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diff --git a/28102.txt b/28102.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8ac3a9a --- /dev/null +++ b/28102.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1134 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Transfiguration of Miss Philura, by +Florence Morse Kingsley + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Transfiguration of Miss Philura + +Author: Florence Morse Kingsley + +Release Date: February 17, 2009 [EBook #28102] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TRANSFIGURATION OF MISS PHILURA *** + + + + +Produced by Annie McGuire + + + + + + + + +THE TRANSFIGURATION + +OF MISS PHILURA + + + + +[Illustration: Mrs. Smart's Theme was Thought Forces and the Infinite + +[_See page 18_] + + + + +THE TRANSFIGURATION +OF +MISS PHILURA + + +_By_ +FLORENCE MORSE KINGSLEY + + +_THIRTEENTH EDITION_ +FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY +NEW YORK AND LONDON + +COPYRIGHT, 1901, BY +FLORENCE M. KINGSLEY +_Registered at Stationers' Hall, London, England_ +[PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA] +Hour-Glass Stories Edition. Published March, 1902 + + * * * * * + + + + +CHAPTER ONE + + +Miss Philura Rice tied her faded bonnet-strings under her faded chin +with hands that trembled a little; then she leaned forward and gazed +anxiously at the reflection which confronted her. A somewhat pinched and +wistful face it was, with large, light-lashed blue eyes, arched over +with a mere pretense at eyebrows. More than once in her twenties Miss +Philura had ventured to eke out this scanty provision of Nature with a +modicum of burned match stealthily applied in the privacy of her virgin +chamber. But the twenties, with their attendant dreams and follies, were +definitely past; just how long past no one knew exactly--Miss Philura +never informed the curious on this point. + +As for the insufficient eyebrows, they symbolized, as it were, a meagre +and restricted life, vaguely acknowledged as the dispensation of an +obscurely hostile but consistent Providence; a Providence far too awful +and exalted--as well as hostile--to interest itself benignantly in so +small and neutral a personality as stared back at her from the large, +dim mirror of Cousin Maria Van Deuser's third-story back bedroom. Not +that Miss Philura ever admitted such dubious thoughts to the select +circle of her conscious reflections; more years ago than she cared to +count she had grappled with her discontent, had thrust it resolutely +out of sight, and on the top of it she had planted a big stone marked +Resignation. Nevertheless, at times the stone heaved and trembled +ominously. + + * * * * * + +At sound of a brisk tap at her chamber door the lady turned with a +guilty start to find the fresh-colored, impertinent face of the French +maid obtruding itself into the room. + +"Ze madame waits," announced this individual, and with a coldly +comprehensive eye swept the small figure from head to foot. + +"Yes, yes, my dear, I am quite ready--I am coming at once!" faltered +Miss Philura, with a propitiatory smile, and more than ever painfully +aware that the skirt of her best black gown was irremediably short and +scant, that her waist was too flat, her shoulders too sloping, her +complexion faded, her forehead wrinkled, and her bonnet unbecoming. + +As she stepped uncertainly down the dark, narrow stairway she rebuked +herself severely for these vain and worldly thoughts. "To be a church +member, in good and regular standing, and a useful member of society," +she assured herself strenuously, "should be and _is_ sufficient for me." + +Ten minutes later, Miss Philura, looking smaller and more insignificant +than usual, was seated in the carriage opposite Mrs. J. Mortimer Van +Deuser--a large, heavily upholstered lady of majestic deportment, paying +diligent heed to the words of wisdom which fell from the lips of her +hostess and kinswoman. + +"During your short stay in Boston," that lady was remarking +impressively, "you will, of course, wish to avail yourself of those +means of culture and advancement so sadly lacking in your own +environment. This, my dear Philura, is pre-eminently the era of +progressive thought. We can have at best, I fear, but a faint +conception of the degree to which mankind will be able, in the years of +the coming century, to shake off the gross and material limitations of +sense." + +Mrs. Van Deuser paused to settle her sables preliminary