Omaha daily bee., 1898-07-31

/ had a new dress, and lots of the girls
did. Sara was determined to know what
Kate Stilwell was going to do about 1t, and
finally she asked her. Sara and I were
in the gymnasium, and Kate came in.
"'What about the reception, Kate?' said
Sara. What are you going to wear?'
"'My white dress said Kate, the one
with the r%osettes; you've seen it, and she
picked up her dumbbells as cool and I'M
concerned as anything.
Sara didn't say anything; she Just looked
at me.
1--WE did all we could to help Miss Chase
to make it a lovely affair. There was a
great big committee on arrangements, about
fifteen Of us. / was in it, and Sara and
Louise, and Kate Stilwell and a lot of others.
o, yes-and Phoebe Williams; Ruth Morrill,
| nominated her.
Louise and Sara roomed together, and a
week before the reception they invited the
whole committee to their room to talk things
over, and to have a spread-what we call a
spread; we had cake and olives and oranges
and we made fudge. They borrowed tables
and chairs, and every girl had a plate, and
Just for fun they had a favor for every
girl. They were paragraphs and verses that
they'd cut out of old newspapers and books,
4 and we read them out loud, in turn. They
were hits, mostly; Ruth Morrill, is a great
chatterboX, and hers was a verse about q
gentle, quiet child that never talked any.
She didn't care, nor any of us; we laughed
and had a great time-till 1t got around to
Kate Stilwell.
"Well-Kate read hers right out, like the
rest of us. She looked at Sara and Louise
a minute, and her cheeks got a little red
der, and then she read 1t; and this was her
verse:
40, yes, I am kinder savin' and clus;
Wal, yes, | know / be,
But tell ye ia suffer Sonsider,bIe wuss
zone or two girls laughed, but I think
we felt scared a little; l did, l know, and
/ tried to think of something to say to
smooth it over If 1 could. But didn't
have time to say anything. Somebody
jumped up all at once, and | looked round
and saw Phoebe Williams standing up. She
didn't look warm, like Kate; she looked
pale, and we all knew something was going
to happen, and it was still as it could be,
I'm going to speak out said she. j
can't bear it any longer. You girls have
thrown out hints like this before. hints
about Kate Stilwell being stingy, and I've
5 stood it as long as / can. No, don't stoI
me, Kate-I must and l VIII said she.
she made me think of Spartacus to the
3 glad,ators, or Horatio at the bridge, OF
| somebody, the way she looked standing
there. L want to ask you something she
said, lust one thing, II Kate Stilwell IL
stingy, do you know why she's stingy
e Well, I'm going to tell you why.
"'We've always been friends at home,
, said she, though In poor and she Is rich
d. and so Kate has known all abut me. Sh,
, knew / wanted to be a teacher, a governess
. II / could, and the academy at Hawley Il
5 not considered very good, and Kate sait
l II / could go to a private school | could
| get a good deal better position as a gov
4 erness. And she was coming here, ant
I she brought me with her. Yes, she JUS
made me come, She said the allowance
l her father gave her was plenty enough t.
pay for two girls instead of one, II we wert
! a little economical. she wanted to do 1t
and she would do it; she Just brought m,
: along.
g Her family and mine knew all about II
:. of course, but she didn't tell anybody else
and she wouldn't let me. And she mad,