The St. Johns herald., 1896-08-15
THEFORTUNE TELLER

ooh papa, pfui! how can you"
 The old high bailiff of Krohn pushed away the pretty little hand that hii eldest daughter sought to place ovel his mouth.
 "No," he said, q will not keep quiet repeat that the whole custom of send ing New Years cards is a d-n baC one, and it is time to put an end to it What are the results of such nonsense?
 First, get my mail bag later thar usual, and, secondly, it is crammed SC full with the stupid stuff that I car hardly get it openw
 At length the old gentleman's efforts were rewarded, the bag sprang open and he emptied its contents with i'm patience on the breakfast table.
 ToFraulein Katharina von Krohn, he read. My God! are they all for you, Kathinka?
 Don't be so unbearable, papa, and please don't call me Kathinka."
 The old gentleman replied to his daughters request with an unintelligi- ble growl and went on drinking his cof- fee.
 mel" cried Katharina, piling the letters upon the table in front of her and her face lighting up with pleasure.
 Are they all for you?"
 'Yes, all. Now you can see what it is to be known as beauty"
 And an heiress," added the father
 "Yes, and an heireSs, she repeated, thoughtfully.
 But is there nothing there for my lit- tie Lili?" asked her father.
 Katharina shrugged her shapely shoulders impatiently.
 'Why, of course not. If q girl eX- poets to be shown much attention she must be a little more pushing and im- portant."
 And an heiress, too," was the fath- CTS laconic addition to the sentence.
 'I really should be very grateful, father, if you would not allude so much to my money" was the rather curt pro- test.
 ''I can't help it, Katharina, when see my little Lili here, as beautiful as the flower that gave her the name, and well, she is not an heiress, do you un- derstand? That's the whole thing"
 Katharina made no answer. She was busily studying the handwriting on the envelopes.
 A young girl who had hitherto sat op- poSite to her in silence left her seat, went up to the high bailiff, and putting her fair young arms round his neck. gave him a kiss.
 A world of love shone in his eyes as he looked at her with pleasure and stroked her soft cheeks.
 'Never mind, Lili," he said, slowly, ''l am glad that you don't get such a pile of letters. I'm grateful too. that you're not an neireSS. Perhaps then no one will take you away from me"
 Tears came into the girls eyes. for. though she said no word. vet the thought that no one had remembered her or cared enough for her to send her a New Years card made her sad. But she forced herself not to cry and tried 10 conceal the few tears that would not be kept back by kissing her father again lovingly on the eyes and lips.
 The bigh bailiff of Krohn, the father of theseetwo girls, had married twice His first wife. lovely. proud, but vain, woman, died soon after the birth of a little daughter. and left her the whole of a large fortune. His second wife the daughter of a country clergyman, brought him TO wealth but a sweet and beautiful disposition. When she, too, died after two years married life he felt overwhelmed and had never since wholly recovered from the blow.
 Katharina. the elder of the stepchil- children, had just finished her twen- tieth year. and, as she was as proud, pretty. and just as vain as her mother. had already laughed at many proposals for her hand-and money. No one had so far been able to take her fancy.
 Lili was in almost every respect the opposite of h-r sister. Small of figure, quiet and retiring, it happened that she was often entirely overlooked It cer- tainly was not right of father to love one daughter more than another.
 Still he did so, and it was plain to everybody that it was the soft, sweet, patient Lii who was his favorite.
 It made Katharina feel annoyed to see her father so gentle and affectionate toward her sister, for she said, with a sharp look at them both:
 What! kissing again! I cannot un- derstand how you find pleasure in al- ways lying round each others necks." "You are out of sorts, Katharina," said her father. "One of the cards you expected has not come, perhaps. I