to recognizing +with an expansive smile an acquaintance who flashed by them in a +victoria; after which she adjusted the diamonds in her large, pink ears, +and proceeded with unctuous tranquillity. "On this occasion, my dear +Philura, you will have the pleasure of listening to an address by Mrs. +B. Isabelle Smart, one of our most advanced thinkers along this line. +You will, I trust, be able to derive from her words aliment which will +influence the entire trend of your individual experience." + +"Where--in what place will the lady speak--I mean, will it be in the +church?" ventured Miss Philura in a depressed whisper. She sighed +apprehensively as she glanced down at the tips of her shabby gloves. + +"The lecture will take place in the drawing-room of the Woman's +Ontological Club," responded Mrs. Van Deuser, adding with austere +sweetness of tone: "The club deals exclusively with those conceptions or +principles which lie at the base of all phenomena; including being, +reality, substance, time, space, motion, change, identity, difference, +and cause--in a word, my dear Philura, with ultimate metaphysical +philosophy." A majestic and conclusive sweep of a perfectly gloved hand +suggested infinity and reduced Miss Philura into shrinking silence. + + * * * * * + +When Mrs. B. Isabelle Smart began to speak she became almost directly +aware of a small, wistful face, with faded blue eyes and a shabby, +unbecoming bonnet, which, surrounded as it was on all sides by tossing +plumes, rich velvets and sparkling gems, with their accompaniments of +full-fleshed, patrician countenances, took to itself a look of positive +distinction. Mrs. Smart's theme, as announced by the President of the +Ontological Club, was Thought Forces and the Infinite, a somewhat +formidable-sounding subject, but one which the pale, slight, plainly +dressed but singularly bright-eyed lady, put forward as the speaker of +the afternoon, showed no hesitancy in attacking. + +Before three minutes had passed Miss Philura Rice had forgotten that +such things as shabby gloves, ill-fitting gowns, unbecoming bonnets and +superfluous birthdays existed. In ten minutes more she was leaning +forward in breathless attention, the faded eyes aglow, the unbecoming +bonnet pushed back from a face more wistful than ever, but flushed with +a joyful excitement. + + * * * * * + +"This unseen Good hems us about on every side," the speaker was saying, +with a comprehensive sweep of her capable-looking hands. "It presses +upon us, more limitless, more inexhaustible, more free than the air that +we breathe! Out of it _every_ need, _every_ want, _every_ yearning of +humanity can be, must be, supplied. To you, who have hitherto led +starved lives, hungering, longing for the good things which you believe +a distant and indifferent God has denied you--to you I declare that in +this encircling, ever-present, invisible, exhaustless Beneficence is +already provided a lavish abundance of everything which you can possibly +want or think! Nay, desire itself is but God--Good--Love, knocking at +the door of your consciousness. It is impossible for you to desire +anything that is not already your own! It only remains for you to bring +the invisible into visibility--to take of the everlasting substance what +you will! + +"And how must you do this? Ask, and _believe that you have_! You have +asked many times, perhaps, and have failed to receive. Why? You have +failed to _believe_. Ask, then, for what you will! Ask, and at once +return thanks for what you have asked! In the asking and _believing_ is +the thing itself made manifest. Declare that it is yours! Expect it! +Believe it! Hold to it without wavering--no matter how empty your hands +may seem! _It is yours_, and God's infinite creation shall lapse into +nothingness; His stars shall fall from high Heaven like withered leaves +sooner than that you shall fail to obtain all that you have asked!" + +When, at the close of the lecture, Mrs. B. Isabelle Smart became the +center of a polite yet insistent crush of satins, velvets and +broadcloths, permeated by an aroma of violets and a gentle hum of +delicate flattery, she was aware of a timid hand upon her arm, and +turned to look into the small, eager face under the unfashionable +bonnet. + +"You--you meant religious gifts, did you not?" faltered the faint, +discouraged voice; "faith, hope and--and--the--the being resigned to +God's will, and--and endeavoring to bear the cross with patience." + + * * * * * + +"I