
A good friend will rejoice with you in
your pleasures and sympathize with you
when aifliction or adversely overtakes
you. A good friend will be ready and
willing to help you without asking COM
pensation when you need help most. A
good friend will ever think of your COM
fort and do her best to please you in an