El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-02-09
By Agnes s. Franbach.

| shown her how charming she is
| whether like her better clad in her
| tailor made gown with her jaunty hat
/ on, all ready for going out, or dressed
| rlcnIy Tor party, or simply for home,
cannot decide. And she admires me- too.
For one reason 1 am different from any
Fhlng else in her room 1 belonged to her
grandmother and 1 ann old fashioned.
Everything else hanging in this apart
ment Is held up by a wire. but 1 still re-
tain the thick red cord put on me by
her greatgrandfather when he placed me
IN his daughters room many years ago
Ihls cord has often been inspected to
see if it is safe for me to rely on. and
no one has discovered a weak spot yet
though l myself sometimes have a feel
ing as If l were settling, like walls do
in new house sometimes.
Her father wanted to wire me. but she
said, No, papa, dear; with such an old
fashioned frame I like the thick cord
better; it seems more fitting" so the
cord still keeps me in place. She saws
am becoming mirror, TOO, and al
ways looks her last at me before leaving
the room, which rather excites to envy
the big cheval glass and all the other
mirrors around.
One day. when she was gowned for
walk, she stood in 'front.' of me while she
pinned on a large bouquet of yiolets and
that her maid had left the room she
leaned forward and said, with such a
sweet look in her big brown eyes He
sent these TO me this morning, and l am
going to wear them as long as they
last; and 1 do hope I'll happen to meet
him when 1 go OUT / wanted to saw
1 hope so, too, with all my heart" but
then mirror isn't supposed to have any
heart. So the best l could do was TO
make her reflection more becoming
than ever, and really I thought she was
sWeeter than the vioIetS. When she came
home and took off her flowers 1 could
see she was disappointed; but she put
them carefully in water in a cut glass
vase that stands on her dressing table
beneath me. Then her maid came in
and helped her change her gown and
this time she wore something that was
soft and fluffy around her neck-some-
thing with lots of beautiful lace on it
and again, after her maid had been dis
missed. she looked at me and said, /
am not going anywhere tonight but he
is coming to call on me-" Then she took
the Fiolets. which had freshened up, from
their stems and, while inhaling their
fragrance, gave them soft little kiss,
and then flushed herself the color of a
wild rose. To my surprise instead of
wearing the whole bunch as she had in
the afternoon, where everybody could
see them out on the street. she selected
only q few and put them in her hair,
where I was afraid they would not even
be noticed. L cannot always understand
her. She is somehow different in some
ways from her grandmother, with whom
1 was brought up and who called a
spade spade" or would lave, if she
had not been shocked and Mortified at
the Bickedness of playing cards.
When she went down stairs I longed
to go, too but my red cord held me-
firm, and there l was where I could not :
see her; but l knew she would come
back again before very long. md so
waited, quiet and content. for I knew If
she had anything TO tell she would sure
~ confide in me, for l would never
betray her confidence. And while I
waited for her return 1 reflected (for
that was my mission. and I always try
TO do my duty on the difference be-
tween this room and that where l was
first placed Then 1 saw a spinning
wheel in one corner of the room and sew
eral straight backed chairs with rush
seats, and on a small table a large old
fashioned silver candlestick that
branched out near the top so as to hold
four candles, and a pair of shutters on
tray, and portion book for everyday
reading. And then there was the great
bed with its four posts and its pretty
quilt, and there was more of the dra-
perry on the dresser, where a large pin
cushion and the simplest toilet articles
were placed. Here in this room / see the
brass bedstead with its dainty whiteness
of covering, and the dressing table with
its silver and cut glass appointments,
and here are comfortable chairs, and
a couch with numerous sofa pillows, /
and writing desk fitted up with every !
convenience, and books; and she has I
her Bible, too, in a handy place. and. as /
her grandmother did before her. SIC /
reads her portion every day, and I be- |
lieye she is better and purer and sweet .
er for it.
After that I must have dozed a little, !
for l thought 1 saw her grandmother /
standing in the middle of her own room /
on the morning of her wedding dav. She /
was married, 1 remember. at ? o'clock /
in the afternoon. in order that her
friends and neighbors could attend the
ceremony and get back TO their homes !
In time TO cook their own suppers. as /
many OF them did. 1t was a June day,
one Of those fresh, pure cool summer
days when one must thank God for the /
mere JOY of living. Roses grew In
abundance in the front yard. and their
odor, mingled with the fragrance of the
honeysuckle that grew up the side of the
house and sent little i1Quisitive sprays
peeping through the shutters of this
girlish room, is as fresh TO me now in
as is the sweetness of the
violets that are here close to me And
even my present dear little owner never
looked prettier-though more modern.
OF course-than that quaint little maiden
Of SO summers ago; and the last look she
gave before going down to the parlor.
so long ago, to '-be Joined in the holy
bonds Of matrimony." before the com
pany assembled for the joyous yet solemn