meant _everything_ that _you_ want," answered the bright-eyed one +with deliberate emphasis, the bright eyes softening as they took in more +completely the pinched outlines and the eager child's look shining from +out the worn and faded woman's face. + +"But--but there is so much! I--I never had anything that I really +wanted--things, you know, that one could hardly mention in one's +prayers." + +"Have them now. Have them all. God is all. All is God. You are God's. +God is yours!" + +Then the billowing surges of silk and velvet swept the small, inquiring +face into the background with the accustomed ease and relentlessness of +billowing surges. + +Having partaken copiously of certain "material beliefs" consisting of +salads and sandwiches, accompanied by divers cups of strong coffee, Mrs. +J. Mortimer Van Deuser had become pleasantly flushed and expansive. "A +most unique, comprehensive and uplifting view of our spiritual +environment," she remarked to Miss Philura when the two ladies found +themselves on their homeward way. Her best society smile still lingered +blandly about the curves and creases of her stolid, high-colored visage; +the dying violets on her massive satin bosom gave forth their sweetest +parting breath. + +The little lady on the front seat of the carriage sat very erect; red +spots glowed upon her faded cheeks. "I think," she said tremulously, +"that it was just--wonderful! I--I am so very happy to have heard it. +Thank you a thousand times, dear Cousin Maria, for taking me." + +Mrs. Van Deuser raised her gold-rimmed glasses and settled them under +arching brows, while the society smile faded quite away. "Of course," +she said coldly, "one should make due and proper allowance for facts--as +they exist. And also--er--consider above all what interpretation is best +suited to one's individual station in life. Truth, my dear Philura, +adapts itself freely to the needs of the poor and lowly as well as to +the demands of those upon whom devolve the higher responsibilities of +wealth and position; our dear Master Himself spoke of the poor as always +with us, you will remember. A lowly but pious life, passed in humble +recognition of God's chastening providence, is doubtless good and proper +for many worthy persons." + + * * * * * + +Miss Philura's blue eyes flashed rebelliously for perhaps the first time +in uncounted years. She made no answer. As for the long and presumably +instructive homily on the duties and prerogatives of the lowly, lasting +quite up to the moment when the carriage stopped before the door of Mrs. +Van Deuser's residence, it fell upon ears which heard not. Indeed, her +next remark was so entirely irrelevant that her august kinswoman stared +in displeased amazement. "I am going to purchase some--some necessaries +to-morrow, Cousin Maria; I should like Fifine to go with me." + +Miss Philura acknowledged to herself, with a truthfulness which she felt +to be almost brazen, that her uppermost yearnings were of a wholly +mundane character. + +During a busy and joyous evening she endeavored to formulate these +thronging desires; by bedtime she had even ventured--with the aid of a +stubbed lead-pencil--to indite the most immediate and urgent of these +wants as they knocked at the door of her consciousness. The list, hidden +guiltily away in the depths of her shabby purse, read something as +follows: + +"I wish to be beautiful and admired. I want two new dresses; a hat with +plumes, and a silk petticoat that rustles. I want some new kid gloves +and a feather boa (a long one made of ostrich feathers). I wish----" The +small, blunt pencil had been lifted in air for the space of three +minutes before it again descended; then, with cheeks that burned, Miss +Philura had written the fateful words: "I wish to have a lover and to +be married." + +"There, I have done it!" she said to herself, her little fingers +trembling with agitation. "He must already exist in the encircling Good. +He is mine. I am engaged to be married at this very moment!" + +To lay this singular memorandum before her Maker appeared to Miss +Philura little short of sacrilegious; but the thought of the mysterious +Abundance of which the seeress had spoken, urging itself, as it were, +upon her acceptance, encouraged her. She arose from her evening orisons +with a glowing face. "I have asked," she said aloud, "and I _believe_ I +shall have." + + * * * * * + +Mademoiselle Fifine passed a very enjoyable morning with Miss Philura. +To choose, to purchase, and above all to transform the ugly into the +beautiful, filled the French woman's breast with enthusiasm. Her glance, +as it rested upon her companion's face and figure, was no longer coldly +critical, but cordially appreciative. "Ze madame," she declared, showing +her white teeth in a pleasant smile, "has very many advantage. _Voila_, +ze hair--_c'est admirable_, as any one may perceive! Pardon, while for +one little minute I arrange! Ah--_mon dieu!