The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1908-01-30

Il am quite of your opinion said
Lillian, quietly; ''and it leads me to
tell you something which | have de-
cided upon doing. You know-or, at
least, no doubt you have guessed,
she continued, flushing painfully
that we are very poor. You girls
who have almost all that you can
wish for, can hardly realize how poor
or-or-how difficult it is sometimes to
make both ends even get within a
measurable distance of each other
much less attempt to meet. Well,
lately, auntie has lost some money
not much to you, / dare say, but to
us"
She broke off, and looked, with un-
seeing eyes, out over the little hedge
and on to the road beyond.
mo, don't say anything, please as
I opened my lips to speak "Auntie
has her little annuity-enough for her
to live upon-not in luxury, certainly
but she has simple tastes, and can
manage well enough. When it comes
to two-however, there is nothing
more to be said, and so I--I---''
she faltered little for an instant,
''have decided to leave her and to
earn my own living"
We'll, l call that very sensible of
YOU said Molly, warmly. 81 am
dreadfully sorry for you, of course,
DEAR" she added, giving Lilian's hand
little squeeze, "and you know
wait till you hear ALL" said our
companion, reddening painfully. 81
don't mind for myself, of course; it
won't matter to me Bit" she went
on, bravely; ''but I think if auntie
knew, it would break her heart. She
thinks l have secured a post as COM
panion to one of the leaders of the
-four hundred and is quite delighted
at the idea of my being in society
but, in reality" here, for a mo-
ment, she hesitated; then, as if max
ing final effort, went on, hurriedly-
sit is not as companion that this So
ciety woman has engaged me, but as a
sewing maid"
For one second we were silent.
GA sewing maid?" echoed my sister,
quickly. "Oh, Lillian, what will you
have to do?"
Live with the servants, for one
thing" answered Lillian. eyes, I
know that-we all have meals to-
gether in the servants hall-only the
uppers have their dinner in the house
keepers room, and l shall not even be
an upper" she added, sadly. ooh, |
know well enough what you would say,
but when all is said and done, what
else can l do? Mrs. De Voore treats
her servants well; shall be earning
my own living, and earning it in the
only way l am competent to do.
have no talent, nothing to recommend
me above the thousands of other far
cleverer girls, all anxious to make a
living nowadays; and, after all, 1t
won't be so bad, as long as auntie
does not know-you will never, never
let her even suspect, will you?" she
entreated. "She cannot live long now
the doctor says that at any moment
her heart attacks may prove fatal,
and as long as she thinks l am well
and happy, and she has no anxiety
about money matters, she will go on
happily and well. Nothing would induce
her to let me go if she knew the real
truth-she must never promise
me?" she insisted, entreatingly.
What could we do? We could only
promise, and walk sadly indoors. Our
mother tried to do something about
it, but when she was driven, as last
resort, to give sort of half hint to
Miss Lavender, we could see, by the
way she took it, that she had not a
shadow of an idea as to the real truth,
and. in honor bound to Lillian, we could
do no more.
Well, she went, and what that girl
gently nurtured, and always accus.
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
ito 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 oul
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 a certain smart
dance which had been given, she de
scribed the decorations and the young
ladies' ball gowns so wildly that Miss
Lavender remarked, complacently:
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