The Southern herald., 1900-03-09
! MY PALE LADY
NTHEN l was at the orphan asylum

M HEN was at the orphan asylum
wv and all of my earliest recollec-
tions are Of that place. used occasion
ally to see among the visitors who
thronged the hospital on guest days, a
tall, beautiful woman with pale face
and dark, unresponsiye eyes. Even
when l was a little child | had an idea
that eyes could tell me things, and 1
particularly noticed the eyes of the
tall, pale lady, because they did not
tell me anything at all.
The lady seldom spoke to me, and
when she did it was in a cold voice, but
from the time she entered the room her
eyes were fixed upon me. She reminded
me of the picture of lady down in the
reception room, in that, which ever way
l went | could not escape her gaze.
80 you have not found home for
this strange little girl" she once said
TO the matron, looking at me.
mo, ma'am," the matron replied;
'She is a bright child, but she will not
make up to any one. She is naughty,
ma'am. That's the only fault / find
with her. She will not kiss the strange
ladies who ask her to, and she does not
dance about and seem pleased the way
the other children do when some little
pleasure is given them
But for the fact that the eyes of the
lady tori nothing | should have said
that gleam of approval came into
them. The matron waited moment,
expecting, | suppose, that the lady
would make some remark. But she did
not.
"She is a singular child" added the
matron, and turned away.
My life, in spite of the sameness of the
days, was not without its surprises.
Sometimes had gift coming from an
unknown source, and the odd part of
this fact was that these gifts were al
ways exactly suited to my needs, al
though | may not have known of the eX-
istence of the articles before | saw them,
For example, | once, when l was eight
years of age, received a little dressing
table supplied with all the articles nee
essary for the making of a dainty toilet.
This gave me great pleasure. 1t seemed
to me that had been longing all the
time to brush my long curls and to
polish my little nails. The deGcate per-
fume of the soap gave me feeling of
freshness and delight. l felt happier
now that ] was able to make myself
dainty, and l did not mind the plain
ness of my clothes.
Usually the gifts which came out of
the sky for me were in the way of books.
They were of different sort from those
given the other girls by benevolently
inclined persons, and at first they were
hard for me to understand. But it was,
somehow, a conviction with me that
ought to enjoy them, and after L had
patiently read them the world began
TO seem different to me. The truth was,
l had been made acquainted in simple
ways with the story of Midas, of Pan
dora, of Pegasus, of Siegfried, of King
Arthur, of Miranda and of Perdita.
Having discovered romance, | was no
longer lonesome. The matron told the
tall lady of it one guest day.
Really" she said, "the child acts
more like human creature than she
did. She used to remind me of hawk
my brother caught that sulked itself to
death"
Are you quite sure it was the sulks?'
I heard the lady say. perhaps it de-
liberately chose death in preference
to slavery"
"O!" shriHed the matron, edo you i'm
agine that birds think, ma'am?"
"I'm quite sure birds think replied
the lady, as she moved away. From her
intonation l perceived that there was
someone who did not think, and l won
dered who it could be. Perhaps-but
recognized the thought for wild one
1t was the matron.
A short time after this was adopted
by widowed lady, whose two sons had
married and gone TO far distant parts OF
the world. l cannot tell whether l vas
made less unhappy or not by my new
condition. l had always been terribly
conscious of my condition. One form
ofcharity seemed to me, young as | was,
almost as bad as another. But delight
ed IN the beauty of my adopted moth
er's house. l was amazed at the num-
Der of books on the shelves of her Ii
brary. And it gave me pleasure to be
clothed in garments that were of gay
colors, and made as those Of other chill
dren were. had 0playroom to myself,
and governess, and little pony and
cart, but the curious part Of it was that
1t did not seem at all strange to me to
have all these things. 1t seemed TO me
in few days after I came into pos
session of them as If had always had
them.
| had not been two weeks with my
adopted mother when l heard the voice
OF the tall, pale lady in the parlor.
knew 1t at once. 1t always made me
mink of bright winter day, with the
noar frost glittering in the sunshine.
We have been neighbors long time
Mrs. Thorneycroft," heard her say