_ Regard ze difference!" + +The two were at this moment in a certain millinery shop conducted by a +discreet and agreeable compatriot of Fifine's. This individual now +produced a modest hat of black, garnished with plumes, which, set +lightly on the loosened bands of golden-brown hair, completed the effect +"_delicieusement!_" declared the French women in chorus. + +With a beating heart Miss Philura stared into the mirror at her changed +reflection. "It is quite--quite true!" she said aloud. "It is all true." + +Fifine and the milliner exchanged delighted shrugs and grimaces. In +truth, the small, erect figure, in its perfectly fitting gown, bore +no resemblance to the plain, elderly Miss Philura of yesterday. +As for the face beneath the nodding plumes, it was actually +radiant--transfigured--with joy and hope. + +Mrs. J. Mortimer Van Deuser regarded the apparition which greeted her at +luncheon with open disapproval. This new Miss Philura, with the prettily +flushed cheeks, the bright eyes, the fluff of waving hair, and--yes, +actually a knot of fragrant violets at her breast, had given her an +unpleasant shock of surprise. "I am sure I hope you can _afford_ all +this," was her comment, with a deliberate adjustment of eyebrows and +glasses calculated to add mordant point and emphasis to her words. + +"Oh, yes," replied Miss Philura tranquilly, but with heightened color; +"I can afford whatever I like now." + +Mrs. Van Deuser stared hard at her guest. She found herself actually +hesitating before Philura Rice. Then she drew her massive figure to its +full height, and again bent the compelling light of her gold-rimmed +glasses full upon the small person of her kinswoman. "What--er--I do not +understand," she began lamely. "_Where_ did you obtain the money for all +this!" + +Miss Philura raised her eyebrows ever so little--somehow they seemed to +suit the clear blue eyes admirably today. + +"The money?" she repeated, in a tone of surprise. "Why, out of the +bank, of course." + +Upon the fact that she had drawn out and expended in a single morning +nearly the whole of the modest sum commonly made to supply her meager +living for six months Miss Philura bestowed but a single thought. "In +the all-encircling Good," she said to herself serenely, "there is plenty +of money for me; why, then, should I not spend this?" + + + + +CHAPTER TWO + + +The village of Innisfield was treated to a singular surprise on the +Sunday morning following, when Miss Philura Rice, newly returned from +her annual visit to Boston, walked down the aisle to her accustomed +place in the singers' seat. Whispered comment and surmise flew from pew +to pew, sandwiched irreverently between hymn, prayer and sermon. +Indeed, the last-mentioned portion of the service, being of unusual +length and dullness, was utilized by the female members of the +congregation in making a minute inventory of the amazing changes which +had taken place in the familiar figure of their townswoman. + +"Philury's had money left her, I shouldn't wonder;" "Her Cousin Van +Deuser's been fixin' her up;" "She's a-goin' to be married!" were some +of the opinions, wholly at variance with the text of the discourse, +which found their way from mouth to mouth. + +Miss Electa Pratt attached herself with decision to her friend, Miss +Rice, directly the service was at an end. "I'm just _dying_ to hear all +about it!" she exclaimed, with a fond pressure of the arm linked within +her own--this after the two ladies had extricated themselves from the +circle of curious and critical faces at the church door. + +Miss Philura surveyed the speaker with meditative eyes; it seemed to her +that Miss Pratt was curiously altered since she had seen her last. + +"_Have_ you had a fortune left you?" went on her inquisitor, blinking +enviously at the nodding plumes which shaded Miss Philura's blue eyes. +"Everybody _says_ you have; and that you are going to get married soon. +I'm sure you'll tell _me_ everything!" + +Miss Philura hesitated for a moment. "I