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diff --git a/old/68929-0.txt b/old/68929-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index cbcb835..0000000 --- a/old/68929-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,7551 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Beautiful but poor, by Julia Edwards - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Beautiful but poor - -Author: Julia Edwards - -Release Date: September 6, 2022 [eBook #68929] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Demian Katz, Craig Kirkwood, and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (Images courtesy - of the Digital Library@Villanova University.) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BEAUTIFUL BUT POOR *** - - -Transcriber’s Notes: - -Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). - -Additional Transcriber’s Notes are at the end. - - * * * * * - -EAGLE LIBRARY No. 8 - -Beautiful But Poor - -By Julia Edwards - -[Illustration: From copyright photo by Aime Dupont, N. Y.] - - STREET & SMITH - Publishers -- New York - -All stories copyrighted. Cannot be had in any other edition. - - * * * * * - -_Copyrighted Fiction by the Best Authors_ - -NEW EAGLE SERIES - -Price, 15 Cents :: Issued Weekly - -(Trade supplied exclusively by the American News Company and its -branches.) - -The books in this line comprise an unrivaled collection of copyrighted -novels by authors who have won fame wherever the English language is -spoken. Foremost among these is Mrs. Georgie Sheldon, whose works -are contained in this line exclusively. Every book in the New Eagle -Series is of generous length, of attractive appearance, and of -undoubted merit. No better literature can be had at any price. Beware -of imitations of the S. & S. novels, which are sold cheap because -their publishers were put to no expense in the matter of purchasing -manuscripts and making plates. - -ALL TITLES ALWAYS IN PRINT - -NOTICE:--If these books are sent by mail, four cents must be added to -the price of each copy to cover postage. - - 1--Queen Bess By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon - 2--Ruby’s Reward By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon - 7--Two Keys By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon - 12--Edrie’s Legacy By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon - 44--That Dowdy By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon - 55--Thrice Wedded By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon - 66--Witch Hazel By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon - 77--Tina By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon - 88--Virgie’s Inheritance By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon - 99--Audrey’s Recompense By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon - 111--Faithful Shirley By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon - 122--Grazia’s Mistake By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon - 133--Max By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon - 144--Dorothy’s Jewels By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon - 155--Nameless Dell By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon - 166--The Masked Bridal By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon - 177--A True Aristocrat By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon - 188--Dorothy Arnold’s Escape By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon - 199--Geoffrey’s Victory By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon - 210--Wild Oats By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon - 219--Lost, A Pearle By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon - 222--The Lily of Mordaunt By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon - 233--Nora By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon - 244--A Hoiden’s Conquest By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon - 255--The Little Marplot By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon - 266--The Welfleet Mystery By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon - 277--Brownie’s Triumph By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon - 282--The Forsaken Bride By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon - 288--Sibyl’s Influence By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon - 291--A Mysterious Wedding Ring By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon - 299--Little Miss Whirlwind By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon - 311--Wedded by Fate By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon - 339--His Heart’s Queen By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon - 351--The Churchyard Betrothal By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon - 362--Stella Rosevelt By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon - 372--A Girl in a Thousand By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon - 373--A Thorn Among Roses Sequel to - “A Girl in a Thousand.” By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon - 382--Mona By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon - 391--Marguerite’s Heritage By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon - 399--Betsey’s Transformation By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon - 407--Esther, the Fright By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon - 415--Trixy By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon - 419--The Other Woman By Charles Garvice - 433--Winifred’s Sacrifice By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon - 440--Edna’s Secret Marriage By Charles Garvice - 451--Helen’s Victory By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon - 458--When Love Meets Love By Charles Garvice - 476--Earle Wayne’s Nobility By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon - 511--The Golden Key By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon - 512--A Heritage of Love Sequel to - “The Golden Key.” By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon - 519--The Magic Cameo By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon - 520--The Heatherford Fortune Sequel - to “The Magic Cameo.” By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon - 531--Better Than Life By Charles Garvice - 537--A Life’s Mistake By Charles Garvice - 542--Once in a Life By Charles Garvice - 548--’Twas Love’s Fault By Charles Garvice - 553--Queen Kate By Charles Garvice - 554--Step By Step By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon - 555--Put to the Test By Ida Reade Allen - 556--With Love’s Aid By Wenona Gilman - 557--In Cupid’s Chains By Charles Garvice - 558--A Plunge Into the Unknown By Richard Marsh - 559--The Love That Was Cursed By Geraldine Fleming - 560--The Thorns of Regret By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller - 561--The Outcast of the Family By Charles Garvice - 562--A Forced Promise By Ida Reade Allen - 563--The Old Homestead By Denman Thompson - 564--Love’s First Kiss By Emma Garrison Jones - 565--Just a Girl By Charles Garvice - 566--In Love’s Springtime By Laura Jean Libbey - 567--Trixie’s Honor By Geraldine Fleming - 568--Hearts and Dollars By Ida Reade Allen - 569--By Devious Ways By Charles Garvice - 570--Her Heart’s Unbidden Guest By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller - 571--Two Wild Girls By Mrs. Charlotte May Kingsley - 572--Amid Scarlet Roses By Emma Garrison Jones - 573--Heart for Heart By Charles Garvice - 574--The Fugitive Bride By Mary E. Bryan - 575--A Blue Grass Heroine By Ida Reade Allen - 576--The Yellow Face By Fred M. White - 577--The Story of a Passion By Charles Garvice - 578--A Lovely Impostor By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller - 579--The Curse of Beauty By Geraldine Fleming - 580--The Great Awakening By E. Phillips Oppenheim - 581--A Modern Juliet By Charles Garvice - 582--Virgie Talcott’s Mission By Lucy M. Russell - 583--His Greatest Sacrifice; or, Manch By Mary E. Bryan - 584--Mabel’s Fate By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller - 585--The Ape and the Diamond By Richard Marsh - 586--Nell, of Shorne Mills By Charles Garvice - 587--Katherine’s Two Suitors By Geraldine Fleming - 588--The Crime of Love By Barbara Howard - 589--His Father’s Crime By E. Phillips Oppenheim - 590--What Was She to Him? By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller - 591--A Heritage of Hate By Charles Garvice - 592--Ida Chaloner’s Heart By Lucy Randall Comfort - 593--Love Will Find the Way By Wenona Gilman - 594--A Case of Identity By Richard Marsh - 595--The Shadow of Her Life By Charles Garvice - 596--Slighted Love By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller - 597--Her Fatal Gift By Geraldine Fleming - 598--His Wife’s Friend By Mary E. Bryan - 599--At Love’s Cost By Charles Garvice - 600--St. Elmo By Augusta J. Evans - 601--The Fate of the Plotter By Louis Tracy - 602--Married In Error By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller - 603--Love and Jealousy By Lucy Randall Comfort - 604--Only a Working Girl By Geraldine Fleming - 605--Love, the Tyrant By Charles Garvice - 606--Mabel’s Sacrifice By Charlotte M. Stanley - 607--Sybilla, the Siren By Ida Reade Allen - 608--Love is Love Forevermore Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller - 609--John Elliott’s Flirtation By Lucy May Russell - 610--With All Her Heart By Charles Garvice - 611--Is Love Worth While? By Geraldine Fleming - 612--Her Husband’s Other Wife By Emma Garrison Jones - 613--Philip Bennion’s Death By Richard Marsh - 614--Little Phillis’ Lover By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller - 615--Maida By Charles Garvice - 616--Strangers to the Grave By Ida Reade Allen - 617--As a Man Lives By E. Phillips Oppenheim - 618--The Tide of Fate By Wenona Gilman - 619--The Cardinal Moth By Fred M. White - 620--Marcia Drayton By Charles Garvice - 621--Lynette’s Wedding By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller - 622--His Madcap Sweetheart By Emma Garrison Jones - 623--Love at the Loom By Geraldine Fleming - 624--A Bachelor Girl By Lucy May Russell - 625--Kyra’s Fate By Charles Garvice - 626--The Joss By Richard Marsh - 627--My Little Love By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller - 628--A Daughter of the Marionis By E. Phillips Oppenheim - 629--The Lady of Beaufort Park By Wenona Gilman - 630--The Verdict of the Heart By Charles Garvice - 631--A Love Concealed By Emma Garrison Jones - 632--Cruelly Divided By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller - 633--The Strange Disappearance - of Lady Delia By Louis Tracy - 634--Love’s Golden Spell By Geraldine Fleming - 635--A Coronet of Shame By Charles Garvice - 636--Sinned Against By Mary E. Bryan - 637--If It Were True! By Wenona Gilman - 638--A Golden Barrier By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller - 639--A Hateful Bondage By Barbara Howard - 640--A Girl of Spirit By Charles Garvice - 641--Master of Men By E. Phillips Oppenheim - 642--A Fair Enchantress By Ida Reade Allen - 643--The Power of Love By Geraldine Fleming - 644--No Time for Penitence By Wenona Gilman - 645--A Jest of Fate By Charles Garvice - 646--Her Sister’s Secret By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller - 647--Bitterly Atoned By Mrs. E. Burke Collins - 648--Gertrude Elliott’s Crucible By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon - 649--The Corner House By Fred M. White - 650--Diana’s Destiny By Charles Garvice - 651--Love’s Clouded Dawn By Wenona Gilman - 652--Little Vixen By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller - 653--Her Heart’s Challenge By Barbara Howard - 654--Vivian’s Love Story By Mrs. E. Burke Collins - 655--Linked by Fate By Charles Garvice - 656--Hearts of Stone By Geraldine Fleming - 657--In the Service of Love By Richard Marsh - -To Be Published During January. - - 658--Love’s Devious Course By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller - 659--Told In the Twilight By Ida Reade Allen - 660--The Mills of the Gods By Wenona Gilman - 661--The Man of the Hour By Sir William Magnay - -To Be Published During February. - - 662--A Little Barbarian By Charlotte Kingsley - 663--Creatures of Destiny By Charles Garvice - 664--A Southern Princess By Emma Garrison Jones - 665--Where Love Dwelt By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller - -To Be Published During March. - - 666--A Fateful Promise By Effie Adelaide Rowlands - 667--The Goddess--A Demon By Richard Marsh - 668--From Tears To Smiles By Ida Reade Allen - 669--Tempted by Gold By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller - 670--Better Than Riches By Wenona Gilman - -To Be Published During April. - - 671--When Love Is Young By Charles Garvice - 672--Craven Fortune By Fred M. White - 673--Her Life’s Burden By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller - 674--The Heart of Hetta By Effie Adelaide Rowlands - -To Be Published During May. - - 675--The Breath of Slander By Ida Reade Allen - 676--The Wooing of Esther Gray By Louis Tracy - 677--The Shadow Between Them By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller - 678--Gold in the Gutter By Charles Garvice - -To Be Published During June. - - 679--Master of Her Fate By Geraldine Fleming - 680--In Full Cry By Richard Marsh - 681--My Pretty Maid By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller - 682--An Unhappy Bargain By Effie Adelaide Rowlands - 683--True Love Endures By Ida Reade Allen - -In order that there may be no confusion, we desire to say that the -books listed above will be issued, during the respective months, in New -York City and vicinity. They may not reach the readers, at a distance, -promptly, on account of delays in transportation. - - * * * * * - -THE EAGLE SERIES - -OF POPULAR FICTION - -Principally Copyrights Elegant Colored Covers - -PRICE, TEN CENTS - -(Trade supplied exclusively by the American News Company and its -branches.) - -While the books in the New Eagle Series are undoubtedly better value, -being bigger books, the stories offered to the public in this line -must not be underestimated. There are over four hundred copyrighted -books by the famous authors, which cannot be had in any other line. No -other publisher in the world has a line that contains so many different -titles, nor can any publisher ever hope to secure books that will match -those in the Eagle Series in quality. - -This is the pioneer line of copyrighted ten cent novels, and that it -has struck popular fancy just right is proven by the fact that for -ten years it has been the first choice of American readers. The only -reason that we can afford to give such excellent reading at ten cents -per copy, is that our unlimited capital and great organization enable -us to manufacture books more cheaply and to sell more of them without -expensive advertising, than any other publisher. - -ALL TITLES ALWAYS IN PRINT - -NOTICE:--If these books are sent by mail, four cents must be added to -the price of each copy to cover postage. - - 3--The Love of Violet Lee By Julia Edwards - 4--For a Woman’s Honor By Bertha M. Clay - 5--The Senator’s Favorite By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller - 6--The Midnight Marriage By A. M. Douglas - 8--Beautiful But Poor By Julia Edwards - 9--The Virginia Heiress By May Agnes Fleming - 10--Little Sunshine By Francis S. Smith - 11--The Gipsy’s Daughter By Bertha M. Clay - 13--The Little Widow By Julia Edwards - 14--Violet Lisle By Bertha M. Clay - 15--Dr. Jack By St. George Rathborne - 16--The Fatal Card By Haddon Chambers and B. C. Stephenson - 17--Leslie’s Loyalty - (His Love So True) By Charles Garvice - 18--Dr. Jack’s Wife By St. George Rathborne - 19--Mr. Lake of Chicago By Harry DuBois Milman - 20--The Senator’s Bride By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller - 21--A Heart’s Idol By Bertha M. Clay - 22--Elaine By Charles Garvice - 23--Miss Pauline of New York By St. George Rathborne - 24--A Wasted Love - (On Love’s Altar) By Charles Garvice - 25--Little Southern Beauty By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller - 26--Captain Tom By St. George Rathborne - 27--Estelle’s Millionaire Lover By Julia Edwards - 28--Miss Caprice By St. George Rathborne - 29--Theodora By Victorien Sardou - 30--Baron Sam By St. George Rathborne - 31--A Siren’s Love By Robert Lee Tyler - 32--The Blockade Runner By J. Perkins Tracy - 33--Mrs. Bob By St. George Rathborne - 34--Pretty Geraldine By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller - 35--The Great Mogul By St. George Rathborne - 36--Fedora By Victorien Sardou - 37--The Heart of Virginia By J. Perkins Tracy - 38--The Nabob of Singapore By St. George Rathborne - 39--The Colonel’s Wife By Warren Edwards - 40--Monsieur Bob By St. George Rathborne - 41--Her Heart’s Desire - (An Innocent Girl) By Charles Garvice - 42--Another Woman’s Husband By Bertha M. Clay - 43--Little Coquette Bonnie By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller - 45--A Yale Man By Robert Lee Tyler - 46--Off with the Old Love By Mrs. M. V. Victor - 47--The Colonel by Brevet By St. George Rathborne - 48--Another Man’s Wife By Bertha M. Clay - 49--None But the Brave By Robert Lee Tyler - 50--Her Ransom (Paid For) By Charles Garvice - 51--The Price He Paid By E. Werner - 52--Woman Against Woman By Effie Adelaide Rowlands - 54--Cleopatra By Victorien Sardou - 56--The Dispatch Bearer By Warren Edwards - 57--Rosamond By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller - 58--Major Matterson of Kentucky By St. George Rathborne - 59--Gladys Greye By Bertha M. Clay - 61--La Tosca By Victorien Sardou - 62--Stella Stirling By Julia Edwards - 63--Lawyer Bell from Boston By Robert Lee Tyler - 64--Dora Tenney By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller - 65--Won by the Sword By J. Perkins Tracy - 67--Gismonda By Victorien Sardou - 68--The Little Cuban Rebel By Edna Winfield - 69--His Perfect Trust By Bertha M. Clay - 70--Sydney - (A Wilful Young Woman.) By Charles Garvice - 71--The Spider’s Web By St. George Rathborne - 72--Wilful Winnie By Harriet Sherburne - 73--The Marquis By Charles Garvice - 74--The Cotton King By Sutton Vane - 75--Under Fire By T. P. James - 76--Mavourneen From the celebrated play - 78--The Yankee Champion By Sylvanus Cobb, Jr. - 79--Out of the Past - (Marjorie) By Charles Garvice - 80--The Fair Maid of Fez By St. George Rathborne - 81--Wedded for an Hour By Emma Garrison Jones - 82--Captain Impudence By Edwin Milton Royle - 83--The Locksmith of Lyons By Prof. Wm. Henry Peck - 84--Imogene - (Dumaresq’s Temptation) By Charles Garvice - 85--Lorrie; or, Hollow Gold By Charles Garvice - 86--A Widowed Bride By Lucy Randall Comfort - 87--Shenandoah By J. Perkins Tracy - 89--A Gentleman from Gascony By Bicknell Dudley - 90--For Fair Virginia By Russ Whytal - 91--Sweet Violet By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller - 92--Humanity By Sutton Vane - 93--A Queen of Treachery By Ida Reade Allen - 94--Darkest Russia By H. Grattan Donnelly - 95--A Wilful Maid - (Philippa) By Charles Garvice - 96--The Little Minister By J. M. Barrie - 97--The War Reporter By Warren Edwards - 98 Claire - (The Mistress of Court Regna) By Charles Garvice - 100--Alice Blake By Francis S. Smith - 101--A Goddess of Africa By St. George Rathborne - 102--Sweet Cymbeline - (Bellmaire) By Charles Garvice - 103--The Span of Life By Sutton Vane - 104--A Proud Dishonor By Genie Holzmeyer - 105--When London Sleeps By Chas. Darrell - 106--Lillian, My Lillian By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller - 107--Carla; or, Married at Sight By Effie Adelaide Rowlands - 108--A Son of Mars By St. George Rathborne - 109--Signa’s Sweetheart - (Lord Delamere’s Bride) By Charles Garvice - 110--Whose Wife Is She? By Annie Lisle - 112--The Cattle King By A. D. Hall - 113--A Crushed Lily By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller - 114--Half a Truth By Dora Delmar - 115--A Fair Revolutionist By St. George Rathborne - 116--The Daughter of the Regiment By Mary A. Denison - 117--She Loved Him By Charles Garvice - 118--Saved from the Sea By Richard Duffy - 119--’Twixt Smile and Tear - (Dulcie) By Charles Garvice - 120--The White Squadron By T. C. Harbaugh - 121--Cecile’s Marriage By Lucy Randall Comfort - 123--Northern Lights By A. D. Hall - 124--Prettiest of All By Julia Edwards - 125--Devil’s Island By A. D. Hall - 126--The Girl from Hong Kong By St. George Rathborne - 127--Nobody’s Daughter By Clara Augusta - 128--The Scent of the Roses By Dora Delmar - 129--In Sight of St. Paul’s By Sutton Vane - 130--A Passion Flower - (Madge) By Charles Garvice - 131--Nerine’s Second Choice By Adelaide Stirling - - * * * * * - -Stories for boys must be true to life. If they are not, boys will have -nothing to do with them. This has been our experience with the MEDAL -LIBRARY books. In it we publish all the books that other publishers get -a dollar for. What do we ask for them? Only ten cents! - -_THE MEDAL LIBRARY_ - -contains stories by Horatio Alger, Jr., Oliver Optic, G. A. Henty, -Frank H. Converse, James Otis and a hundred others who are just as -famous. Take our word for it, a boy never bought better reading matter -or had a more generous list to select from than what we are now -offering to you at ten cents per copy in the MEDAL LIBRARY. - -_PRICE, TEN CENTS PER COPY_ - -_“The Right Books at the Right Price”_ - -NOTICE--If these books are sent by mail, four cents must be added to -the price of each copy to cover postage. - -_STREET & SMITH, Publishers, New York_ - - * * * * * - -The Only Book Line Devoted to Buffalo Bill’s Adventures - -THE FAR WEST LIBRARY - -¶ The days are past when it was unsafe for a man to go alone beyond the -Mississippi River, but thousands of people like to read about the old -days in which the rattle of muskets and war whoops of savages closely -mingled. - -¶ The Far West Library publishes stories of the West as it was, and no -one who likes vigorous tales of the West can do better at any where -near the price, than these splendid stories. - -¶ They were all written by a friend of Mr. Cody who has had many narrow -escapes in company with the famous “Buffalo Bill” and who knows that -redoubtable warrior better than any other living man. - -¶ Bound in exceptionally attractive covers and printed from good, -clear, readable type. - -PRICE, FIFTEEN CENTS - -“THE RIGHT BOOKS AT THE RIGHT PRICE” - -_NOTICE: If these books are sent by mail, four cents must be added to -the price of each copy to cover postage._ - -STREET & SMITH, _Publishers_, New York - - * * * * * - -WORTH THE PRICE - -The New Romance Library - -We have tried hard to make this a line of first-class big books--books -that no reader can possibly hesitate about paying fifteen cents for. -The titles and authors are just as popular as we could make them, and -the books are generous in quantity as well as in quality. - -We want you to become acquainted with the New Romance Library for its -very name is fast becoming synonymous with first-class fiction. - -If you cannot get these from your dealer, send us his name and address -and we will endeavor to get him to supply you with copies. - -PRICE, FIFTEEN CENTS PER COPY - -“_The Right Books at the Right Price_” - -NOTICE--If these books are sent by mail, four cents must be added to -the price of each copy to cover postage. - -Street & Smith, Publishers, New York - - * * * * * - - - - -BEAUTIFUL BUT POOR. - - - BY - JULIA EDWARDS, - - AUTHOR OF - “Prettiest of All,” “The Little Widow”, Etc. - - [Illustration] - - NEW YORK: - STREET & SMITH, Publishers. - - * * * * * - -Copyright, 1892, - -By STREET & SMITH - - * * * * * - -Publishers Note - -Notwithstanding the fact that the sales of magazines have increased -tremendously during the past five or six years, the popularity of a -good paper-covered novel, printed in attractive and convenient form, -remains undiminished. - -There are thousands of readers who do not care for magazines because -the stories in them, as a rule, are short and just about the time they -become interested in it, it ends and they are obliged to readjust their -thoughts to a set of entirely different characters. - -The S. & S. novel is long and complete and enables the reader to spend -many hours of thorough enjoyment without doing any mental gymnastics. -Our paper-covered books stand pre-eminent among up-to-date fiction. -Every day sees a new copyrighted title added to the S. & S. lines, each -one making them stronger, better and more invincible. - - STREET & SMITH, Publishers - 79-89 SEVENTH AVENUE, NEW YORK CITY - - * * * * * - -BEAUTIFUL BUT POOR. - - - - -CHAPTER I. HATTIE’S LETTER. - - -Fancy a dingy old brick house on B---- street, New York city--dusty -outside and moldy in all its ragged, papered walls inside--a dreary -house with small, poorly ventilated rooms--these rooms wretchedly -furnished, and I have made you at home in “Miss Scrimp’s Boarding-House -for ladies only--no gentlemen boarded, lodged, or admitted.” - -For this was the inscription on a faded tin sign nailed over the front -door. - -And in this building existed--I will not say lived--most of the -time, between thirty and fifty working girls, attracted there by -the cheapness of board, which enabled them to make ends meet on the -wretched wages due to “hard times,” or hard-hearted employers, or -perhaps to a medium between the two. - -Miss Scrimp, a maiden lady, who acknowledged herself to be -forty-five--one of the oldest boarders said that had been her age for -over ten years--only charged four dollars a week for boarders in her -best, lower rooms, and it ran as low as two dollars and a half in the -upper story, and two attic chambers--for this was a four-story house. -She had but two servants--one to cook, wash, and iron, the other a -pitiful, thin little creature, as errand girl, waitress, maid of all -work, and all work it was for her, from early dawn till far into the -night. She did all the sweeping, set out the table, helped to wash and -wipe dishes, carried Miss Scrimp’s market-basket, went to the grocery, -cleaned and lighted lamps--indeed, did almost everything that had to be -done outside of the kitchen, and bore the abuse of Biddy Lanigan, the -cook, and that of her mistress, like a little martyr, as she in truth -was. - -Little Jess they called her--her full name was Jessie Albemarle--was -as good as she could be to all around her, no matter how she was -treated, but there was one young girl in that house whom she almost -worshiped--first, because Hattie Butler was very good to her; next, -because Hattie was really the most beautiful creature she had ever seen -on earth. - -Though Hattie lodged in the very topmost room of the house, when she -came home weary from her daily toil she would find her room swept -as clean as clean could be, fresh water in her pitcher, and often a -bouquet of flowers, picked up at market or elsewhere, perfuming the -little room. And she knew Little Jess had done all this for the love -there was between them. - -Hattie, I said before, was very beautiful. Just seventeen, and entering -on her eighteenth year, her form was full of that slender grace so -peculiar to budding womanhood--just tall enough to pass the medium, -without being an approach to awkwardness. Eyes of a jet, sparkling -black, shaded by long, fringe-like lashes, features of the Grecian -type, complexion rich, but not too brown, the expressiveness of her -face a very marvel. - -No one, to look at her white hands, her slim, tapering fingers, her -general appearance, even in her plain dress, would have, at first -glance, taken her for a working girl, though she sewed folios in a -book-bindery down town for ten hours every day sure, and often much -longer when there was overwork to do. - -She was a quiet girl, making but few friends, and no intimates, though -when I write of her she had been for nearly two years a boarder with -Miss Scrimp. The latter, for a wonder, liked her, though, as a general -thing, she seemed to hate pretty girls, simply because they were -pretty; while she had most likely kept her state of single wretchedness -because she was more than plain--she was ugly. She had a sharp, hook -nose--a parrot-bill nose, if we dare insult the bird by a comparison. -She was cross-eyed, and her eyes were small and greenish-gray in hue. -Her cheek bones were high, her chin long and sharp. Her thin lips -opened almost from ear to ear, and in her dirty morning gown, slopping -around, her form looked like an old coffee-bag, half filled with paper -scraps, perambulating about over a pair of old slippers--number sevens -if an inch. - -But Miss Scrimp really liked Hattie Butler, beautiful as she was, and -this was the reason: - -At supper-time, before she ate a mouthful, every Saturday night Hattie -laid her board money, two dollars and a half, down at the head of the -table where Miss Scrimp presided. It had been her habit ever since she -came; it was a good example to others, though all did not follow it. - -Again, Hattie ate what was placed before her, and never grumbled. She -never found hairs in the rancid butter; or, if she did, she kept it -to herself. If her bread was dry and hard she soaked it in her tea or -coffee, but did not turn her nose up as others did, and threaten to go -away if Miss Scrimp did not set a better table. - -And, best of all, Hattie was a light eater, as Miss Scrimp often said, -in hearing of her other boarders, too sensible to hurt her complexion -by using too much greasy food. - -Some of the homelier girls sometimes used the old “gag,” if I may use -a story term, and said “she lived on love;” yet the dozen or more who -worked in the same bindery with her never saw her receive attentions -from any man--never saw any person approach her in a lover-like way. - -Her only fault to all who knew her was that there was a mystery about -her. - -That she was a born lady, her manners, her quiet, dignified way, her -brief conversation, ever couched in unexceptionable language, told -plainly. But she never told any one about herself. She never spoke of -parents or relatives--never alluded to past fortunes. But Little Jess -used to look in wonder at a shelf of books in Hattie’s room. There -were books in French, German, and Spanish, and on Sundays, when she -sometimes stole up stairs to see her favorite among all the boarders, -she found her reading these books. And she had a large portfolio of -drawings, and at times she added to them with a skillful pencil. - -One thing was certain. Hattie was very poor--she had no income beyond -that gained by her daily labor. She washed her own clothes, and, by -permission of Biddy Lanigan, ironed them on Saturday evenings in the -kitchen, for she had even a kind word for Biddy, and kind words are -almost as precious as gold to the poor. - -Hattie seldom was able to earn over four dollars a week, as wages ran, -and thus she had but little to use for dress, though she was ever -dressed with exceeding taste, plain though her garments were. These she -cut and made, buying the patterns and goods only. - -When she had overwork she made more, and she had been seen with a -bank-book in her hand, so it was evident she had saved something to -help along with should sickness overtake her. - -She had been two years and one week boarding at Miss Scrimp’s, when one -Thursday the postman, or mail-carrier, rather, delivered a letter at -the door directed to her. - -Hattie was down at the bindery then, and Jessie Albemarle, answering -the bell, got the letter. She would have kept it till Hattie came, but -her mistress demanded to see it, and took charge of it. - -Little Jess had seen that it was a large letter, postmarked from -somewhere in California, and that it had a singular seal in wax on the -back. The impression represented two hearts pierced with an arrow. - -The address was only the name, street, number, and city. - -Miss Scrimp looked at it very closely. Had there been no seal, only gum -as a closing medium, it is possible her examination might have been -closer. - -Biddy Lanigan, once when she quarreled with her mistress and employer, -boldly twitted her with having “stamed” letters over her “tay-kettle” -and then opened them. - -“This is a man’s handwrite!” muttered Miss Scrimp. “I don’t like my -boarders having men to write to ’em. But this one is away off in -Californy--like as not, rich as all creation. I wish I knew who he is -and what he wants. I’ll hand her the letter afore all the boarders at -supper to-night, and if she opens it, I’ll watch her face, and maybe -I can guess from that what’s up. She’ll never tell no other way. She -has just the closest little mouth I ever did see. But come to think, -she mightn’t open it at the table. She wouldn’t be apt to, for all the -girls would be curious to know if it was a love-letter, and plague her, -maybe. And she is too good a girl to be plagued. I’ll keep it till -after she has had supper and gone to her room, and then I’ll go up, -friendly-like and take a chair--if there’s two in her room, which I’m -not sure of--hand her the letter, and wait till she opens it. And I’ll -ask her if her brother in Californy is well--make as if some one had -told me she had a brother there.” - -This plan, talked over to herself, satisfied Miss Scrimp, and she -put the letter in one of her capacious pockets, there to remain till -evening. - - - - -CHAPTER II. MISS SCRIMP’S DISAPPOINTMENT. - - -The cracked bell, which had done service all those long years in the -establishment of Miss Scrimp, had rung its discordant call for supper. -The hour was late, for many of her boarders worked till dark, and had -some distance to walk to reach home, and the dining-room was dimly -lighted by two hanging lamps, one over each end of the table. They -served, however, to show the scattered array of thin sliced bread, -still thinner slices of cold meat, and the small plates of very pale -butter laid along at distant intervals. Also to show dimly a few rosy -faces, but many worn and pale ones--almost all having, like Cassius, “a -lean and hungry look.” - -The rosy faces were new-comers, who had left good country homes to -learn sad lessons in city life. - -Little Jessie was hurrying to and fro, carrying the cups of hot -beverage, which her mistress called tea, to the boarders, and answering -the impatient cries of those not yet served as fast as she could. - -Biddy Lanigan, who stood almost six feet high, was fleshy to boot, and -had a face almost as red as the coals she worked over, stood with her -arms akimbo at the door, which opened into the kitchen, ready for a -bitter answer should any fault-finder’s voice reach her ear, and also -prepared to refill the tea-urn with hot water when it ran low, on the -principle that a second cup of tea should never be as strong as the -first. - -There was a murmur of many voices at first, but the clatter of knives -and forks, and cups and saucers soon drowned all this, and until the -dishes were literally emptied, little other noise could be heard. - -Long before the rest were done sweet Hattie Butler had finished her -single slice of bread and butter, one cracker and a cup of tea, and -gone to her room. Grim and silent, yet keenly overlooking the appetite -of each boarder, sat Miss Scrimp, until all were through, and had gone -to their rooms, or into the old dingy room, slanderously called a -parlor, to chat awhile before retiring. - -Then Biddy Lanigan came in with two extra cups of strong tea, one for -the mistress, the other for herself--a plate of baked potatoes and a -couple of nice chops. - -Poor Jessie Albemarle had her supper to make from the little--the very -little the hungry boarders had left. - -Miss Scrimp was not long at the table. She was burning with curiosity -about the letter in her pocket, and so she took a small lamp in her -hand and threaded her way up the steep, narrow, uncarpeted stairs to -the attic where our heroine lodged. - -Knocking at the door, it was opened by Hattie quickly, who, with -her wealth of jet-black hair, glossy as silk, all let down over her -shoulders, looked, if possible, tenfold more beautiful than she had -below, with her hair neatly bound up so as not to be in the way when -she was at her work. - -Hattie had been reading, for on her little stand, near the bed, was a -lamp and an open book. - -There were not two chairs in the room, but Hattie proffered her only -one to Miss Scrimp, and waited to learn the cause of this unexpected -visit, for Miss Scrimp never called on a boarder without she was -behindhand in her board, and then her calls were not visits of -compliment or pleasure either. - -“I do declare--only one chair here, Miss Hattie? It’s a shame--I’ll -rate Jess soundly for her neglect!” said Miss Scrimp, looking around as -if she did not know how poorly the room was furnished. - -“Do not scold her, Miss Scrimp. I do not need but one chair--I never -have any company to occupy another. Sit down--I will sit on my bed as I -often do.” - -“Well--thankee, I will sit down, for it is tiresome coming up those -long stairs. I came up to tell you I had a letter for you the -letter-carrier left to-day. I didn’t want to give it to you down at -table, for them giddy girls are always noticing everything, and they -might have thought it was a love-letter, and tried to tease you. Here -it is.” - -“Thank you, Miss Scrimp, you were very considerate,” said -Hattie, gently, as she received the letter, looked calmly at the -superscription, and then opened it at the end of the envelope with a -dainty little pearl-handled knife. - -Miss Scrimp watched every shade on Hattie’s face as the girl read the -letter. There was an eager look in her eyes as they scanned the first -few lines, then a sudden pallor, and it was followed by a tremulous -flush that suffused brow, cheeks, and even her neck. - -In spite of an apparent endeavor to keep calm, Hattie was to some -extent agitated. She knew that those cross-eyes were fixed upon her, -and she did not intend, if she had a secret, to share it with the owner -of them. - -In a very short time the letter was read and restored to its envelope, -and now Miss Scrimp thought it time to try the plan she had formed for -finding out who had written to her favorite boarder. - -“Hope you’ve good news from your brother, Miss Hattie,” she said. “I -heard some one say you had a brother in Californy. Hope he is doin’ -well. It’s an awful country for gettin’ rich in, I’ve heard say.” - -“My letter brings me very pleasant news, Miss Scrimp. I thank you again -for the trouble you took to bring it up to me. You are always kind to -me.” - -“I ought to be, dear. I haven’t another boarder in this house, out of -forty-three all told now, who is as punctual and so little trouble as -you. And you can tell your brother so when you write to him.” - -“When I do write to my brother I will surely mention you, Miss Scrimp,” -said Hattie, with an amused smile. - -For, with quick intuition, she saw the aim of the curious woman. - -“You didn’t say if he was doing well?” continued Miss Scrimp, -determined to get some information. - -“The letter only refers to business of mine--not to that of any one -else,” said Hattie, gently but firmly. - -“You’ll not answer it now, will you? I might mail it early, you know, -when I go out for milk, for I’m first up in the house.” - -“I shall not answer it to-night, Miss Scrimp. I am very tired, and am -going right to bed. I thank you for your kind offer as much as if I -accepted it.” - -Beaten at every point, and so gently and graciously that she could not -take offense, Miss Scrimp took up her lamp with a sigh, and said: - -“Poor, dear thing, I know you must be tired. If your brother is getting -rich, as he must be, there in that land of silver and gold, I should -think he’d send for you to go to him.” - -“Good-night, kind Miss Scrimp--good-night,” was all that Hattie -answered, as she made a motion toward preparing for bed. - -“Good-night, dear--good-night,” said Miss Scrimp, a little snappishly, -for she had made that long, upstair journey for nothing. - -The door closed, and poor Hattie was alone. - -And tears came into her eyes now, and she knelt down and prayed. - -“Heavenly Father, aid me and tell me what to do.” - - - - -CHAPTER III. THE FOREMAN’S DISCOVERY. - - -The bindery in which Hattie Butler, with over one hundred other -persons, male and female, worked, was famous for doing very fine -private work, outside of that done for many publishers who had their -work contracted for there. Gentlemen of wealth and taste, who had -rare old works in worn-out covers, and wished them preserved in more -stately dress, frequently brought them there for the purpose of outer -renovation. - -So it happened that on the very morning which succeeded the night when -Hattie received the California letter, a fine equipage, from far up -town, stopped in the narrow street which fronted the bindery, and an -elderly, old-fashioned gentleman got out and toiled up the stairs to -the bindery floor with a bundle of some size under one arm. - -He was met, quite obsequiously, by Mr. W----, one of the proprietors, -who knew, by past experience, that some nice, well-paying work was in -view, and asked into the office. - -“No, no, I am in a hurry,” said the old gentleman. “I want to see -your foreman--I have some French and German reviews here--old and -rare--which are all to pieces and somewhat mixed up. I bought them at -an auction--a regular old bookworm once owned them, but he died, and -his graceless heirs sold off the collection of years for a mere song, -compared to their real value. I wish these properly collated, and bound -nicely for my library.” - -“The foreman will wait upon you, Mr. Legare, in a few moments,” said -the proprietor. “Take a seat by this table.” - -The man of wealth sat down, and Mr. W---- sent a boy after the foreman. - -The latter came and looked over the mixed up and scattered pages with a -perplexed look. - -“I’m afraid you can do nothing with them,” said Mr. Legare, noticing -the expression in the foreman’s face. “I am sorry, for I doubt if a -second copy of either work can be found in this city, or indeed in -America.” - -“Try, Mr. Jones--try your very best,” said Mr. W----, anxiously. - -“I think we can do it, sir,” said the foreman, brightening up. “I -accidentally discovered that one of our girls, Hattie Butler, is a good -linguist--reads German and French as well as she does English--one of -our best and most quiet girls, too.” - -“Send for her, please,” said Mr. Legare. “I do so want to preserve -these works in good shape.” - -And presently Hattie Butler stood before the trio--one of her -employers, Mr. Legare, and the foreman--calm and lady-like, neat in her -white apron and brown calico dress, her black hair wound in a queenly -crown about her shapely head. - -“Hattie, see what can be done with these old reviews,” said the -foreman, with the familiar, bossy style peculiar to too many of his -class. - -The young girl took up the French work, and instantly said: - -“This is very old. A French review of Dante’s ‘Inferno.’ Some pages, I -see, are misplaced; but if all are here, sir, I can soon arrange them.” - -Mr. W---- looked at Mr. Legare triumphantly. - -“The German work--can you arrange that also, young lady?” asked Mr. -Legare, looking in wonder at this beautiful girl, so young, working -here, yet evidently a scholar. - -Hattie took up the other review, glanced over the pages, and replied: - -“Yes, sir. I see that this is a bitter attack on Martin Luther, and -must date with the first ages of the Protestant Reformation.” - -“Great Heaven! why, young lady, what are you doing here with such an -education?” - -“Working, sir, as thousands do in this great city and elsewhere, for my -daily bread.” - -“Sewing folios at the bench, and we have no better in the shop,” added -the foreman. - -“Do you understand any other languages?” asked the wondering man of -wealth. - -“Italian and Spanish, sir. I was taught by my mother, who was not only -a fine linguist, but had traveled a great deal in the countries where -these various languages are spoken. I was born in Italy.” - -“Yet of American parentage?” - -“Yes, sir.” - -“This is no place for you, young lady. Your education should place you -in a far higher sphere.” - -“Excuse me, sir. Shall I at once go to work to arrange these pages? I -will sew them myself when I have them all right, so there will be no -mistake.” - -“Yes--yes--thank you. I will reward you well,” said Mr. Legare, with -unusual warmth, for he was a very steady, precise old gentleman, -generally, in all things. - -“Thank you, sir; all pay and emoluments must go to my employers. I -receive my wages--no more.” - -And Hattie, with a graceful bow, took up the scattered pages, and went -to her work-bench. - -“W----, who on earth is this prodigy? The mistress of five -languages--for she speaks English perfectly, and as pretty and -lady-like as any woman that I ever met.” - -The proprietor almost blushed when he said: - -“My dear Mr. Legare, she has worked here, I believe, for nearly -two years, at the same bench, and until to-day I never knew her -acquirements. I have often noticed her beauty and extreme modesty, for -she has avoided all intimacies in the shop, but nothing beyond this has -attracted my notice. I never make myself familiar with my hands--seldom -speak to them, except through the foreman. I am as much surprised as -you at this discovery, and shall promote the girl at once, and increase -her wages. Our work has increased so much--private work, like yours, -that as a collator, translator, and arranger, she will have enough to -do nearly all the time. Mr. Jones, you can so inform her, and prepare a -table in some quiet part of the shop, where there is little noise, and -she will not be disturbed.” - -The foreman turned away with a bow of acquiescence, but was recalled to -receive directions as to the style of binding required by Mr. Legare -for the new works. - -“This young lady--Miss Butler, I believe, is her name--will tell you -what titles to put on the backs, and be sure to have the original dates -of the issue of works there also. I am very particular about that.” - -“I know it, sir, and we will be very careful,” said the foreman. - -And when the man of wealth and influence turned to leave, Mr. W---- -went down the stairs with him, and saw him into his carriage, and -stood bare-headed on the sidewalk until he had driven away. - -And this is Republican, Democratic America! - -No kings, nor dukes, nor lords here--but to the sovereignty of wealth -the reddest or blackest republican, or the noisiest democrat, bends his -servile knee and cowering head more abjectly than any serf in Russia -bows before the imperial form. - -Independence! Bah! ’Tis but a name! - - - - -CHAPTER IV. TEA-TABLE TALK. - - -There was a regular flutter in the boarding-house of Miss Scrimp -when the bindery girls got in that Friday evening; for they brought -the news that Hattie Butler had been promoted in the bindery, a new -position given her, and her wages raised to ten dollars a week. Some -of the girls were really glad, for Hattie had ever been so gentle, so -quiet, so kind when any of them were sick, that she had few enemies. -But others were envious of her good fortune, as they ever had been of -her beauty, so there were a few to sneer and hint that Mr. Jones, the -foreman, or Mr. W----, one of the proprietors, had only promoted her -because she was handsome, and they wanted her off by herself where they -could talk to her and say things the other girls couldn’t hear. - -The object of the flutter, the laudation, and the envy, seemed all this -time to care the least for her promotion of any that knew it. She did -not speak of it, even to Miss Scrimp, at whose right hand her chair at -table was always placed; but the latter had heard of it before Hattie -got home, and was ready with her congratulations the instant Hattie sat -down. - -“I’m awful glad to hear you’ve been set up in the bindery, and get so -much better wages, dear,” she said. - -And she screwed her sallow cheeks and thin lips into a picture of a -smile which Nast would glory to copy, if he could only have seen it. - -“Thank you, Miss Scrimp; but I do not know as it will be much better -for me. My former work was very easy. It only exercised my fingers. -This will tax both fingers and brain. My head aches over it already.” - -“Dear, dear! Well, I’ll have Biddy Lanigan make you a real strong cup -of tea and some toast.” - -“No, thank you, Miss Scrimp, I do not wish it. The food which is good -enough for the rest always satisfies me.” - -“I know it, dear. You never find fault, and that makes me so much the -more ready to better your fare when I can. And that reminds me--Miss -Dolhear has got sick and gone home to the country; she that came -here, poor thing, to learn dress-making; and her room, on the second -floor, front, is empty now, and you shall have it for only one dollar -more than you pay now, though I charged her two. Her folks were well -off: they used to write and send her money, and I guess she got sick -a-eatin’ too much cake and candy. Her room is all stuck up with it. But -I’ll have Little Jess clean it out for you, if you’ll take it.” - -“Thank you, Miss Scrimp, I do not wish to change. I feel very much at -home in my little chamber, and the higher one gets in the city the -purer is the air they breathe.” - -“Dear, dear! I thought you’d like to change. But you know what you like -best. Do let me call Biddy and have some toast made for you.” - -“No, thank you, Miss Scrimp. There is plenty before me, I am sure.” - -“Dear! dear! That’s just your own nice way always. I never heard a -complaint from your lips, and there’s some that are never satisfied.” - -And here Miss Scrimp sent a scornful, cross eyed glance down the -table. But no one could tell exactly at whom she was looking, so the -look didn’t hurt anybody. - -As Hattie made no further remark, the usual clatter of knives and forks -on slenderly-filled plates was alone heard for a time. - -But when Hattie, as usual, arose earliest of all, and went to her room, -quite an unusual rush of conversation, and all about her, commenced. - -“Such luck! From four dollars a week to ten, and all because she can -talk Dutch!” said one--a very plain and a very ignorant girl. - -“Ten dollars? How she’ll shine out in silk on Sundays, I’ll bet, and -look for a beau as fast as the best of us,” said another. “She couldn’t -do it in ten-cent calico. Oh, no, the proud thing!” - -“She is not a girl of that kind,” cried another, warmly. “She is the -prettiest girl in this house to-night, and you all know it.” - -“Yes, stick up for her, Sally Perkins. We know why. When you had the -measles so bad she lost three days work sitting up with you and waiting -on you.” - -“Thank Heaven she did,” cried Sally, earnestly. “I might have died -before one of you would have done as much for me. She is a living angel -if ever there was one. So there now. I’ll never speak to a girl that -breathes a word against her so long as I live.” - -“Good for Sally Perkins,” cried a dozen in a breath, for more than one -in that crowd of girls had received kindness from Hattie Butler when -kindness was so much needed. - -And the battle of tongues grew less and less, and soon tea was over, -and the girls scattered as usual. Some to their rooms, weary enough to -go right to rest--others to linger a little while in the old parlor and -get others to fix up their scanty wardrobe so as to be ready for their -only day of rest or pleasure--the blessed Sunday so near at hand--but -one day of toil to intervene. - -Our heroine--where was she? In her little chamber thanking her Heavenly -Father that at last the stern strife for daily bread was made easier to -her, and that a glimmer of light could be seen through the dark clouds -of poverty. - -Pure-hearted and innocent, she did not dream that any one could so -envy her good fortune as to hate her for it. If she had she would have -prayed God to forgive them. - - - - -CHAPTER V. DOES HE LOVE HER? - - -Mr. W----, one of the proprietors of the bindery where our heroine -worked--a junior partner, but the chief manager of the concern, was a -single man, not yet forty, in the very prime of life. He was, as a man, -not as a fop, very good-looking. His stalwart frame, well-developed, -showed his American birth; but his full, round, rosy face spoke also -of his English paternity. He had thus far in life been too busy to -think of matrimony, and, living with his parents, who were in easy -circumstances, he had never known the want of a home, or the need of a -wife to make home bright. His sisters, of whom he had two, considerably -younger than himself, had ever seen to his linen--his tailor looked to -his wardrobe--he had little to trouble himself about. He belonged to a -coterie or club of bachelors, and was never at a loss about a place to -spend his evenings in. - -But that day, when the wealthy and influential Mr. Legare had told -Hattie Butler that she deserved to be in a higher sphere, had opened -Mr. W----’s eyes--opened them to the wonderful beauty as well as the -surprising talent of the girl who had worked at low wages without a -murmur for over two years in his shop. - -He had noticed her quiet modesty in contrast with the boldness of other -girls often before, but that very shrinking modesty had also kept her -beauty in the background. - -And that very afternoon he had taken occasion in person to look at -her work, as her slim, tapering fingers gathered up missing pages and -placed them where they belonged; and he asked her many questions, in a -kinder tone than he was accustomed to use to his employees; for there -was to him a very sweet music in the voice that answered his queries. - -And when he went home that evening he was strangely absent-minded. When -his Sister Flotie asked him if he would not get opera tickets and take -her and Anna to hear “Lucia” on the Monday night following, he said: - -“Yes, Miss Hattie--yes; with pleasure.” - -“Hattie? Who is Hattie, brother, that you should use that name instead -of Flotie, when you answer me?” - -“Did I? I didn’t mean to; but I am full of Hattie some way. I went to -write a letter to our paper manufacturer, and had got a dozen lines -written, when I saw I had headed it, ‘Dear Hattie.’ There is a girl in -the bindery of that name--a most remarkable girl. I will tell you all I -know about her. She looks and acts like a princess in disguise.” - -And then Mr. W---- gave a very highly colored description of our -heroine and her acquirements. - -“And you have let this prodigy of beauty and learning, of modesty and -goodness, work for you for two years at little better than starvation -wages? Coward! I’m ashamed of you, if you are my brother,” cried -Flotie, warmly. - -“Sis, don’t break out that way. We pay the usual rates. Were we to pay -higher, we could not compete with other binderies and keep up.” - -“But four dollars a week to pay board and washing, and dress with! Why, -it wouldn’t keep me in gloves.” - -“Yet thousands of poor girls work for and live on less, my peerless -sister. You, who know no want that is not supplied almost as soon as -expressed, know little how poor girls and women have to struggle to -keep their heads above the tide. But my heroine is better off now. I -have given her other work, and raised her salary to ten dollars a week.” - -“Good! good! You have some heart after all, Ned.” - -“I begin to think I have,” said Mr. W----, with a sigh. - -“Here! here! No nonsense, brother mine. Don’t make a fool of yourself -by falling in love with your pretty employee. She may be very -pretty, very modest, and good, but I don’t want a bindery girl for a -sister-in-law. Remember that.” - -Mr. W----’s answer was another sigh. He seemed lost in thought, and, -as he had promised the opera tickets, Flotie left him to his thoughts, -and went to tell Anna about her brother’s new discovery, as well as to -announce that they were to hear “Lucia” on the coming Monday night. - -“Do you think Brother Edward is really in love with this shop-girl?” -asked Anna, in a serious tone, when Flotie had told her story. - -“I think he is a little smitten, but seriously in love--no. Not a bit -of it. Edward is too much engrossed in business to fall in love in good -earnest. He hasn’t leisure for that. Besides, he has too much sense -to ever think of marrying for beauty, and out of his own sphere, too. -There are rich girls who would snap at him for the asking.” - -“Flotie, love--real love--laughs at riches.” - -“May be so, Anna; but love--real love, as you call it--never--scorns a -diamond engagement-ring, nor refuses to wear satin and Valenciennes -lace for a wedding suit. Where would the bindery girl on four, or even -ten dollars a week, find them?” - -“Ned would find them for her fast enough, if he loved her. But say, -Flotie, what will we wear on Monday night? That is the question for the -hour. You know the _creme de la creme_ of society will be there, and we -must uphold the family credit.” - -“Yes, even if papa heaves a heavy sigh over our demands. Let me think. -We’ll go up stairs and look over our wardrobe, see what we have, and -then we’ll know what we must have. Come, pet.” - -And away went the two loving sisters--girls yet, though both were past -their teens. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. JOY TO TOIL-WORN HEARTS. - - -Mr. Legare, after leaving the bindery, drove, or was taken in his -carriage, to a prominent bank, in which he was heavily interested, -both as a stockholder and depositor, transacted some business there, -then took a turn down Wall street to look into some stocks there, and -returned home just in time for lunch. - -He was met at the table by his two children--Frank, a son of -five-and-twenty years, and Lizzie, a daughter just five years younger. -His wife, their mother, had passed away two years before, leaving sweet -memories only to cheer their saddened hearts, for as wife and mother -she had been a treasure on earth. - -“Well, children, how have you spent your morning?” asked the fond and -ever indulgent father. - -“I have been over in Forty-Fifth street, father, calling on your old -friend, Mr. ----,” said Frank. “I love to visit the dear old fellow, -and to hear him talk of his travels in Europe. He is droll, yet there -is a vein of true philosophy in all he says. And his sketches of -scenes he visited are so full of life and interest. An invalid, yet so -cheerful--it would cure a misanthrope to visit him once in a while.” - -“He is a good man, Frank, and I am glad you like to visit him. He has -seen much of the world, and you can learn a great deal in conversing -with him. And now, daughter, dear, how have you spent your afternoon?” - -“I started out to go a-shopping, papa. You know you handed me a roll -of money last night for that purpose. I went on foot, for I like -exercise on a sunny morning like this. Only a little way from here, in -front of the drug store on the next avenue, I saw a young girl, a mere -child of ten or eleven years, crying bitterly. I asked her what was -the matter, and learned, through her many sobs, that she had come with -only seven cents, the last money she or her mother had in the world, -to get medicine for that mother, who was sick. The medicine named in -the prescription cost twenty cents, and the druggist would not let -her have it without the money. I took the poor thing by the hand and -went in and got the medicine for her, and in the meantime found out -where she lived, in an alley only four blocks, dear father, from this -rich home, in the basement of one of the old tumble-down houses, which -are a disgrace to the city. I don’t know but I did wrong, papa, but I -couldn’t help it. I went home with that little girl and saw her poor -mother, sick, with four children, actually starving, in an unfurnished -cellar--no food, no fire--nothing but want and wretchedness to meet my -view. Father, there is a fire there now, and plenty to eat. The sick -woman is on a good bed, our doctor has taken her case in hand, and the -children, in decent clothes, will go to school next week. But I have -not been shopping. I found better use for my money.” - -“God bless my girl--my noble girl,” said Mr. Legare, and tears came in -his eyes as he spoke. “Frank, my boy, Lizzie has outstripped us both -in good works, though we both may have done some good; you in visiting -and cheering up my invalid friend, and I--well, I, too, have had an -adventure, and perhaps have been the indirect cause of bettering the -condition of a poor, hard-working girl--the loveliest creature, by -the way, that I ever saw, at home or abroad. And talented, too, the -mistress of five languages; and, Lizzie, not so old, I should judge, as -you, by a year or two.” - -“Where did you meet this prodigy of beauty and learning, father?” asked -the son. - -“At W----’s book-bindery, where I took some valuable old reviews for -binding. She has worked there over two years, earning and supporting -herself on four dollars a week. And until some one was needed to -collate and arrange my old German and French reviews, her knowledge -of languages had remained undiscovered. She bears an excellent -character--is modest, pure, and unassuming. I was glad to hear Mr. -W---- order his foreman to assign her to new and more pleasant duties, -at ten dollars a week.” - -“So, dear papa, you, too, brought joy to a toil-worn heart.” - -“I hope so, child, I hope so. She told me she owed her education to -a gifted mother. I saw her lips tremble and her eyes moisten when -she spoke, and, thinking of our own loss, my children, I forbore -to question her then. But I shall, by and by, for I feel strangely -interested in her. So very, very beautiful; so talented, and yet in -such humble circumstances. In looks, in manners, in conversation a lady -who would grace any society, yet, after all, only a poor book-bindery -girl.” - -Lunch, which had been going on all this time, was over, and Mr. Legare, -mentioning that he had some letters to write, went to his library, -while the brother and sister went off, arm in arm, to a favorite alcove -in the adjoining drawing-room. - -“Frank, what do you think of this new discovery which our dear -father has been telling us of? I never knew him to speak with such -enthusiastic admiration of any one before.” - -“Neither did I, Lizzie,” said Frank, gravely. “Seriously, sister, I -must go and see this peerless girl--see her, too, before father goes -there again, if I can. I do not want a step-mother younger than you -are, dear.” - -“Oh, Frank! Papa would never think of that!” - -“I don’t know, Lizzie. He is young for his years. He has led a careful, -temperate life, and is not beyond his prime either mentally or -physically. Stranger things have happened. I repeat, I must go and see -this girl for myself. W---- is a warm friend of mine, and will help me -if there’s any danger.” - -“I don’t know but you are right, Frank. Go, if you think best.” - - - - -CHAPTER VII. WHO CAN SHE BE? - - -Mr. W---- was rather surprised to receive quite an early call at his -bindery from the son of his wealthy patron--the younger Legare. He had -met Frank at his club, and on “the road,” for both drove fast horses; -but the young man had never before visited the bindery, though his -father often did. - -Mr. W----, however, received his visitor with great cordiality, and -asked what he could do for him. - -“I would like to see you in your private office a moment,” said young -Legare, who had, when he entered the large room, cast a keen and -searching glance at all the hands--men, boys, and girls--whom his eye -could reach. - -“Certainly. Step this way,” said Mr. W----, leading the way to a room -partitioned off at the upper end of the main bindery. “Take a seat, -Mr. Legare,” he said, pointing to a luxurious arm-chair, cushioned and -backed with morocco. - -“Thank you. I will detain you but a moment,” said Frank. “My father was -here yesterday?” - -“Yes; he left some work, which will be finished by to-morrow. He is one -of my best patrons,” replied W----. - -“He discovered a prodigy here yesterday,” said young Legare. - -“A prodigy?” - -“Yes, sir; at least he seems to think so, for he talked like a crazy -man about her--a girl beautiful as a houri, and as learned as she is -beautiful, the mistress, he said, of no less than five languages.” - -“Ah, yes! You allude to Hattie Butler. She is rather pretty, and -certainly quite gifted as a linguist.” - -“What will you take to send her away where he will never see her again?” - -“Mr. Legare! I hardly understand you.” - -“I think I spoke quite plainly. I asked you what you would take to send -her away where he would never see her again. Do you understand that?” - -“I think I do,” said Mr. W----, flushing up. “But you must understand I -never discharge a good and willing hand without a fault, when there is -work to do for that hand. This young woman has worked for us over two -years without committing an error.” - -“Is it no error to snare an old man like my father, because he happens -to be rich, with a display of her beauty and learning?” - -“Snare! Mr. Legare, have you been drinking, or what is the matter with -you?” - -“I have not been drinking, Mr. W----, and I am in very sober earnest in -what I say. My father, though old, is very impressible, and perhaps you -know it. He came home to lunch yesterday, and could talk of nothing but -the beauty and talent of this girl.” - -“Why, he was not in here over ten or fifteen minutes altogether, and -his conversation with her may have occupied three or four minutes of -that time.” - -“Well, it was long enough to do us--my sister and myself--perhaps an -irreparable injury. In short, from the old gentleman’s enthusiasm, we -feared he would court and marry this girl before we could take a step -to prevent it, and we made up our minds to prevent such a folly if we -could.” - -“I doubt very much, Mr. Legare, whether such a folly, as you rightly -term it, has originated in any brain but your own. I was present at the -only interview your father has ever had with this young woman, and only -the books, and how to bind them, was the subject of conversation. It -was brief and business-like, nothing more.” - -“Can I see the young woman?” - -“We are not in the habit of exhibiting our employees, Mr. Legare,” said -W----, with considerable hauteur. “But if you choose to walk about the -bindery with me, you can see every person in it, while examining my -work, machinery, and so forth; but I will not permit any remarks made -that can hurt the feelings of an employee.” - -“I would be the last to do it, sir; and you need not point out this -prodigy--if she is so very beautiful, and so superior in her grace and -manners, I am sure I shall be able to discover her without aid.” - -“Very well, Mr. Legare. We will pass through the various departments, -as visitors frequently do.” - -The young man assented, and with Mr. W---- moved through the large -hall, looking at folders, sewers, gilders, and pasters, all busy at -their various tasks, and examined with rather a careless eye all the -newly-patented machinery for cutting and pressing, though Mr. W---- -strove to point out the great improvements of the age as well as he -could. - -They had passed through a greater part of the bindery, and young Legare -had looked with a surprised eye on many a pretty form and interesting -face, for he, like too many of the upper or non-laboring class, had -imbued the idea that beauty and labor, grace and toil, intellect and -worth, could not go hand in hand, or indeed have any connection. - -They now came to where a young girl, with her braided hair, dark as -night, wound around a finely poised head, sat with her face toward -a window--a screen on either side partially shutting her in from -general observation. She was bent over some scattered pages, evidently -arranging them, and young Legare, glancing at the pages, saw that they -were old, in a foreign language, and had belonged to a pile of torn and -faded magazines that lay on the table to her left. - -One glance at that form, at the shapely head, and graceful neck and -shoulders, and a start of surprise, a flush in his face, told that -Legare had found the wonderful girl of whom his father had spoken. - -Hearing steps close to her table, the beautiful girl turned to see who -was there, and, seeing Mr. W---- with a stranger by his side, turned -again to her work. But that one glance revealed to young Legare such a -face as he had never seen before--a face wonderfully beautiful and full -of expression. - -The two passed on until beyond her hearing, and Legare said, in a low -tone: - -“I thank you, Mr. W----, and need look no farther. I do not wonder that -such beauty, combined with education and talent, struck my father with -surprise. Who can she be? She was not born to labor; her hands are -small, her fingers tapering and delicate--every feature that of a lady. -I had but a single glance, but if I was only an artist I could paint -her portrait from memory.” - -Mr. W---- smiled. - -“You also are enthusiastic as well as your father. But I assure -you that neither you nor he need feel any fear, or dream of any -snares being laid for either of you. It is true, the young girl -is beautiful--but she is poor, and dependent on the labor of her -hands for her living. She has evidently no ambitions beyond it, for -here at her bench for over two years she has been a silent, quiet, -unobtrusive worker, making no complaints, asking no favors, shunning -all acquaintances--noted only for her modesty and retiring, quiet way.” - -“She is a wonder,” said Mr. Legare, with a sigh. “I thank you for your -kindness, Mr. W----.” - -Then he left the bindery without another word. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. WHAT CAN THIS MEAN? - - -Mr. W---- echoed the sigh which left his visitor’s lips when the -latter departed. And the wealthy binder looked toward the screens -which hid fair Hattie Butler from general view--looked longingly in -that direction, as if there was a wish in his heart he hardly dared to -utter--perhaps a wish that she was not his employee, but a member of -the circle in which his own pretty and fashionable sisters moved. - -He looked around to note that every one was busy, even his foreman -attending in person to a difficult job of gilding on Turkey morocco. - -Then he moved very quietly toward the little screened-off space where -our heroine was at work, and approached her so silently that not until -he spoke was she aware of his close vicinity. - -“Is this work difficult, Miss Hattie?” he asked, in a low, kind tone. - -A start, a blush, which made her generally pale face almost glorious in -color, showed her surprise, but her dark eyes were calm and steady as -she looked up at him, and replied: - -“Not difficult, but a little perplexing, Mr. W----, in consequence of -the scattered condition of the pages. Those old magazines, all torn -apart, were mixed up without regard to number or date, and you must -excuse me if I seem to work slow. I have to read sometimes half a page -before I can decide where it belongs.” - -“Take your own time, Miss Hattie, and make no more haste than justice -to your work demands. You have never found me a very hard task-master, -I hope.” - -“On the contrary, sir. I believe all in the bindery look upon you as a -kind employer.” - -“Thank you, Miss Hattie. I trust they will long continue to consider -me so. By the way, are you sufficiently isolated here to pursue your -difficult duties--or would you prefer a corner in the office?” - -“I would prefer to remain here, Mr. W----. Any extra kindness to me -will only cause others to feel envious, and I do not wish to make -enemies.” - -“Enemies! Just as if it were possible for you to make enemies. Have no -fear on that score, Miss Hattie. But when I can in any way render your -position more comfortable, Miss Hattie, please inform me.” - -“Thank you, sir,” she said, bending again to her work. - -He cast one long, lingering look at that graceful form bowed forward -over those old musty pages, and turned away with a half-smothered sigh. - -“It is a wonder that I never noticed before how exquisitely beautiful -she is,” he murmured to himself, as he passed on and into his office. -“Her voice is music mellowed down. Her language so chaste and well -chosen. Ah, me! I do not wonder young Legare feared his father might -fall in love with such a prodigy. I fear I shall myself. And if I did, -what would my sisters say?” - -Yes, that is a man’s question all over. They see a lovely face and -form--all the heart they have is moved by it. But they ask not “is -she good? Is her disposition sweet? Is she pure and stainless?” Only -this--“is she rich in worldly lucre? Is she one who can move a star in -the fashionable world? Will she be an ornament in my circle of society?” - -What ganders men are. There, I’ve said it, and I mean it. - -Hattie paused over her work when the footsteps of her employer died -away on her ear. He had not before spoken to her a dozen times in the -two years or more of her employment there. His orders and directions -always came through the foreman hitherto; and when he spoke to a -hand he was not in the habit of using a prefix to the name of that -hand. To her he had said Miss Hattie. The foreman always called her -Hattie--nothing more--and she was used to it. Some girls would have -been pleased at this mark of preference. Not so our heroine. She knew -enough of the cold heartlessness of the world to look with distrust -upon any advances made by those who were above her in position or -fortune. - -A sigh broke from her lips, and she almost wished she was back at her -sewing-bench at four dollars a week, with no one aware of her talents -as a linguist; though her advanced wages would add much to her comfort -and enable her to add to her small savings. - -She bent again to her labor, and sought in it and its perplexities, -refuge from all other thoughts, and she had indeed enough to think -of in setting those mixed up pages right. No one else in the bindery -could have done it. It was a job which the foreman had laid aside as -hopeless, until the late discovery of her talent. - -And now he came to her to see how she was getting forward. In reply to -his question she said: - -“One volume is there, sir, with every page in its place, and ready for -the sewing-bench. It is slow work, for the pages are badly mixed and -torn up. But I am doing it as fast as I can.” - -“Fast enough, in all reason, Hattie,” said Mr. Jones. “You are on -wages--or salary, rather, now, and not on piece work. So you need not -drive yourself.” - -“Salary will make no difference in my industry, Mr. Jones. I shall ever -strive my best to devote every moment of working time to the benefit of -my employers.” - -“It’s a good principle, Hattie, and I know you live up to it, which -is more than can be said of a great many in the shop. I’ll put this -volume in the sewer’s hands. Do the rest in your own time. It is a job -I never expected to carry through. It has been laying here over a year -untouched. When you get it done, I have three or four more almost as -bad.” - -Hattie bowed her head, but made no reply. The foreman had never been -quite so talkative or complacent before. He was generally stern, sharp, -and imperative with all under him. - -When he went away she murmured to herself: - -“What can all this mean? Mr. Jones has softened in his tone. It used to -be ‘hurry up, Hattie, hurry up; we can’t have no lazing ’round in this -shop!’ Now, when my wages are nearly treble, and it should be expected -I should exert myself all the more, I am told to take my time. Ah, me! -I hope no clouds will come to cover this sudden gleam of sunshine.” - - - - -CHAPTER IX. “LIZZIE, I’VE SEEN HER!” - - -And young Legare heaved a great sigh when he confronted his sister with -this declaration on his lips. - -“Who--Frank--who?” asked Miss Legare, looking up from a book of fashion -plates which were engrossing her attention as he entered her special -sitting-room, or boudoir, as she termed it. - -For she had been educated at Vassar, and could not descend to ordinary -terms. - -“Who? Just as if you did not remember my errand down town. I have been -to W----’s bindery.” - -“Oh! that bindery girl!” - -“Yes--the bindery girl!” - -“Well! Why don’t you report? What do you want to keep me in suspense -for?” cried the spoiled pet of fortune. - -“She is very beautiful. The prettiest girl, in face and form, that I -have ever seen in all my life.” - -And Frank gulped down a sigh. - -“A bindery girl, smelling of sour paste and leather--beautiful! Oh, -Frank, I thought you had some taste, some knowledge of refinement.” - -“I hope I have, sister mine. If you had hands as small and white, and -fingers that tapered down to the rosy nails as do hers, you would throw -off your half-dozen diamond rings and let your hand speak for itself. -And such a form--not made up, but fresh from nature’s choicest mold.” - -“You, Frank! You traitor!” - -“What do you mean, Lizzie?” - -“You went down there to see that your father was not snared by that -siren--to have her discharged, sent away. Have you done it?” - -“No, Lizzie, there is no cause for her discharge, and Mr. W---- laughed -at the idea. Father did not exchange twenty words with her, and they -were purely on business, and in Mr. W----’s presence.” - -“How many words have you exchanged with this _ne plus ultra_ of -loveliness?” - -“Not one. I got but one look in her face, one glance from her -bewildering eye, yet the memory of both will dwell in my heart while I -live.” - -“In short, Frank, you went there to save papa from a snare, and are -yourself a victim. I see through it all. I have got to take this matter -in hand. You men with susceptible hearts are just good for nothing.” - -“You had better not meddle in the matter, sister dear. I do not think -our father is in danger, at present, at any rate.” - -“Well, if papa isn’t, Brother Frank is. So I’m going to get that -dangerously beautiful girl out of the way. I’ll do it if I have to make -love to Mr. W---- himself, to get him to discharge her.” - -“I don’t think he’d look at you, after seeing her.” - -“Frank, this is a downright insult. Comparing a Legare to a poor -bindery girl.” - -“Sister, I did not mean it as such. But in sober earnest I do believe -that Mr. W---- is in love with this paragon himself.” - -“Poh! Because you are a fool, do not think every one is like you.” - -“You are strangely complimentary, Miss Legare.” - -“Not more so than the object of my compliments deserves, Mr. Legare,” -said the sister, snappishly. - -“Good-morning. I will go to my club. There, at least, I will be treated -as a gentleman!” cried the brother, rising. - -“Frank, you’re a brute!” - -And Lizzie burst out in a flood of tears. - -Frank turned back, though he had reached the door. - -“Darling, do not weep or quarrel with a brother who loves you better -than he loves his life!” he whispered, as he bent tenderly over her. - -“Then don’t--don’t talk so to a sister who loves you with all her -heart and soul!” sobbed Lizzie, looking forgiveness through her -tears--sunlight breaking through the clouds--“dear brother!” - -And clinging to his neck, she kissed him with almost childish fervor -and tenderness. - -The storm was over. Would that all such domestic storms could pass as -fleetly, and as brightly. - -Frank did not go to his club. He sat down by the side of his sister, -and long, earnestly and quietly they talked about this strangely -beautiful, this mysterious girl, and tried to plan out some way to find -out, without her knowing it, who she was, where she came from, and all -about her. - - - - -CHAPTER X. MISS SCRIMP’S CURIOSITY. - - -Little Jessie Albemarle always had the door-bell to answer, even if -she was making beds in the top story of the house, when she heard -it, for Miss Scrimp considered it beneath her dignity to go to the -door when she was able to keep a cook and a house-servant. Moreover, -she was seldom dressed for appearance at the door except when ready -to go to market or the time arrived when she could watch her hungry -boarders from the accustomed seat at the head of the long table in her -dining-room. - -And Jessie heard a sharp, sudden ring thrice repeated, only a week -later than when she had answered the postman’s ring before for Hattie -Butler’s California letter, and she knew by the peculiar ring who was -there. She bounded down stairs two or three steps at a jump, and passed -Miss Scrimp on the landing at the head of the first stairs where she -usually posted herself to listen when any one came to the door. - -The postman handed her a letter, and Jessie, at a glance, saw that it -was for Miss Hattie Butler--was postmarked in California and sealed -with red wax with that strange device--two hearts pierced with an arrow. - -Scarcely was the door shut when Miss Scrimp screamed out, in her usual -shrill tone: - -“You, Jess! who is that letter for?” - -“Miss Hattie Butler, ma’am,” said Jess, meekly. “Sha’n’t I keep it and -give it to her when she comes?” - -“No, bring it here this minute!” - -Jess went slowly up stairs, and reluctantly handed the letter over to -her mistress. She had given her letters before, which she knew never -reached those to whom they were directed. And the poor little servant -loved Hattie Butler, and could not bear that she should be wronged. - -Miss Scrimp looked at her letter. - -“It’s from Californy again,” she muttered. “There’s somethin’ strange -in so many letters comin’ to that gal from Californy.” Then she turned -to Jessie, and fixing, if she could fix, those cross-eyes on her, she -said, in a whisper, a harsh, fierce whisper: “If you just breathe one -whisper to a living soul about this letter a-comin’ here, I’ll pull the -very ears off your frowsy head. I’m afeared some one is a-tryin’ to -delude that sweet young cretur away, and I’m not a-goin’ to sit still -and see it. No, it’s my Christian duty to take care of her, and I’m -goin’ to do it. I’ll see who it is a-writin’ to her, and what he says.” - -“Why, sure, ma’am, you wouldn’t keep Miss Hattie’s own letter from -her?” asked Jessie, with unusual boldness. - -“Yes, for her own good, I would. And now, mind you, don’t speak it to a -living soul. If you do, I’ll whip you till you can’t squeal!” - -Miss Scrimp was one who never forgot such a promise, as poor Jessie -knew to her sorrow. So she went back up stairs to her work, and Miss -Scrimp darted into her own room with that letter. - -She sat down near the dingy window, and looked at it, back and front, -and examined it in every way to see if it was not possible to open it -without breaking the seal. - -But this could not be done. The seal must be broken, or the end of the -envelope cut. Miss Scrimp hesitated before acting on either of these -ideas. She had heard of a penalty attached to the crime of opening -another person’s letter. - -She didn’t care a pin for the crime, but she did care for the penalty. -She was like the penitent thief. He was sorry to be caught stealing. - -“I must know what is in this letter!” she muttered. “I can’t understand -that girl. And she will never tell me anything. There’s a mystery about -her, and for the life of me I can’t get at the bottom of it. But I -will--I will, if I die for it. Jess will never dare tell her about this -letter. I’d skin her alive if she did. I’ll open it, and know who she -has got in Californy, and what he wants.” - -With a desperate twitch she ran her dirty thumb-nail under the crease -of the envelope, near the end of the letter, tore it open, and took out -a half sheet of note-paper. - -It had neither date nor place of dating at its head. The letter was -composed of but two lines. She read them over aloud: - - “My darling, every pledge is kept. Wealth is gained. Let me come to - you!” - -There was no signature--not a clew. The handwriting was elegant, but -even the sex of the writer could not be determined by that. - -If ever a woman was madly disappointed, that woman was Miss Scrimp. - -Literally she had run all her risk for nothing. And her curiosity now -was excited a thousandfold. What pledges had been kept by the one who -dare call Hattie Butler darling? Wealth had been gained, but whose was -it? That the writer wanted to come to Hattie was certain. But who was -that writer? Miss Scrimp would have given her false hair and teeth to -know. Yes, or she would have fed her boarders on turkey for a week if -she could have gotten old and tough ones at half price. - -If she had only known who to write to, or even to telegraph to, -an answer would have gone back, signed: “Come along soon as you -can--Hattie Butler.” - -But Hattie would not have known it. Miss Scrimp, mean as she was, would -have spent five dollars for telegraphing in a moment if she could by -that have got to the bottom of the mystery which so terribly worried -her. - -Little did she dream, while in this turmoil of disappointment, that -a pair of gleeful eyes were fairly dancing over her too evident -annoyance; for Jessie Albemarle, after going noisily up stairs, as if -to her work, had crept down as slyly as a mouse, and peeping through -the key-hole, had been a witness to the opening of the letter. - -And when she saw Miss Scrimp put the letter under a book on a shelf -near her bed, the brave little friend of Hattie Butler determined that, -even though the seal was broken, the letter should reach its proper -owner. - -“She’ll go down to cut their slices of bread and meat for supper, and -then I’ll get it,” said Jessie to herself. “She will never let me cut -the bread or meat for fear I’ll cut too thick, or maybe eat a bite or -two while I’m cutting ’em. But Miss Hattie is so good to me that I will -help her, and she shall have her letter whether I get whipped for it or -not.” - -And the little heroine went back to her work as silently as she had -left it, with her little plan fully arranged. - -And Miss Scrimp, having hidden the letter, was pondering in perplexity -over its meaning. She had been often exercised over the secrets of her -boarders, but never so badly as now. - - - - -CHAPTER XI. DETECTED. - - -Miss Scrimp was unusually cross that night at the supper table. There -was less than the usual quantity of thin-sliced bread and butter on -the table. The butter, ever scanty, was less by two plates, and the -crackers altogether missing. When the boarders answered the cracked -bell, and Hattie Butler took her usual seat close on her right, Miss -Scrimp quite forgot to say, as she generally did, “good-evening, dear.” - -Miss Scrimp was all out of sorts, and she evidently didn’t care who -knew it--or, perhaps, meant they all should know it. One of the girls, -Wild Kate, the rest called her, she was ever so odd, willful, and -daring, happened to ask why the table was like a worn-out whip-lash, -and as no one could respond to the conundrum, she gave the solution -herself. She said there was no cracker on it. - -“There’s no need of crackers when such snappish things are around as -you are!” shrieked Miss Scrimp. - -“This butter was made from milk that came from a very old cow. I’ve -found three gray hairs in a very small piece, just enough to match the -wafer-like thickness of this stale bread,” said Kate, never at a loss -for a venomous reply when attacked by Miss Scrimp. - -“Them that doesn’t like what I set before ’em can go farther and maybe -fare worse,” snarled Miss Scrimp. - -As half the girls were tittering over the points Kate had made, the -latter was satisfied for the time, and Miss Scrimp’s last fling fell on -heedless ears. - -In a little time the table was literally cleared, for girls who have -toiled all day, with but a slender, cold lunch for dinner, cannot but -be hungry at night. - -When the table was deserted poor Jessie looked in vain for a scrap for -her supper. Miss Scrimp saw it, but she felt too cross and ugly to -care, and so poor Jessie went without any supper, while Biddy Lanigan -and her mistress, as usual, had their strong tea and extra dishes. - -“Never mind, I’ve got Miss Hattie’s letter in my bosom, and I’ll tell -all about the old cat, and how she opened it, and what she threatened -to do to me if I told.” - -And this revenge in prospect satisfied poor Jessie better than a good -supper would have done. - -She could hardly wait to help clear up the table and wash the dishes, -so eager was she to get up to Hattie’s room. But the work was done at -last, and Jessie, after her usual round of abuse from Biddy Lanigan, -was sent off to bed, with orders to be astir before daylight, and ready -to go to market. - -Now was her chance to see Hattie, for she had to pass Hattie’s room on -her way to the miserable closet in the attic loft, where she slept. - -A trembling rap on the door of Hattie’s bedroom elicited a response in -the sweet, low voice of the bindery girl. - -“Come in! Why, Little Jessie, is it you? Come in, dear, I have a nice -bit of cake for you that I bought as I was coming home.” - -“Dear Miss Hattie, I thank you ever so much, but I’m not hungry, -though I haven’t had any supper. I’ve so much to tell you. Here is a -letter the postman brought to-day!” - -And Jessie took the torn and crumpled letter from its hiding-place in -the bosom of her ragged dress. - -“Why, Jessie, it has been opened!” exclaimed Hattie, in surprise, and -an angry flush overspread her face. - -“Yes, Miss Hattie, and I went in and got it where it had been hidden, -or you would never have seen it!” said Jessie, “and if I am whipped to -death for it, I’ll tell you all about it.” - -And bravely the poor little bound girl told the whole story, even as we -already know it. - -“The cowardly, meddling, contemptible wretch!” was a very natural -ejaculation, and it came from Hattie’s lips. - -But when she read the brief letter, and saw that neither place, date, -address nor signature was inside, a gleam of satisfaction took place of -the shadow on her face. - -“Miss Scrimp has gained nothing by her audacious act,” she said. “But -it is necessary that I should teach her a lesson. I will write a note -to her, which you will take down to her. Leave it on her table, and -instantly go to your own room. If I need you I will call you.” - -“And you will not let her whip me, will you, Miss Hattie?” - -“No, Jessie. If she but offers to raise a finger to you, or speaks even -an unkind word to you for what you have done for me, I will send her to -prison for what she has done. Have no fear, my poor little dear. I will -protect you, and see that hereafter you are better treated than you -have ever been before in this house. And soon you shall tell me all you -know about yourself, as you promised me once you would, and perhaps if -you have parents living I can help you to find them.” - -“Oh, Miss Hattie if ever there was an angel on earth you’re that one,” -said Jessie, trembling all over with joy. - -Hattie turned to her table, and wrote in a plain, but elegant hand, -these words on a slip of paper: - - “Miss Hattie Butler desires to see Miss Scrimp in her room up stairs - immediately on very important business.” - -“Now take the cake I got for you, and put it in your pocket to eat when -you get to your own room, and then take this note and lay it on Miss -Scrimp’s table, and come right away before she can call you back to -question you,” said Hattie. - -“Please, Miss Hattie, I haven’t got any pockets in my dress. Miss -Scrimp wouldn’t let me have any pockets in ’em for fear I’d put in -crackers or something when I’m hungry, and that is very often.” - -“Then run and put it under your pillow before you go down stairs,” said -Hattie, smiling. - -“Please, there’s no pillow to my bed. But I’ll hide it among the rags -there, and eat it so thankfully, for I am real hungry, since I told you -what Miss Scrimp did and how I saw it.” - -And Jessie went and hid the cake, which was to be her only supper, and -then quickly returned for the note. - -She ran down stairs light as a kitten, and finding Miss Scrimp’s door -ajar looked in and saw that lady--pardon the name--busy over the book -in which she kept her boarding accounts. - -Jessie slipped in, dropped the paper over Miss Scrimp’s shoulder on the -table, and was out of the room so quickly that Miss Scrimp did not know -who brought the note. - -But she trembled and turned pale when she read it. - -“I wonder if that little brat of a bound girl has dared to tell her -about the letter?” she ejaculated. “No,” she continued, “it can’t be -that. Jess knows I’d skin her alive if she told, and she’d bite her -tongue off first. I’ll bet Miss Hattie wants to take a room lower down, -now that she is getting more than twice as much money a week as any -other girl in the house gets. That’s it; I’ll go right up. She is real -good pay, always cash down the day it is due, and no grumbling. I’ll -give her the best room in the house, and turn that saucy Kate Marmont -away, if she objects to giving it up. I wish I’d set Biddy Lanigan -a-going at her to-night; she would have wished the gray hairs in her -butter had got cross ways in her throat before she talked about ’em.” - -And Miss Scrimp closed up her old account book, took up her hand-lamp, -and started up the steep, narrow, and dirty stairs toward Hattie -Butler’s room. She had been so surprised that she had not even asked -herself who could have left the note, nor even thought how it came -floating down on her table. - -Almost breathless, she reached the landing in front of Hattie’s room, -and knocked at the door. - -“Come in,” said Hattie, in a clear, distinct tone. - -Hattie was sitting on her bed; her only chair was between her and the -door, near the table, and when Miss Scrimp took the seat Hattie pointed -to, the lamp-light from both her lamp and Hattie’s on the table, fell -strong on her angular, ugly face. - -“I got your note, and came up quick as I could, dear,” said Miss -Scrimp, the moment she could gather breath enough to speak. - -For the long, steep stairs tired her very severely. - -“I suppose you’ve made up your mind to change your room and something -better, now you’re making ever so much money--eh, dear?” continued Miss -Scrimp. - -“No, my business with you is of more importance than a change of rooms. -It may cause a change of residence for you, Miss Scrimp.” - -“For me?” cried the ancient maiden, turning whiter than the pillow-case -on which Hattie rested her hand. “I can’t understand you, dear.” - -“I will try to make my meaning quite plain before this interview is -over, Miss Scrimp. Did the postman leave a letter here for me to-day?” - -“The postman!” fairly gasped Miss Scrimp, her eyes a pale green, her -face ghastly in its hue. “I haven’t seen the postman to-day!” - -“No matter whether you saw him or not. I ask a plain question in plain -words. Did the postman leave a letter here for me to-day?” - -Miss Scrimp determined to brazen the matter right out. - -“If he did he didn’t leave it with me. And if that’s all you’ve made me -climb them dreadful stairs for I don’t thank you. So now!” - -“Be a little cautious and a trifle more respectful, Miss Scrimp!” said -Hattie sternly. - -“Respectful? Suppose I ought to be to the cheapest boarder I’ve got -in the house. I’m not going to stay here to be insulted by a bindery -girl.” - -And the angry spinster arose, and with her lamp in her hand started for -the door. - -“Stop! Come back and sit down, or I will go for a police officer and -have you arrested for an offense which will land you in the State -prison!” cried Hattie. - -“Police officer--arrest me?” gasped Miss Scrimp. - -But she came back, put her lamp on the table, and sat down. - -“Now tell me what you want. Don’t try to scare a poor, nervous old -creetur like me--please don’t, Miss Hattie.” - -“I want the letter I know was brought to this house by the regular -letter carrier to-day!” - -“Dear me, Miss Hattie, I’ve told you again and again I haven’t seen any -letter-carrier to-day.” - -“Nor any letter for me, Miss Scrimp?” - -“I vow to goodness, no!” - -“Will you swear on the Bible you have not had a letter for me in your -possession to-day, Miss Scrimp?” - -And Hattie reached beneath her pillow for the Sacred Book, which she -ever read for a few minutes each night before she closed her eyes in -sleep. - -“You’ve no right to make me swear. I’ve told you I haven’t seen no -letter of yours, Miss Hattie, and that ought to satisfy you.” - -“But it does not, Miss Scrimp. Your hesitation, if I had no other -proof, would condemn you. Now I know you had a letter of mine in your -hands to-day, and I want it.” - -“I hain’t got any letter of yours to give you.” - -“Then you will force me to get an officer and have you arrested. -I would have saved you the disgrace if I could, but since you are -obstinate I will let the law take its course. You can go to your room. -I will go for an officer.” - -“Dear me, maybe some one has laid a letter for you down in my room. -If they have, I’ll go and bring it to you,” said Miss Scrimp, now -thoroughly frightened by the determined air and spirit of our heroine. - -“Go, then, and look for it,” said Hattie. “But remember, Miss Scrimp, -if you are not here with the letter in just ten minutes, I will wait no -longer. I will not have my letters tampered with when the law protects -me in my rights.” - -“I’ll find--I’m sure I’ll find it,” gasped the trembling spinster, and -she tottered to the door and went down stairs, shaking from head to -foot, leaving the door open in her haste. - -“May I come in just one second?” asked Little Jessie, who now showed -herself at the door, with her cake, half gone, in her hand. - -“No, dear, not till I am through with her,” said Hattie. “I don’t want -her to see you, or ever know how I found my letter, if I can help it.” - -“Oh, wasn’t it fun to see her turn white and green and shake all over?” -said Jessie. “This cake is just awful good, Miss Hattie, but I’d go -hungry to bed every night of my life just to see that old heathen get -such a scare.” - -“There, there, run to your room, like a good, dear Little Jess,” cried -Hattie. “I hear the old thing shuffling up stairs again. I’ll see what -new device she offers to stave off her fate, and then, as the soldiers -say, I’ll unmask my battery.” - -Little Jessie vanished, and only just in time, for, wheezing and -puffing like a sick cat, Miss Scrimp came up the stairs, and with a -face of an ashen hue, entered the room. - - - - -CHAPTER XII. WILL SHE KEEP HER PROMISES? - - -“I couldn’t find the letter nowhere, Miss Hattie. I must have been -mistaken,” whined Miss Scrimp. “And I’ve dragged my poor old bones all -the way up these dreadful stairs again to tell you so.” - -“Did you look on the shelf above your bed, where you laid it after -opening and reading it?” asked Hattie, very quietly, but with her dark -eyes fixed on the ashen face of the old vixen. - -“What?” almost screamed Miss Scrimp. “Do you accuse me of opening one -of your letters?” - -“Yes--I do. There were two witnesses to the act.” - -“It’s a lie! There wasn’t a single one beside me in the room,” yelled -Miss Scrimp, wild and desperate. “No one could have seen me do it.” - -“Three witnesses, since you have turned State’s evidence, and confessed -it!” said Hattie, so provokingly quiet. - -“I didn’t confess. I only said no one saw me do it.” - -“Oh, yes, there did--and I will be able to prove it before the -magistrate when I have you arrested. If you had confessed your fault at -once I might have excused your criminal curiosity, and forgiven you in -the hope that hereafter you would be a wiser and a better woman. But -since you deny your guilt I may as well prove it and have you punished. -Inside the walls of a prison you may have time to reflect on the manner -in which you have treated poor girls who were in your power. You will -get better board there than your boarders get here.” - -“In prison?” gasped Miss Scrimp. - -“Yes, in prison, where you will be sent for breaking the seal of my -letter.” - -“I didn’t break the seal--I only tore it open at the end!” whined the -wretched culprit. - -“With your thumb-nail. No matter where or how you opened my private -letter after taking it from the hands of your servant, who received it -from the postman.” - -“Oh, there’s where you found it out? Little Jess has told on me. Oh, -but I’ll skin her for it. I’ll scratch her brown eyes out! I’ll----” - -“Hush, Miss Scrimp. You will not in any way dare to injure the poor -girl. I have not said she was a witness. I have said there were at -first two witnesses--you, in your own confession, make the third. I -need no more. You can go to your room, while I put on my things and go -for an officer.” - -“Oh, mercy!” screamed Miss Scrimp, “don’t have me arrested. I did do -it. I did read the letter. There were only two lines of reading in it, -and I couldn’t make nothin’ out o’ them. Oh, dear, dear, it will be the -ruin of me--the everlastin’ ruin. Oh, do have mercy on a poor creetur’ -that has always been as good to you as she knew how.” - -And Miss Scrimp threw herself on her knees on the bare, uncarpeted -floor, and with tears streaming down her sallow cheeks, looked in agony -on the girl who held her at her mercy. - -“Some one has stolen the letter off my shelf, where I hid it,” she -moaned. “If they hadn’t I would have brought it right up to you. Oh, do -pity me, Miss Hattie. I was so put out ’cause I couldn’t find out who -was a writin’ to you from Californy. Do forgive me; I’ll never, never -do so again.” - -“Get up and sit down,” said Hattie. “Never kneel except to the Father -above, and of Him ask forgiveness. If I should abstain from arresting -you for this crime you must promise me several things and keep your -promises, too, or I shall not keep mine. And you must answer several -questions truly. On yourself now will depend my action.” - -“Oh, I’ll promise anything, and keep it, too, and I’ll answer all you -ask, if you’ll only not have me arrested. I know I did wrong, I knew it -all the time I was doing it, but it seemed as if I couldn’t help it.” - -“Promise me from this time on to treat poor Jessie Albemarle kindly, -never to whip her, never even to scold her without she is at fault,” -said Hattie. - -“I promise,” sobbed Miss Scrimp. - -“And promise if one of the poor girls, or any of them, are taken sick, -not to treat her or them inhumanly, and send them off to suffer, but to -wait till they can recover and pay for their board and nursing.” - -“I promise,” gasped Miss Scrimp. - -“Next, I want you to put enough on the table for your boarders to eat, -so that they need not arise from the table hungry.” - -“It’ll ruin me, but I’ll do it,” moaned the hapless woman, fairly -writhing at the thought. - -“I will ask no more promises now. If you keep what you have made you -will have no cause to regret it. But there are a few questions for you -to answer. You have got Jessie Albemarle bound out to you till she -reaches the age of eighteen?” - -“Yes, I got her from the asylum.” - -“What do you know about her parentage?” - -“Nothing, for sure, except what they told me at the asylum. They said -she was left there a baby, in nice clothes, with a lot of fine things -in a basket. There was a gold necklace around her neck, and on the -clasp the name, Jessie Albemarle, and in the basket a note asking she -might be kept tenderly, for some day she’d be called for. And they kept -her there, and taught her readin’, and writin’, and ’rithmetic, and -all that, till she was over twelve years old, and then I got her. She -hasn’t growed a bit since, though she is over fifteen now.” - -“No wonder, for you have starved and worked her almost to death. But -this cruelty shall go no farther; henceforth she shall be treated at -least like a human being.” - -“Oh, Miss Hattie, aren’t you going to have any mercy on me?” - -“All, and even more than you deserve, Miss Scrimp. But I am not done -with my questions yet. A lady called here not long ago to ask after -Jessie Albemarle?” - -“Yes, and I told her she had run away. I didn’t know where she was.” - -“What did you do it for?” - -“I was afraid it was the girl’s mother, and I’d lose Jess, when I need -her so much.” - -“Oh, you heartless creature! What did the lady say?” - -“She cried and took on terrible, but I didn’t let her into the house -fer fear she’d see Jess. I happened by good luck to be at the door when -she came. She was a grand looking lady, with diamonds in her ears and -on her fingers.” - -“Was that the last you heard of it?” - -“No, they sent for me down to the asylum, and I told ’em the same -story. I said Jess had run away.” - -“That makes another fraud, Miss Scrimp, for which you could be arrested -and punished.” - -“Oh, dear me! You’ll not have me arrested for what I tell you, when I -only answer the questions you force on me.” - -“It depends entirely on yourself now. Treat Jessie kindly, set a good -fair table. I ask no luxuries, only that you have enough for all, and -you are safe from the arrest which I can and will have made if you -break a single promise.” - -“I’ll keep my word if it just ruins me,” sighed Miss Scrimp. “And now, -Miss Hattie, please, please do me one favor.” - -“What is it?” - -“Tell me who is it that is writin’ to you from Californy. I’m just -dyin’ to know.” - -“I cannot tell you at present,” said Hattie. “The time may not be far -distant when I shall make no secret of it to you or any one else. Now -you can go.” - -“Thankee, Miss Hattie. I’ll live in hopes. But I’d give anything to -know now.” - -Hattie made no answer, and Miss Scrimp took up her lamp and crept down -stairs again to mourn over the change that had got to come in her -household. - -And Hattie, delighted at her victory, pondered over a new thought. How -would she go to work to discover if the lady who had called was really -the mother of Little Jessie, and if so, how could she inform her that -her child was alive and needful of a mother’s care and love? - -“It can only be done by advertising, and I will do it,” said Hattie, -after she had thought over it a while. - -Then she took the crumpled letter of two lines only, and looked at it -over and over again, with tears in her eyes. - -“Oh, Father in Heaven, guide me!” she said. “Dare I trust him now? Has -he surely conquered that fearful appetite or passion which drags so -many noble souls down to death and perdition?” - - - - -CHAPTER XIII. “IT IS A GEM!” HE CRIED. - - -Mr. Legare sat in his magnificent library, talking with Frank and -Lizzie, his only children. Where the large room was not lined with -book-cases filled from ceiling to floor with choice works, paintings by -the masters of art filled every space. - -To a scholar and an artist that library would seem a fairy region where -taste and fancy, roaming hand in hand, could live forever. And Mr. -Legare had tastes which fed on the artistic beauty of his paintings, -and enjoyed the worth of his valuable books. He had tried to rear his -children to the same taste, to similar noble and improving studies. -But he had also, with his almost unlimited wealth, given them access -to all fashionable pleasures, and the consequence was that both son -and daughter found more pleasure in the outside world than in the -solid realities of their palace-like home. The opera and its circle of -fashion, theatrical spectacles, not the grand old plays of Shakespeare, -balls, routes, and club pastimes suited them far better than to gaze on -those noble works of art, or pore over the grand array of books which -filled the hundreds of shelves in the best private library in the great -city. - -Mr. Legare was looking over his last acquisition, the rare old reviews, -beautifully bound, which had just been sent in from Mr. W----’s -book-bindery. The work was, as usual with that establishment, elegantly -done; but Mr. Legare was intently looking over the inside of the -works, while Frank and Lizzie were looking over a new collection of -fine English prints, which had just been received from London, and were -now spread out on the mosaic table-center. - -Suddenly an exclamation of surprise and pleasure broke from the old -gentleman’s lips. - -“Wonderful! It is a gem! and it illustrates the subject perfectly!” he -cried. - -“What is it that pleases you so, papa?” asked the daughter. - -“A pencil sketch on the blank leaf of this old review. It is an -illustrated idea of a dream of Martin Luther--angels poring over the -revealed word of God. It is perfection, and entirely fresh. It must be -the work of that wonderful girl down at W----’s bindery, for she alone -has had the care of this work since it left my hands, and the drawing -was not there when I took the pages to the bindery. It must be the work -of that wonderfully gifted girl. I’ll find out, and if it is, she must -and shall have a chance to study art. This sketch would do credit to a -Dore, or any other artist. Come and look at it, Frank.” - -“Excuse me, father, I am looking over your new portfolio, and, -moreover, I am no believer in the wonderful talent of shop-girls. It is -very easy, when so many works are coming and going, to make copies of -sketches. That may be a copy from Dore, for all you know.” - -“Even if copied, none but an artistic hand could do it so well,” said -the old gentleman, his eyes still lingering over the sketch. - -At that moment a tall lady, of middle age, noble in appearance, and -dressed richly, but plainly, and in excellent taste, entered the room. - -Both the young people arose with a glad cry: - -“Aunt Louisa, when did you come? Oh, how glad we are to see you!” - -And the old gentleman left his book and its new-found illustration, to -greet the visitor, who, it seemed, was a widowed sister of his late -wife, who, living in another city, visited him occasionally, and ever -found a welcome, a warm and heartfelt welcome, from himself and his -children. - -The children, or rather young people--they were rather too old to be -called children--loved their Aunt Louisa very much, for she was all -tenderness to them, and though often sad, as if a secret sorrow lay -heavily on her heart, she was ever ready to join them in any festive -movement, any pleasure-giving excursion, and seemed to strive to be -doubly cheerful to add to their happiness on such occasions. - -“I have but just arrived,” she said, “and even left my trunk at the -depot in my haste to see the dear ones here.” - -“I will send George for it right away, dear aunt--give me the check,” -cried Frank. - -“And then come here and look at these old works, Louisa, and a -wonderful little pencil sketch I have just discovered,” said the old -gentleman. - -The lady handed her nephew the check for her baggage, and while he went -out to send the coachman after it, she went to the table where Mr. -Legare had been seated, examining the newly-bound works. - -“What artist drew that?” she exclaimed, the moment her eyes fell on the -sketch which had so attracted his attention. - -“I am not sure yet,” he answered. “But I believe it to be the -production of a poor girl, whom I found sewing in a bindery for -four dollars a week, and yet a complete mistress of five different -languages--perhaps more. I see her initials, ‘H. B.’, in one corner of -the sketch.” - -“How old is this wonderful girl?” asked the lady, with an air of sudden -interest. - -“She may be twenty or even one or two years older. Not under eighteen, -at any rate,” replied the old gentleman. - -“Too old!” sighed the lady to herself, in a sad whisper. - -What she meant we cannot know. Her brother-in-law did not hear her, or -only the sigh, if he did, and he continued: - -“I got the girl promoted as a reader and collator, and now they give -her ten dollars a week for work on just such jobs as this--arranging -and preparing choice old works like these. W---- had quite a lot on -hand which he could do nothing with until the talent and education -of this girl came into notice almost by accident. She is a wonder. -Louisa--you are childless--I do wish you would adopt that girl. She is -lovely as a picture.” - -Tears came into the hazel eyes of the lady as she said: - -“I fear my heart would not go out to a stranger!” - -“You could not help liking this girl. She is so modest and unobtrusive. -Her employer, and the foreman, under whom she has worked for over two -years, speak in the highest terms of her. She makes no associates, and -for a wonder no enemies, though she shuns all acquaintance.” - -“We shall have to go and see this wonderful girl, Aunt Louisa,” said -Lizzie, rather petulantly. “Papa is quite carried away with her. He -could talk of nothing else when he came home to lunch on the day he -discovered her.” - -“Perhaps we will go to see her some day!” said her Aunt Louisa, in -a kindly tone. “It is not often we find refinement and the proof of -education among those who toil for their daily bread. No matter how -gifted the toiler may be by nature, he or she has but little time to -improve the gifts of nature.” - -“That is only too true!” said Mr. Legare. “And so much the more it -becomes the duty of us, who have been blessed with wealth, to use that -wealth in helping these rough jewels to see the light. Though I shall -leave my children enough for all proper needs and uses--enough for them -to hold their station in life and enjoy it--I intend to leave a good -bequest for the purpose of aiding the poor who desire an education in -literature and art. There are so many in this world who long to rise -and cannot, because they are weighed down by poverty’s cruel load.” - -“You are right. A nobler use for surplus wealth could not be found,” -said the lady, warmly. “I am glad to hear you say this. When I see a -man pass away, leaving millions on millions, only to be increased by -souls as sordid as his own, I think that he who forgets God’s poor on -earth will himself be unknown in heaven. Good words go a great way, but -good works go ever so much farther.” - -“There! Hear that music!” cried Lizzie; “it is the bell for lunch. -Frank will join us at table. Come, Aunt Louisa--come, papa, dear; I am -as hungry as a----I don’t know what.” - - - - -CHAPTER XIV. A MARKED CHANGE. - - -“Ochone! The ould boy has got into the mistress, to be sure, and all -to wanst. Here’s real round steak, and I’m ordered to broil it nice -for the breakfast, instead of frying it in hog-fat like I used to; and -there’s twice as much as we ever had before. And she has got fresh -bread in the basket! And Little Jess is cackling round like a pullet -after corn, and the mistress said I wasn’t to spake a cross word to -her. Sure, I belave the worruld is comin’ to an end. I am to put two -cups of ground coffee in the pot instead of one, and I’m not to water -the milk any more after the milk-man laves it, but take two quarts -instead of one. I do belave the ould maid is a-goin’ crazy. She looks -as if she had been a-cryin’ all night; and there’s that Jess a-settin’ -the table, and a-singin’ like a little canary. I’d like to slap the -jade over; I’d make her sing like a cat with a basin of hot water on -its hide!” - -Thus Biddy Lanigan heralded the sudden change in her department of Miss -Scrimp’s boarding-house. It was evident she did not like it. It gave -her a good deal more work--and hotter work; for the steak, formerly -fried till too hard to be eatable, on the range, now had to be broiled -over hot coals. - -“I’ll have a raise o’ wages for this, or I’ll lave,” she uttered, as -she turned the juicy steak. For she knew how to cook it nicely when it -had to be done. She had ever kept and cooked the best in a proper way -for her mistress and herself. - -At last, early as the hour was, not fairly light outdoors, the -breakfast bell rang, and the girls trooped into the breakfast room. - -How Hattie enjoyed their looks of wonder, and then their cries of joy. - -“Nice steak--so tender and juicy!” cried one. - -“Fresh bread and butter! Dear me!” cried another. - -“Oh, such coffee--with real milk in it!” almost screamed a third. - -And merrily, happily, the girls went to work over those luxuries like a -bevy of singing birds in a field of grain. - -Even Miss Scrimp’s face grew softer as she heard the merry music at her -board, though a sigh now and then told that this extravagance, while it -saved her from a prison cell, was eating vastly into the profits which -she had hitherto made. - -Wild Kate, in the exuberance of her feelings over this change, made a -speech. She often did. But seldom did she make one so much to the point. - -“Girls,” said she, “isn’t this just glorious! Over this cup of nice -coffee I feel like weeping, for having been so saucy to good Miss -Scrimp last night. Over this delicious steak I feel like promising -never to find a fault here again, without real, strong occasion for -it. Over this sweet butter and this fresh, nice bread, cut thick, I -feel like giving thanks both to Heaven, and to her who has provided -such a splendid table, and to move a vote of thanks from us all to Miss -Scrimp.” - -“Thanks! Thanks!” rose from every girl’s lips at the table. - -“Let us also thank Biddy Lanigan for cooking all these luxuries so -nicely!” added Hattie Butler, who saw the cook standing near the door, -in her accustomed position. - -“I knew that angel-born wouldn’t forget ould Biddy. She has ever the -kind word for me!” cried the happy Lanigan. - -“Thanks to Biddy Lanigan, and Little Jess, too,” shouted Wild Kate, and -the cry echoed from one end of the room to the other. - -But the girls had not long to tarry over this new and joyous scene. -They all had to reach their workshops on time, or be cut short -in wages, and soon they were all speeding away to their various -destinations. - -And Jessie sat down for the first time in many a long, sad day to a -full, substantial meal, with time enough allowed her to eat it. And -when it was time to clear up the table and wash the dishes, she went to -her work with a song on her lips and gladness in her heart. Hitherto -sighs and tears had accompanied her labors. - -When Miss Scrimp sat down to her breakfast, which was no better than -the boarders had just enjoyed, Biddy was the first to speak. - -“Worra! but wasn’t I mad with the stame and the hate when I was -a-cookin’ the breakfast sure. But when I saw how good the girl -craythurs felt, and how thankful they were, sure the mad all went off, -and I felt like I do when the praste hears me at confession and says -it’s all right. ‘Biddy, go along wid ye, say all your prayers, and be a -good woman.’” - -“It costs awful,” was all Miss Scrimp said, but there was a whole -volume of misery in the sigh which followed her words. - -“I’ll keep it up if I can,” she continued. “If I can’t, why I can’t.” - -“What sot ye to doin’ it?” asked Biddy. - -The question confused Miss Scrimp. Not for any consideration would -she have Biddy know the truth. It would have ruined her in Biddy’s -estimation if the latter had known she had succumbed to the demands of -the cheapest boarder in the house. - -“I thought I’d just try a change,” she said. “I’d got so sick of -hearin’ the girls grumble and growl, I thought I’d see what real good -feedin’ would do with them.” - -At that instant Miss Scrimp caught a glimpse of Jessie Albemarle’s -face. The girl hardly dared to, but she seemed to want to laugh right -out; and from that instant Miss Scrimp knew that Jessie Albemarle knew -why and how the change had come. - -And the moment she could get the little girl alone after breakfast, she -said to her, in a