The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1905-09-02
he cleverest possible manner to evade

| 10 De having perfectly delightful time
by her accounts. 1t was only to us
who, knowing the truth, could read
between the lines, that these letter
appeared one of the saddest and most
touching tributes to the love she bore
her aunt, and we learned to dread our
weekly visit to the little, red brick
house when Lilans last letter was
invariably brought out for our delec.
tatiOn.
The girl always wrote describing
the events which took place in Mrs
De Voore's household, and when men
ton was made of a certain smart
dance which had been given, she Ce
scrihed the decorations and the young
ladies ball gowns so vividly that Miss
Lavender remarked, compla Gently:
1T is easy to see that they treat
her as one of the family, Why. the
dear child seems to know all about
their pretty frocks, and the little ms
and cuts Of their lives You see
she went on, tapping the letter, which
we noticed she seemed to love 10
handle, IS if the feeling of the paper
| conveyed some impression Of i,er dear
| ly loved niece. 4 feel that dear Lillian
| is now paraGing Of some OF the al,
vantaccs which s.ie ought 10 have hal
all along. l did my best for her"
with 9 slight sigh; but now she is
seeing something OF life, ana enjoy.
ing hSrScf In natural way, ana it
does ny heart good to think how truly
happy my little girl is
"Whar could we say? Know Molly
and l left the dear, old lady that day
with terribly guilty feeling in cur
hearts.
II was always most painful to US to
sec those bravely written letters, con !
Eeying 50 much of the weariEess ana |
heartache beneath the carefully word. |
ed lines to those who knew the real !
facts. and could realize how sordid |
and bitter her life must be, in reality. |
Sometimes we wondered how it |
would all end, and if ever in this life !
Lillian would win her reward for the !
pluck and tenderness she was slow !;
ing toward her beloved guardian.
The end came sooner than We OK
pccted. however.
We went as usual to pay our wcol,-
ly visit at the little house Just Off the
highroad; but, to our surprise, there
was no lace-capped, blacls-clad figure
to greet us at the door, as was tho
general rule.
"She may have forgotten, and he
upstairs" | said. quickly, though q
sudden feeling of foreboding seizc,l
me; and. fearing know not what, we
silently entered the tiny hall. AL!
was silent, and we stood, hestatin ing,
not knowing exactly what to do.
At that moment, Miss Lavender'5
little maid-of-allwork appeared at the
top OF the narrow stairs and one look
at her frightened face was enough to
tell us something gTavcly wrong had
occurred.
What is it? What has happencd?"
Molly asked, anxiously, and it was
only after many Inherent speeches !
and ruch lamentations we learned
that Miss Lavender had been seized
with one Of those attacks which |
Lillian had SO dreaded for her. and it
was with difficulty the little maid nad
to help her mistress to a
couch and revive her from a death.
Ike swcon
Our appearance on the scene could |
not have been more oppOrtune, and be
,ore another hour had passed we had
got little, old Miss Lavender com
,ortably into bed, and the doctor had
come and gone again.
His verdict was grave one, and re
suited, though much against Miss La ,
lenders wishes, in wire being sent
to her niece.
1T is such pity the quavorins,
I'D voice whispered, as | bent down f
0 catch her words; there was to have
'een dinner party tonight, anG
Lillian will miss it all now | really | S
hink we might have waited till this
morning." she added. SO family that ! r
ould barely catch the words.
1t was only two hours later that +
lillian arrived, and, though she had ,
ravcled as fast as possible, and sue
eeded in catching an earlier train
han VIC had hoped, she was just il
ime to be recognized by her aunt;
nd it was in the girls arms the low
lg heart. which had always cared
nd thought for her, ceased to beat.
Poor Lillian was, indeed, alone in the ,
'orld now!
Our mother was as sweet as pos G
ible and, of course, we all insisted Or
le girl coming to us on on indefinite G
isit; | think each one of us tried to n
hare some of our pleasures and joys +.
18th the forlorn little guest: and, ! o
,ougl she proposed. after some Il
eeks, returning to Mrs. De Voore, i. | +,
as cnly half-hearted sort OF an
lea. and none of us allowed it to be n
1tertained for moment. il
She has been with us year now
nd is almost like q s;ster-at least | d
oily and I feel SO. though-let it be OF
hispercd-Jacll apparently does not ta
One never knows what may hap IN
En-, my fair sister remarked onl, a.
st night, in her oracular manner. a.