The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1904-01-20

phant moment FOR whicn She waited.
Pretty Miss Kate came forward like
little queen--tall and slight, with her
coronet of fair, braided hair, in which
q shy, sweet rosebud nestled. She wore
q dress of white muslin, as light and
fleecy as a summer cloud, with a sash
that might, as far as its hue went, have
been cut from the deep blue sky over
which that summer cloud floated. A fit-
tie bunch of flowers was on her bosom,
and other ornament she had none. She
looked like one of the pretty creatures,
half angel and half woman of fashion,
which some of the modern French ar
lists paint.
As she stepped forward she was
greeted with a burst of irrepressible
applause, and then the house was very
still as she began to read. How her
soft eyes glowed, and the bushes burn
ed on her dainty cheeks, when she
came to the lines:
Little Ellie in her smile
Chooseth: L will have lover,
Riding on a steed Of steeds!
He shall love me without guile.
And to him | will discover
That swans nest among the reeds.
"And the steed shall be red-roan,
And the lover shall be noble,
With an eye that takes the breath,
And the Lutte he plays upon
Shall strike ladies into trouble,
AS his sword strikes men to DEATH"
She had the whole audience for her
lovers before she was through with the
poem and the last verse was followed
with a perfect storm or applause. Was
she not young and beautiful, with
voice as sweet as her smile? And then
she was Squire Osgood's daughter, and
he was the great man of the village.
She stepped OFF the stage; and then
the applause recalled her, and she
came back, pink with pleasure. bow,
a smile, and then a step too near the
poorly protected footlights, and the
heecy white muslin dress was sheet
of flame.
How Sally Green sprang over those
footlights she never knew; but there
she was, on the stage, and "the Shawl"
was wrapped around pretty Miss Kate
before any one else had done any
thing but scream. Close, close, close,
Sally hugged its heavy woolen folds
She burned her own fingers to the
bone: but what cared she? The time
of the poor little mouse had come at
last.
And so pretty Miss Kate was saved,
and not so much as scar marred the
pink and white of her fair girls face.
Her arms were burned rather badly,
but they would heal, and no perma-
nent harm had come to her.
Sally was burned much more severe
ly, but she hardly felt the pain Of 1t in
/ her 10y that che had saved her idol,
for whom she would have been so will
ing even to die. They took her home
very tenderly, and the first words she
said, as they led her inside her moth
er's door were:
"Now, mother, know what took
the shawl for!"
said how differently two lives
would have ended IL she had not taken
that shawl. Pretty Miss Kate's would
have burned out then and there, no
doubt: for If any one else were there
with presence of mind enough to have
saved her, certainly there was no other
wrap like "the shawl" And then Sally
might have grown up to the humblest
kind of toll, instead Of being what she
Is today; for Squire Osgood's graft
tude for his daughters saved life did
not exhaust itself in words. From that
moment he charged himself with Sally
Green's education, and gave her every
advantage which his own daughter re-
ceived. And, truth to tell, Sally, with
her wonderful temperament, the
wealth of poetry, and devotion, and
hero-worship that was in her, soon
outstripped pretty Miss Kate in her
progress
But no rivalry or jealousy ever came
between them. AS Sally had adored
Mates loveliness, so, in time, Kate
came to do homage to Sally's genius;
and the two were friends in the most
complete sense of the word.
Kate has realized her dream OF a
noble lover; but Sally, as yet, loves
only Kate.-New York Weekly.
--
The Language Used by Cats.