kinder tone than she had ever used to her before: - -“Jessie, my dear, if you will keep a close mouth about all you know -you’ll never be sorry for it. I’ll have a nice cot-bed put up in your -room, and you shall have two new calico frocks, and a good, soft pair -of shoes.” - -“Thank you, Miss Scrimp. Miss Hattie told me not to say anything as -long as I was treated well, and you may be sure I’ll mind her. She is -the best friend I ever had.” - -Miss Scrimp would really have liked to tear the poor girl limb from -limb, but she dared not even be cross with her, so, with what she meant -for a smile, she told her to go and do her work, and take her time -about it. - - - - -CHAPTER XV. A PROPOSITION. - - -Mr. W---- was not much surprised, after what Frank Legare had said, -when he received a visit from the father of that young gentleman, nor -astonished when in the office Mr. Legare asked him if he would not send -for Hattie Butler, for he had a question to ask her in regard to the -book which he held in his hand, one of those recently bound. - -“I hope the book is bound right,” said Mr. W----, after having told his -foreman to send Hattie Butler to the office. - -“Oh, yes, it is bound perfectly, and partially illustrated,” said Mr. -Legare, smiling. “I wish to make inquiry in regard to the illustration.” - -The next moment Hattie entered the office, calm, completely -self-possessed and lady-like. - -“Mr. Legare wishes to make some inquiry of you, Miss Hattie,” said Mr. -W----. “Take a seat. I will leave you with him.” - -“Not so, my dear sir--remain,” said Mr. Legare, promptly. “I have no -questions to ask of this young lady which you should not hear. I found -a drawing in this book, and I am very anxious to know who made the -sketch. It is an illustration of Martin Luther’s Dream.” - -A slight flush arose on Hattie’s cheek when he opened the book and -pointed to the pencil sketch. - -“I meant no wrong, sir,” she said; “it was a careless fancy, done in a -few moments in our dinner hour, when we are at rest to eat or exercise -as we please. I had read the dream, had my pencil in my pocket, saw -the blank page, and made the sketch without a thought that any one -would ever notice it. I often draw little fancies like that when I have -nothing else to do. I have a portfolio of them at my room.” - -“I will buy every one of them at your own price, young lady. I conceive -myself to be a connoisseur in art, and I assure you that you draw like -a master. You have talent, great talent.” - -“Really, sir, I fear you put too high an estimate on my poor efforts. I -once took a few lessons when I was with my dear mother, but the crabbed -Italian who taught me said my fingers were stiff, and I had no eye for -lines of grace.” - -“He was a fool. Those angels almost speak in real life-likeness. I must -see your portfolio and have the first privilege of purchasing if any or -all of your drawings are for sale.” - -“I hardly think, sir, they are of any value. But I will bring my -portfolio here to-morrow, and leave it with Mr. W----, so that you can -look it through at your leisure.” - -“Thank you. You are very kind.” - -“Have you anything further to say, sir? I am in a hurry; a part of the -work I am now collating is on the sewing-bench, and the sewers will -want the rest.” - -“Nothing further,” answered Mr. Legare, and Hattie hurried away to her -work, doubtless pleased to know that another of her talents had become -known and appreciated. - -“Have you never discovered that girl’s wonderful talent with the pencil -before, Mr. W----?” asked the man of wealth. - -“Never, sir; it is as great a surprise to me to-day as our mutual -discovery of her proficiency in languages.” - -“She is a wonderful girl.” - -“A perfect mystery, sir--a perfect mystery. That she is a born lady, -looks, actions, language, all testify. That she has been a willing, -steady, silent, humble toiler here for over two years, I know. I feel -as if it was unjust to her to remain in such a lowly position; but I -know not how she can be removed from it.” - -“I do,” said Mr. Legare. - -“Ah! If not too bold, may I ask your plan?” said Mr. W----, turning -very red in the face. - -“Simply this: I have a widowed sister-in-law. She is a wealthy lady, of -almost angelic disposition. She is childless. I will get her to adopt -this young lady. She can give her a brilliant home, and a chance to -enjoy all her tastes and talents. I am sure, from the character which -you give of her, Miss Butler will more than justify the adoption.” - -“It would indeed be a generous and a noble act, and could not be -bestowed on a more worthy object,” said Mr. W----. - -And a sigh, which even he could hardly have accounted for, followed his -remark. - -“She is staying at my house now, and I will have her call at this -girl’s boarding-house to see her,” said Mr. Legare, “or perhaps it -would be better she should call here?” - -“Would it not be easier for the lady to communicate her offer by -letter?” suggested Mr. W----. - -“It might be easier, but hardly so satisfactory as it would be for them -to see each other, and judge, as most people will from an interview, -how one would like the other. But I’ll tell you what to do, W----, -sound the girl on the subject, and see what her feelings are, and -let me know. Then it will be time enough to decide how to bring on a -meeting between her and Mrs. Emory, my sister-in-law.” - -“All right, Mr. Legare. I will endeavor to disclose your plan to -Miss Butler in as delicate a manner as possible. I know she is very -high-strung and independent, and she will shrink from incurring -obligations unless she feels that she can render an equivalent.” - -“She could. My sister-in-law is a sad and lonely woman. Some secret -sorrow, which her friends could never fathom, has laid heavily on her -heart for years. It makes her so melancholy at times that we have -almost feared for her reason. A sweet, companionable girl, intellectual -and gifted, would be a blessing in her lonely home.” - -“It would seem so. Can I speak of the lady and her circumstances?” -asked W----. - -“Certainly. Say all that I have said to Miss Butler, and add that I -feel a fatherly interest in her welfare. Were I childless, I would -adopt her myself. But I have two dear children, a son and daughter, -as you know, and they would think it treason to them were I to invite -another to my home.” - -“And who could blame them?” added Mr. W----. “Well, I will approach the -young lady on the matter, and let you know what she thinks about it the -next time you call.” - -“Which will be very soon,” said Mr. Legare, now taking his leave. - -“Jupiter Tonans! I see a way now which will make even my proud sisters -come to my views. The poor shop-girl, once adopted in a wealthy and -aristocratic family, will not be objectionable to them, if indeed -in that position she is ever recognized as having been here. I will -persuade her to accept this adoption, and then, if it be possible to -persuade her to accept me as a husband, I shall be the happiest man -alive; for I cannot deny in my own heart that I love the sweet girl -even where she is, and as she is, and had I only my own feelings to -consult, I would tell her so, and offer her my hand within the hour.” - -Thus soliloquized Mr. W----, while she who so occupied his thoughts -went steadily on with her task, thinking, while so engaged, of nothing -else. - -And he was studying whether it would do to approach her mind on -this subject of adoption there in the bindery, or at home in her -boarding-house, where possibly his interview, which might be lengthy, -would not be so noticed as it would be if held in the shop or his -office. - -For he knew he could not be too careful, either for her or for himself, -in a world where nine-tenths of the people are censorious and full of -suspicion, and the other tenth as ready to believe evil as good, no -matter whence it comes. - -So he decided, having her address, as well as that of every other -employee, on his books, to call upon her at her boarding-house. - -So he sat down at his desk and wrote these words: - - “MISS HATTIE:--Friends who feel a deep interest in your welfare, - who appreciate your clear intellect, your excellent education, your - talent, and your graces of person and manner, have deputed me to make - a proposition alike honorable to you and nobly generous in them--a - proposition which will remove you from the world of toil and care to - a position of affluence and independence, without compromising your - dignity or lessening you in your esteem. To convey the proposition, - it is necessary I should hold a brief interview with you, and it - seems to me it would be more consistent and proper for your position - and mine that I should hold the interview at your residence or - boarding-house. Therefore, I will call there this evening, at eight - o’clock, to see you, in the presence of friends, if you think it - necessary, or alone, if you will trust in the sincerity and honor of - one who would wish to rank as your best and most unselfish friend. - - “EDWARD W----.” - -After reading this note carefully over, and finding nothing to change -in it, he sealed and directed it, and going to Hattie’s table, just -before it was time to leave off work, laid the note before her, and -said: - -“Do me a favor, Miss Hattie. This note is on important business. But do -not read it until you go home.” - -She bowed her head in assent. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI. HATTIE’S RESOLVE. - - -Hattie Butler left the bindery at her usual hour, and pausing only long -enough to buy an evening paper, as she always did on her way, after -her increase of salary made her feel able to do so, she hurried to her -boarding-house. - -Now, the writer is not one who believes that woman is one half as full -of curiosity as man is, but she will not deny that her heroine really -did feel decidedly anxious to know the nature of the important business -which her employer had told her would be revealed in the note which she -was not to open until she reached home. - -Hattie lost no time in reaching home, and as she had fully ten minutes -to spare before the supper-bell would ring, she went up to her room to -take off her bonnet and shawl, instead of leaving them on the hooks in -the long hall, as she generally did. - -On her way to her room Hattie met Little Jessie Albemarle, who ran to -her and whispered: - -“Miss Scrimp has been ever so good to me all day. I’ve got a cot-bed, -and sheets, and a pillow in my room now, and I’m to have two new calico -dresses in a day or two.” - -“I’m very glad, dear,” said Hattie. “I hope your dark days are over, -and that before long I shall have very, very good news for you. Now, -run down to your work, dear--I’m going to my room a minute, but will be -down to supper.” - -And Jessie, full of a new happiness--it was so strange to be kindly -treated even for a single day--ran down to her duties singing, while -Hattie hurried to her room, lighted her lamp, and opened her note. - -A look of wonder and of real perplexity gathered over and clouded her -face as she read it a second time. - -“I cannot, for my life, understand his meaning. What can the -proposition be? He knows me too well to ever make any offer but one -that the noblest-born woman in the world could accept. I am poor, but I -am proud--not of beauty, not of education, but of a pure and spotless -name, of an honor untarnished by an evil act or thought. He speaks -kindly, seems to be very sincere, and is surely respectful. I will meet -him, and in the parlor below, for I would blush to have any one see -these poor surroundings, when they know I could afford better. I know -it is against Miss Scrimp’s rules to admit gentleman visitors to see -her boarders, but in this case she must permit the rule to be broken. -I will tell her I must see a gentleman on important business. He is my -employer, and it is my right to meet him here.” - -This matter settled in her own mind, Hattie let down her -gloriously-beautiful hair, arranged her simple toilet daintily, and -went down stairs to supper at the very moment the bell rang. - -“Wonder on wonders! What will happen next!” was what Wild Kate said as -she filed with the rest into the room. - -There was an extra lamp over the center of the long table, and the -increased light shown on a row of plates of cold tongue, sliced ham, -cheese, and three large, real sweet cakes, equally distant on the table. - -Such extravagance could not be remembered by Miss Scrimp’s oldest -boarder. - -And Little Jess was assisted by Biddy Lanigan herself in passing around -full cups--not of hot water, but of real nice tea, with white sugar and -good milk. - -“Miss Scrimp, you’re just the dearest old maid that ever refused a good -offer!” cried Wild Kate, impulsively. “And you’re not old either. You -are twenty years younger to-night than you were last night when I was -saucing you, like the bad girl that I am.” - -“We’ll let bygones be bygones, Miss Kate. Take hold--you’ll find no -hairs in your butter to-night!” said Miss Scrimp, quite graciously for -her. - -“If I did I wouldn’t be so mean as to tell of it!” said Kate, as she -took two slices of cold ham to herself. “Girls, if this thing keeps -on I’m one to put down a dollar toward buying Miss Scrimp a new silk -dress!” - -“And I will double it if we buy good nice dresses for Biddy Lanigan -and good Little Jessie!” said Hattie, quietly, but distinctly from her -chair near the head of the table. - -“Glory to her soul! I knew Miss Hattie wouldn’t forget me!” cried -Biddy, and she put a strong cup of tea each side of her plate to show -her gratitude. - -The clatter of busy knives and forks, the cheerful hum of happy voices -now drowned everything else, and Hattie, who made as usual but a light -supper, took occasion when she was sure no one else would hear her to -tell Miss Scrimp that Mr. W----, her employer, had made an appointment -to meet her there on business at eight o’clock, and she wished to see -him in her parlor. - -“You know it’s agin my rules, dear,” said Miss Scrimp, trying hard to -be gracious. - -“I know it, Miss Scrimp, and under no other circumstances would I ask -the favor,” replied Hattie, still speaking in an undertone. - -“Couldn’t you see him in my room, and I’d make it seem as if he came to -see me on business,” said Miss Scrimp, in a pleading tone. “You see, if -once I break over my rule, every girl in the house will be askin’ to -have her beau meet her in my parlor, and the whole house would soon be -overrun by horrid men.” - -“I did not take that view of the case when I made the application. -But, on second thought, I am very willing to see Mr. W---- in your -sitting-room and in your presence.” - -“That’s a dear, good girl! I’ll fix it so I let him in myself, and I’ll -take him right to my room, where you’ll be, and not a girl in the house -shall see him, or know who he came to see other than me,” said the old -maid, happy at the thought that she could hear what this important -business was. - -A secret to Miss Scrimp was a jewel to be possessed at the risk of -death almost. - -Seeing that the clock at the end of the dining-room was about to strike -eight, she whispered to Hattie to go to her room, and left the table -herself just as the front door bell rang. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII. THE INTERVIEW. - - -“I’ll go to the door, dear--you keep on waitin’ on the table. I’m -expecting the house agent,” said Miss Scrimp to Little Jessie, who -started when she heard the bell ring. - -And while Miss Scrimp went to the front door, Hattie Butler, in her -usual leisurely way, left the table, as if going to her own room. But, -when out of the dining-room, she hurried up the first flight of stairs, -and turned into the room used both as sitting-room and chamber by Miss -Scrimp. While at the head of the stairs she heard her landlady say: - -“Come right in, sir, you’re expected. Come right in.” - -The curiosity of Miss Scrimp to know what important business her -boarder could have, made the old spinster even cordial to a horrid man. - -In another minute Miss Scrimp shuffled in in her slip-shod shoes, and -she was followed by Mr. W----. - -When the door was closed, Hattie formally introduced the famous and -wealthy proprietor of the bindery to her boarding mistress, and then -added: - -“If you please, Mr. W----, you can mention your business in the -presence of this lady. I will answer for her silence in regard to it -hereafter, whatever it may be.” - -“Certainly, Miss Hattie,” said he. - -But he was a little confused, and evidently would not have had that -vinegar-faced woman there if he could help it. But in his own note he -had told her to have witnesses to the interview if she desired, and -surely it was prudent to have that hideous old ghost of a landlady -there--perhaps policy, too, for in contrast Hattie looked positively -angelic. - -Mr. W---- had never seen that wealth of glossy raven hair floating in -shining, curling masses down over her white shoulders clear to her -waist, before, and she had put on a neat, real lace collar when she -went to her room; and a pair of daintily ruffled cuffs made her small -hands look even yet more delicate, and they were such beautiful hands, -without a single ring to mar their delicate contour. - -Mr. W---- hesitated only a moment, while his eager eyes drank in that -flood of beauty, and then he said: - -“I was sent to you by Mr. Legare, who has a wealthy, widowed -sister-in-law, a Mrs. Louisa Emory, residing in a neighboring city, who -is childless and lonely. She is a lady in every sense, of a sweet and -loving disposition, and a companion like yourself would be a treasure -to her. If you will consent, Mr. Legare, who, like myself, is truly -and sincerely your friend, and deeply interested in your welfare, will -propose to her that she adopt you as a daughter--to receive all a -daughter’s love and privileges.” - -Hattie looked at Mr. W---- with astonishment. The thought of being -adopted as a daughter by a lady of wealth whom she had never seen, -and who had never seen her, was so strange. And it was just like the -stupidity of mankind to go to work that way about it. - -“You can think of it leisurely, Miss Hattie, and give me your answer in -writing, if you like,” continued Mr. W----. - -“I will give you an answer before you leave, Mr. W----,” said Hattie, -quietly. “But before I do so I would ask your opinion about this -affair?” - -“Really, Miss Hattie, I consider it one of the most brilliant chances -of your young life. You are too well educated, too talented, and, -believe me, I say it not in flattery, too beautiful, to drudge your -life away in a book-bindery, when you can ornament the highest -circles of society. If you ask it as advice, I would say accept this -proposition, for it would not have been made by Mr. Legare without he -knew it would prove a happiness to his often sad-hearted sister-in-law. -She is now visiting at his house, and to-morrow an interview between -you would soon show how you would like her.” - -“She might not like me,” said Hattie, with a smile. - -“How could she help it?” said Mr. W----, impulsively. - -“There will be no need for her to try,” said Hattie, gently but firmly. -“Gratefully, but positively, I must decline the tempting offer. I -am content, Mr. W----, to continue in my present condition in your -bindery. Miss Scrimp here makes it as pleasant as possible for her -boarders, and in receiving your visit to-night has broken over one of -her strictest rules--never to permit the visits of gentlemen to the -house.” - -“For which I thank her in sincerity,” said Mr. W----, bowing gracefully -to the old maid. - -“Is your decision final? Must I take that answer back to Mr. Legare?” -he continued, addressing Hattie, and not noticing the simpering smile -with which Miss Scrimp received his thanks. - -“Yes, Mr. W----. I am at least independent now, so long as health and -strength last, and, thanks to your generous increase of salary, I am -laying up money which will keep me so, even should sickness reach me.” - -“Heaven prevent that!” exclaimed Mr. W----. “I can but admire your -independence, and rejoice, selfishly, that I am not to lose your -valuable services at the bindery. But I know Mr. Legare will grieve at -your decision. He said that if he had not children of his own he would -adopt you himself.” - -“I am grateful for his interest, and yours also, Mr. W----, while I -decline the bright future you would make for me. By the way, Mr. W----, -let me run up stairs to my room and get that portfolio of drawings, or, -rather, pencil sketches, which Mr. Legare wished to see--that is, if it -is not too much trouble for you to take them.” - -“It is not a trouble, but a pleasure instead,” he said, and away she -went. - -“The dear creetur! Who’d think she’d refuse such a chance? Most any -girl in the world would just snap at it,” said Miss Scrimp, determined -to keep the “horrid man” interested while in her presence. - -“She is superior to most of her sex,” said Mr. W----, with a sigh. - -“That’s true as gospel,” said Miss Scrimp. And she sighed, just to keep -him company, you know. - -Hattie was gone but a few seconds. Flushed in color by her -exercise--for she had run up and down stairs--her beauty seemed -heightened when she returned, bearing a portfolio, with a clasp, and on -it a monogram--the letters “G. E. L.” - -“They are all in here, and when he has looked them over he can take any -that he desires at his own price, and hand the rest back to you,” said -Hattie, as she handed the portfolio to Mr. W----. - -“And I hope to be allowed to purchase what he leaves, if indeed any,” -said Mr. W----. “The drawing you made in his book was a pleasant -surprise to me. I did not know we had such a talented artist in the -bindery.” - -Mr. W---- arose to go, and Miss Scrimp stood ready to see him to the -door. - -“Please wait here a minute, dear--I want to say something to you,” she -whispered to Hattie as she went out. - -After seeing Mr. W---- out, Miss Scrimp hurried back and found Hattie -waiting. - -“What luck!” said the former, as she shuffled into the room. “Not a -girl in the house saw him come or go. And what a nice man he is! Why, -Miss Hattie, I’d almost have him myself, if he’d ask me. And I’d make -no mean match, either. I’m just forty-six, and I’ve a thousand dollars -in bank for every year of my life. Now, don’t tell him so--or if you -should happen to let it slip, be sure and tell him not to tell any one -else. I’ve got it safe in the best bank in the city.” - -“Was that all you wanted to say to me, Miss Scrimp?” asked Hattie, -not at all impressed by the bank account of the ancient young lady of -acknowledged forty-six. - -“Well, no; I wanted to say how I admired your independence in refusing -such a grand offer, and that I’d keep your secret ever so close.” - -“Miss Scrimp, it is no secret. I am utterly indifferent whether it is -known or remains unknown. It is enough for me to keep your secrets.” - -And Hattie moved out of the room with the air of a queen. - -“Oh, the wretch! I could just scratch her eyes out!” hissed Miss -Scrimp, when the door closed and she was alone. “I’m in her power, -or I’d--I’d--the mercy only knows what I wouldn’t do! I’ll bet that -bindery man’ll try to marry her. But he sha’n’t, not if I can help it. -I’ll marry him myself first. I’ve got nigher sixty thousand dollars in -bank, than what I told her, and if he has got something to put with it, -he could give up book-binderies, and I’d let out the boarding-house -business to the first one who’d take it. I don’t like horrid men, but I -do like him, he smiled so sweet when he thanked me for breakin’ over my -rules on his account.” - -And the old spinster rubbed her thin, skinny hands together, and stood -up before her cracked looking-glass, and made all sorts of pretty faces -at herself, while she smoothed down her false hair and tried to see how -interesting she could look in the glass. - -Satisfied, after wriggling into a dozen different positions, she went -down stairs to see if things were cleared up at the table, and to take -another cup of tea in the kitchen, for she was a great tea-drinker. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII. CRITICISING THE SKETCHES. - - -Mr. W---- went directly home after his interview with Hattie Butler, -and in the presence of his sisters, Flotie and Anna, he opened the -portfolio, and together they examined the sketches--not less than -thirty or forty in number. They were on all kinds of subjects--some -landscapes and others figures. Some few caricatures were exquisitely -done--one was the figure of a fashionable belle, looking through an -eye-glass at a poor ragged girl sweeping a street crossing. - -The two girls laughed over this till they cried--the upturned nose -of the belle fairly speaking her scorn for the poor little sister of -sorrow who was trying to make the crossing passable for the lady’s -dainty feet. - -“Why, Brother Edward, here you are!” cried Flotie, as she took up a -new sketch; “and you seem to be scolding Mr. Jones, for it is his very -picture, standing as I saw him once, with a paste-pot in one hand and a -brush in the other.” - -Mr. W---- looked at the sketch, and laughed as heartily as his sisters -had done. - -“I remember that very scene,” he said. “I came in one noon-time, when -most of the hands were out, and the rest at their noon lunches, and -asked him about some bank work--check-books, which were to have been -delivered that morning. He had mislaid the order, the work was not -done, and I was very angry. I wonder if I did look as cross as she -has made out in the sketch? Mr. Legare will never see that sketch. I -wouldn’t take a hundred dollars in cash for it and give it up.” - -“How she has hit you. It is charming; even to the twist on the right -mustache, which you always finger when you are out of sorts,” said Anna. - -“Yes, it is a perfect picture. I don’t believe Nast could make my face -out more correctly. What are you looking at so intently, Flotie?” - -“A sketch by a bolder hand, far different, and marked ‘My Home.’ Heaven -save me from ever living in such a home.” - -“Let me look at it.” - -And Mr. W---- held a sketch beneath the gas-light, which had creases -in it, as if it had been folded in a letter. It was drawn on poorer, -thinner paper than the rest also. - -He saw a bold outline of mountains, ragged, cliffy, and pine-covered, -in the background. In front there was a deep, rugged, shadowy ravine, -through which a foaming river rushed in fury. On a small, level spot, -almost backed up against a huge rock, was a small log cabin, with smoke -curling up from the chimney of rough stones, which rose from the ground -at one end of the cabin. - -In front of the open door of the cabin a young man, bare-headed, was -kneeling, his hands clasped, and such a piteous, imploring look on the -face that it almost seemed to speak a prayer. - -“There is a whole romance in that picture,” exclaimed Mr. W----. “I do -not believe Miss Butler meant it should go with the rest to Mr. Legare. -I will keep it, at any rate, with this other sketch of myself, till I -know her wishes. The rest I will send to Mr. Legare in the morning.” - -“Oh, brother, who can this be? Such a nose, such a chin! Why, she is -cross-eyed, too, and as thin as a shadow, a very lean shadow at that,” -cried Flotie, over a new discovery. - -“That is Miss Scrimp, the landlady where Miss Butler boards,” said Mr. -W----, laughing as heartily as his sister did. “It is an excellent -portrait. I presume she is taken at the moment when she is laying down -the law to the poor creatures who are scrimped at her board. It is a -pity so much talent should have been so long hidden over a sewing-bench -in our bindery.” - -“And so much beauty, Edward. You don’t say a word about that now.” - -“What is the use, Anna. She is beautiful, but she is poor, and only a -book-bindery girl, after all. If she had accepted the offer of adoption -into a wealthy lady’s family, as I hoped she would, you could have met -her as a lady, and loved her as a woman.” - -“As I’m afraid my brother does already,” said Flotie, gravely. “It -would never do, Edward, for you to marry one of your own shop-girls, -and hope to introduce her to our circle.” - -A sigh was his only response, and he arose from the table and went -to the window to hide his feelings. For every hour, every moment, he -thought of that beautiful but poor girl--every instant when he recalled -her estimable pride and independence, the modesty which had so long -concealed talents which left every female of his acquaintance far -behind, he loved her more and more. - -“He has got it, and got it hard,” said Flotie to Anna, looking at -Edward as he stood there in gloom, with his back toward them. - -“Got what, Flotie?” - -“The disease called love, Anna. And he must be cured in some way, or -farewell to the opera, ball, and theaters for us. What fools men are to -fall in love anyway. For my part, I don’t want one ever to grow sickish -over me.” - -“What does this mean?” cried Anna. “The girl who drew these sketches is -named Hattie Butler, yet the monogram on the portfolio is ‘G. E. L.’” - -“Oh, most likely she is working under an assumed name. Perhaps she -has fallen in fortune, and did not want to be known by any former -acquaintance. I don’t understand these things, and don’t want to. There -is no romance about a shop-girl, in my mind.” - -Edward W---- heard this and sighed. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX. A TASK ACCOMPLISHED. - - -The next morning Mr. W---- sent one of his house-servants to the -residence of Mr. Legare with the portfolio of drawings, but without any -message, for he knew the old gentleman would come to the bindery to -hear how he had fared in his mission, and he could better tell him by -word of mouth than on paper. - -But the two sketches--the caricature of himself and foreman and the -mountain scene--he took out, and carried them with him when he went -down to the bindery. He went through the shop, as usual, after his -arrival, and saw all the hands at their various benches and tables, and -noticed with a sigh that Hattie Butler, her hair neatly bound up, sat -in her plain, but becoming, dress at her table, apparently unconscious -of everything but the work before her. - -She did not even start and blush, as she had done once before, when he -spoke to her, as he now bade her “good-morning,” but responded in a -quiet, lady-like way--cheerfully, too--“good-morning, Mr. W----” - -“Will you have the kindness to step into the office by and by, Miss -Hattie, when you are most at leisure? I have something to show you,” he -said. - -“Certainly, Mr. W----. I have only ten more pages to arrange in this -volume, and it will take me but a little while. Then I will come.” - -Mr. W---- moved on around the room, speaking to one employee here and -there till he saw her start for the office, and he entered it a moment -before she did. - -“I have taken a liberty, I fear,” said he, “but in looking over your -portfolio I found this sketch by a different hand, and thinking you -might not wish to part with it to Mr. Legare, I took it from the -portfolio before sending it.” - -“Oh, thank you--thank you, Mr. W----. I would not have parted with it -for a world. I did not know it was in there. I thought I had restored -it to the envelope in which it was sent to me by ----, a very dear -friend.” - -She blushed, and seemed confused as she spoke thus, rapidly, holding -out her hand, and taking the sketch. - -“And on another point I have taken a liberty,” he added, kindly looking -away, that she might recover from her agitation. “I found a very fine -portrait of myself and one of Mr. Jones, our foreman, and, remembering -well the scene, felt a desire to preserve it. Will you allow me to -purchase it?” - -And he exhibited the sketch which had made him and his sisters so merry -the night before. - -Hattie blushed to the very temples. - -“Oh, forgive me, Mr. W----, I had forgotten that I ever made that -sketch. If I had only thought of it I would have taken it out of the -portfolio. But I was in a hurry, and perhaps agitated in my mind, when -I got it and brought it down to you. Please let me tear it up; it was a -thoughtless sketch, taken on the moment.” - -“I would not have it torn up on any account, Miss Hattie. It is perfect -and truthful. I want to frame it, and hang it up where I can see it -every day. It will teach me not to lose my temper, as I did that day, -with an old and a faithful employee. Please sell it to me.” - -“I will not sell it to you, Mr. W----, but if you attach any value to -it, please keep it as a welcome gift.” - -“I thank you, Miss Hattie--from my heart I thank you. I will strive to -make you a suitable return in some way.” - -“I need none, Mr. W----. Is this all you require of me?” - -“All at present, Miss Hattie. There is something I would like to talk -with you about, but I will put it off to a time when I can speak and -you listen thoughtfully.” - -Hattie bowed, and went out to her work, after folding up that mountain -sketch. - -“I wonder who that very dear friend can be who sent her that sketch,” -muttered Mr. W----, after Hattie had gone. “How she blushed when she -spoke of whence it came, and took it from my hand. Oh, I hope and pray -her heart is not already gone. If it is, what have I to hope for? For -I love her--madly love her. I must know if her heart is disengaged. I -dare not trust myself to ask her; I should break down in the attempt. -I’ll write to her. Yes, on paper I may be able to express my thoughts.” - -And going out to Mr. Jones, he gave directions that he was not to be -disturbed by any one, except on the most unavoidable business, for the -next hour. - -And then he sat down at his desk to try to write out his hopes and his -wishes, not asking now, as he had once before, “What will the world say -about it?” - -It seemed a hard task, for three times he filled a sheet of paper and -then burned it. It seemed as if he couldn’t get his thoughts together -to suit him. - -But at last he completed his letter, sealed and directed it, and made -up his mind to hand it to Hattie just as she was leaving work at night. - -And his heart was lighter after the work was done. He had allowed -himself to rise above the cold conventionalities of a callous, -heartless world--to say to himself, “If she will but have me, I will -wed worth, modesty, purity, beauty, and virtue, no matter how humble -the source from whence all these attributes spring. I will not allow -false pride or the opinions of others to chill the ardor of true and -manly affection. I will be true to nature and nature’s God, and respond -to the warm and noblest impulses which He alone can plant in the human -breast.” - -And it seemed as if a brighter light beamed in his eye when he left his -office and came out among his work-people. There was surely a kindlier -tone in his voice. - - - - -CHAPTER XX. GOOD ADVICE. - - -The library of Mr. Legare was a favorite resort for his sister-in-law, -Mrs. Louisa Emory--or Aunt Louisa, as Frank and Lizzie delighted to -call her. In his books, and also in the paintings, she found joys which -none but an intellectual woman could find, and here, even in her most -melancholy moods, she would brighten up. - -Frank and Lizzie, who thought there was no one on earth like their -aunt, were with her when Mr. Legare came into the library with the -portfolio just received from Mr. W----. - -“Come, sister, come, children, and look at my new treasures with me,” -cried the old gentleman, taking a seat at his private writing and -reading-table, and opening the portfolio. - -“What are these?” asked Mrs. Emory, as he spread out the drawings all -over the table. - -“Sketches from the pencil of that wonderful girl in the -book-bindery--the one I have already talked to you about. Look at this -caricature--a fashionable belle and a poor street-sweeper. Is it not -almost a speaking sketch? See the abject, almost hopeless look in the -face of the poor girl. Who would believe a pencil, without color, could -give so much expression?” - -“Your protege has wonderful talent,” said Mrs. Emory, her interest -awakened. “Here is a portrait--merely a face--that of a young girl? Is -it that of the artist herself?” - -“No, it is not at all like her,” said the old gentleman, looking -at it closely. “This is a picture of a young girl, pretty, but thin -and weary-looking. Hattie Butler is not only very handsome, but very -lady-like. Louisa, you would be proud of her if she were your daughter.” - -A look of agony passed over the face of the lady; she turned deathly -pale, and for an instant she looked as if she would faint. - -A cry of alarm broke from the young people, and Mr. Legare cried out: - -“Are you ill, dear sister, are you ill?” - -“A spasm. It will soon pass away,” she said, and with a sad smile she -tried to still the alarm of her anxious relatives. - -“I should like to see this gifted young woman,” she said, after -regaining her composure. “Do you think you could induce her to call -upon me here? I do not want to go to that bindery; and if she is as -proud and independent as you say, it might wound her feelings to have -me go unannounced, and without an introduction, to her boarding-house.” - -“I will see her when I make a selection of these drawings for purchase, -and try and induce her to visit you,” said Mr. Legare. - -“Take them all, dear father. They are really very, very fine,” cried -Frank, who had been looking them over with unwonted attention for him. -“Here is a gem--it is sarcastic, but so true. A foppishly-dressed -fellow is leaving his seat in the car, and handing a well-dressed -lady into it, while a poor old woman on crutches stands close by. She -has eyes, that girl has, and knows how to use them. If I were in your -place, father, and had influence with her, I should get her to make art -her profession. One who draws so well would soon take to color, even -if she has not already tried it.” - -“I’ll warrant she paints,” said Lizzie, rather satirically, looking at -her brother to see if he would feel the shaft. - -“Not in the sense you mean,” he said, indignantly. “It takes the -daughters of rich fathers to use cosmetics and other necessary articles -to enhance their beauty. The poor toiler gets her color from exercise -and honorable labor.” - -“Well met, my little lady. Frank rather had you there,” said Mr. -Legare, laughing. - -“Oh, yes, papa, you’ll side with him, because you think so much of her. -You’d better change me off for her,” cried Lizzie, angrily, and then -she fell to weeping. - -As I heard a Western man say, “that was her best hold;” she always -conquered with it. - -“Dear child, do not be so silly. No one wishes to supplant you. And -I am sure your brother had no wish to wound your feelings,” said Mr. -Legare, tenderly. - -“No, indeed, sis, not a thought of it. If it will make you feel any -easier in your mind, I’ll vow that I believe this low-born beauty -paints and powders, too.” - -“How do we know she is low-born?” asked Mrs. Emory, gravely, but -kindly. “Her education and gifts--her very genius would speak to the -contrary. Many a well-born person, by a sudden change of fortune, -has been reduced to labor. And I, for one, do not consider labor -dishonorable. It is hard to be forced to toil for one’s daily bread, if -one has to come to it from affluence, but it is not evil. It must be -very inconvenient to be poor; but surely in a grand republic like this -it is not a disgrace.” - -“Huzza for Aunt Louisa! That’s my philosophy, too,” cried Frank. - -Lizzie laughed. She couldn’t cry over three minutes at a time, and then -smiles followed, just as the sunlight comes after an April shower. - -“Your Aunt Louisa always takes a sensible