haven't exactly had money left +me," she began; then her eyes brightened. "I have all that I need," she +said, and straightened her small figure confidently. + +"And _are_ you going to be married, dear?" + +"Yes," said Miss Philura distinctly. + +"Well, I _never_--Philura Rice!" almost screamed her companion. "Do tell +me _when_; and _who_ is it?" + +"I can not tell you that--now," said Miss Philura simply. "He is in----" +She was about to add "the encircling Good," but she reflected that Miss +Pratt might fail to comprehend her. "I will introduce you to +him--later," she concluded with dignity. + +To follow the fortunes of Miss Philura during the ensuing weeks were a +pleasant though monotonous task; the encircling Good proved itself +wholly adequate to the demands made upon it. Though there was little +money in the worn purse, there were numerous and pressing invitations +to tea, to dinner, and to spend the day, from hosts of friends who had +suddenly become warm, affectionate, and cordially appreciative; and not +even the new Methodist minister's wife could boast of such lavish +donations, in the shape of new-laid eggs, frosted cakes, delicate +biscuit, toothsome crullers and choice fruits as found their way to Miss +Philura's door. + + * * * * * + +The recipient of these manifold favors walked, as it were, upon air. +"For unto every one that hath shall be given," she read in the privacy +of her own shabby little parlor, "and he shall have abundance." + +"Everything that I want is mine!" cried the little lady, bedewing the +pages of Holy Writ with happy tears. The thought of the lover and +husband who, it is true, yet lingered in the invisible, brought a +becoming blush to her cheek. "I shall see him soon," she reflected +tranquilly. "He is mine--mine!" + +At that very moment Miss Electa Pratt was seated in the awe-inspiring +reception-room of Mrs. J. Mortimer Van Deuser's residence in Beacon +Street. The two ladies were engaged in earnest conversation. + + * * * * * + +"What you tell me with regard to Philura fills me with surprise and +alarm," Mrs. Van Deuser was remarking with something more than her +accustomed majesty of tone and mien. "Philura Rice certainly did _not_ +become engaged to be married during her stay in Boston. Neither has she +been the recipient of funds from myself, nor, to the best of my +knowledge, from any other member of the family. Personally, I have +always been averse to the encouragement of extravagance and vanity in +those destined by a wise Providence to pass their lives in a humble +station. I fear exceedingly that Philura's visits to Boston have failed +to benefit her as I wished and intended." + +"But she _said_ that she had money, and that she was going to get +married," persisted Miss Pratt. "You don't suppose"--lowering her +strident tones to a whisper--"that the poor thing is going crazy?" + + * * * * * + +Mrs. Van Deuser had concentrated her intellectual and penetrating orbs +upon a certain triangular knob that garnished the handle of her +visitor's umbrella; she vouchsafed no reply. When she did speak, after +the lapse of some moments, it was to dismiss that worthy person with a +practiced ease and adroitness which permitted of nothing further, either +in the way of information or conjecture. + +"Philura is, after all, a distant relative of my own," soliloquized Mrs. +Van Deuser, "and _as such_ is entitled to consideration." + +Her subsequent cogitations presently took shape to themselves and +became a letter, dispatched in the evening mail and bearing the address +of the Rev. Silas Pettibone, Innisfield. Mrs. Van Deuser recalled in +this missive Miss Philura's "unfortunate visit" to the Ontological Club, +and the patent indications of its equally unfortunate consequences. "I +should be inclined to take myself severely to task in the matter," wrote +the excellent and conscientious lady, "if I had not improved the +opportunity to explain at length, in the hearing of my misguided +relative, the nature and scope of God's controlling providence, as +signally displayed in His dealings with the humbler classes of society. +As an under-shepherd of the lowly flock to which Miss Rice belongs, my +dear Mr. Pettibone, I lay her spiritual state before you, and beg that +you will at once endeavor to set right her erroneous views of the +overruling guidance of the Supreme Being. I shall myself intercede for +Philura before the Throne of Grace." + + * * * * * + +The Rev. Silas Pettibone read this