Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-05-07
Continued from page s

heard within her. "Go to your friend" in
sisted this voice. Comfort her! Be brave!
And have courage enough to tell her she has
made a mistake, but not an irretrlevable
onei DO what you can to save her before
it is too late! She still, by cutting off her
Irritation, will be able to save herself, and an
other family also!"
She made up her mind that she would GO.
She touched the bell in her boudoir. Her ser
want answered the summons. She ordered her
carriage, dressed hurriedly, with the feeling
of satisfaction that she was going to do
good and noble action. And before long she
was driving down the fashionable Bellevue
ave. But scarcely had she gone a quarter
of the distance when she was stopped by a
passing friend with the EXPLANATIONS:
"Of course you have heard the news? How
frightful of Mrs So and So to be SO impru-
dent! How dreadful! What scandal"
Mechanically she made some reply, and
drove on, filled with horrible fear. All her
worst forebodings were realized. The news
was abroad. Scarcely had she driven away,
when another friend stopped her, with the
same EXPLANATIONS, the same news.
Thoroughly unnerved she now hesitated
to continue any further in this dangerous
mission of friendship. She felt that she was
laying herself open to share of the scandal
that had descended upon the head of her
friend, and that her own social position, so
long coveted, SO hardly won, was in jeopar-
dy Again she was stopped by friend;
again the same remarks were whispered in
her ear.
A chill of fear now took possession of her.
And as her carriage drew near the street
where her best friend lived, she felt herself
torn in twain by two conflicting emotions on
the one side was her earnest desire to show
her sympathy and give her compassion to
her friend; on the other stood the danger of
compromising, perhaps forever, her own
cherished position in society. The reiterated
remarks of those she had met, their omlnous
Words had made coward of her. She felt
that she was not strong enough to let the
people of her world, her social set, know
that she had gone to this poor lady in dis
treSS.
And what did she do? She stopped the
carriage in the street lower down, and, pull
ing a veil down over her face, walked on
foot to the street below, entered the house
by the back yard, went into the kitchen and
up into the drawing room to see her friend.
And when safe within the walls she opened
her heart and poured out love and sympathy
for her, and did what she could to comfort
and advise her. Then she returned to her
carriage in the same way and went home.
At large dinner that night she was the
most brilliant of all those round the table.
Everybody else was busily engaged in pick
ing to pieces her friends character. But her
conscience did not trouble her. She felt that
she had done such a good and noble act that
she had no need to champion her friend be-
fore these brilliant people. Had she stopped
to examine herself, she would have realized
that she had been the Queen of Snobs; for
her action had been done under cover of
secrecy and she could take no credit to her
self, having lacked the courage to come for
ward and defend her friend before the world.
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