view of things, my dear -children, and though she makes no boasts of it, I dare say few persons -more often extend the full hand of Christian charity.” - -“That’s the hand to play,” cried Frank, thinking of his last rubber of -whist at the club-room. - -“The hand which helps us forward on the road to Heaven,” said his -father, in a grave tone. “And I wish my dear children to feel that -while they are living in luxury, knowing no sorrow or grief but what in -imagination they make for themselves, heavy hearts and fainting spirits -are all around them. That kind words, followed by kindly deeds, will -brighten their way as they go onward and upward in life, even as I feel -that such things are softening my descent toward the grave.” - -Both son and daughter drew near their good old father and kissed him -reverently. His words had fallen on their hearts at the right moment. - -“Forgive me, papa, because I spoke slightingly of the poor girl in -whom you have justly taken such an interest. If she comes here to Aunt -Louisa, I will treat her just as well as I would my dearest school-mate -or best friend.” - -“There spoke my own blessed girl,” said Mr. Legare, proudly. “Your -heart is in the right place, little one, though we have petted you so -much that you forget it sometimes.” - -“Sis, you’re a trump--that’s what you are. And I love you--just bet all -you have I do.” - -“Frank, I know you love me--but there is that lunch-bell again. Come, -Aunt Louisa, I ordered oyster patties, because I know you like them so.” - -“And we’ve a brace of partridges, father, that Egbert Tripp sent down -from Ulster County to me, and I told the cook to lard them with bacon -and broil them brown for you,” added Frank. - -“They’re good children, Louisa--a little spoiled, but at heart real -good children,” said the proud father, as he offered his sister-in-law -his arm. - -“It is true, brother, and I love my niece and nephew dearly,” said Mrs. -Emory. “They make my visits here very pleasant. It would be a dreary -world to me were it not for you and them.” - -“Forward two!” cried Frank, as he clasped Lizzie around the waist and -waltzed into the lunch-room. - - - - -CHAPTER XXI. JESSIE ALBEMARLE. - - -“Miss Hattie,” said Mr. W----, just as the people were leaving work, -and she was rising from her table, “please put this letter in your -pocket, read it after you have had your supper, and think over its -contents. Do not hurry your thoughts--I will wait patiently for an -answer after you have well considered what I have written. Let days -pass, if you choose, I will not urge a reply; I only ask it after you -have given the matter thought.” - -She looked up at him with her earnest, truthful eyes, for she noticed -that his voice trembled, and almost intuitively she felt that that -letter contained a declaration of what his eyes seemed to speak when -they met her look--love. - -She put the letter in her pocket without a word. She could not have -spoken at that moment. For, noticing his agitation, a strange tremor -came over her. - -He turned, blushing, and went toward his office, while she, putting on -her hat and shawl, turned toward the door. At that moment she saw the -stately form of Mr. Legare in front of Mr. W----, and the foreman had -scarcely spoken to him when Mr. W---- called to her. - -The millionaire had come in person to see the poor working girl--to -hear her decision, and to ask of her a favor. - -“Miss Butler, excuse me that I called at this hour. I knew you would be -disengaged, and perhaps could do me a great favor if it is not already -done by your consenting to the adoption which I had the honor to -propose through Mr. W----.” - -“Gratefully, Mr. Legare, I have declined that proposition in an -interview held with Mr. W---- at my boarding-house last evening.” - -“Yet, my good young friend, you have never met the lady who would take -you to her home and heart. She is one of the purest, noblest women on -earth. The sister of my dear, dead wife. I have known her these long, -long years, and I never met her equal. Her heart is full of sweet -sympathies, pure charities, and ennobling thoughts.” - -“I do not doubt her goodness, sir. Her offer, through you, proves it. -The poor working girl thanks her from the bottom of her heart. But this -adoption cannot be. Alone I have toiled on for almost three long, to -me, very long years. Alone I must continue to tread life’s pathway. I -am contented. Why, then, ask me to change? There are thousands upon -thousands just as worthy as I, and more needy, upon whom such a noble -boon can be conferred. Let your good sister-in-law look for such a one.” - -Hattie Butler spoke so earnestly that the two gentlemen deeply felt -her appeal. They knew that she alone had the right to choose. But Mr. -Legare did not yet despair of carrying his point. He had yet another -angle of attack. - -“I have received your portfolio of drawings, am delighted with them, -and shall take them at your own price,” he continued. - -“I set no value on them. They surely are worth but little more than the -paper they are drawn on. They are the result of lazy moments, not spent -at work or in study.” - -“To me they are worth one thousand dollars in gold, and my check is -ready for your acceptance, if the price will suit you.” - -“One thousand dollars?” gasped Hattie, utterly taken by surprise. “One -thousand dollars in gold?” - -“Yes, Miss Butler. I am serious. I want the drawings--all are good, -and some of them are gems. The street-car scene especially, and the -little sweeper on the crossing. My son and daughter went into ecstasies -over them. By the way, my daughter is in my carriage now, down on the -street, and wishes to see you. She and I have a great favor to ask of -you, and Mr. W---- is included in it.” - -“Please tell me what it is, sir. The supper hour once over in my -boarding-house, and I miss the meal altogether, and it will be supper -time now before I can reach there.” - -“You will not miss your supper if you do me the favor I ask. It is -this: That, even as you are, in your neat working-dress, of which no -lady need be ashamed, you ride home with me and my daughter, see my -sister-in-law, take a plain family tea with us, Mr. W---- included, and -then let me drive you home to your boarding-house. Don’t say no before -I finish. My dear sister-in-law, almost an invalid, has expressed a -strangely nervous desire to see you, if only for a few moments, before -she sleeps. You will perhaps save her from a fit of sickness if you go. -My daughter came with me to plead for her poor aunt.” - -Hattie paused a moment to think. Not of her dress, but whether it would -be right to refuse under such circumstances. Not of the thousand dollar -check waiting for her, but whether it would be proper for a poor, -friendless working girl to thus accept the hospitality of the rich. - -She did not hesitate long. The picture of that poor nervous lady -waiting and anxious just to see her arose in her mind, and she said: - -“I will go, Mr. Legare, on two conditions. First, that you will drive -past my boarding-house, so that I can leave word where I am going; -next, that you will permit me to make my stay very brief at your house. -Miss Scrimp, where I board, locks her doors at ten o’clock. I have -boarded with her over two years, and have never been out of the house -before after dark.” - -“The conditions are agreed to. Mr. W---- shall see you safely home in -my carriage by nine o’clock or half-past at latest. Now, come down and -see my daughter, Lizzie, who waits to greet you.” - -Hattie followed Mr. Legare, and Mr. W----, full of surprise, followed -both. He had never reached the entree of that wealth-adorned house, -though he had met young Legare at his club. - -At the carriage Mr. Legare called “Lizzie,” and the sweet face of the -young girl beamed out like that of a cherub, when, on Hattie being -presented, she said: - -“Jump right in here on the seat by my side, dear Miss Butler. Papa has -talked so much about you that it seems as if I had known you ever so -long.” - -And when Hattie stepped in the little girl threw her arms around her -with all the fervor of sweet sixteen, and kissed her. - -Hattie could but respond to such a welcome, and she returned the salute. - -Mr. Legare seated Mr. W---- on the front seat, and then sat beside -him, and when the number of Miss Scrimp’s house was given, the driver -started for it at a sweeping trot. - -“Aunt Louisa will be so glad to see you, you good, dear beauty!” said -Lizzie, clasping Hattie’s hand in hers. “We have been looking your -drawings over and over, and there is one face there on which she dwells -all the time. She says it fairly haunts her, and she wants to know if -it is a portrait.” - -“I cannot tell till I see it myself!” said Hattie. - -The next moment the carriage had come to a halt. In less than five -minutes it had passed over the space which Hattie could not walk inside -of twenty minutes. And she ever went quickly on, heeding nothing on her -route. - -“I will go to the door myself, and explain to Miss Scrimp,” said -Hattie. “It will not take me a half minute.” - -The footman opened the carriage door. Mr. Legare himself handed Hattie -out, and she ran to the door, and rung a startling peal on the old bell. - -Miss Scrimp, unused to such a peal, came herself to the door instead of -sending Little Jessie, and to her Hattie only said: - -“I am going up town on a special errand with Mr. Legare and his -daughter. I will need no supper when I come back, which will be before -ten o’clock!” - -Before the astonished Miss Scrimp could ask a single question her fair -boarder darted away, entered the gorgeous carriage, where the old -spinster saw a richly-dressed young lady and two gentlemen, the footman -closed the door and sprang to his place, and the noble horses dashed -forward, and in a second more were out of sight. - -All the old maid said then was: - -“Sakes alive!” - -And this she said as she went in and slammed the door. - -In the meantime the carriage swept on up through the wide streets of -the upper part of the city--streets so different from the narrow, busy -thoroughfares below, or down town--and in a little more than half an -hour, passed in cheery talk, mostly kept up by Lizzie Legare, it drew -up before a marble mansion on the finest avenue in the great city. - -“Here we are at home!” cried Mr. Legare, as the carriage door flew -open, “and there is my dear son, Frank, to welcome us. Frank, my boy, -this is Miss Butler. Mr. W---- you already know.” - -Frank bowed most respectfully to Hattie, as he extended his hand to -help her from the carriage, and he cast a mischievous glance at Lizzie, -as the latter sprang out, and taking Hattie’s arm as if she were a dear -old friend, drew her up the steps, saying: - -“We’ll run to my room, dear, to take off our things and dash some water -in our faces before tea.” - -And when Hattie came down to tea with Lizzie, just ten minutes later, -her beautiful hair was all down over her shoulders, and a real lace -collarette was around her neck, and she looked, even in her plain -calico dress, as beautiful as beautiful could be; and Lizzie had kissed -her twenty times when she was helping her to make her brief toilet. - -At the tea-table Hattie was introduced to Mrs. Emory, whose long, -yearning look fairly entered her soul. It seemed as if in Hattie she -sought to find some favorite resemblance, so eagerly did she scan her -face and form. She said: - -“I have heard so much of you, and seen such talent exhibited in your -drawings, Miss Butler, that I felt as if I could not sleep till I had -seen you. Do not think me impertinent or intrusive. You look so good, -so pure, so gentle, I know you will forgive me.” - -“I am sure there is nothing to forgive. I was only too happy to come -when they told me you were partially an invalid, and I could do you -good by coming.” - -“Bless you, dear child! bless you for it! After tea we will look at -your drawings; there is one especially I wish to know all about.” - -Nothing more of any special interest was said until tea was over, and -then they all adjourned to the library to look over the drawings. - -“Whose picture is this?--or is it a fancy sketch instead of a -portrait?” asked Mrs. Emory of Hattie, laying her finger on the head of -a young girl that was spoken of before in this story. - -“That? Why, it is the portrait of Little Jessie Albemarle,” said Hattie. - -A deathly pallor came quicker than thought over Mrs. Emory’s face. She -gasped out, “Jessie Albemarle!” and fainted. - - - - -CHAPTER XXII. THE RIDE HOME. - - -A scream of terror broke from Lizzie’s lips when she saw her aunt fall -back fainting, but she did not know the cause. Neither did Frank or Mr. -Legare. Not even had Mr. W----, who sat talking with Frank, heard her -repeat the name: “Jessie Albemarle.” - -Only Hattie Butler had heard it, and seen that her agitation commenced -only when told who the likeness had been taken from, and though a -lightning flash could not have passed quicker than a certain thought -crossed her mind, she dare not utter it then or there. - -“Quick, some water!” she cried, retaining her presence of mind -perfectly, as she held the head of the swooning lady on her bosom, “and -some cologne--hartshorn--anything pungent. She has fainted!” - -“Frank, run for our family doctor, quick! He lives but a block away. Go -yourself--don’t send a servant!” cried Mr. Legare, and he hurried to -get iced water from a pitcher in the room, while Lizzie ran to her room -after cologne and ammonia. - -But the swoon seemed so death-like that Hattie was alarmed. She began -to fear that it was death. She forced a little water between the white -lips, and bathed the good lady’s temples with cologne, while by her -directions Lizzie put ammonia on her handkerchief and held it under her -nostrils. - -When the doctor arrived, in less than ten minutes, these active efforts -had barely produced a tremulous sign of life. - -“Let her be conveyed instantly to bed!” was the doctor’s first order. -“It is one of her old nervous spasms, and they grow dangerous. She must -remain perfectly quiet, free from all excitement, when she is restored -to consciousness. She will soon come to. The color is coming back to -her cheeks.” - -Mrs. Emory was carried to a chamber on the same floor, and Lizzie and -Hattie prepared her for rest, not allowing a servant to come near, and -then Hattie, fearing she would be questioned by the invalid, before -others, when it might not really be the wish of Mrs. Emory, expressed a -wish to go home, saying she would come again should Mrs. Emory desire -it. She would not reach her boarding-house, as it was, much before ten -o’clock. - -“You’ll come to see me again, will you not, dear? For I do love you -so!” said Lizzie, when Mr. Legare ordered his carriage to the door to -take Hattie to her boarding-house. - -“Yes--I hope so. I wish I had a fit place to receive your visits in, -but I fear you would be ashamed of me in my little bedroom.” - -“No, no, now that I know you, I wouldn’t be ashamed of you anywhere. -I’ll go to the bindery to see you, if Mr. W---- will permit visitors -there.” - -And Lizzie looked appealingly at him. - -“I surely shall ever be glad to see you at the bindery, and Miss Hattie -will not be chided for any time she spends with you, either here or -there, nor will her salary be lessened.” - -“Oh, you good soul! Frank always said you were one of nature’s -noblemen,” cried the impulsive girl. - -“I thank Frank for his good words,” said Mr. W----, laughing, yet -blushing at the same time. - -The doctor came down just before Hattie started, and said Mrs. Emory -was better, but very weak. She begged that Miss Butler would come and -see her on the afternoon of to-morrow, when she hoped she would be -well; at least able to sit up and receive her. She was much afflicted -with the palpitation of the heart, and this now followed her fainting -spell. - -Hattie, told by Mr. W---- that she could have all the time she wished, -sent word to Mrs. Emory that she would come, and now, escorted by -Frank, Lizzie and their father, she went down to the carriage. Mr. -W---- accompanied, for he was to see her safely to her boarding-house, -and then ride home in the carriage. - -A kind good-night from all of the Legares went with the poor working -girl, and it seemed as if they really regarded her visit as a favor, -though through the sudden illness of Mrs. Emory it had turned out sadly. - -Mr. W---- was silent and thoughtful during the brief time taken by the -swift horses to draw the carriage to Miss Scrimp’s door. Without a -doubt his mind was upon the letter then in Hattie’s pocket, and what -might be her answer. - -She was thinking of Mrs. Emory, and what had caused her sudden pallor -and terrible agitation, resulting in a swoon at the mere mention of -the name of poor little Jessie Albemarle. Could it be that a brighter -future was about to dawn for the poor little bound girl? - -Ten strokes of the great clock bell on St. Paul’s, echoed all over the -city by other clocks, told Hattie Butler that the hour for closing was -up, just as the carriage stopped in front of Miss Scrimp’s door. - -Hattie did not know that Miss Scrimp had been waiting and watching at -that door for almost an hour, peeping through the crack, for it was not -quite closed, to see how and with whom she would return. But this was -a fact. And when the street lamp close by shone on the grand carriage -and noble horses, with their gold-mounted harness, Miss Scrimp saw, -with envy rankling in her heart, the tall footman leap down and open -the carriage door, and Mr. W----, even him on whom she had bent longing -thoughts, hand Hattie Butler out with his gloved hands, as daintily as -if she were a princess and he a lord in waiting. - -There was a courteous “good-night” passed between Hattie and her -escort, then he sprang into the carriage, and it was driven off, while -Hattie ran lightly up the old stone steps in front of the house and -laid her hand on the bell-pull. - -“Oh, you needn’t yank at that bell!” cried Miss Scrimp, throwing the -door open. “It’s after hours, but I was up, and a-waitin’ for you!” - -“You did not have to wait long, Miss Scrimp. Not half the city clocks -are yet done striking ten. I may be thirty seconds late by the City -Hall!” - -“Long enough, in a chilly night like this. Where have you been?” - -“You have no right to ask, Miss Scrimp. But having nothing to conceal, -I will reply--to Mr. Legare’s, on Fifth-avenue.” - -“Sakes alive. What did them grand folks want of you?” - -“To take tea with them, and to purchase a few drawings of mine for a -thousand dollars!” said Hattie, well knowing this last stroke would -almost annihilate Miss Scrimp. - -“Sakes alive! you’re joking!” screamed Miss Scrimp, snatching up the -hand-lamp she had left on the hall table. - -“Does that look like a joke?” asked Hattie, and she placed the -thousand-dollar check which Mr. Legare had handed to her after tea, -right under Miss Scrimp’s cross-eyes. - -“Mercy on me! You’ll never go the bindery no more, will you?” - -“Yes, I shall go there to my work in the morning, just as I always do,” -said Hattie, and she was off up stairs before Miss Scrimp could ask -another question. - -“Well, well! Wonders will never stop a-comin’!” ejaculated Miss Scrimp. -“If I hadn’t seen her go in the carriage and come in the carriage, and -seen Mr. W---- help her out, I wouldn’t have believed my eyes. One -thousand dollars--in a real check, too--I knew it soon as I saw it. -Aren’t I dreamin’?” - -She actually bit her finger to see if she was awake or not. - -Then she sighed. - -“It’s luck. Some people are always havin’ luck,” she said. “Here have -I been a-makin’ and a-savin’, a-scrimpin’ and a-studyin’ all the time -for forty years or more, and I haven’t had a bit o’ luck. It’s all been -hard, stupid work. And that baby-faced thing will jump right into a -fortune, I’ll bet, and like as not marry that handsome book-bindery man -right before my face and eyes. Sakes alive! it chokes me to think of -it. If I wasn’t afraid of what might happen I’d spoil her beauty for -her. I’d put arsenic into her tea, or pison her some way. She a-ridin’ -around with my man, that ought to be, in a carriage, while I stand here -a-shiverin’ like a thief in a corner a-waitin’ for her. But I mustn’t -make her mad. She has got a thousand dollars, and I’ll raise on her -board, and make her come down, too. She can afford it, and she shall.” - -Miss Scrimp said this vehemently, and then shuffled up stairs to her -own room. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII. THE OFFER REFUSED. - - -All was still in the house when Hattie climbed up those long and dreary -stairs, for tired working girls go to sleep early and sleep soundly. - -They know the day must not dawn on their closed eyes, but they must be -up, wash, eat, and off to labor before the sun from its eastern up-lift -gilds the city spires. - -Hattie entered her room, set her lamp alight, took off her things, and -sat down by her bedside to think. - -She took the letter from her pocket which Mr. W---- had given her at -the bindery, and put it down on the table, unopened, and there it lay -for full a quarter of an hour, while she was lost in her meditation. - -And yet men say a woman is made up of curiosity. And that is all men -know about it. They can say so, but it doesn’t make it so. - -At last she took up the letter, looked again at her name written in a -bold, handsome hand on a business envelope of the firm, and then she -broke the seal. - -The color came and went in her face, showing surprise, agitation, and -even pain, while she read it. That we may understand her feelings it -may be as well to give the letter place here. It ran thus: - - “MISS HATTIE:--I feel embarrassed, hardly knowing how to frame words - to express a desire, a hope, and a fear. - - “The desire is, in all sincerity, honor, truth, and tenderness, to - possess you as my wife--the holiest relationship known on earth. - - “The hope is that you will listen to and reciprocate a love which I - believe to be pure and unselfish--a love based on your merits rather - than your transcendent beauty--a love, which, though fervent, will - be, I am sure, lasting as my life. - - “A fear that I am not worthy of the boon I ask--your love and - hand--or, alas for me if it prove so, that young as you are, some one - else has already gained the heart which I would give worlds, were - they mine, to claim as my own, all my own. - - “Can you respond favorably to this petition? I ask no speedy answer. - I will press no unwelcome suit. Come and go as you always do, - bringing brightness when I see you, leaving a void in my eyes, but - not in my heart, as you pass out, and when you feel that you can - answer me do so, confident that I shall ever love you. I shall never - presume to press one word on your ear which shall bring a frown on - the face so dear to me. God bless you, Miss Hattie, and may He turn - your heart to thoughts of your sincere friend, - - “E. W----.” - -For a love-letter, it was a model. I say so, and I ought to know, for, -young as I am, I’ve got a waste-basket half full of them. - -Tears started in Hattie’s eyes as she carefully refolded the letter and -restored it to the envelope. - -“He is a true and a noble man,” she said. “A gentleman in every sense. -But I cannot return his love. How can I say so and not wound his -generous and sensitive nature? I must think of it--I must ask advice -and aid from that unfailing source which never will bid me do wrong.” - -And the pure, sweet girl knelt by her humble bed in silent prayer. Then -she arose, her heart lighter, her eyes bright with new inspiration. - -She drew up to her table, opened a small portable writing-desk, and -rapidly wrote these words: - - “MR. W----:--_Esteemed and Valued Friend_. The desire you express can - never be gratified, because, while feeling your worth, knowing how - good and truthful you are, I know in heart I cannot harbor the love - which would be a just return for that which you feel and offer. It - will make me very unhappy to think I sadden your bright life in any - way. Try to forget love in the friendship I shall ever feel so proud - and happy to possess. - - “With sympathy and sincerity, I am your humble friend, - - “HATTIE BUTLER.” - -She bowed her head and wept after she had sealed and directed her -letter, for she felt sorrow in her soul that her answer must pain so -warm a heart. - -Then she knelt again in silent prayer, read, as she ever did, a chapter -in the revealed word of God, and then lay down to the rest which -innocence alone can enjoy--that quiet, dreamless rest which gives new -life to the body and the soul. - -And thus we will leave her, while for a time and for a reason we fly -far away on the swift wings of fancy to a different--a far different -scene. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV. SCENE IN THE YOSEMITE. - - -Not in all California--not even in the grandly glorious valley among -the cliffs and gorges of the famed Yosemite, can be found a wilder -scene than that exhibited where the Feather River breaks in furious -haste through an awful chasm in the Sierra Nevada. A friend, a dear -friend, who mined there for years, has described it over and over, and -talked to me about it till I can hear the eternal roar of the white -waters, feel the very cliffs shake with the dizzy dash and whirl of its -cataracts--look down on the eddies where gold, washed from the veins -above which may never be reached by mortal hand, has been accumulating -for centuries. - -While our fair heroine was sleeping, taking the rest which nature -needed, in a small log cabin on a little shelf of rock and ground just -above where the Feather River broke in wild grandeur through the gorge, -before a fire made from the limbs of trees cast on shore by the torrent -in a whirling eddy just below, a young man sat, with a weary look on -his fine, intellectual face, looking into the fire. - -Mining tools--a pick, shovels, crowbars, and hose--crucibles also, -empty and full flasks of quicksilver, with many other signs, told -that this man, young and slender, and not well fitted for toil, was -a searcher for the gold with which those eternal hills, that rushing -stream, are liberally stocked. - -Fishing-rods and tackle, a double-barreled shotgun, and a -repeating-rifle stood in one corner of the cabin, showing that in the -water and among the hills the young man was prepared to find the food -which is so plentiful there, and was not dependent on the far-away -stores of Oroville, Marysville, or Sacramento, from which many of the -miners drew supplies. - -Though this man was young--not over five-and-twenty years of age--there -was a weary look in his pale, handsome face, which made him look older. -Light-brown hair curled in heavy masses on his shapely head and fell -far down on his shoulders, and his beard, a soft, silken brown, not -heavy, but long, told that no tonsorial hand had touched it for many -months. - -“It will be three years to-morrow,” he said. “Three years to-morrow -since I looked upon her in her glorious pride and beauty--three years -to-morrow since the hour when, madly disgraced by my own folly and the -wild passion for strong drink, which has ruined millions of better men -than I, I stood before her to hear my sentence, to be told to go from -her presence and never to return till she recalled me, which she would -only do when she knew I had forever conquered an appetite that had -debased my manhood and froze all the love she had given me--a love, oh, -so precious, so priceless, so pure! - -“Wild with rage and disappointment, I tore myself away and fled with -the adventurous throng to this El Dorado, but I dared not stay where -men were and strong drink abounded. I wandered on and on until I -could go no farther, and here, the highest claim upon this mad river, -I fixed my home. Here have I toiled month after month, year after -year, increasing my golden store slowly and surely, but, best of all, -conquering that base appetite which lost heaven on earth for me, when -its gates were wide open. - -“No beverage but that sparkling drink, which the hand of the Father -gives to man for his good, has passed my lips for these three long -years--water, blessed water, has strengthened my brain and given health -to my body. - -“And now, confident in myself, I would go back and redeem my errors--go -back to claim the hand which had long, long ago been mine but for mine -own sin. Why will she not bid me come? I have written three times, -and have told her I am free from the chains of the demon now; that I -have wealth enough to satisfy all reasonable desire, and she has only -written: ‘It is not time--perhaps you do not yet know yourself.’ - -“Ah! could she but see me in this solitude--here where I have lived -alone so long--not a visitor, for I have kept my claim and home a -secret when I went to the nearest post station, and no one has ever -dared to pass the chasm below, which cuts off this last habitable spot -in the gorge. They have not learned my secret, or they might come, for -the greed for gold makes men dare all dangers. - -“The sketch I sent her she received. Here is the single line she sent -in answer: - -“‘The picture of your “Home” is here. God help the lone one to keep his -promises.’” - -And the young man wept over the letters he held in his hand. At last he -aroused himself. - -“Once more I will write to her,” he said; “I will tell her how, apart -from all men, visited by none--for none can reach me till they know the -secret of my path--I have worked and waited, waited and worked. - -“Once every three months I go out to carry the gold I have gathered, -and to place it where it will not only be safe but draw an interest -that adds to it all the time. And once every three months I tread -streets where temptation glitters on every side of me; yet I turn from -it all with loathing, and hurry back to my solitude, where my only -company is a memory, ever present, ever dear, of her. - -“To-morrow I shall go again, and the deposit I carry now will make my -all--full three hundred thousand dollars. I should be satisfied, but -what else can I do till I am recalled? Work keeps down sad thoughts; -work keeps hope alive; work gives me life and strength to wait.” - -He drew up to a rough table made of slabs hewed out by himself, took -writing materials from a shelf overhead, and for a long time wrote -steadily. - -He was explaining all his life to her--all his life in those dreary -hills, and praying that she would bid him come back to her with a -renewed and nobler life, chastened by toil and thought, made pure by -temperance in its most severe demands. - -At last his letter was finished, folded, enveloped, and then he drew -from his finger a massive ring with a sapphire in the set. Deeply -engraved in the stone was the symbol--two hearts pierced with an arrow. - -Dropping the red wax, which he had lighted at the candle, on his -letter, he impressed the seal, and it was ready for its far away -journey. - -Now--long after midnight--he threw himself down on his blankets to -sleep. - - - - -CHAPTER XXV. FRANK’S TALK WITH HIS SISTER. - - -“Sister Lizzie, I want to talk to you. It is not your regular bed time -by an hour or more yet. Can you be real steady, and thoughtful, and -loving, for just a little while?” - -“I can try, dear Brother Frank. If I fail, why, scold me,” said sweet -Lizzie Legare, as she went arm-in-arm with her brother back into the -house, after having seen Hattie and Mr. W---- off in the carriage. - -“Well, we will go to your boudoir, Lizzie. I want to see you alone and -to ask your advice.” - -So they went to the little gem of a room, carpeted in velvet, with -flowers in every corner, curtains of lace, chairs, ottomans, and a -_tete-a-tete_ all covered with damask silk, and there they sat down, -and Frank commenced with a sigh--a long and heavy sigh, and such a -woe-begone look that Lizzie demurely asked: - -“Are you sick, dear brother?” - -“No, but I’m worse off, Lizzie. I’m in love!” - -“So am I.” - -“I’m in love with Hattie Butler! There now!” - -“So am I. There now!” and Lizzie laughed till tears ran from her eyes, -for she had imitated his desperate “there now” like an echo. - -“It isn’t anything to laugh at. I never was more serious in my life,” -he said, rather tartly, for he thought she was making fun of him. - -“Well, brother, you know I must either laugh or cry all the time. But, -seriously, if I was you I could not help loving that sweet, beautiful -girl, and I believe that, like you, I would forget that she was a poor -working girl. But, brother, what would the fellows in your club, the -fast, nobby fellows you are always talking to me about, say if you -married a shop-girl?” - -Frank answered with a shiver--not a word did he speak. But he kept up a -terrible thinking, and Lizzie sat still and watched him. - -At last he sprang to his feet. - -“The fellows in the club can go to Halifax or anywhere else they want -to. If she’ll have me, and father will consent, I’ll marry her inside -of a week.” - -“Inside of a church would be better, brother dear. But those two -provisos were well put in--the first especially. When a gentleman wants -to marry one of our sex, the first and most necessary thing to find out -is will she have him. And I don’t believe you have given her the first -hint on the subject.” - -“No,” said Frank. - -“Nor even taken the trouble to find out whether she either admires or -cares in the least for you?” continued Lizzie. - -“That’s a fact.” - -And Frank sighed while he made the admission. - -“Don’t you think a little courting, as they call it, in this case would -be advisable before you talk of marrying a girl whom you have seen but -twice in your life?” - -“Sis, you are a philosopher in petticoats.” - -“Oh, Frank, aren’t you ashamed to say so.” - -“No, sister, for it is the truth. You are learning me to be reasonable -in this matter, and I thank you for it. It proves the truth of the old -adage that two heads are better than one.” - -“If one is a sheep’s head. Why didn’t you quote the entire saying, -Frank?” - -“Because my little sister has a wise head, and though I often tease her -in my carelessness, I always go to her for advice when I can’t see my -own way clear. I shall go to bed, darling, with a cooler brain and a -lighter heart, and if Miss Butler comes often to our house to see Aunt -Louisa, I’ll do just the prettiest little bit of courting that you ever -saw done.” - -“Good! It will be like a play to me.” - -“Good-night, dear Lizzie.” - -“Good-night, my darling brother.” - -And thus for the night they parted. - -Frank went into the library to ask the doctor, who was there with his -father, how his Aunt Louisa was doing. - -He learned that she was better, and sleeping under the influence of an -opiate. The doctor asked of him, as he just had inquired of his father, -whether anything had occurred to particularly excite or agitate Mrs. -Emory when her attack came on. - -But, as we know, neither father nor son had taken notice of what she -was doing or saying at the time, the scream from Lizzie’s lips, and the -exclamation from Miss Butler, being the first warning that they had -when the lady fainted. - -“I will be here early in the morning,” said the doctor, as he arose to -take his leave. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVI. “IT IS AS I FEARED.” - - -When Hattie Butler went down to her breakfast next morning she studied -the features of little Jessie Albemarle as closely as she could while -the girl was flitting to and fro, carrying coffee to the boarders and -attending to her duties. And once, when she was close to her, she spoke -to Jessie, and got a fair look into her bright, brown, or hazel eyes. -She was almost startled when she did so, for she saw, sure she saw, -there a resemblance, a very marked and strong resemblance, to the kind, -loving eyes which had greeted her the evening before at the house of -Mr. Legare, and which had closed so suddenly in that death-like swoon -when the name of “Jessie Albemarle” was spoken. - -While she was thinking of this, and what possibilities might yet be -in store for the poor, ill-treated bound girl, Miss Scrimp opened her -batteries on our heroine. - -“Miss Hattie,” she said, “I’ve been thinking of changing my room down -to this floor. There’s the little alcove off the parlor, plenty large -enough for a bed for me, and my room has such a good light from the -east, you can almost feel day when it dawns, and it would save you such -a long journey up stairs. I’ll only charge you a dollar a week more if -you take it. What do you say about it?” - -“Only this, Miss Scrimp, that I am very well contented where I am, and -that I would much rather pay my extra dollar toward getting you the -silk dress which Miss Kate spoke of yesterday, and which I am sure you -deserve for the great improvements you have made in your table.” - -“That’s the talk,” cried Kate, from her seat. “I’ll pay my dollar -Saturday night.” - -“And I--and I!” echoed along the table. - -Miss Scrimp was quite disarmed by the turn that Hattie Butler had given -to her proposition. She had been all ready to sneer out that “the -richer some folks grew the meaner they got,” but our heroine killed the -thought before it could be spoken. - -And so Hattie got off to her work at her usual hour without a change of -rooms or a quarrel on the subject, though Miss Scrimp had set her mind -on having one or the other. - -The letter she had written in reply to Mr. W----, his own inclosed -in the same envelope to show him that she would never keep such a -missive for others to see, even by chance, as she explained in a few -well-chosen words on the back of it, was in her pocket, and she had -made up her mind to give it to him, unseen in his office, when she -could make some excuse for going there. - -She arrived at the bindery at her usual hour, and went at once to her -table, hardly daring to look around, lest he should cast his inquiring -gaze upon her. - -She had left work unfinished there the night before, and with a feeling -of relief that she had not seen him when coming in--for Mr. W---- had, -with manly delicacy, kept back--she went to work. - -A step startled her soon after, and a flush was on her face as it -came near her, but the good-natured voice of Mr. Jones, the foreman, -reassured her, and she answered a question of his in regard to the -title on some finished work promptly and pleasantly. - -“The boss,” thus he always alluded to Mr. W----, “don’t look well this -morning. He was here very early--stood at the door when I came to -unlock it,” continued Mr. Jones. “I suppose, like most young single men -nowadays, he keeps late hours, and they don’t agree with him. For my -part, home is dear to me with what is in it, the blessed wife and baby; -so my hours are regular, my sleep sound, and my appetite just what it -ought to be.” - -Having thus relieved his mind, Mr. Jones went on about his business, -little thinking that Hattie Butler knew better than he why Mr. W---- -did not look well that morning. - -For anxiety and suspense are death to sleep. - -And Hattie thought, sorrowfully, if suspense made him feel and look -so ill, the keen arrow of hopeless disappointment might work even a -greater change in his usually cheerful and happy face. Therefore she -dreaded to hand to him the letter containing her decision, while she -knew that the sooner it was in his hands the better it would be for -both of them. - -Several times she looked around to see if he was making his usual -morning tour through the shop, but she did not see him. In fact it was -almost noon when she saw him come out of his office and go around among -the work people. And she saw at a glance that, as Mr. Jones had said, -he looked pale and low-spirited. - -Feeling sure that he would come to her table before long, Hattie took -the letter addressed to him from her pocket, and laid it upon the -corner of the table, where his eye would be sure to fall upon it the -first thing when he approached. - -And then, with more tremor than she liked, but which she could not for -her life restrain, she went on with her task. - -It lacked but a little of the noon hour when she heard his well-known -step close to her table. And she trembled when she replied to his kind -salutation, “Good-morning, Miss Hattie.” - -At that instant his eye caught sight of the letter, and his face -flushed as he said, in a low tone: “Heaven bless you for this quick -reply,” snatched it up, thrust it inside his vest over his beating -heart, and went as fast as he could go to his office. - -Hattie never was so glad to hear the signal to knock off work for -dinner as she was then. For she could not keep her eyes on her work. -She was thinking how he must feel when he read her letter, for she had -known what love was, and what disappointment was, too, and she pitied -him from the inmost depth of her woman’s heart. - -And he? Locking himself in his private office, he quickly opened the -letter on which he felt all his future life depended. With pallor on -his face he read those words, written so kindly, yet blasting the -brightest hope he had ever cherished. - -“It is even as I feared,” he murmured. “The flush in her face when I -returned that sketch which she said had been sent to her by a dear -friend, should have told me not to hope, had I not been too blind. The -occupant of that wild mountain home--he who is pictured as kneeling -there above that rushing river--is the happy man, and I--I have nothing -on earth to hope for.” - -He folded her letter in his own, pressed it to his lips, and placed it -in an inner pocket over his heart. And he sat there, silent and still, -while tears came in his blue eyes, and yet he made no complaint. To -him she was an angel, but, alas! not his angel. - -He appreciated her delicacy and her noble sense of honor in returning -his letter, and he felt the full value of the friendship she offered. - -“But,” he said, “how can I, loving her as I do, and must--how can I -see her here day after day, and refrain from pushing a suit which, -under the circumstances, would be almost an insult to her? I cannot -do it. I will go away. Father has been anxious for me to establish -a branch of our business in California, and I will do it. Perhaps -absence, and the excitement and novelty of travel, will help me to bear -my disappointment better, if it does not heal the wound inflicted so -unwillingly by the noblest hand on earth.” - -For two hours or more he remained there in his office, laying his plans -and thinking what to do, and trying to so tone down his feelings as not -to pain her when he went out, by a look of sorrow; and he had regained -entire command of himself when there came a hasty knock on his office -door. - -He opened it to receive Frank and Lizzie Legare, who stood there -smiling, and who entered his office when he as cheerfully saluted and -asked them in. