Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1897-02-19
HER LAST DANCE.

~
much Of virginia. expression and con
tour that Imagination was 10th to nc-
rept the fact of matronhood. One felt,
indeed. that if the sEwige Waiplich,,' y
el,angefully rhangeless, radiantly soul
satisfying, were to be personiiied. here
was the model Gracious and graceful.
gentle and joyous, she possessed
talepts innumerable. NJ cultivated 70 Il
certain aegrae-to q dVgree that had
quitesufliced for her own enjoyment and
the ediiication Of a host of atlmiring
and not too exacting friends. who
thought her q delightful prodigy and
spoiled her accordingly.
Rut, now, cudgel the stunned brain
rs she would, no real capahility "of
marketable value" as Il had been SO
bluntly put to her even in these early
hours of misery--Cousin Selma always
put things bit bluntly, she fc / with II
little shivcr of nnnoynnce-no resource
gould she discover TO stand her in good
stead in the dreaded day that had come
at last. The bolt had fallen that morn
ing, and, with numb, iplded hands and
dry, terrorifilled eyes, she sat in the
darkest eorner Of her guy little draw
ing-room, bepeath the ghnstly chamber
whence were soon TO be borne the Garth
ly rcmnips of her husband.
Whit was she TO do? How was she to
procure, not the luxuries without which
she scarce imagined her child could
'Nist, but the bare necessitics OF life?
crery piece OF furniture in the house
was nortgaged TO it's full value, and
her Inst jewel had gone to pay the rent.
Thank heaven, they would have this
haven for some time to come. She was
in debt to butcher nnd baker, and she
lad not had y new pair Of gloves foi
iuonths. Shillings had become the pas s
of Expenditure us gpineas had been
.iitherto.
In the morning sympathizing friends
came to support and assist her through
the trying ordeal All passed Ike II
dream. "Tout passo. tout cusse," she
said, over and over but my heart is
strong"
When, month later, she qat with
Cousin Selma in the sume room, in the
same chair, listening again to the gusty
rain as 1t beat against the windows, IL
was TO her us If no apprcciable time had
intervcned Dreamily she took up the
| thread of her thoughts where she had
dropped II that sad night, and the
strange conceit came back 10 her.
Women. less brilliant but stol.d and
Plodding. were cnsconced In journals
where she had disAaincd even to allow
lier verses TO appear. With voices in no
way comparable 10 hers, she saw others
| k.tt .l,.l ola ,..1..>
bird-but like bird, too, only when in
tpired-could make po impression.
And SO. lowered as she was. she WINS
poorer and more helpless than the
humblest woman who could conscien-
tiously knit q pair of stockings or en-
broider a tencloth.
The pretty face seemed pinchcd and
weary; two deep lines began to inclosc
the dropping mouth. IL smile eli
rarenthese," she said, to Cousin Selma
rs she turned from the mirror. whore
she was trying TO change the express
sion Of those qpivering lips. that even al
the moment curved upwards, 2 Cupid's
bow, at the quaint eonceit.
More surely than ever she knew she
GOULD ask no fuvors, but must PIT her
own shoulder 10 the wheel. But whn,
TO do when all else failed? To dance on
the stagcl Why not2 She could dance;
all her life she had loved to dance. In
her greatest JOY she had ever found full
est expression ip dancing TO her own re-
Elections before the long mirror in her
boudoir. a hundred times her darling
had been lullcd to sleep, eased of her
pain by the dancing of bcr pretty
Mulnsie.' Once, with her husband. she
had seen n famous nctrcss--a woman
chaste as hcrself-dance so gracefully.
yet will, IN nbandonc so perfect as to
captivate an audience accustomed to ex-
hibitions from which she had turned
in lonthing-to his annoyance. since
mis- taste grew yearly less refined. Ever
then, "The pity of it,n she had sighed
And how much even then was implied
that she should say. turning TO him:
"That could do. | am certain"
MAY you never need" he had IN
swered, fervcntly. For he loved her and
was proud of her. though his paths in
life were devious, though no would no.
follow her. II all came back 10 her vivid
ly-the gay scene, the eager FACES. the
mnrmur Of delight, the applause that
rose again and again, and could not be
rtayed. Her heart beat fast; yes. she
would dance. 1t might cost her the few
friends she still possessed, but as long
ns she helped herself she could maintain
her pride.
Next day began tiresome round Of
interviews with impatient. incrcdulous
or impertinent managers, with heart
growing daily heavier and brain
sharpened almost to v:ciousness. Al
last an impressario, touched by her
grace and the expression OF brase tles-
pair in her hungry eyes. granted her n
trial, fixing an hour at the theater ON
the following day in the early forenoon
Amid concourse Of women, some sym
pathetic. some braZeply .inqnisitivc. all
so different from herself that she scarce
felt they were her sisters, she made her
first essay. How unreal it seemed; a
dream, she kept telling herself. dream
from which she would wolsen' in mo-