Los Angeles herald., 1906-11-04

pence halfpennyl"
fg==5Sl Camilla Dering counted out tht
gAezkSel coins. and smiled bitterly as she pileC
them up in a neat little heap on the
deal table at which she was sitting, hei
dark eyes sombre with unpleasant thought, her
air at once desparing and defiant.
When the world treated her we'll she laughed
at 1t; when it treated her ill-as at the present
time-she scorned il one moment and hated il
the next, but she had never reached such low
ebb before this-the situation was truly des
perate when only the meagre sum of two pounds
thirteen shillings and sevenpence hafpenny
stood between her and-starvation The word
made her vince Il was not a pleasant thought
that before long, unless anything untowsrd hap
pened she would feel the actual pangs of physical
hunger. The thought of this alone stirred her to
fierce energy She sprang to her feet, and looked
at herself in the little crooked glass which hung
over the msntelshelf.
The hateful struggles Of the past month had
not dimmed her beauty; she was shade thinner,
but to those who did not know her in her palmy
days, that would not be noticed; her hair was
as thick and FURNISHED her eyes as beautiful, her
coloring as delicate as when she was just Camilla
Dering, the idol Of luxurious home, and queen
IN miniature way in the country village in
which those happy years had been spent.
Strange that she, of all people, should have
failed SO disastrously when ruin fell on the home,
and, losing her father by death, and all the
wealth she had thought so little of, and now
missed SO much, she found herself face to face
with the necessity of earning her own living.
She learned then by bitter experience, that beau
ty is not profitable asset in the employment
market; that a good-looking girl is looked at
askance by offices, ladies in search of governness.
es and companions, and even by school mis-
tresses.
She had tried many things-and failed in every
one of them; perhaps because she found it so
very difficult to forget that she was no longer
Camilla Dering of the Chase, but a penniless
young woman who should be ready to consider
and think of her employer and her work before
anything else
She was, unfortunately, not gifted in the art
of adapting herself to circumstances; she had
even in the old days been voted stuck up and
proud; she had been admired-at distance-and
perhaps laughed at by many folk rather than
loved and she was feeling the sting of all that
now.
She had even tried a shop-a bitter pill that
had been for her to swallow-ony to meet with
failure. She was too distant, and with her lack
of experience, it impossible to keep her.
That was what they told her quite politely and
now here she was with under three pounds be-
tween her and the proverbial workhouse.
Even there one has to work" she muttered
to herself with odd sort of smile, "I suppose
I'd be turned out of that plaee-lke the others.
I'm drone when | ought to be working bee
and suppose / am too old and stupid to change
my ways. If I'd only been taught to do some
thing years ago!"
The words were despairing, but presently she
banished with gigantic effort her miserable
thoughts put on hat which was still smart,
and well cut coat and skirt, which would stand
the glare of the delicious May sunshine, and sal
lied forth into the hot streets
London was brilliant with sunshine and full of
fashionable folk. Camilla's steps took her to
the Park, and there she watched with brooding
wistful eyes the procession of beauty rank and
fashion as they paraded by in carriages, or sat
and chatted under the shade of the trees, near
Hyde Park Corner. Once she could have made
one of that gay throng-now-
Fatigue and the fact that she had not eaten
much that day. made her sink into one of the
little green chairs, and almost mechanically she
extracted from her worn purse the necessary
penny as the keeper of the chairs came along on
his rounds
Two girls. chatting together on the adjoining
couple of chairs, attracted her attention, Both
were young pretty and we'll dressed, but one in
particular had an air of distinction and charm
which struck Camilla Dering at once.
She was always keenly alive to beauty, wheth-
er in human nature or the world about her. and
she found herself growing interested in some
odd way with the girl in the lilac frock, who was
twrling her white lace parasol round and round
in her small gloved hands, while she talked to
her companion, a good-looking girl some years
older than herself
"And don't want to go Bit" she was say
ing in her fresh young voice, "only you know
what Aunt Anabe is! She thinks its my last
chance / suppose, since I'm going away next
week. l don't like the season--I never SHALL