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVII. AUNT LOUISA. - - -“We have come after Miss Hattie Butler, Mr. W----,” said Lizzie, after -shaking hands with him. - -“Our dear Aunt Louisa is ever so much better to-day, and her first wish -this morning was to see her. But the doctor thought she had better wait -until afternoon, until she grew stronger, and so we waited till after -lunch, and then we had to come. Our aunt would give us no rest.” - -“That’s so. Do you know, Mr. W----, though she has not positively said -so in so many words, I believe our good aunt means to give us a new -cousin? I feel sure she means to adopt Miss Hattie as her daughter.” - -“Hardly against the will of the latter, who has a mind of her own, and -few minds stronger or better balanced,” said Mr. W----. - -“But this morning,” said Lizzie, “when I went early to her bedside, -she was murmuring in her sleep, and I heard the words, ‘my precious -daughter,’ distinctly. And when she awoke, I knew she had been thinking -of Miss Butler, for she asked the very first thing if she was in the -house.” - -“That certainly bears out your idea,” said Mr. W----. “I will go and -call Miss Hattie, and you can state your wishes to her. She will go -with you, I know.” - -“Lizzie, he is just one of the best fellows that ever lived!” cried -Frank. “Isn’t it a pity he is only a book-binder after all?” - -“I don’t know as that sets him back in my estimation one bit,” said -Lizzie. “He is handsome, manly, and well-bred.” - -Frank looked at his hitherto aristocratic sister with eyes of open -wonder. What he would have said had not Mr. W---- come in that moment -with Hattie, we do not know, for his lips were opened to utter a reply -when the book-binder and his fair employee entered the office. - -Then Frank had no eyes but for the latter, no thought, for the moment, -of any one else. - -“Dear Miss Hattie!” was all that Lizzie said, as she ran up to the poor -bindery-girl, threw her arms around her neck, and kissed her again and -again. - -Frank would have given his team of fast horses, anything he had in -the world, if he could have used those very words and given the same -salute, more especially if he could have got the return his sister did. - -But he had to content himself by shaking her hand, which he pressed -quite warmly, as he said: - -“I am glad to see you looking so well to-day, Miss Hattie, after the -fright our aunt gave you last night.” - -“Thank you!” said Hattie, kindly. - -But Frank noted, with some chagrin, that she did not return the -pressure of his hand. - -“We have come to carry you home with us to see Aunt Louisa,” continued -Lizzie. “She asked after you the first thing this morning, and the -doctor said as she grew stronger to-day it would do her real good to -have a visit from you.” - -“Then, if Mr. W---- can spare me, I certainly cannot refuse to go,” -said Hattie, with a smile. - -“You certainly can be spared for such a purpose, Miss Hattie,” said -Mr. W----. “Your time could not be better spent than in comforting -those who need comfort.” - -Hattie saw the hidden meaning of those words, and she would have -comforted him had it been in her power. But she had made a decision in -his case which she could not change. - -Mr. W---- now escorted his visitors and Hattie down stairs to the -carriage which waited, and when the two girls sat side by side there, -one resplendent in silk, laces, and diamonds--the other in her ever -neat, well-fitting and well-made shop dress of ten-cent calico, without -an ornament of any kind, he compared them in his mind, and his heart -still told him the shop-girl, beautiful, but poor, was superior to all -others in the world--his heart’s first and last choice above all others. - -And he stood there and watched them and the carriage till it turned the -corner, and then he went back, with a weary sigh, to his business. - -As the carriage rattled on over the paved streets, so Lizzie’s tongue -rattled, too, while Frank’s eyes only were busy studying out the -marvelous beauty of the girl to whom his sister talked. - -“Do you know, dear Hattie,” said she, “that I believe we are to be -cousins--real cousins. For if Aunt Louisa adopts you as her daughter -you will be my cousin--my dear, dear cousin, will you not?” - -“I fear I shall never be more than a dear and true friend to you, Miss -Lizzie,” said Hattie, kindly, yet gravely. “Your aunt, perhaps, wishes -to be as good to me as you indicate, but I can never yield to her kind -desire.” - -“But, Hattie, darling, you don’t know her yet. She is so good! Never -did a kinder heart throb than hers. She is the counterpart of my -blessed mother, who died on earth but lives in Heaven. She has seen -many sorrows--we know not all, for she was abroad with her first -husband for years, and we heard he was a bad man. She married him -against the will of her parents and friends, but her last husband, whom -she married because they all wanted her to after the first one died, -was a very good man, and he left her over a million of dollars in her -own right. We never talk with her about her first marriage. She does -not like it. But she often speaks of Mr. Emory herself, and his praise -never hurts her feelings. We all liked him very much.” - -Hattie was a good listener. She never interrupted Lizzie’s narrative -with a single question. And a real good listener is a “rarity,” as Mr. -Barnum said when he found the “What is it.” - -“Now you will think it over, will you not, if Aunt Louisa proposes that -you shall be her daughter, as I know she will?” said Lizzie, stealing -her arm coaxingly about Hattie’s waist. “Don’t say no, dear--at least -not at once. For her sake soften a refusal, if it must come.” - -“I will do everything I can in honor and justice to myself to make your -good, dear aunt happy,” said Hattie. - -“You darling! I knew you would!” - -And Lizzie, caring not a jot that they were driving up the Fifth -avenue, passing and meeting occupied carriages all the time, kissed -Hattie over and over again. - -And poor Frank sat there and saw their red lips meet, and he wished he -could be Lizzie, if only for a minute. - -But the sweetest moments must have their end. The carriage drew up -before the Legare mansion, and its occupants were soon within its -stately walls. - -Mr. Legare met them at the door. - -“This kindness is truly gratifying, Miss Butler,” said he to our -heroine. “My sister is yet quite nervous, but the doctor is confident -your visit will be a benefit to her. She is anxious to see you. I left -her but a moment ago, and she sent me from her chamber to see if you -had come. She wishes to see you alone for a little while. I can almost -guess the cause of this wish, but I will not anticipate it to you.” - -Then, as soon as Lizzie had taken her bonnet and shawl, Hattie went to -the chamber of Mrs. Emory. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVIII. “I AM THAT CHILD’S MOTHER!” - - -Eagerly those brown eyes looked up as Hattie entered Mrs. Emory’s -chamber, and in the yearning look, even in the features, Hattie -recognized a resemblance to Jessie Albemarle. - -“Oh, thank you, Miss Butler. I am so glad you have come,” said Mrs. -Emory, in a low, tremulous voice. “I have something to ask you, and -then perhaps a long, strange story to tell you in all confidence.” - -“Your confidence, dear madam, shall not be misplaced, and I will answer -any question you ask, if it be in my power to do so.” - -“Thank you, dear, I feel that it is so. Lock the door, please. I do not -wish to be interrupted by any one while we are together. Then come and -sit here close by my side. Do not fear that I shall faint again. It was -a sudden shock that caused it before; but now I am prepared and calm.” - -Hattie locked the door, and then seated herself, as desired, close to -Mrs. Emory. - -“You spoke a name yesterday--a name very, very dear to me,” said Mrs. -Emory. “You see it here, engraved on a golden necklace, which was once -worn by a little child.” - -Hattie started in spite of herself. Was that the necklace that Miss -Scrimp had spoken of? For on it she saw the name of “Jessie Albemarle” -engraved. - -“You start. Have you ever heard of this necklace or seen it before?” -asked Mrs. Emory, eagerly. - -“If it was once on the neck of an infant left at the orphan asylum by -unknown parties I have heard of it,” said Hattie. - -“It was. Now tell me--oh, tell me quick, if you know. Is that child yet -living?” - -“She is, dear lady.” - -“Where--where--tell me, I implore you! I am that child’s mother!” - -“I have thought so ever since I met you, dear lady,” said Hattie. “This -very morning I was looking in Jessie’s brown eyes and studying her -features, and I never saw a stronger resemblance than you bear to each -other.” - -“This morning? This morning you saw her?” gasped Mrs. Emory, trembling -with excitement. - -“Yes, madam, and you can soon see her. But please be calm, or you will -have another attack.” - -“Oh! I will be calm. But the thought of seeing her, knowing she is -alive, is almost too much happiness. Tell me, is she good, pure, like -yourself?” - -“She is good and pure, Mrs. Emory. For two years and more I have seen -her every day, and have had the good fortune to render her more than -one kindness and to protect her from the abuse of a cruel mistress.” - -“Our Father in Heaven will reward you for it.” - -“Did you not, nearly two years ago--I do not know exactly the time, -however--call at a house where this poor girl had been bound out, to -inquire after her?” asked Hattie. - -“Yes, I had just found out, by a long-concealed paper, where my first -husband, her father, had taken her when I was helplessly ill. To get -rid of her care he pretended she was dead, and so I mourned her, -until at last, by accident, after his death, I found his confession, -in which he stated where he had left her, also that on her neck he -had left the necklace I had caused to be made when we named her. I -went there to the asylum as soon as I could, and the matron gave me -the address of the woman who had taken her. I went there, and the -woman told me she had run away from her, and she knew not, cared not, -where she was. My agony of disappointment threw me into a long fit of -sickness, and I had almost given up a hope of ever seeing my child. The -authorities at the asylum went to the woman, and her report to them was -the same as to me. All I could get to identify my dear babe was this -necklace and some clothes I had made for her to be christened in, which -were on her when her unnatural father took her away, and left her to -the charity of strangers. Oh, how soon can I clasp her in my arms!” - -“If you were able to ride, within the hour,” said Hattie. - -“Oh, I am well. I am strong now. Let me order the carriage at once.” - -Hattie saw that though she believed herself strong she was yet very -weak. Her pallor and tremulous action showed that. And Hattie had -another fear. She knew Miss Scrimp would hide Jessie away rather than -let her go, if she could, or dared to do it. And she was at heart -almost bad enough to do anything. And Hattie knew that there must be -a regular way to force Miss Scrimp at once to yield up the poor girl, -without Hattie herself using the hold she had upon her. - -“Can you ride with Mr. Legare and myself first to the asylum, and get -from the superintendent there an order for the child as her mother?” -asked Hattie. - -“Oh, yes--that is the way. My brother-in-law knows the whole story, as -I have told it to you, although, for reasons of our own, we have kept -it from Frank and Lizzie.” - -“Then let me ring for Mr. Legare. The poor girl is at my -boarding-house, and before the sun sets on this day, please Heaven, she -shall be in your arms.” - -“Heaven must reward you. I never, never can!” sobbed Mrs. Emory. - -Hattie opened the door, called a servant, and in a few moments Mr. -Legare was in the room. - -He wondered at the joyous light which shone in the eyes of his dear -sister; but the happy story was soon told, and he now knew also that -his sister had fainted the night before when told she was looking on -the portrait of her lost child. - -“The ways of Providence are inscrutable, mysterious, but they ever -lead aright,” said Mr. Legare. “Who would have thought that my chance -acquaintance with Miss Butler, through those old books, could lead to -this happy result? My dear young lady, we owe you a debt of gratitude -which it seems impossible to repay. Sister, take some refreshment -to strengthen you, and soon we will be on our way to reclaim your -long-lost loved one.” - -And now Lizzie and Frank were sent in by their father, for the story -was no longer a family secret. - -“You are to have a real cousin now,” said Hattie to Lizzie, after the -story was told. - -“But she’ll not be like you. I shall never love her half so well,” -sighed Lizzie. - -“She is a sweet girl, and very smart, for the chances she has had. It -will take but a little while, with good teachers, to make her one to be -really proud of.” - -Mr. Legare and Mrs. Emory were now ready, and with Hattie they went out -to the carriage. - -It was astonishing to see the change in the lately invalid lady. New -hope, new joys, new life beamed in her eyes--her very step was elastic -and happy. - -“This is better than medicine. We’ll have to discharge the doctor, and -keep you with us,” said Mr. Legare to Hattie, as the carriage dashed -away to its destination. - -“We will keep her,” said Mrs. Emory. “I had intended to adopt her in -place of my lost child, and now I will have two daughters instead of -one.” - -Tears arose in Hattie’s eyes, but she made no reply then. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIX. REUNITED. - - -Miss Scrimp was in her dining-room, looking to the lay-out of the table -for the boarders when they came to supper, which would be in an hour or -thereabout. - -Little Jessie, ever neat as far as she could be in her person, now -looked really pretty, for her new eight-cent calico dress, though -bought at a slop-shop, fitted her slight and childish form perfectly, -and she had combed out her dark curling hair until it looked like -flosses of raven silk. The very pallor of her little face made her -dark, mournful eyes more beautiful. - -The girl was setting the table, assisted a little now and then by Biddy -Lanigan, who cut the bread and meat, and Miss Scrimp was superintending -it all, when she heard a carriage rattle up to the door, and a moment -later heard the door-bell ring. - -Miss Scrimp had not yet changed her dress for evening, or put on her -false curls. She thought Mr. W---- might be in that carriage, as he had -been before when a carriage stopped with Hattie, and to be seen by him, -without her curls, would never do. - -So she said to Jessie: - -“Run to the door, and see who is there, while I run up stairs and -change my dress. If it is anybody to see me, ask ’em right into the -parlor and light the gas there, for ’twill soon be dark enough to need -it, and I look my best in gas-light.” - -Jessie opened the door, and a glad cry broke from her lips when she saw -Hattie standing there, and though two ladies and an elderly gentleman -stood on the steps also, she paid no heed to them, but cried out: - -“Oh, dear, good Miss Hattie, is it you? See my new dress. It is the -first I have had in such a long, long time. If any one wants to see -Miss Scrimp, I’m to take ’em right into the parlor and light up the -gas. She has gone up stairs to fix up.” - -“We’ll go into the parlor, dear; there are those with me who wish to -see Miss Scrimp, and you, too. Run and light the gas.” - -Jessie ran in, and Mrs. Emory, grasping Hattie’s arm, gasped out: - -“You need not tell me who she is; my heart spoke the instant I saw her. -It is my child--my blessed child!” - -“Be calm--come in the parlor, dear madam, and let me break it to -Jessie, or the poor girl will almost die in her joy. She has had a hard -life here. She looks scarcely fourteen, yet she is two years older.” - -“That is true,” said the matron of the asylum; “we have the date of her -coming registered.” - -The three ladies and Mr. Legare entered the parlor just as the blaze of -the gas in three-bracket jets came flashing out. - -Jessie turned, and Hattie said, as she stood there with a wondering -look in her face: - -“Jessie, do you want to be very, very happy? I have brought a lady here -who will love you so, so much if you will only let her.” - -Jessie looked at Hattie, then at Mrs. Emory, whose eyes began to fill, -and, with a wild cry, sprang half way toward the latter. - -“Oh, Miss Hattie!” she cried; “tell me--isn’t this the mother, the -dear mother I’ve dreamed about so long--so long?” - -“It is! it is! Jessie, my child, my love, come to my arms!” cried Mrs. -Emory, tears of joy rushing in a flood from her eyes. - -In a second mother and daughter sobbed in each other’s arms. - -Mr. Legare wept, too, and even the matron of the asylum, hardened to -many a scene like this, stood with her handkerchief to her eyes. - -Hattie alone, hearing a shuffling and well-known step coming down the -stairs, kept her composure, for she knew she would need it all. - -“Sakes alive! What’s goin’ on here? Who is that that’s a-cryin’ over -my bound-girl?” cried Miss Scrimp, addressing Hattie, the only one who -confronted her. - -“Hush, woman! This scene is too sacred for you to intrude upon,” said -Hattie, sternly. “There a mother, a loving mother, weeps in joy over -her long lost child, restored at last by the blessing of God to her -bosom.” - -“Her child? Why, it’s Jess--my bound-girl!” sneered Miss Scrimp. - -“Woman, she is your bound-girl no longer,” said the matron of the -asylum. “You deceived us when once before we came here to find her, and -falsely said she had run away from you. Now, we, who have the right, -annul the indentures, and restore her to her mother.” - -“It sha’n’t be!” screamed Miss Scrimp. “She’s mine by law, and I’ll -have her, if I have to call in all the police in the ward.” - -“One word more, one single threat, and I will call the police to -arrest you, and never pause in my prosecution until you rest inside a -prison’s bars, there to stay for years, as you deserve.” - -Miss Scrimp shivered from head to foot when she heard those words, for -she had for an instant forgotten that she was wholly in the power of -Miss Butler. - -“Oh, oh!” she sobbed, “this is the way my help is to be taken from me -after I’ve clothed and fed her for years.” - -“Starved and abused her, you mean--say not fed and clothed. She has fed -on scraps, slept on rags, and if I must be a witness you will suffer -now for what you’ve done to her!” cried Hattie, too angry to care to -shield the wretched spinster in the least. - -“Oh, hush! Don’t tell her that!” gasped Miss Scrimp, for, as Mrs. Emory -turned toward her, she recognized the lady she had sent away with a -falsehood when that lady came asking for Jessie Albemarle. - -“Miss Butler, you dear, blessed angel, will you come home with Jessie -and me? Come as her sister and my child!” cried Mrs. Emory, taking no -more notice of Miss Scrimp than she would have done of a plaster cast -of some poor politician. - -“I cannot go with you to-night, Mrs. Emory, but to-morrow I will go to -see you and your dear little daughter. To-night you want her all to -yourself, and I have some writing which I must do.” - -“Then, dear Miss Hattie, I will wait till to-morrow to say what I -cannot say now to you, for my heart is too full. Come, Jessie--come, -brother--let us go. The matron will go with us; we will leave her at -the asylum as we go.” - -Jessie ran and kissed Hattie over and over, and then turned and fixed -a bitter look of hatred on Miss Scrimp. - -“You’ve whipped me for the last time, you toothless old brute; you can -wait on the table now yourself.” - -“Come, Jessie; it is unworthy of you to notice her now. Come, my -darling.” - -And Mrs. Emory took her child by the hand, and, followed by Mr. Legare -and the matron, went out to the carriage--Jessie in just the clothes -she had on when they met, without bonnet or shawl. - -And Miss Scrimp, speechless with impotent anger, helpless in her rage, -stood and saw them go, and saw Hattie kiss Jessie and her mother in the -carriage, and then saw it drive off, and many of the boarders, just -coming, saw it, too, but not yet did they understand it all. - -“I s’pose I’m to thank you for all this,” said Miss Scrimp, her -cross-eyes fairly green as she snapped her words short off, speaking to -Hattie. - -“If you thank me for anything thank me for the mercy which yet keeps -you out of prison,” said Hattie, quietly. - -“I’d like to kill you!” hissed the spinster. - -“No doubt you would if you dared. But there is an eye on you which -protects me. So beware.” - -Miss Scrimp shivered from head to foot, and looked all around her as if -she feared the hand of arrest to be laid upon her. - -Yet Hattie had alluded to that “All-seeing eye,” which is never closed. - - - - -CHAPTER XXX. “OH! I AM SO UNHAPPY!” - - -Mr. W----, when he came to the bindery next morning, knew all about -the wonderful discovery, the romance in real life, in which Hattie -Butler had borne such a prominent part. For the night before he had -gone to his club to try to wear off the melancholy, which he did not -want noticed by his loving and keen-eyed sisters at home. And there he -had met Frank Legare, who took him aside and told him all about it, -giving Hattie all the praise of not only discovering but restoring the -long-lost one to his aunt’s loving arms. - -“She is a glorious girl!” said Frank. “That Miss Hattie Butler, I mean.” - -“She is, indeed,” said Mr. W----. - -“As good as she is beautiful,” continued Frank. - -“You are right,” said Mr. W----, smiling at Frank’s enthusiasm. - -“And do you know, Mr. W----,” continued Frank, “that I love that girl -with all my heart and soul, and I mean to marry her?” - -“Whether she is willing or not?” asked Mr. W----, still smiling, for -he knew only too well what little chance there was for the young -enthusiast. - -“Why, you don’t think she would refuse me--the heir to millions. And I -fancy I’m not bad-looking either.” - -“You had better ask her, not me. She is the party most interested,” -said Mr. W----, quietly. - -“Well, that’s so. But, some way, though she is only a poor girl, -she has such a queenly way about her that I’m almost afraid of her. -I can’t talk to her, familiar and free, as I can to most girls of my -acquaintance. But I know what I’ll do. Lizzie and her are just like two -sisters. I’ll get Lizzie to court her for me.” - -W---- laughed heartily at this idea. He had heard of kings courting and -marrying by proxy in Europe, but the idea of a young American sovereign -following the example struck him as being very funny. - -And it was. - -Frank, rather annoyed at being laughed at, dropped the subject, and -turned to horses, where he was quite at home, keeping a team himself -that could “spin” alongside of Vanderbilt any day. I hope I’ve got that -term right; I heard some young men using it, I think. - -And so, as I said before, Mr. W---- knew all about the happy event when -he saw Hattie come into the bindery next morning. - -Yet he was astonished to see her looking unusually pale and sad, as if -she had passed an unhappy, sleepless night. Could it be that he was the -cause of it? It made him wretched to think that she might be worrying -because she thought her refusal had made him unhappy. But he determined -to be as cheerful as he could, if such was the case. For he knew that -she respected him truly, even if she could not love him, and he would -not have lost that respect for the world. - -So he made his usual tour through the shop, trying to be as cheerful -and kind to all his employees as ever, and finally he came to the table -where Hattie bent assiduously over her task. - -“I was told last night, Miss Hattie, by young Legare, that you had -discovered a cousin for him. He was full of praises of you.” - -“Yet it was not my act; I was but an instrument in the hands of -Providence to bring a long-abused little girl to a loving mother. I -feel thankful for it, for I have pitied the poor child so long, and -until lately have hardly had a chance to befriend her as I wished -to do. But now she is safe. It will be heaven on earth to her, this -change.” - -“I should think so. By the way, would you not like to visit her this -morning?” - -“No, sir, not till afternoon. Then, if you will spare me a little -while, I would like to keep my promise, and go to see both mother and -child.” - -“Take the time, Miss Hattie, and any time you desire, with pleasure. I -have instructed the foreman in consequence of the nature of your new -work, you are to be entirely unrestricted, and no account of time kept -with you, though your salary goes on.” - -“Oh, Mr. W----, you are too kind!” - -“No, Miss Hattie, and do not consider me so. The new duties you perform -are more valuable to us than you conceive. So consider that it is the -firm, not yourself, under obligation.” - -Hattie understood and felt the delicacy of his thoughts and words, and -appreciated the true manliness of his heart; but she could only thank -him--all other reward must come from his own consciousness of being -kind to her. - -Some way, during the morning, he had dropped out his idea of going -to California to the foreman, and Mr. Jones, who had of late taken -to speaking to Hattie much more often than he had formerly, spoke of -it when he came to take some work to the sewing bench, which she had -collated. - -“To California! Is it not a sudden resolution?” she asked, in wonder. - -“Well, may be ’tis on his part. His father did talk of sending me -there, for he has long wanted to set up a branch bindery to this on -the Pacific coast, but I kind o’ hung back. I love my wife and baby, -you see, and I couldn’t have afforded to take ’em with me; and as for -leavin’ ’em, I’d rather go down to the paste-bench and work for half -wages here.” - -Mr. Jones was truly a family man, and it is a pity there are not more -family men like him. - -“When will Mr. W---- go?” asked Hattie. - -“Very soon--as soon as he can get off, he told me this morning, but I -don’t know as I ought to have spoken of it, for he never cares to have -his plans known. But I know when I tell you anything it will not get -blabbed around.” - -“No, I shall not speak of it to others,” said Hattie. - -And now, when the foreman went away, she felt more than ever wretched. -Was he going to leave his pleasant home, his dear parents and sisters, -on her account?--because she had thrown a shadow on his life? - -She could not bear the thought; she was determined to speak to him. So, -taking some work in her hand, as if she wished to consult him, she went -directly to the office. - -“Forgive me, Mr. W----,” she said, “if I intrude. But I just learned -that you had spoken of going to California.” - -“Such is my intention, Miss Hattie.” - -“Oh, Mr. W----, am I the cause of this sudden desire to leave your -happy home here--your pleasant business? If it is, let me go away. I -will never appear in your presence again. Oh, I am so unhappy!” - -And tears fell fast from her dark eyes. - -“Dear Miss Hattie, please be calm, and do not blame yourself, for it is -no fault of yours. But, believe me, for the present it will be better -for both of us that I go. It will help you to forget my folly, help me -to bear my bitter disappointment. I would not have you leave here on -any account. So long as you are here I can hear from you, know you are -well, and--that will be much happiness to me.” - -“Mr. W----, you are too noble to suffer. Would to Heaven I could save -you from it. If you do go to California I will intrust a mission to you -which I would not confide to any other man on earth, confident that you -will act for me as if you were a dear brother, a true friend, as I feel -and know you to be. And in that mission you will discover what I have -held as a secret, sacredly, for over three years, and it will help you -to blame me less for the disappointment under which you suffer.” - -“Ah, Miss Hattie, I do not, have not, blamed you. I know your reasons -are good. Your noble heart could not bid you act in any way but -rightly. I will undertake any service that you intrust to me, fulfill -your wishes sacredly to the utmost of my power.” - -“Thank you, Mr. W----. A letter which I wrote last night, with intent -to mail, will be confided to your care. And also written directions -where to find the person to whom it is addressed, and other matters -which I shall ask of you.” - -“All of which shall be attended to with faithful diligence, Miss -Hattie. And now, please, wash your eyes in the water-basin there before -going out. I would not have any one notice you had been weeping.” - -“You are so good, Mr. W----!” - -Hattie’s heart was too full to say more. She washed her face in the -office basin, and then went out to her table with a lighter heart, -bending to her work cheerfully, to do all she could before the carriage -came from Mr. Legare’s to take her to see Jessie Albemarle and her -mother. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXI. THE NEW HELP. - - -Hattie was bending over an old edition of Don Quixote, in Spanish, -which had been brought up for binding--almost worn out, the cover gone, -and the leaves misplaced, when two hands, soft and small, were placed -over her eyes, and a voice, disguised, cried out: - -“Who am I?” - -“Lizzie--I knew you by your rings,” said Hattie, laughing. - -“Oh, I stole up so still I thought you’d think it was some bindery -girl,” said Lizzie, bending over and kissing her friend. - -“No bindery girl would presume to take liberties with me, dear Lizzie. -I never mingle with them, though I always treat them with courtesy when -chance throws them in my way.” - -“I might have known it, darling Hattie. You are not like them, or -any one else that I know. I do believe you are a fine lady, just -masquerading at work for a secret cause of your own.” - -“Time will tell, Lizzie.” - -“Well, I only wish it would be in a hurry about it. But come, dear, -I saw Mr. W----, bless his heart, when I came in, and he said he had -already told you to take time to come to our house whenever you wanted -to. And, dear little Jessie, with dressmakers and milliners all around -her, happier than anything else alive, only asks for her dear Miss -Hattie to come. She has told us how you fed her when almost starved, -and how you gave her clothes when she was in rags, and her mother says -she’ll pay you in love if she can do nothing else.” - -“The love of true friends is very precious,” said Hattie. - -“And we are your true friends, and we will be always,” said Lizzie, -earnestly. “But come, dear Hattie, they will wait for us. Frank is out -in the carriage. He would come along; but when he got here, the lazy -fellow wanted to stay in the carriage instead of coming up. He said Mr. -W---- was laughing at him for something that happened last night at the -club-room, but will not tell me what.” - -“Most likely your brother was boasting over his new cousin,” said -Hattie, putting on her things to go. - -“Yes, he did tell him about her.” - -The two girls now went out, and in a few moments were in the carriage, -and on their way up town. They stopped but once, then it was by order -of Frank, who went into a florist’s to get four large bouquets for -those in the carriage and at home. - -“Oh, my Hattie! my Hattie!” cried Jessie Albemarle, when our heroine -went into the sitting-room, where, with her mother, and surrounded by -busy cutters and sewers, she was being made presentable. - -And she showered kisses on the only true friend she had known in her -many days of sorrow. - -As lunch had been kept waiting for the arrival of the carriage and its -occupants, the family, as Mr. Legare jovially termed them all, so as to -include Hattie, left the sewers and their work, and adjourned to the -dining-room. - -Jessie, who seemed to come naturally into the ways of a lady, was -almost too happy to eat, but Cousin Frank told her she would never grow -large, stately, and beautiful like Miss Butler unless she ate heartily. - -It was a roundabout way to compliment Hattie, but Frank, in his -innocence, didn’t know how else to do it. Some men are so awkward, you -know. - -“Did Miss Scrimp carry on much after I came away?” asked Jessie. - -“She commenced it, but I very promptly hushed it. She said she would -like to kill me.” - -“And so she would if she dared. But she is an old coward, Miss Hattie. -No one but a coward would beat a helpless girl as she used to beat me.” - -“That is true, and were it not for publicity, I would make her suffer -for it to the full extent of the law,” said Mrs. Emory. “But, Miss -Hattie, you ought not to stay another day in that house. Do come here -to stay with us. You need never work again. If you will only come and -be Jessie’s sister you will overflow the cup of joy already full.” - -“It cannot be at present, Mrs. Emory, though I thank you from my heart. -Three years ago I laid out a certain course, for good reasons, which -I hope yet to be able to explain to you all, my kind friends, and I -cannot change that course until an event, which I hope and pray for, -takes place. Then, perhaps, you will think all the more of me for the -course I have taken.” - -“We have no right to ask more, Miss Hattie,” said Mr. Legare. “I, for -one, have every faith in the purity of your motives in all things.” - -Hattie could but be pleased with all these attentions. - -After lunch the ladies adjourned to the sitting-room, while Mr. Legare -went to his library. Frank, with his new ideas of diplomacy, asked -Lizzie if she and Miss Hattie wouldn’t take just a little dash with him -in his phaeton behind his thoroughbreds. - -Lizzie had been out with him once or twice, been choked with dust or -covered with mud, and she felt no desire to try it again. She said she -preferred the family coach and steady driving. - -As Frank would not go alone, he hung about the sitting-room, and got -well covered with lint while he dodged about among the dry goods. - -Jessie, who had never possessed a nice dress, was in ecstasy with -everything they showed her, and Mrs. Emory had a double joy in seeing -her dear child so appreciative of everything done for her. And the girl -told such funny stories about Miss Scrimp and Biddy Lanigan, mimicking -them so drolly, that she “brought down the house,” as the critics say. - -Hattie spent a very happy afternoon, dined with the family, and was -then sent home in the carriage as usual. It was just supper-time at -Miss Scrimp’s when she got to the boarding-house, but the old spinster -was at the door when the carriage stopped, her eyes fairly green with -hate and envy. - -Had not Saturday night been so close at hand, and the money for the -silk dress expected, there is small room to doubt she would have had a -“pick” at Hattie in spite of the fear in which she held her. As it was, -she said, as Hattie passed her: - -“Some folks ought to feel terrible proud to ride in other folks’ -carriages. For me, I’d rather go afoot, when it’s my own shoes I walk -in.” - -Hattie made no reply, but she paused to say a kind word to some of the -girls who were coming in. At the same moment her eyes fell on the new -servant whom Miss Scrimp had hired to replace Jessie, for she could not -get another girl from the asylum. Her record was already against her -there. - -This girl had just come over from the “Faderland” far away. She was -young and small, but stout-built, and she thundered around on wooden -shoes, much to the amusement of the girls, as they came in. She had not -a very good idea of American ways, spoke no English, and Miss Scrimp -and Biddy Lanigan had to manage her by signs. - -The secret of her employment was this: She was got from an intelligence -office on a quarter of the going wages, because she wanted to learn the -English language, and how to act as a waitress. - -Hattie, having dined so late, did not care for supper, so she did not -stay to see Marguerite essay her first trials at carrying round tea to -the boarders, nor did she know until after supper that the new girl, -stumbling as she carried two cups of hot tea in her hands, deposited -the contents of both down the scrawny neck and bosom of Miss Scrimp, -who, screaming with pain, attempted to box her ears, but got the worst -of it in the struggle, for the girl tore off all of Miss Scrimp’s false -hair, and left her almost bald-headed, besides damaging the arrangement -of the pads, which made up the best part of her form. So Miss Scrimp -learned that she had not poor, helpless Jessie Albemarle to deal with -now. And as she had engaged this girl for a month, she dared not -discharge her without paying her wages, so she drew off to her room to -repair damages, and left the new girl and Biddy to wait on the table. - -And they managed better without her, for the girl was willing and -good-natured, and, after her first mishap, was more careful. Biddy, -who had got a hint from the girls that she was to have a dress out of -the proceeds of the subscription, bustled around, and between her and -Germany, as she called the new girl, the supper ended pleasantly. - -There was enough on the table, and the food was good. Miss Scrimp had -got started in it, and did not dare to advance backward. