Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1908-02-07

Ol W NuC lOdu UC1Ouu.
NO, don't say anything, please" IS
l ned my lips to speak. Aunt. 3
has her little annuity-enough for h.
to live upon-not in luxury, certainly
but she has simple tastes, and cs%l
manage well enough. When it comas
to two-however, there is nothing
more to be said, and so I-I-P
she faltered a little for an instar :.
have decided to leave her and 10
earn my own living"
We'll, | call that very sensible OF
you" said Molly. warmly. 81 al
dreadfully sorry for you, of cours.,.
DEAR" she added, giving Lilian's hard
little squeeze, "and you know--"
wait till you hear ALL" said or
companion, reddening painfully. Il
don't mind for myself, of course; It
won't matter to me a Bit" she west
on, bravely; but | think il auntte
knew, it would break her heart. Sic
thinks l have secured a post as COIL
panion to one of the leaders of tte
four hundred and is quite delighted
at the idea of my being in societs;
but, in reality"-and here, for a I'D
ment, she hesitated; then, as II max
ing a final effort, went on, hurriedly~-
st is not as companion that this So
ciety woman has engaged me, but as
sewing maid
For one second we were silent.
"A sewing maid?" echoed my sister.
quickly. "Oh, Lillian, what will You
have to do?"
Live with the servants, for ole
thing" answered Lillian. Eyes, l
know that-we all have meals to-
gether in the servants hall-only the
uppers have their dinner in the house-
keepers room, and shall not even pc
an UPPER" she added, sadly. "Oh, /
know well enough what you would say,
but when all is said and done, what
else can / do? Mrs. De Voore trests
her servants we'll; l shall be earning
my own living, and earning it in the
only way l am competent to do. I
have no talent, nothing to recommend
me above the thousands of other tar
cleverer girls, all anxious to make a
living nowadays; and, after all, It
won't be so bad, as long as auncie
does not know-you will never, never
let her even suspect, will your" she
entreated. "She cannot live long nov;
the doctor says that at any moment
her heart attacks may prove fatal,
II s,1-
and happy, and she has no anxiety
about money matters, she will go on
happily and we'll. Nothing would induce
her to let me go If she knew the rs al
truth-she must never know-promSse
me@ she insisted, entreatingly.
What could we do? We could OILY
promise, and walk sadly indoors. Our
mother tried to do something abeut
it, but when she was driven, as a list
resort, to give sort of half hint to
Miss Lavender, we could see, by the
way she took 1t, that she had not
shadow of an idea as to the real truth,
and, in honor bound to Lillian, we could
do no more.
wei, BIC WCAl, anu mat lldI EJIl
gently nurtured, and always accIs-
toned to a certain atmosphere of
delicacy and refinement-must have
gone through makes me shudder to
contemplate.
Her letters to the old lady were per-
feet marvels of ingenuity. Always
rigorous as to truth, she managed in
the cleverest possible manner to evade
all unpleasant items. and yet appear
to be 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 CUR
weekly visit to the little, red brick
house when Lilian's 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 certain smart
dance which had been given, she de-
scribed the decorations and the young
ladies' ball gowns so yiyidly that Miss
Lavender remarked, complacentlys
1T is easy to see that they treat
her as one of the family! Why, the
dear child seems t. know all ABOUT
their pretty frocks, and the little ms
and outs of their lives! You see,"
she went on, tapping the letter, which
we noticed she seemed to love to
handle, as If the feeling Of the paper
conveyed some impression of her dear
ly loved niece, Il feel that dear Lillian
is now partaking of some of the ad-
vantages which she ought to have had
all along. | did my best for her."
with a slight sigh; "but now she Is
seeing something of life, and enjoy
ing herself in a natural way, and 1t
does my heart good to think how truly
happy my little girl is"
What could we say? I know Nelly
and | left the dear, old lady that day
with terribly guilty feeling in our
hearts.
1t was always most painful to US to
see those bravely written letters. con-
veying so much of the WEAKNESS and
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 II ever in this life