remarkable communication with +interest; indeed, after returning it to its envelope and bestowing it in +his most inaccessible coat-pocket, the under-shepherd of the lowly flock +of Innisfield gave himself the task of resurrecting and reperusing the +succinct yet weighty words of Mrs. Van Deuser. + +If the Rev. Silas had been blessed with a wife, to whose nimbler wits he +might have submitted the case, it is probable that he would not have sat +for so long a time in his great chair brooding over the contents of the +violet-tinted envelope from Boston. But unfortunately the good minister +had been forced to lay his helpmate beneath the rough sods of the +village churchyard some three years previous. Since this sad event, it +is scarcely necessary to state, he had found it essential to his peace +of mind to employ great discretion in his dealings with the female +members of his flock. He viewed the matter in hand with vague +misgivings. Strangely enough, he had not heard of Miss Philura's good +fortune, and to his masculine and impartial vision there had appeared no +especial change in the aspect or conduct of the the little woman. + +"Let me think," he mused, passing his white hand through the thick, dark +locks, just touched with gray, which shaded his perplexed forehead. He +was a personable man, was the Rev. Silas Pettibone. "Let me think: Miss +Philura has been very regular in her attendance at church and +prayer-meeting of late. No, I have observed nothing wrong--nothing +blameworthy in her walk and conversation. But I can not approve of +these--ah--clubs." He again cast his eye upon the letter. "Ontology, +now, is certainly not a fit subject for the consideration of the female +mind." + + * * * * * + +Having delivered himself of this sapient opinion, the reverend gentleman +made ready for a round of parochial visits. Foremost on his list +appeared the name of Miss Philura Rice. As he stood upon the door-step, +shaded on either side by fragrant lilac plumes, he resolved to be +particularly brief, though impressive, in his pastoral ministrations. +If this especial member of his flock had wandered from the straight and +narrow way into forbidden by-paths, it was his manifest duty to restore +her in the spirit of meekness; but he would waste no unnecessary time or +words in the process. + +The sunshine, pleasantly interrupted by snowy muslin curtains, streamed +in through the open windows of Miss Philura's modest parlor, kindling +into scarlet flame the blossoms of the thrifty geranium which stood +upon the sill, and flickered gently on the brown head of the little +mistress of the house, seated with her sewing in a favorite +rocking-chair. Miss Philura was unaffectedly glad to see her pastor. She +told him at once that last Sunday's sermon was inspiring; that she felt +sure that after hearing it the unconverted could hardly fail to be +convinced of the error of their ways. + +The Rev. Silas Pettibone seated himself opposite Miss Philura and +regarded her attentively. The second-best new dress was undeniably +becoming; the blue eyes under the childish brows beamed upon him +cordially. "I am pleased to learn--ah--that you can approve the +discourse of Sabbath morning," he began in somewhat labored fashion. "I +have had occasion to--that is--er, my attention has been called of late +to the fact that certain members of the church have--well, to put it +briefly, some have fallen grievously away from the faith." + +Miss Philura's sympathy and concern were at once apparent. "I do not +see," she said simply, "how one can fall away from the faith. It is so +beautiful to believe!" + + * * * * * + +The small, upturned face shone with so sweet and serene a light that the +under-shepherd of the Innisfield flock leaned forward and fixed his +earnest brown eyes on the clear blue eyes of the lady. In treatises +relating to the affections this stage of the proceedings is generally +conceded to mark a crisis. It marked a crisis on this occasion; during +that moment the Rev. Silas Pettibone forgot at once and for all time the +violet-tinted envelope in his coat-tail pocket. It was discovered six +month's later and consigned to oblivion by--but let us not anticipate. + +"God is so kind, _so generous_!" pursued Miss Philura softly. "If we +once know Him as our Father we can never again be afraid, or lonely, or +poor, or lacking for any good thing. How is it possible to fall away? I +do not understand. Is it not because they do not know Him?" + +It