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXII. “SHE IS DYING!” - - -Hattie was engaged that night, until a late hour, over her -writing-desk. A letter which she had already written, enveloped, -sealed, and stamped ready for mailing, was opened, a long postscript -added, and then it was sealed with wax, and from a tiny seal in ivory -an impression was made--an anchor and a cross, signifying Hope and -Faith. - -Hattie wept over this letter, and, after she had sealed it, took up -the mountain sketch we have alluded to, and looked at it long and -tearfully. Then, with a swift, skillful hand, she copied this sketch on -a smaller scale on the head of a large letter-sheet. Then, taking three -letters from envelopes, which all bore the pierced hearts as a seal, of -which we have spoken several times, she read them over and over, and -taking one, copied a portion of it beneath the sketch which she had -just completed. - -“If he will undertake the mission, by this Mr. W---- can be surely -guided to that ‘Mountain Home,’ and if all is found, as I hope to our -Father it may be, his mission will bring joy to a lonely heart, perhaps -sweep away the clouds that have so long darkened my path; and then, -absolved from my vow, I can throw off the veil that I abhor, and once -more among my equals in the world take the place which belongs to me. -Surely I deserve it if patience and long suffering ever met a reward.” - -It was after midnight, by the tokens of the city bells, when our -heroine closed her writing-desk. A brief time over her Bible, a -little while at silent prayer, and then she lay down to rest on her -coarse and humble bed, contented with her lot, and not for an instant -regretting that she had refused a home of affluence and the fostering -care of rich and loving friends. - -At early dawn the loud, shrill calls of steam whistles, blown to wake -the workers in great establishments, woke our heroine, and she was up -and washed, ready to breakfast with the rest at the usual early hour. - -Miss Scrimp, with her lean neck bandaged where it had been scalded the -night before, sat grim and silent at her post. But the steaks were good -and well cooked, the bread soft and fresh, the coffee strong, and all -still went on as it had done since Hattie held the finger of fear above -the old maid’s head. - -The meal soon over, the chattering girls wended their way to their -various shops, and Hattie, within almost a minute of her usual time, -went to her table in the old book-bindery, which seemed almost like a -home to her. - -Mr. Jones met her with his usual pleasant good-morning as she went to -her place, and other hands, whom she knew slightly, bowed; but these -were the only recognitions. She had never made any intimacy in all the -long months she had worked there. - -Mr. W---- came in later, and went at once into his office. Though -Mr. Jones kept the time of every hand, Mr. W---- always made out the -pay-roll on the morning of each Saturday, and in the afternoon the -hands went into the office as called, one by one, and received their -pay. - -And that had been the custom for the many years that the bindery, -first under the father alone, and now under the father and son, had -been kept running. Never, in easy times or hard, had the practice -varied--never had a Saturday’s sun set with a single one of their -employees unpaid. No wonder that good and steady hands remained there, -and the best work in all the great city was the result. - -Hattie waited until the noon-day hour of rest came before disturbing -Mr. W----. She knew it was his busy day, and she also knew enough to -respect it. - -If others were always as thoughtful many an employee would be saved the -sin of hard thoughts and harsh words. - -While the people were at their dinners, Hattie took but a little while -for her lunch, and with her letters ready, entered the office. - -Mr. W--- sat there, looking weary and sad. - -“Do I disturb you, sir?” she asked, gently. - -“No, Miss Hattie, you come like an angel of relief. I have been working -over Jones’ time-book, and making out the people’s accounts. Permit me -to pay you now, so you will not have to come again.” - -“Thank you, sir.” - -And she took the money she had earned, and signed the receipt-book, as -she had done for months and months, when her turn came, but under far -different circumstances. - -After this was done, and he had asked Hattie to sit down--for no one -else would be called until the dinner-hour was past, and the work -call sounded--Hattie took the letters from her pocket and opened her -business. - -“You kindly consented to undertake a mission for me, Mr. W----. It may -be to you a thankless undertaking. Yet, on the contrary, it may be a -joyous, gracious work. I have seen so much, suffered so much that I -have little faith in the reformation of man when he has once yielded -himself a slave to appetite and forgotten his manhood. If you follow -the directions laid down in a letter I have written to you, you will -deliver another letter to a man whom I once believed to be the noblest -of his race. He fell, thank Heaven, before I was placed where his fall -could drag me down. I would not utterly condemn and bid him go down, -down, till he sank forever in the gulf of shame. I wept over him while -I drove him from my side, and I prayed to him to go where no one would -know him, and there to lead a new life. It was a terrible thing for me -to do. I loved that man with my whole heart and soul. You may know some -time who and what I was when I thus sent him forth--let it suffice that -I was not a work-girl. - -“He went. I have never seen him since. But at intervals I have heard -from him. It was he who sketched the ‘Mountain Home,’ which you found -in my portfolio. He professes to have reformed entirely. He says he -is rich. I care not for his gold. But if he is rich in temperance, in -virtue, in honor, in manhood restored and truth redeemed, I will keep -the troth once plighted. - -“To you, dear, kind friend, I confide the task of learning if this be -so. I know you will do it without one selfish thought or wish to warp -your judgment. And now you see my future is in your hands. Take these -letters and the sketch of the spot where he writes he is to be found. -There is a secret trail, but the key to find it is in my letter.” - -“I accept the mission. Manfully to him and truthfully to you will I -carry out your desires.” - -“Thank you, Mr. W----. Look over my letter, and see if it needs any -explanation. I will look at the morning paper while you read.” - -She took up the paper while he read the letter. - -Suddenly he heard a gasping cry from her lips. He looked up--she stood, -pale and breathless like a statue of despair, with her finger on one of -the “Personal” notices in that paper. At a glance, wild and swift, he -read these words: - - “G. E. L.--If you yet live, come to your mother quickly--she is - dying!” - - - - -CHAPTER XXXIII. “MY MOTHER IS DYING!” - - -“Great Heaven! what is the matter, Miss Hattie?” he cried, as he saw -her face turn whiter and whiter, and her tall, graceful form totter and -reel as if stricken by a fearful blow. - -“My mother is dying,” she gasped, “and I far away, with forgiveness not -passed between us,” and she sank shivering into the chair from which -she had arisen. - -And now, in a flash of thought, Mr. W---- remembered where he had seen -those initials before. They were on the clasp of the portfolio which -held her drawings. Undoubtedly they were the initials of her real name, -and all this time she had been to him only Hattie Butler. - -“Miss Hattie, how can I assist you? If you desire it, I will escort you -anywhere you wish to go, leaving when you desire, waiting for you, and -keeping sacredly any secret you may share with me.” - -“Oh, Mr. W----, you are so good. Do not believe me wicked, or reveal -it, if I tell you that my real name is embraced in those initials--that -no wrong doing of my own caused me to hide it under another, but that -I sought to escape persistent annoyance on a subject I may not name -now--sought to evade a demand which wealthy and worldly parents made of -me.” - -“Miss Hattie, I would stake my life on your goodness, that every action -of your life has been pure, and marked by the noblest of purposes. Now, -tell me what I must or can do for you.” - -“Grant me leave to absent myself a little while. It may be two or three -days--it can hardly be less--it may be longer, and while I am gone, -please go to Mr. Legare’s and explain to him and his family that I was -called away at almost a moment’s notice. I must take the four o’clock -boat for Boston. I will have time to go to my boarding-house, settle my -bill, and then I can take a carriage for the boat.” - -“May I not escort you there?” - -“For both our sakes, it will be better not. I will be safe in a -carriage and in the open light of day. Do not fear. And, Mr. W----, I -will, when I come back, if you are not gone to California, tell you -all. I will withhold nothing from so good, so true a friend. I go to -the bedside of a dying mother. That is what that notice calls me to. -I will not condemn that mother at this hour. But it was her pride and -obstinacy that forced me into a strange city to earn my daily bread.” - -“Do you not need more money?” asked Mr. W----. - -“No, sir; I have enough in bills on my person, and some in bank if -I needed more; and I hold Mr. Legare’s munificent check for those -drawings. I need nothing, Mr. W----, but your belief in my honor and -truth--your kind sympathy.” - -“You have both, dear Miss Hattie--both to the fullest extent. Go, and -Heaven shield and bless you. You will surely return?” - -“Yes, and take my place here, no matter what occurs. Here will I stay -until you return from California, and the result of your mission is -made known to me.” - -“Thank you, Miss Hattie. I will not detain you longer, for you will -have but little time for preparation and to reach the boat. This -evening I will go to Mr. Legare’s, and simply explain that you were -called away by the sickness of a relative.” - -“Thank you; that will be enough. Tell them I will go to see them when I -return.” - -A grasp of the hand, a tearful good-by, and the honest, noble man, the -pure, truthful woman, were apart--he standing gloomily alone in his -office, she on her way, walking fast, toward her boarding-house. - -Entering that, she found Biddy, Marguerite, and Miss Scrimp all in the -kitchen. - -She handed Miss Scrimp the amount of her board for the week, then -giving her the additional dollar for her silk dress, she said: - -“I pay my part of the proposed subscription for the silk dress, Miss -Scrimp.” Then turning to Biddy Lanigan, she said: “You have always been -very good to me, Biddy. Here is a five dollar bill for you to use as -you choose.” - -“Long life an’ more power to ye, ye born angel!” cried Biddy; “who -could help bein’ kind to the likes o’ you? Sure there’s not a lady in -the land can hold her head higher than your own.” - -“Thank you, Biddy. Now, Miss Scrimp, I am going away for a few days, -and shall lock up my room, for I leave my trunk, books, and everything -except my little hand-satchel there.” - -“Sakes alive! where be you a-goin’?” - -“To visit a sick relative, and I shall return as soon as I can.” - -“Sakes alive!” - -Those were the last words Hattie heard as she turned and hurried to her -room. - -Half an hour later she came down dressed in a traveling suit of heavy -brown pongee, with a bonnet and shawl literally worth more than the -entire wardrobe of Miss Scrimp, her dress and her bearing that of a -lady. - -“Sakes alives! Who’d have thought she had such clothes here,” was Miss -Scrimp’s exclamation, as her “cheapest boarder,” as she had called her -more than once, left the door. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXIV. HATTIE’S SEX DEFENDED. - - -I don’t know why it is that the girls always read those “Personals” in -the paper. But I know they do. - -The very minute Mr. W---- entered his father’s, where he lived with his -parents and sisters, his tallest and prettiest sister, Flotie, came -running to him with the paper in her hand. - -“Brother Edward,” said she, “don’t you remember the initials on that -portfolio of drawings you had the other night--I mean the drawings made -by that pretty bindery girl of yours.” - -“Why, what of it?” he asked, with well-assumed carelessness. - -“Why, they’re here in this paper. Read this personal: ‘G. E. L.--If you -yet live come to your mother quickly--she is dying.’ That must mean -your bindery girl. Anna saw it first and brought it to me, and we had a -great mind to send it down to you, marked, at the bindery.” - -“That would have been folly. There may be a thousand people in the -world with those very initials. And, moreover, the initials of the girl -alluded to are H. B. Her name is Hattie Butler.” - -“That may be an assumed name. The initials on her portfolio were -G. E. L., for we all saw it and spoke of it at the time you had it -here.” - -“Very likely. Is dinner ready? I’m hungry as an owl. And I’ve got to go -out to make a call this evening.” - -“What, in the fearful storm that is just beginning to rage?” - -“Yes. I do not like the storm--it must be terrible on the water--but I -promised to make a call at Mr. Legare’s, and I never break a promise.” - -“At Mr. Legare’s on Fifth avenue? He who has a son in your club, and a -pretty blonde for a daughter?” - -“Yes, Flotie.” - -“Well, I wouldn’t keep you from going there, storm or no storm. You -can go in the carriage. I’d just go wild to have that girl for my -sister-in-law. The Legares stand at the very head of New York society. -But there’s the dinner-bell.” - -“Mercy! how the wind blows. This storm has come up very quickly--a -regular north-easter,” said the brother, with a shiver, and there was a -very anxious look on his face as he went to the dining-room. - -His people always dined late, that they might have his company after -the day’s business was over. - -At the table Edward W---- ate very little. His soup was barely tasted, -the fish passed entirely, the “old roast beef” always on that table -just apologized to, and he would not wait for dessert at all. - -“Why, brother, you said you were so hungry when you came in,” said -Flotie, opening her great black eyes in wonder at his abstinence. “Has -the thought of that little blonde divinity driven away all appetite?” - -“What blonde divinity?” asked Anna, yet ignorant of his destination -that evening. - -“Why, that pretty Miss Legare whom we saw at the opera the other -night. Her father is worth millions on millions, and they descended -from a noble French family, I know, just by their looks and the name,” -answered Flotie. - -“Oh!” - -And that was all Anna said just then. - -But she kept on thinking, and when her brother kissed her and Flotie -good-night, as he invariably did on going out, she said: - -“If you bring a nice, aristocratic sister-in-law to our house, Edward, -I’ll love you better than ever, if such a thing can be.” - -His answer was a sigh, for he was thinking of one who even then was -tossing on the angry waves of Long Island Sound. - -And putting on his overcoat, with an umbrella to shelter him over the -walk, he stepped into his own carriage, which he had ordered out, and -gave the driver the number and avenue on which Mr. Legare resided. - -He found all the family at home, and met the new cousin, whom he had -never seen before. He was warmly welcomed, and as Mr. Legare insisted -on his passing the evening there, he permitted him to have his carriage -and horses sent around to the capacious stables in the rear of the -mansion. - -When he told them that he had been sent by Miss Hattie Butler to -tell them she had been called away suddenly by the illness of a near -relative, and that even then she was on her way to Boston by the night -boat, every one of the family joined him in his expressed anxiety about -the storm--a wild, sleety north-easter, which could be heard in its -fury even inside the marble walls of the grand mansion. - -“Alone, without any escort; she’ll be just scared to death,” said -Frank. “I wish I was there.” - -“You’d be worse frightened than she’ll be,” said Lizzie. “She is -brave--very brave, I know.” - -“Pooh--she is only a woman, and all women are cowards when danger is -around,” said Frank, in his important way. - -“Allow me to differ with you, Mr. Legare,” said Mr. W----, promptly. -“I believe that the female sex, as a generality, have far more moral -courage than men. And what is physical courage but that of the brute? -Nine times out of ten those who possess it hold it more on their -ignorance of danger than anything else.” - -“There, Mr. Frank Legare, you’re answered, and I hope you’ve got enough -of it. Women cowards, indeed! That shows what you know about them.” - -“Oh, I might know that you’d side with him,” said Frank, petulantly. -“But that don’t change my opinion a bit, Miss Lizzie.” - -“Frank! Frank! I really thought you were more gallant!” said his -father, laughing at the evident discomfiture of his son. - -“I might as well give it up since you’re all against me,” said Frank, -in a sulk. - -“Oh, I’m not against you, Cousin Frank,” cried Little Jessie, running -up to him, “for I was the biggest coward in the world to let that vile -wretch, Miss Scrimp, beat me, as she often did, when I might have -turned on her and scratched her very eyes out.” - -Frank laughed now. He had one on his side, any way, and that put him in -good humor again. - -All this time Mrs. Emory had been sitting sad and silent, listening to -the storm which raged without. For well built though the house was, the -fury of the gale dashing against the heavy plate-glass of the windows -gave a sign of what it must be out on the unsheltered sea. - -“Heaven be merciful!” she said, solemnly. “Heaven be merciful to those -who are exposed on this fearful night on the raging deep. God help -those who now are battling with the storm.” - -“Amen,” broke from every lip. Even Frank looked sad, and he was silent -now. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXV. BATTLING WITH THE STORM. - - -“Battling with the storm.” That was the very word. For while those -loving friends sent up a prayer to Heaven for her safety, Hattie -Butler, unable to remain in her state-room, not afraid, for she was -truly brave, but anxious, had thrown a water-proof mantle, which her -satchel contained, over her head and shoulders, and gone out on the -deck near the pilot house, where, holding on to one of the great iron -stays, she looked out on the wildly heaving waters, listened to the -howl of the mad gale, and waited, with faith and hope, for the end, -whatever it might be. - -By the light in the pilot-house, which shone on the pale faces of the -two pilots who stood at the wheel, she also saw the calm but stern -face of Captain Smith, the commander of the boat, a veteran in the -navigation of the Sound, and she felt that he knew his peril, and would -do all that man could do to save the lives of those intrusted to his -care. - -But it is not man who brings, or rules, or allays the storm. The winds -are in the hands of the Almighty, and He is able to save when all else -are powerless. - -She saw the mate pass her and go to the pilot-house door. The captain -asked: - -“Is all right below, Mr. Glynn?” - -“Yes, sir, so far. But it is a fearful night. I never knew the steamer -to heave and strain so hard,” replied the mate, a tall, fine-looking -young man, with a bare accent, not a brogue, to tell that he was a son -of Erin’s Isle. - -“Have you had the pump well sounded?” - -“Yes, sir, I have given orders to sound them every fifteen minutes, and -to report instantly if there is any gain in the water below.” - -“Good! You are the right man in the right place, Mr. Glynn. Tell -Bishop, the engineer, to keep a full head of steam on; we need every -pound we can carry to make head against this gale. The train at Fall -River will have to wait for our passengers or leave without them, if -this no’-easter holds stiff ’til daylight.” - -“I only hope we’ll live it through,” was what Hattie Butler heard the -mate say to himself, as he crept away toward the ladder to leeward, by -which he descended toward the engine-room. - -And then she saw the captain go and look at the compass, and say to the -pilots: - -“Keep her up two points more to windward. We ought to be near enough to -Gardener’s Island to see the light.” - -“In this sleet, with the spray dashing as high as the smoke-stacks, -we’ll never see anything till we are right on the top of it!” growled -out one of the pilots. - -Was it not a Providence that made Hattie Butler peer out at that moment -from the shelter which the pilot-house afforded her from the wind and -rain--peer out into the gloom and darkness ahead? It must have been. - -For close, very close, she saw what she knew must be an artificial -light, for through the inky clouds no star or moon could have been -seen. - -Quick as thought she sprang to the pilot-house door, flung it open, and -screamed out: - -“Captain, there is a light very close to us on our left hand. I can see -it out here plain.” - -“On the port bow? Impossible!” cried the captain, but he sprang out to -see. - -The next second he sprang to the pilot-house. - -“Hard up the helm!” he shouted. “Ring the stopping-bell, and then back -the engine.” - -All this did not take a second to say, and as quick as it could be done -every order was obeyed. - -And as the great steamer came around in water almost smooth, the -captain came up and drew Hattie Butler into the pilot-house. - -“Young lady,” said he, “you have saved this steamer and the lives -of all on board. This night my wife would have been a widow and my -children orphans but for you. Five minutes more and we would have been -head onto the rocks among the breakers! What is your name?” - -“Hattie Butler!” gasped our heroine. “Are we safe now?” - -“Yes, I know just where we are, and can head my course and make Fall -River in the morning, but perhaps too late for the train. If I was -worth a million dollars I would give every cent to you, for death and -ruin stood face to face to us.” - -“Captain, I have only done my duty as an instrument in the hands of -God. It was He who sent me from the state-room, where I could not -sleep, up here, where I could see the light-house when I did.” - -“Heaven be thanked with you,” said the old captain, reverently, and he -bowed his head. - -“If all is safe now I will go to my room,” said Hattie. - -“It is. At breakfast I want you at my right hand at table. We will be -in smooth water then, please Heaven. I will steady you with my arm as -you go below, for the steamer pitches heavily with her head off, as it -is, from the wind.” - -And gratefully the captain took Hattie down to her room, and then went -back to his post. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXVI. SAFE IN PORT. - - -“Cap’n, that was the closest call I’ve ever had on the Sound, and I’ve -been on it, boy and man, for five-and-fifty years.” - -That was what the chief pilot said to Captain Smith when he returned -to the pilot-house after he had seen Hattie Butler to her state-room, -and taken a turn to the engine-room and forward deck below to see how -things went there. - -“How on earth did we ever get in so far, with the wind holding where it -did?” chimed in the other pilot. “Our course ought to have kept us full -five miles farther out.” - -“There was a stiff sou’wester all the night and day before, and with -the tide at ebb it made a terrible current setting out by Montauk. I -should have thought of it. I headed well over for smooth water, but not -enough to throw us so far in shore, by ten miles, rather than five. -I’ll never forget this experience. We have over four hundred souls on -board, and had it not been for that bright-eyed girl, where would they -be now?” - -“Who is she, cap?” - -“I don’t know. She gave me her name. Hattie Butler--that is all I know. -She wears the dress, and has the manners of a high-born lady; and, as -you saw, though the face was pale then, she is as pretty as pretty can -be.” - -“I was too bad scared to look at her,” said the chief pilot. “I’m -hardly over it yet. The passengers will make up a purse for her when -they hear of it. If they don’t, they don’t deserve the luck they’ve -had.” - -“She has begged me not to tell of it at all,” replied the captain; “but -I don’t see how I can keep my mouth shut. And there are three or four -newspaper men on board, and they’d never forgive me if I kept it from -them. But I’ll not speak of it at the breakfast table to all of ’em, as -I meant to.” - -The steamer was now heading her course, and the wind going down a -little, while the rain, that fell heavier than ever, made the sea a -great deal smoother. - -But the steamer was hours behind, and though Mr. Bishop, the chief -engineer, drove the firemen to their work, the steamer could not make -Fall River within four hours of the regular train time. But the captain -told his passengers at the breakfast-table that there would be a -special train ready when the boat reached her wharf to take them right -on, and he added that it was better to be late and safe than early and -in peril, adding a remark which he credited to his engineer: - -“I’d rather get to Fall River six hours behind time than go to -perdition on time.” - -Only the reporters on board knew, and it had been given to them on -condition that they should not repeat it there, how near to destruction -they had been; and the captain, with manly delicacy and honor, had -refrained from pointing out Miss Butler to them as the heroine, thus -saving her from the torture of being interviewed. - -At breakfast Captain Smith was very polite and attentive to our -heroine, but as he was always polite to all his passengers that did not -expose her. - -At last the noble steamer, much to the joy of all on board, and of -friends and agents on shore, made her port, and ran into her regular -wharf. - -“Miss Butler,” said the captain, “when you return to New York please -take passage on my boat, and if you purchase a ticket I shall feel -hurt. The complimentary card, which contains my name, will pass you on -the railroad at all times, and I want you to think how much I owe you -when you do me the real favor to accept it.” - -He was escorting her from the boat to the cars when he said this, and -she could not refuse to accept his card, whether she ever used it or -not. - -In five minutes more the cars bore the glad passengers toward the city -so often called the “Hub”--I hardly understand why. - -And now I must draw a sorrowful picture there. In a chamber in one of -the most pretentious houses on Beacon Hill, in the city of Boston, -a lady hardly past middle age, who must in health have been very -beautiful, lay dying. - -A minister, two physicians, and several weeping friends were near, and -the former was speaking words which he hoped would comfort her, or -lessen the agony of that dread moment. - -The physicians had endeavored to get her to take an opiate to lessen -her pains, which were wearing her out, but she would not, but kept -crying out: - -“Oh, my daughter! She will come--I know she will come to forgive me -before I die. I want all my senses. I want to tell her what I have -suffered through my false pride. Her father is dead--died praying that -he might only see and bless his child. And must I die, too, without -seeing her? Oh, no. God is too merciful. Pray--oh, pray, minister of -God, that she be sent to me before I die.” - -And her white, thin lips moved all the time he knelt in prayer. - -And before he arose to his feet, while the others, kneeling, listened -and wept, a wild, glad cry broke from that mother’s lips. - -“She is coming! My Georgiana is coming! I heard a carriage stop at the -door. It is she--thank Heaven, it is my daughter!” - -How a mother’s ear, even when that mother was on her death-bed, could -hear what no one else had heard, how she could feel so certain her -child was near, is beyond our ken. But it was so. - -A minute, scarcely that, had elapsed when the door softly opened, and -mother and child wept in each other’s arms. - -It was a holy scene. No word of recrimination, no breath of the past, -only this: - -“Mother, dear mother!” - -“My child! God bless my only child--my love!” - -There was not a dry eye in the room--those who had wept with grief -before over a dying friend, now wept with joy to think her eyes had not -closed before that meeting--that reconciliation took place. - -But the physicians knew that the strength of Mrs. Lonsdale could not -last--that the spark so near gone, flashing up, could last but little -longer. - -And the change began almost before they expected it. - -We need not say that Georgiana Emeline Lonsdale was the real name of -our heroine, but that was the name of the dying lady’s daughter, and -that daughter was our heroine. - -“Raise me up. Let me look at you. Oh, Georgiana--my dear--dear child!” -gasped the mother. “I prayed but to live for this--and--God has been -good. My will--here--under my pillow all the time!” - -The physicians pressed forward. With a moan of sorrow Georgiana pressed -that wan face to her beating heart. - -“Mother--mother--live for me,” she sobbed. - -“Bless--blessed--child--thank God!” - -“She lives forever in a brighter world,” said the minister, with -touching solemnity. - -And our heroine, yet clasping that form, so dear that nothing of the -past could come to mind, looked down on a smiling face frozen in the -still snow of death. - -Gently the kind friends removed her clasp, tenderly the good pastor -said: - -“Blessed is He who gives. Blessed is He who takes away.” - -Long, long the poor girl wept, and would not be comforted. What to her -was the costly mansion, furnished as few other houses in the city were -adorned? What to her a bank account second to few in Boston? What to -her, horses, carriages, old family plate, jewels that had been owned -generation after generation by her ancestors, now all her own? Her -father, ever kind, her mother, with whom she had parted in anger when -she chose a heart’s idol, all too early cast down, were gone--forever -gone from earth. - -It was well her sorrow found relief in tears. She wept until exhausted, -and then herself needing a physician, she sank to sleep. She had not -till then slept one moment since the night before she started from New -York. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXVII. HOW THE NEWS WAS RECEIVED. - - -Mr. W---- was up and out bright and early that Sunday morning, anxious -to see the Sunday papers, daily and weekly, most of which he knew did -not go to press till late in the night, or rather early in the morning, -and he hoped from these to hear something about the storm on the -Sound--something to assure him of the safety of the one who was first -and foremost in his thoughts. All that he could find in these papers -was that just as they were closing up their columns to go to press a -fearful gale was blowing from the northeast, and that disasters on the -Sound and all along the Atlantic coast might be expected. But none had -been heard from yet. All the Sound line steamers left at their regular -hour, and must meet and face the gale en route. - -And this was all he could learn without telegraphic news came of -sufficient importance to cause the issue of extras. Nervously he -watched for these, and at last, not far from noon--a little after -it--he heard a street Arab shouting: - -“’Ere’s yer extra. ’Ere’s news o’ the big storm!” - -He rushed out into the street, tore a paper out of the hand of the -yelling urchin, threw him a quarter, and then read the heading in -startling capitals: - -TERRIBLE STORM! - -WRECKS ALL ALONG OUR COAST! - -The Heroism of a Miss Hattie Butler Saves Over Four Hundred Lives on a -Sound Steamer! - -OUR OWN REPORTER WAS ON BOARD THE ENDANGERED AND NEARLY WRECKED STEAMER. - -[Full Particulars by Telegraph.] - -For a little while he was so blinded that he could not read another -word, a mist seemed to come between him and the paper. But in a little -time a reaction came. He grew calm, and then he read a long and -thrilling telegraphic report of the storm, how the vessel, swept by -adverse currents, ran far out of her course, and while battling with a -most terrible tempest in a sea which deluged her decks, was on the very -point of running on shore, when a young lady who had preferred to watch -the wild grandeur of the storm rather than to rest in the shelter of -her state-room, had, while clinging to the stays near the pilot-house, -discovered the danger neither pilots nor captain could see, rushed to -the pilot-house and given the alarm only barely in time to have the -course altered, the engines reversed, and the boat backed. - -The name of the heroine who had saved the vessel and so many precious -lives was Miss Hattie Butler, a passenger going from New York to -Boston. Further particulars would be sent by mail, written out in full -by the reporter who had witnessed all that had occurred, and would -interview the lady if possible. - -“She is safe! Oh, I thank the gracious Father she is safe!” was all -that Edward W---- said. - -Her life, even though she might never be his, was more precious by far -to him than his own. - -The news was too good to keep. He knew that there were others who would -rejoice to hear it. He hailed and engaged a passing cab, and with the -paper yet clasped in his hand, ordered the driver to go as fast as he -could to No. -- Fifth avenue. The more haste he made the better he -would be paid. - -Any one who knows what a New York cabman is can fancy how those poor -old horses were lashed forward under that promise. Mr. Bergh, luckily -for the driver, did not see him, and thus in about half an hour Mr. -W---- stood on the steps of the Legare mansion, and the cabman drove -back at a slow walk with a ten-dollar bill in his pocket, about -one-fifth of which would reach his employer’s hands that night when he -rendered in his day’s work. - -In a few seconds Mr. W---- was in the library, where the servant told -him he would find Mr. Legare, and by the time he got there Frank, -Lizzie, Mrs. Emory, and even Little Jessie were in the room, for they -had seen him alight from the cab, and feared he had brought bad news. - -“Have you heard from Miss Butler? Is she safe?” cried Mrs. Emory. - -“Don’t speak if she’s lost--don’t--don’t!” screamed Lizzie, for, seeing -how pale he looked, she feared the worst. - -“If she’s dead I’ll die, too,” moaned Frank. - -“She is not only safe, but her heroism has made her immortal. She has -saved over four hundred lives,” cried Mr. W----, waving the paper in -his hand. “I came as fast as I could to be the first to bring the glad -news.” - -“Oh, you dear, dear fellow!” screamed Lizzie, and she threw both her -white plump arms about his neck, and kissed him again and again. - -“I don’t care if all the world sees me,” she added, as Frank cried out: - -“Oh, Lizzie!” - -And Little Jessie kissed Mr. W----, too, and cried while she did it, -and no doubt Mrs. Emory would have willingly done the same if it would -have done him any good and been within the bounds of propriety. - -Mr. Legare said in his happy way: - -“Bless my soul, Mr. W----, you seem to have turned the folks all -topsy-turvy, but I don’t blame you. The news is gloriously good. I -always liked that girl. And, mark me, she’ll turn out to be something -more than a bindery girl yet.” - -“You just bet she will,” cried Frank. “If I knew where to find her I’d -go to Boston to-night.” - -“What for, Frank?” asked his sister, now completely herself again. - -“To tell her you kissed Mr. W---- right before us all,” said Frank, -determined to get even with Lizzie now if he could. - -“You might tell her, too, while you were about it, that I was only -sorry he didn’t kiss me back,” said Lizzie, so saucily that the laugh -was all on her side. - -“But really, Mr. W----,” she added, “you must think I was very bold. -But, to tell the truth, I thought at first you had come to tell us she -was dead, and when I heard you say she was safe I was so glad that I -really didn’t know what I was doing.” - -“Oh, that is a likely story, when you were cool enough to notice that -he didn’t kiss you back again,” cried Frank. - -“An oversight for which I humbly beg pardon,” said Mr. W----. - -Frank was even now, and Mr. W---- had helped him, for which the young -man felt decidedly grateful. - -Lizzie acknowledged the victory, for she blushed, and made no reply. - -Mr. W---- now read the entire report aloud, and said he had no doubt -the fullest particulars would be had in the morning papers. - -“Dear me,” sighed Frank, when he heard this, “she will be made so much -of now in Boston where live heroines are scarce, that I’m afraid she’ll -never come back to see us.” - -Mr. W---- whispered something to Lizzie, who laughed heartily, and then -said: - -“Frank, if she only knew you were just dying to see her--you, the heir -to millions, and not so bad looking either--she’d never sleep till she -got here.” - -“Oh, you traitor! you told her just what I said to you at our -club-rooms,” said Frank, shaking his finger at Mr. W----. - -And so Lizzie had the laugh on her side now. - -Mr. Legare insisted on Mr. W---- remaining to dinner, and then he would -take him home in his own carriage. - -Lizzie, with an appealing look, joined in the invitation, and Mr. W---- -remained. