The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-08-23

/ her even though she didn't understand il.
| He never spoke a kind word TO her; in
I fact. he scarcely spoke to her at all ex-
| cept when ne commented in sarcastic tones
/ upon her ugliness as he called II. Uglys
| No one could have called her ugly. She
/ was very small and pale and delicate, like
/ a little fragile flower that fades If hot
/ wind fans il, but she was beautiful, and
/ it was only his wickedness that failed 10
find her beauty in her pure little angel
/ face"
Joan's voice failed her here, and great
/ tears fill her eyes.
Don't speak of these things. dear" 1
/ said, IF it hurts you"
/ 1T does not hurt me as you mean, Beat
rice" she answered. Il ike to speak of
/ her. About a week after the funeral my
| father came back.
a. 1 wish to confer with you, JOAN he
said. about the arrangements which I
! have seen fit to make with regard to you
| and your sisters future. 1 cannot afford
| TO keep up this house as I have done up
| to the present. / have had to make great
| sacrifices from time to time in order to
satisfy your mothers fancies and keep up
an expensive establishment ON her ac-
count. But now, of course, things will be
| different.
"'Are we to live with you them?
asked, with a shudder at the idea Of what
that life would be to Gladys.
My father smiled calmly.
! What put such an extraordinary no
! ton into your head as thatY' he asked.
| Such a course of action must be clearly
| out of the question. ] shall live in Lon
don as I have done up to the present. You
| and your sister will reside with some very
| excellent people. living in Shepherds
| Bush, who have been most strongly re-
| commended to me by a lady friend, upon
whose good judgment l can rely implicit
ly.'
Have you seen these people?' I asked,
| &" Not al present. was the answer But
shall see Mr. Stackwell tomorrow, and
arrange finally with him. You will, ac-
cording to present Arrangements, leave
here next Thursday, exactly a week from
to-day, and go to your new home. This
is the address.
He handed me a visiting card, on which
was printed in embossed letters:
Mr.. and Mrs. James Stackwell,
The Firs,
COnnaught Terrace,
Shepherds Bush.
There was not much to be gathered
from the address, as 1 had never been to
London and did not know the difference
between Shepherds Bush and Mayfair, so
l simply read the card in silence and wait
ed for further information. Ny father
continued by telling me that We must be
prepared to part with our governess, by
| whom alone, I must add, I had been edu-
Gated entirely, and that he would make
arrangements for Gladys to attend the
nearest respectable day school in the
neighborhood of our new home.
Gladys at a day school, father?' 1
queried Why, she would never stand it.
She is so little and delicate; she
You must permit me to judge, Joan,
he answered. There is a great deal Of the
"malade imaginaire' about your sister
l am not rich enough to indulge my daugh-
ters. Gladys, no doubt, will be quite as
strong as you are yourself after some
weeks Of a healthy existence. Your moth
er thought she required the same amount
of coddlng and medicine in which l know
she INDUCED herself. i cannot afford to
bring up my daughter in the same way
Then he made a few remarks relative
to our clothes, etc. I shall make you an
allowance, he said, of thirty pounds per
annum. Out of this you viii pay for your
wardrobe, washing, travelling, amuse-
ment and other incidental expenses. For
the present / will provide for your sisters
requirements
LAS had never paid for my own clothes,
1 did not realize what such things cost, or
whether the $50 allowance was a generous
settlement or not. Girls with good moth
ers do not have very much experience in
matters of this sort before they are IS.
So / made no comment on his remarks,
and them to my great relief, he departed
again.
"Gladys and I spent our last week in the
old home in going round to all the people
who had known US all our lives, or at
least all my sisters life. They were chiefly
poor but they all pressed little parting
gifts on our acceptance, and sent US away
with the good wishes which come so hon
estly from people in their class of life;
and so the week went by, and the day
came to leave for Shepherds Bush.
babe goodbye to our old governess, who
shed tears over US BOTH and to our few
domestics and then we started, Gladys
and l.
MY father met us in London, and con-
veyed us to our new home himself.
"Shall I ever forget my first impression
of The FRS and it's inhabitants, the
Stackwells?
"Why the house should have been call
ed The FRS I never could make out
unless a few squalid shrubs in the front
garden could be given a name so digni-
fed The house itself was what I be-
lieye a builder would call a semi-de-
tached villa. There was pretentious
front door, upon which the sun had rails
ed blisters, and there were three windows
one on the ground floor, one above and
one in the roof. The first two had shabby
Venetian blinds, more or less broken and
to give an extra air of gentility to the
appearance of the parlor window, the
| inmates had draped some gaudy Madras
muslin to hang in odd folds over the cor
ner of the blind where 1t was most brok-
en-. All this / took in with a glance as
we sat in a cab which brought US, wait
ing until the driver should find out how
to open the gate. He had not succeeded
when the front door suddenly opened
and a female figure darted forth. Mrs
Stackwell herself. She bounded to the
gate scolded the man for his stupidity
and then rushed out and gave ms a most
efusive greeting Certainly if a warm
welcome could be a favorable omen, we
ought to have judged ourselves as fortu-
nate Mrs. Stackwel overwhelmed
Gladys with kisses, until the child shrank
back timidly and chung to me.
Look at her terrible teeth, Joanp she
said. in a terrified whisper. oh, do
please, please ask her not to kiss me like
that any more.
Fortunately she did not hear the child,
for nv father had claimed her attention,
and so we passed the threshold of our
new home.
Il will not linger over the details OF our
life at The FRS Ny father paid so lit
lie for our maintenance that we could not
have expected comforts, and as 1 discov-
cred very soon after our arrival that the