is altogether likely that the pastor of the Innisfield Presbyterian +Church found conditions in the spiritual state of Miss Philura which +necessitated earnest and prolonged admonition; at all events, the sun +was sinking behind the western horizon when the reverend gentleman +slowly and thoughtfully made his way toward the parsonage. Curiously +enough, this highly respectable domicile had taken on during his absence +an aspect of gloom and loneliness unpleasantly apparent. "A scarlet +geranium in the window might improve it," thought the vaguely +dissatisfied proprietor, as he put on his dressing-gown and thrust his +feet into his newest pair of slippers. (Presented by Miss Electa Pratt +"to my pastor, with grateful affection.") + +"I believe I failed to draw Miss Philura's attention to the obvious +relation between faith and works," cogitated the reverend Silas, as he +sat before his lonely hearth, placidly scorching the soles of his new +slippers before the cheerful blaze. "It will be altogether advisable, I +think, to set her right on that point without delay. I will--ah--just +look in again for a moment to-morrow afternoon." + + * * * * * + + "God's purposes will ripen fast, + Unfolding every hour. + The bud may have a bitter taste, + But sweet will be the flower!" + +sang the choir of the Innisfield Presbyterian Church one Sunday morning +a month later. And Miss Philura Rice--as was afterward remarked--sang +the words with such enthusiasm and earnestness that her high soprano +soared quite above all the other voices in the choir, and this despite +the fact that Miss Electa Pratt was putting forth her nasal contralto +with more than wonted insistence. + +The last-mentioned lady found the sermon--on the text, "Little children, +love one another, for love is of God"--so extremely convincing, and her +own subsequent spiritual state in such an agitated condition, that she +took occasion to seek a private conversation with her pastor in his +study on that same Sunday afternoon. + +"I don't know _when_ I've been so wrought up!" declared Miss Pratt, with +a preliminary display of immaculate handkerchief. "I cried _and cried_ +after I got home from church this morning. Ma she sez to me, sez she, +'What ails you Lecty?' And I sez to ma, sez I, 'Ma, it was that +_blessed_ sermon. I don't know _when_ I ever heard anything like it! +That dear pastor of ours is just ripening for a better world!'" Miss +Electa paused a moment to shed copious tears over this statement. "It +does seem to me, _dear_ Mr. Pettibone," she resumed, with a tender +glance and a comprehensive sniff, "that you ain't looking as well as +usual. I said so to Philura Rice as we was coming out of church, and I +really hate to tell you how she answered me; only I feel as though it +was my duty. 'Mr. Pettibone is perfectly well!' she says, and tossed +those feathers of hers higher'n ever. Philura's awful worldly, I _do +grieve_ to say--_if not worse_. I've been a-thinking for some time that +it was my Christian duty (however painful) to tell you what Mis' Van +Deuser, of Boston, said about----" + +The Rev. Silas Pettibone frowned with awful dignity. He brought down his +closed fist upon his open Bible with forensic force and suddenness. +"Miss Philura Rice," he said emphatically, "is one of the most +spiritual--the most lovely and consistent--Christian characters it has +ever been my privilege to know. Her faith and unworldliness are +absolutely beyond the comprehension of--of--many of my flock. I must +further tell you that I hope to have the great happiness of leading +Miss Rice to the matrimonial altar in the near future." + +Miss Electa Pratt sank back in her chair petrified with astonishment. +"Well, I _must say_!" she gasped. "And she was engaged to you _all this +time_ and I never knew it!" + +The Rev. Pettibone bent his eyes coldly upon his agitated parishioner. +"I am at a loss to comprehend your very strange comment, Miss Pratt," he +said; "the engagement has been of such very short duration that I can +not regard it as surprising that you should not have heard of it. +It--ah--took place only yesterday." + +Miss Electa straightened her angular shoulders with a jerk. "Yesterday!" +she almost screamed. "Well! I can tell _you_ that Philura Rice told _me_ +that she was engaged to be married more than three months ago!" + +"You are certainly mistaken, madam," began the minister in a somewhat +perturbed tone, which did not escape the notice of the now flushed and +triumphant spinster. + +"More than three months ago!" she repeated with incisive emphasis. +"_Now_ maybe you'll listen to me while I tell you what I know about +Philura Rice!" + +But the lady had reckoned without her host. The Rev. Silas arose to his +feet with decision. "I certainly will _not_ listen to anything +derogatory to Miss Rice," he said sternly. "She is my promised wife, +you will remember." With that the prudent minister beat a hasty retreat, +to entrench himself without apology or delay in the inner fastnesses of +the parsonage. + + * * * * * + +Miss Electa rolled her greenish orbs about the chamber of learning with +a thoughtful smile. "If Philura Rice ain't crazy," she said aloud; "an' +I guess she ain't far from it. She's told a wicked lie! In either case, +it's my Christian duty to see this thing put a stop to!" + +That evening after service Miss Philura, her modest cheeks dyed with +painful blushes, confessed to her promised husband that she had indeed +announced her intentions of matrimony some three months previous. "I +wanted somebody to--to love me," she faltered; "somebody in particular, +you know; and--and I asked God to give me--a--a husband. After I had +asked, of course I _believed_ that _I had_. He--he was already in the +encircling Good, you know, or I should not have wanted him! When Electa +asked me point blank, what could I say without--without denying--_God_?" + +The brave voice faltered more than once during this recital; and finally +broke down altogether when the Rev. Silas Pettibone, his brown eyes +shining, exclaimed in joyful yet solemn tones, "and God sent me!" + +The encircling Good was perfectly manifest at that moment in the shape +of two strong arms. Miss Philura rested in them and was glad. + + + + +THE + +HOUR-GLASS + +STORIES + + + * * * * * + +THE COURTSHIP OF SWEET ANNE PAGE + +By ELLEN V. TALBOT. A brisk little love story incidental to "The Merry +Wives of Windsor," full of fun and frolic, and telling of the Courtship +of Sweet Anne Page by three rivals lovers chosen by her father, her +mother, and herself. + +THE SANDALS + +By REV. ZELOTES GRENELL. A beautiful little idyl of sacred story dealing +with the sandals of Christ. + +THE TRANSFIGURATION OF MISS PHILURA + +By FLORENCE MORSE KINGSLEY. This clever story is based on the theory +that every physical need and every desire of the human heart can be +claimed and received from the "Encircling Good" by the true believer. + +THE HERR DOCTOR + +By ROBERT MACDONALD. A novelette of artistic literary merit, narrating +the varied experiences of an American girl in her effort toward +capturing a titled husband. + +ESARHADDON + +By COUNT LEO TOLSTOY. Three allegorical stories illustrating Tolstoy's +theories of non-resistance, and the essential unity of all forms of +life. + +THE CZAR'S GIFT + +By WILLIAM ORDWAY PARTRIDGE. How freedom was obtained for an exiled +brother. + +THE EMANCIPATION OF MISS SUSANA + +An entrancing love story that ends in a most romantic marriage. + +THE OLD DARNMAN + +By CHARLES L. GOODELL, D.D. A character known to many a New England boy +and girl, in which the "lost bride" is the occasion for a lifelong +search from door to door. + +BALM IN GILEAD + +By FLORENCE MORSE KINGSLEY. A very touching story of a mother's grief +over the loss of her child of tender years, and her search for comfort, +which she finds at last in her husband's loyal Christian faith. + +MISERERE + +By MABEL WAGNALLS. The romantic story of a sweet voice that thrilled +great audiences in operatic Paris, Berlin, etc. + +PARSIFAL + +By H. R. HAWEIS. An intimate study of the great operatic masterpiece. + +THE TROUBLE WOMAN + +By CLARA MORRIS. A pathetic little story full of heart interest. + +THE RETURN OF CAROLINE + +By FLORENCE MORSE KINGSLEY. Companion story to the "Transfiguration of +Miss Philura," by the same author. + + * * * * * + +_Small l2mo, Dainty Cloth Binding, Illustrated._ + +_40 cents each_ + +FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY, Pubs. + +NEW YORK AND LONDON + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Transfiguration of Miss Philura, by +Florence Morse Kingsley + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TRANSFIGURATION OF MISS PHILURA *** + +***** This file should be named 28102.txt or 28102.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/1/0/28102/ + +Produced by Annie McGuire + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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