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXVIII. AN IMPORTANT DISPATCH. - - -When Edward W---- got home that night he found two angry girls up to -meet him. His sisters, Flotie and Anna, their dark eyes flashing, each -with an “extra” in her hand, met him as he entered the sitting-room in -his usual quiet way. - -“So! So, Master Ned! you think you can keep a secret from us, don’t -you?” cried Flotie, shaking the paper in his face. - -“Yes; we asked you if the ‘G. E. L.’ who was wanted to go to a dying -mother wasn’t your Hattie Butler, and here she turns out a heroine on a -Boston steamer. Oh, you hypocrite! you knew all about her going all the -time.” - -“Yes, I’ll wager a box of gloves you did,” said Flotie. - -“Now, own up, and we’ll forgive you,” said Anna, in a coaxing tone. - -“What do you want me to own up, sis?” - -“That G. E. L. and Hattie Butler are one and the same,” said Flotie. -“You needn’t deny it, for we’re sure of it.” - -“Well, if it will make you any happier, let it go so.” - -“And that you knew she was going on that very boat,” added Anna. - -“If that will set your mind any more at ease, I knew it.” - -“Then why didn’t you tell us last night?” said Flotie, and her big -black eyes fairly snapped. - -“And why did you leave it just to chance for us to find it out? We saw -you buy an extra, and call a cab, and drive off like mad up town, and -we each got one; and so you see you are caught, Master Edward.” - -“So it appears. Have you done with your catechism? If so I’ll go to my -room and prepare for rest.” - -“We’re not done yet,” said Flotie. “What name do the initials G. E. L. -stand for?” - -“I do not know.” - -“Brother Edward, that fib will never do. If you know a part of her -secret you know all.” - -“You are very much mistaken, my sister. I know but little, very little, -of Miss Butler or her life beyond the bindery, and the little I do know -she has given me confidentially, and so it will be kept.” - -“Very well, sir. Good-night. You can go to bed without your kiss.” - -“The punishment is severe, sister dear, but I submit.” - -And Edward marched away to his room smiling, while his sisters pouted, -yet wanted to call him back for the kiss of affection which never was -forgotten when they were about to separate for the night. - -The next morning Mr. W---- rose unusually early, took his coffee and a -slice of toast, and left the house on his way to the bindery before his -sisters were up. - -He bought a paper at the nearest news-stand, and while riding down -town in a street car read a long and well-written narrative of a -sub-editor’s experience in a storm. - -The heroism of Miss Hattie Butler, and the modesty which made her -refuse to be interviewed or in any way recompensed for what she -had done, was commented on in brilliant terms. She had done this -incalculable service, and then completely withdrawn from notice, and no -one knew whither she had gone. - -“It was so like her.” - -That was all Mr. W---- said. But in it he paid her the highest -compliment. - -He found, on his arrival at the bindery, all who had come, the foreman -and a good part of the hands, in a great state of excitement. - -They had all seen either the extras of the day before, or got the -morning papers. And the question among them all was, was the Hattie -Butler alluded to the one who worked in the bindery. None of them, not -even the foreman, had known of her leaving town, for Mr. W----, on -Saturday night, had not thought it necessary to speak of it, and would -not have done so now, except to his foreman, but for the questions of -his work-people. - -But now, with a pride he had no wish to control, he told them it was -their Hattie Butler--that she had been suddenly called away to the -bedside of a sick relative in Boston, and that she was on the boat when -she played the heroine so grandly. - -It was a wonder to see how proud those poor shop-workers felt. That one -of their own class, as they regarded her, should suddenly become so -famous, seemed like an individual triumph to each of them. - -“Is Mr. Edward W---- here?” cried a messenger-boy, rushing up to -the door. “Here’s a dispatch from Boston--marked private and very -important!” - - - - -CHAPTER XXXIX. MR. JONES PROMOTED. - - -“A dispatch for me?” cried Mr. W----. - -“Yes, sir. Here it is, prepaid, O. K., all hunky, and so forth,” cried -the lad, and as Mr. W---- took the dispatch, away he went, on the run, -to deliver more. - -Mr. W----, to the disappointment of Mr. Jones and the others, did not -open and read his dispatch then and there, but, with a pale face, and -quick, nervous step, went with it, unopened in his hand, to his office, -and shut himself in. And there he read these strange and startling -words: - - “NO. -- BEACON ST., BOSTON. - - “KINDEST OF FRIENDS:--Both my parents are dead. My mother, - reconciled, died, blessing me. There is a very large estate to - receive, and I alone can arrange for its care in my absence, for - I shall return to my position, and occupy it until you return, - successful or not, from that mission to California. Pardon the - suggestion that you go on immediately. You will find me at the - bindery when you come back. Keep the confidence I bestowed upon you, - especially as to what I send in this dispatch, even from the friends - on Fifth avenue. Only say to all I am well, and will soon return. - - “Faithfully yours, - - “G. E. L.” - - “[Answer.]” - -“Wonderful! What a comprehensive dispatch!” murmured Mr. W----, as he -folded it and placed it inside his pocket-book. - -And, writing this answer, he sealed and sent it at once to the -telegraph office: - - “G. E. L., NO. -- BEACON ST., BOSTON: - - “Your dispatch received. Every wish expressed shall be faithfully - carried out. I will leave to-morrow for California, and return as - soon as my mission is fulfilled. - - “EDWARD W----.” - -And when the dispatch was gone, Mr. W---- went out to his foreman, and -said: - -“Mr. Jones, I have heard from Miss Butler. She is well. Her mother -is dead. She will remain in Boston a few days, and then return to -her duties here. You are at liberty to say this to our people here. -To-morrow I shall leave for California, to establish a branch bindery -there. You will remain in charge here. Father will come down to see -you once in a while, perhaps; but he will not interfere with the work. -When Miss Butler returns give her all the time she wishes out of the -bindery, and make her duties easy and pleasant as you can. She is a -noble girl.” - -“That she is, Mr. W----. I’m sorry you are going, but I will do my very -best while you are gone, and try to keep everything moving brisk and -right.” - -“I know you will, Mr. Jones. I have every confidence in you. I also -increase your wages on the pay-roll ten dollars a week in consequence -of your increased responsibilities. Miss Butler had better come into -the office with her work now, and she will help you with the pay-rolls. -I shall leave checks to an amount which will keep you square with the -hands, no matter what comes in. If more stock is wanted father will see -to it.” - -“Oh, Mr. W----, you are too good. Ten dollars a week more will make the -little woman at home feel as rich as a Vanderbilt.” - -“So much the better, Mr. Jones. Your baby is growing, and so will your -expenses increase. Go on with everything. I have a great deal to do to -get ready--have to go home, and up town to see Mr. Legare, and shall be -out most of the day.” - -“I’ll do my best, sir, and I think I’ll please you,” said the happy -foreman, as he turned and left the office. - -Within ten minutes the news had spread all over the shop. There was a -little buzz of excitement, but the discipline of the establishment was -perfect, and the work went on as steadily and smoothly as ever. - -Mr. W---- spent an hour or more over his books and pay-rolls, then he -wrote and sealed a long letter, which was to be given to Miss Butler -when she returned, and a separate open note, asking her to take a -table in the office when she came back, and to help Mr. Jones with his -accounts and pay-rolls. - -This done, Mr. Jones was again called, the letters handed to him, -all explanations made, and then Mr. W---- left for his home to make -preparations there, and have a small trunk packed with necessary -clothing, and to go up to Fifth avenue to carry the news, which he was -permitted to reveal, from Miss Butler, as she was still to be known -until she chose to throw off her incognito, and to tell them of his -sudden intention to leave for California, to there extend his business. - -His own family, having often discussed this trip to California, were -not at all surprised at his decision to start at once, for he was one -of those prompt, decisive men in business who take things sharply and -move without making any noise about it. - -His father gave him a little advice, and an unlimited letter of credit. - -His sisters wept a little, but packed his trunk nicely, for though -they often had little jars with him, he was a good brother, and very -dear to them. - -When he had seen to all these things, and knew that he was ready to -start on the earliest train next day, he took the carriage and rode up -to the mansion of Mr. Legare. - -All were at home, and his welcome, as usual, was cordial. - -“Any further news from my dear, dear friend?” was the first question -that left the lips of Lizzie. - -“Of course he has. She’d let him know how she was, before any of us!” -said Frank, almost too jealous to live. - -“As her oldest acquaintance in the city, perhaps she thinks me the one -that she ought to communicate with, especially as her business is with -our firm,” said Mr. W----, gravely. “But in a dispatch that I received -this morning, announcing the death of her mother, and asking a few days -longer leave of absence, in consequence, she begged me especially to -come up here, tell her friends she was well, and would soon return to -New York, and would make her first and only call away from business on -them.” - -“Oh, thank you--thank you, Mr. W----. All read the paper this morning. -Frank says he don’t know hardly how to begin, but he means to write a -romance about it. He is going to call it ‘The Angel of the Storm; or, -The Pilot’s Timely Warning.’” - -“That will sound very grand,” said Mr. W----, with a smile. “It seems -to me I saw a dime novel, published by one of our city small fry, -called ‘The Angel of the Washtub--a Romance of Soap-Suds and Starch.’ -It must have sold hugely.” - -“There you are laughing at me again!” said Frank. - -“No, brother, he is only encouraging you in your first literary effort. -Every one must have a start, you know, even if it is down hill.” - -Mrs. Emory came into the room now with Jessie, and the latter ran and -shook hands with the friend of her dear Hattie. - -Mr. W---- told Mrs. Emory that he had heard from Hattie. She was -well, and would soon return, and then, the elder Legare coming in, he -broached the subject of his going to California. - -Frank’s eyes flashed joyfully when he heard of it, for he was, in -truth, fearfully jealous of Mr. W----, and he thought if the latter -was absent he might stand some chance to win the affections of Hattie, -whom he thought he loved more than ever since her heroism had made her -famous. - -Lizzie seemed sorry, and asked if his intention had not been formed -suddenly. But he told her it had not. His father had long desired to -have him go, and he had come to the conclusion that the sooner he went -the better. - -He spent but an hour there with those pleasant friends, and then, on -the plea of preparing for his departure, bade them farewell. - - - - -CHAPTER XL. CAPTAIN SMITH. - - -Hattie--or, as we should call her in her own home, Georgiana -Lonsdale--with her force of character, knew that it was wrong to give -way to unavailing grief, and with a strong effort she aroused herself -to the action so necessary after her mother’s death. - -The family physician, and the attorney who had done her father’s -business for years before he died--both old and true friends--and the -clergyman also, offered all the aid in their power, and the funeral -ceremonies were arranged according to the desire of the deceased lady -as expressed in her will, found where she had told her daughter it was, -almost with her last breath. - -As we already know, Miss Lonsdale, under her own initials, telegraphed -to Mr. W---- the moment she was able to think what she could and should -do. - -After her mother was buried by the side of her father in the family -cemetery, Georgiana at once began to arrange everything for an absence -again, for a time, from her home. She caused two bequests of her -mother, to charitable institutions, to be paid, even before the legal -steps of administration were complied with, so anxious was she to carry -out her mother’s desire. - -Leaving the care of the estate to the long tried and faithful attorney, -she arranged that with only servants to keep the house in order, and -ready for her occupancy when she came, the old housekeeper should -remain there. The carriages were stored in the carriage-house, and the -horses all sent off to be kept on a farm near Amherst, which belonged -to the estate, the old family coachman going along to take care of them -until he should be wanted again on Beacon Hill. - -Georgiana took sufficient time for all these details, for she felt at -rest in her mind after she received the telegram from Mr. W----. - -When everything was arranged to suit her, dressed plainly but very -neatly in her mourning garments, she made ready to return to her humble -position, and to carry out the plans which she had laid down. - -Captain Smith, standing by the gangway-plank of his steamer, was -surprised one day to see her come on board, and grasping her extended -hand, he cried out: - -“Heaven bless you, young lady. There’s a little woman who never goes -to bed at night now, without a thankful prayer on her lips for Miss -Hattie Butler, who saved a loving husband for her. And a girl, almost -as old as you, but not half as handsome, and four other children, who -have your name on their lips, and who speak of nothing but the hope -that they will some day meet you and be able to thank you for keeping a -father on earth for them, through the mercy of the Father above.” - -All this the captain was saying as he led our heroine to the best -state-room on the boat, and told her, too, that there was every promise -of a beautiful night ahead, and a fine run. - -“You found that my card took the place of tickets, didn’t you?” he -asked, as he called the chambermaid to wait on one whom he considered a -guest rather than a passenger. - -“You’ll forgive me, captain, I know,” she answered, “when I tell you -I gave your card to a poor weeping widow woman whose pocket had been -picked in the depot, and who had not even a ticket to come on with.” - -Georgiana did not add that she gave the poor woman fifty dollars in -cash also. - -“It was just like you, and I can’t blame you. I’d have helped her -myself,” said the good captain. “It’s a kind of a Smith’s failing to -put their hands in their pockets when they see any one in distress, and -not to take their hands out of their pockets empty.” - -And now, having his duties to perform, the captain excused himself, and -our heroine made herself comfortable for the trip. - -When the steamer started, our heroine went upon the upper deck to enjoy -the air and view, and having asked the captain as a favor not to speak -of her being the person who had notified him of his danger on that -stormy trip, she felt safe from undue notice. - -But she was recognized by both the pilots, who raised their hats when -she approached the pilot-house, and presently, when the captain came -up, he gave her a chair inside the house, whence she could look and -enjoy herself without feeling the cold wind that blew in from seaward. - -Had not the captain and pilots, as requested, been cautious, our -heroine would have been lionized, so to speak, on that trip, for there -was an unusual number of passengers. - -There was only one passenger on board who did approach her, and that -was the grateful widow whom she had relieved in her dire distress. - - - - -CHAPTER XLI. HATTIE’S WELCOME. - - -“Sakes alive, here she is! We were just a-talkin’ about you, me and -Biddy here, for Germany can’t talk no more’n a cat to us.” - -That was the welcome Miss Scrimp gave to Hattie Butler as she opened -the door on the morning of her arrival in New York. - -“Good-morning, Miss Scrimp,” said the latter, in her ever quiet, -lady-like way. “I have returned, you see.” - -“Yes’m, and I’m glad of it. I missed you so much. The girls have all -been wild over what the papers said about you savin’ so many lives on -the steamer. Was it all so?” - -“I suppose it was, Miss Scrimp.” - -“Sakes alive! Have you been to breakfast?” - -“Yes; I took breakfast on the boat. The captain insisted on it.” - -“Well, it’s lucky, for the girls did eat so hearty this morning there -isn’t much left, and it’s all cold before this time. There comes -Biddy--she’s heard your voice.” - -“Oh, you born angel!” cried Biddy, running up to Hattie and giving her -a real, warm Celtic hug. “I’ve got the new dress all made up--a real -warrum one for winter wear, d’ye see. The mistress has hers, but it’s -silk, and I’d rather have mine twice over. Shall I get ye’s a real nice -cup of coffee? I can make it quick.” - -“No, thank you, Biddy. I’ll run up to my room a little while, and then -I am going up town on a visit. I shall not go to the bindery until -to-morrow.” - -“Why, you’re in mournin’! Sakes alive, I didn’t notice that till this -minute. I was so glad to see you. Who’s dead, dear?” asked Miss Scrimp. - -“My mother!” answered Hattie, choking down a sob as she started up -stairs for her room. - -“Her mother! Poor thing! I’ll be a mother to her now!” said Miss -Scrimp, thinking of that thousand dollar check most likely. - -Hattie found everything in her room as she had left it. She had long -before had the lock put on herself, and it was one which no other key -in the house fitted, or Miss Scrimp might have explored her apartment -in her absence. - -The young lady remained up stairs but a short time, and when she -came out she took an up town street car, and started to see her kind -friends, the Legares and Mrs. Emory, as well as dear Little Jessie -Albemarle. - -When she arrived there, such a welcome met her! Lizzie, Mrs. Emory, and -Jessie covered her with kisses. Mr. Legare pressed her hand warmly, and -poor Frank stammered and blushed, and hardly knew what he said, though -he tried to be very polite, and at the same time very ardent in his -expressions of pleasure at seeing her once more. - -And he hurried to inform her that Mr. W---- had gone to California. - -“One rival out of the way!” he said to himself. - -But his hopes went below zero when she calmly told him she knew he was -going before she left town, and he had telegraphed to her when he was -on the point of starting. - -“They’re engaged. I know they are!” groaned Frank to Lizzie, while -Hattie was telling Mrs. Emory of the death of her mother. - -“Who, you goose?” asked Lizzie. “What are you ready to blubber out a -crying for?” - -“Ned W---- would never have telegraphed to her all about his going off -if they weren’t engaged!” almost sobbed Frank. - -“Pooh! What is it to us, anyway?” - -“To me, who is almost dying for her love--to me it’s everything. I -tell you plain, sister, if Hattie Butler will not have me, I’ll go and -enlist as a private soldier in the army, and get killed by Indians, or -I’ll ship in a whaler, and fall overboard and break my neck!” - -“Or swallow a whale like Jonah did,” said Lizzie, laughing. “Don’t be -foolish, Frank. If she’ll only love you, it will all come right, and if -she will not--why, you wouldn’t want to marry a girl without love!” - -“No,” said Frank, with some hesitation. Then he added: “If she loves -him she can’t love me. I wish he was dead. Who is she in mourning for?” - -“Her mother. I heard her tell Aunt Louisa so a few seconds ago.” - -“Poor thing! I wish father would adopt her. No, I don’t either, for -then she’d be my sister, and I want her for my wife.” - -Hattie now had a hundred questions to answer about the storm, and the -steamer, which she did cheerfully. - -After dinner Frank had the glory of escorting her home in the family -carriage alone--Lizzie pleading a headache, just to give the poor boy a -chance to make love to Hattie if he could. - -But he never opened his mouth from the time he left home till he set -her down at the door of her boarding-house. He couldn’t have done it to -save his life. He had caught the love-fever in dead earnest. - - - - -CHAPTER XLII. FOUND. - - -Mr. W---- stayed but three days in San Francisco. Advertising for a -foreman and hands, he was soon overrun with applicants, and had plenty -to choose from--good, sober, reliable men. Good materials, too, were -plenty to begin with, and in just three days the great “Occidental -Book Bindery” of E. W---- & Son was advertised in every paper in San -Francisco, and the shop in full blast. - -And the same evening Mr. W---- took the Sacramento boat, and was -speeding on his way to Oroville, where he was to meet the agent and -banker of Wells, Fargo & Co., and take his final departure in search -of the “Mountain Home,” which he had seen in the sketch spoken of long -ago, and a copy of which was in the letter of instructions which he -carried from our Hattie. - -From Sacramento by rail Mr. W---- dashed on toward Feather River, and -before noon he was at the old National Hotel, with a dozen Chinamen at -hand ready to dust him off, wash his clothes, or pick his pockets if -the chance came around. - -From the polite clerk he soon learned the location of Wells, Fargo & -Co.’s office and bank, and in a short time he was in the private office -of the latter. - -With his letter of introduction extended, he introduced his name, and -was met with that cordial, open-handed, open-hearted welcome which the -stranger ever gets in California. - -To Mr. Morrison, the agent--a splendid young man--Mr. W---- opened his -business, asking if he knew a Mr. Harry Porchet, who was mining on the -uppermost claim on Feather River. - -“I know all of him that any one can know,” said Mr. Morrison. “He is a -very singular young man--ever sad and melancholy, strictly temperate, -not even touching wine, using no tobacco, seeking no company. I tried -to get him to stay a few days at my home; and once, when he came -to deposit his gold, as he does every three months, induced him to -take tea with me, where I thought my Sister Annie, one of the most -gifted girls on this coast, and a fine conversationalist, might draw -him out of his melancholy mood. But it was no use. He was polite and -gentlemanly, but he would not thaw, as we say out here.” - -“I must find him,” said Mr. W----, with a sigh; for he felt as if -he was sealing his own fate as a single man forever, if he found -this young man all that he was represented to be, and called him out -from the shadow of his gloomy exile into the sunlight of Georgiana -Lonsdale’s presence. - -“I will get you mules and a guide, for there is no other means of -travel when you get into the mountains up Feather River,” said Mr. -Morrison; “and, as you cannot start with everything ready, camping -fit-out and all, before morning, take tea with me to-night.” - -Mr. W---- consented, and when that evening he met the sister of the -young banker and express agent, saw and viewed her wonderful beauty, -and heard her sing songs of her own composition, accompanied on piano -and guitar, he thought that if young Porchet could be so blind to those -attractions, he was indeed true to the love he left behind him. - -The next morning Mr. W----, with an old mountain man for a guide, on a -sure-footed mule, with two others in the train carrying provisions and -stores, started on the perilous journey. - -All day, creeping slowly along narrow trails, now on a ledge barely -wide enough for the mule-path, overhanging the wild rushing river a -thousand feet below--then pressing through chaparral so thick the -animals could just get ahead--now shivering just below the snow range -on a wind-swept ridge, then pitching down into a mining gulch full of -busy men all grimy with yellow dirt--on they went the entire day long, -halting but an hour at noon to give the mules a little barley and -themselves a scanty lunch. - -That night they camped in a grove of tall sugar pines, a little way -back from the river, and over the camp-fire Mr. W---- listened to -thrilling stories of what California life was in ’49, when every one -who came was mad with the greed for gold--when vice and crime ran hand -in hand, life only held by the pistol-grip or knife point, and property -held more by might than right. - -Early next day they were on the move up stream, now obliged to follow -the river bank as near as possible, for the snowy range of the Sierra -Nevada rose high above their heads. - -At noon they came to a lonely little valley, not two acres in extent, -shaded at one end by half a dozen trees and a huge overhanging -precipice. - -Here two fat, sleek mules fed undisturbed, and as they rode up near -them, the guide pointed to a pack and riding-saddle hanging side by -side under the cliff. - -“Here we camp. The man I seek is within a mile of this place, but no -one outside of him ever went over the trail that reaches his claim, so -far as I can learn,” said Mr. W----, carefully looking over his map, -sketch, and letter of instruction. “I will lunch, and then, leaving you -here, try to find him.” - -The guide assented. He had never been up the river quite so far before, -and, old hand as he was in the mountains, he did not want to go any -farther. - -Half an hour later Mr. W---- left, heading for a black patch of -chaparral that seemed to hang on the side of a fearful cliff. - -He was gone over two hours, and he came back in a fearful stage of -agitation. - -“My friend is found,” he said. “But I fear that the joy of the news -I carried him has killed him. I found him sick--very low. Thinking -it would revive him, I broke my news too suddenly. I left him in a -death-like swoon, and I could not revive him. Come with me quickly. -I will pay you treble our agreement if we can only get him out safe, -where I can get medical aid.” - -The guide did not hesitate a second. He was rough, but all heart. His -name was Hal Westcott. - -After a fearful climb, which took them all of thirty minutes, the two -men stood breathless on the plateau we saw in the sketch in front of -the log cabin and above the whirl of milk-white waters. - -“I almost dread to go in lest he be dead,” said Mr. W----. - -The guide pushed forward without a pause. - -“Zep! He is worth a thousand dead men!” cried bluff Hal Westcott. “He -is sitting up.” - -He was reading her blessed letter of recall. He was thin as a shadow, -white with suffering and hunger, too, for he had been parched and dried -up with fever, and had not touched food for days. - -“But I am better,” he said. “I will live now. I did not care to live -till this came.” - -And he kissed the letter, while tears ran down his thin, wasted face. - -The two strong men literally wept over him, while they hurried to make -weak broth and boil some rice and water for his drink. - -Two days--their mules resting and feeding in the glade below--they -tended and nursed him, and watched over him with such care as few -suffering men ever got in a bleak place like that. - -Then, handling him almost as they would have done an infant, they got -him down to the other camp; and they took the gold and his arms and -packed them down also, so as to be ready to start for the outside world -on the third day. - -It would be a long, perhaps a dry story to tell in detail were I to -describe that journey out. It had taken W---- and his guide but a day -and a half to come in. Yet it was four days after their start when poor -Porchet was laid upon a nice cool bed in Belle Vista Cottage, as Mr. -Morrison called his home. - -And within an hour after, Mr. W---- telegraphed to Miss Hattie Butler: - - “I have found him. He is all right--a noble and a true man. I love - him as I would a brother. He has been sick, is weak yet, but we will - start East in two or three days by the fastest trains. Your ever - unchanging and unforgetting friend, - - “EDWARD.” - -He told Harry Porchet what he had done, and the latter said: - -“You are only too good. Heaven will reward you for it all, and make you -happy.” - -Oh, how little did he realize that Edward W---- was sacrificing all his -hopes of happiness in carrying back to her he loved the man whom she -only could love. - -Tenderly cared for, and attended by the best physician in Oroville, -with good, kind nursing, it was no wonder that the invalid was so soon -ready to start out for the East. - -Edward W---- went down to San Francisco for a single day, to see that -all things went well in the Occidental Bindery, and then returned ready -to start eastward. - -The very next morning he telegraphed again: - - “We are coming. We leave Sacramento on the 10:30 train. All well!” - - - - -CHAPTER XLIII. HATTIE LEAVES THE BINDERY. - - -It was well for her chance of quiet that Hattie Butler took her place -in the office, where none could invade without permission, when she -returned to the bindery, for every one wanted to see and, if but for a -moment, to speak to the heroine whom the papers had made famous. - -Even a reporter, and they are everywhere, heard she was there, and got -as far as the office door to interview her. But Mr. Jones bravely stood -there, paste-brush in hand, and saved her from the cruel infliction. - -And thus she lived on, day after day, until almost three weeks had -passed, and then there came to her a telegram from the West. - -Oh, what a joyous look came over her face when she read it! - -Jones said, when he told the little wife at home about it, that Miss -Hattie looked just as she, the little wife, had looked when she stood -up in church and promised to be his until death should them part. - -“Is it from the boss?” he asked. - -“Yes, yes, and such glorious news!” she cried. - -“Then he has got the bindery started?” asked Jones. - -“He says not one word about the bindery,” said Miss Butler, abruptly. - -And Jones was left to wonder what on earth the news could be that was -so glorious, and yet not a word about the branch. - -He was completely nonplused, as a lawyer friend of mine said one day -when he wanted me to think he knew Latin. - -For a few days more everything at the bindery went on as usual, and -then there came another telegram. - -Miss Hattie looked exceedingly joyous over this, and now told Mr. Jones -that the branch bindery was going nicely, and that Mr. W---- was coming -home, and would be there in just seven days if no accident occurred on -the way. - -And then she told him that she should close up all her work and leave -the bindery on the next day. She would arrange his books and pay-rolls -as she had been doing all the time, up to the end of the week, and then -it would be easy for him to run matters until Mr. W---- was in the shop -again. - -Here was another poser for poor Mr. Jones. Why should Hattie Butler -post off to Boston, as she said she was going there, when Mr. W---- was -expected home? - -“I thought she set a heap o’ store by him and he by her,” said Jones, -talking it over to his wife. “And now when he is coming back, she puts -right out as if she didn’t want to see him at all.” - -“It’s a sure sign she loves him--she is bashful like, as I was once,” -said Mrs. Jones. “You’ll see. He’ll follow her to Boston, there’ll be -a short bit o’ courtin’, and then a grand weddin’, and Mr. W---- will -come back with his bride on his arm as proud as you was when you kissed -me before the parson could get a chance.” - -And that was all the good woman knew about it. - -There was tribulation that night at the supper-table at Miss Scrimp’s. -Hattie Butler, in a tone of deep feeling, told all the girl boarders -she was about to leave them forever. She called each one to her and -kissed her, after supper, and gave her a gold ring, with the name of -“Hattie” on it, as a remembrance, and she told them, while she thanked -them for their ever kind feeling to her, she would not forget them in -the distant home to which she was going. If any of them ever was sick, -or in distress, if they would send a note to Hattie Butler, care of Mr. -W----, at the bindery, it would reach her, and she would relieve them, -for God had been good to her; she was rich now, and willing to serve -Him by sharing her riches with those who were in want or suffering. - -The girls kissed her, and wept over her. It seemed as if they could not -let her go. - -For, in those long years, she had won the love of every one who knew -her, Miss Scrimp alone excepted. - -That “old barnacle” (I got that idea from Roger Starbuck) couldn’t love -anything but money and--her wretched old self. - -Miss Scrimp got no gold ring, but she got her bill in full, and a week -over, as Hattie had run one day into another week, or rather would -begin by taking breakfast in the morning. - -After this scene was over, Hattie went up to her room, got out her -well-worn writing-desk, and wrote several notes, which we can judge of -when one is taken as a specimen. - -That one was addressed to Miss Lizzie Legare. It ran thus: - - “DEAR AND KIND FRIEND:--You know there has been ever something - mysterious about me--not wrong, yet a something which I could not - fully explain. In another note I have invited your father, brother, - aunt, and Little Jessie, all to visit me at my home, No. -- Beacon - street, Boston, on the seventh day from to-day, at four in the - afternoon, to remain there as a guest that night and as long as - you will. Darling, I have written at length to you--to the others, - extended only an invitation. Mr. Edward W----, his sisters and - parents, will also be there, and a gentleman whom you have never - seen. Come, darling, come. - - “Lovingly, - - “GEORGIANA E. LONSDALE, _nee_ ‘Hattie Butler.’” - -Hattie--or, shall we call her Georgiana after this--was on her way -to Boston when those notes went out to their several destinations, -carrying wonder and surprise to each recipient. Even Captain Smith got -one, in which he was told to bring his whole family, and Mr. Jones was -not forgotten, nor the little woman and baby. - -In the Legare house there was wonder and joy in all but one heart. - -“I wonder who the gentleman is whom we have never seen?” moaned Frank. -“It’ll be just my luck--there’ll be a wedding; she’ll be the bride, and -I’ll be a shadow, standing back like cold beef alongside of hot turkey.” - -And there was yet more wonder with Edward W----’s sisters. But they -vowed they’d go even if she had been a bindery girl. - - - - -CHAPTER XLIV. THINE FOREVER! - - -In front of the finest mansion on Beacon Hill, though the chill of -autumn was in the air and a northeast wind came cold from over the bay, -an arch of hot-house flowers was erected, covering the entrance to -the walk, which led up through a yard ornamented with choice works in -marble, to the carved door of the house. - -On this arch, in crimson flowers, the word “welcome” was visible. - -Inside, servants well--even richly--dressed seemed to flit to and fro, -and a lady, young and beautiful, robed for that day as richly as a -royal queen, moved to and fro, seeing in person that everything was -ready to receive the guests for whom the welcome was meant. - -The minister, who had been in that house on a sad, sad day, now stood -by this young lady’s side, looking dignified but happy. - -The old lawyer and many other friends were there, and more came along, -as the day wore on, in grand carriages, the elite of the aristocratic -old city. - -And now the hour--four o’clock--was close at hand. Her carriages had -gone to the train to meet the guests who had been invited to come from -New York--carriages for all. - -And she, who had been all this time flushed and excited, now stood pale -and nervous near the door. For a roll and rattle of wheels was heard, -and a moment later a whole column of coaches dashed up in front of the -house. - -From the first stepped two men, and, arm in arm, they came under the -arch, and never knight of crimson cross looked so happy as did the -younger, paler of the two, when he looked up and saw those words. - -But they could not pause--others were hurrying on behind and in front. -He saw her at the door, and with a wild, glad cry, he was in her arms. - -“Georgiana--mine at last!” - -“Yes, yes, my Harry, thine forever!” - -A moment’s sobs of joy broke on the air, but then, arm in arm, they -went on, while an unseen orchestra played a brilliant march of joy and -triumph. - -And then, in the great parlor, darkened outside, but blazing with -light within, without waiting for more than a few words and whispered -greetings, before the friends of bright days and the true friends of -darker hours, Georgiana Lonsdale was married to the returned exile--to -the man for whom she had dared her parents’ anger, whom she had so -nearly lost--by his own fault, and who had come back to her redeemed. - -Edward W---- stood at his right hand, Lizzie Legare stood by her dear -friend, and the ceremony, brief but impressive, was performed. When it -was over, all moved out to the banquet hall, and though no wine colored -the cloth or tempted man to fall, a more delicious repast was never -served. - -After it was over, at Georgiana’s request, her husband, noble and proud -in his true reformation, told the listening guests the strange, strange -story. He, that old attorney’s poor clerk, had met and loved Georgiana, -the only child and heir of those rich parents. They had scorned him, -for they had higher views for her--drove him from their door. She, in -her love and pride, had vowed to be his, and together they fled to -New York, there to be united in wedlock. He, in his too exuberant joy, -forgot his manhood, and when they should have been ready to stand up -before the minister was too intoxicated to stand. - -Crushed and indignant, she waited until he was sober enough to realize -what he had done, and then she told him to go forth and never, never to -return until his manhood was redeemed, and he could stand a free man -before his God, sworn and proven true in the full fruits of temperance. -He went. She would not go back to the home she had left, but at once -sought employment in the humblest line. - -There, dear reader, we found her. You have had the story. It is a -strange one, but to a very great extent it is true. And, as a young -writer, I can only hope it will do the good I wish it should do. That -it will give courage to the weak, hope to the hopeless, for no one is -so lost or fallen but that a higher, better life may be reached. - -I suppose I may as well tell you, Mr. Edward W---- is now trying to -forget his first disappointment in the smiles of sweet Lizzie Legare, -and Frank has “gone West.” - -THE END. - - * * * * * - -_THE SOUTHWORTH NOVELS in the_ - -Southworth Library - -If there is anyone that says we Americans have no literature of our -own, let him read the books of Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth. This author -may be said to have written truly great American novels. The scenes of -all of her stories are laid in America, are about American people and -deal with the mode of living peculiar to the American. - -Most of Mrs. Southworth’s books are pen pictures of the hopes and -fears, the joys and sorrows of good old-fashioned folk, but do not -think on that account that they are old-fashioned. - -Her works have always been considered standard romances and will be of -just the same intense interest twenty years hence as they were upon the -day when they were first written. - -We would like to send you a complete catalogue of Mrs. Southworth’s -books, but if you want to see just what this author has done, buy -copies of “Em,” and “Em’s Husband,” published as SOUTHWORTH LIBRARY, -Nos. 142 and 143. These books are very good examples of what this -author can do. - -_PRICE, TEN CENTS PER COPY_ - -“The Right Books at the Right Price” - -NOTICE--If these books are sent by mail, four cents must be added to -the price of each copy to cover postage. - -_STREET & SMITH, Publishers, New York_ - - * * * * * - -EAGLE LIBRARY - -A weekly publication devoted to good literature. April 19, 1897 - -NO. 8 - -S. & S. Novels - -“_THE RIGHT BOOKS AT THE RIGHT PRICE_” - -¶ Have you ever stopped to consider what a wealth of good reading is -contained in our S. & S. lines? We were pioneers of the paper book -industry. Being first in the field and having unlimited capital, we -were enabled to secure the works of the very best authors and offer -them to the reading public in the most attractive form. - -¶ We have the exclusive right to publish all of the late copyrighted -works of Charles Garvice, Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth, Bertha M. Clay -and Horatio Alger, Jr. We control exclusively the works of Mrs. Georgie -Sheldon, Nicholas Carter, Burt L. Standish, Effie Adelaide Rowlands, -Gertrude Warden and dozens of other authors of established reputations. - -¶ When you purchase an S. & S. Novel, you may rest assured that you -are getting the full value for your money and a little more. There are -none better. 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