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TAB SUNNY SOUTH. ATLA
the AUTOCRAT Of TODAY.
708 TS* SPNNT SoCTH.
, / thfl warriors and heroes,
We ,etd nlias in ola story are told,
whn ^ d OnsVna terrible Neroes.
Tbe ^''l ‘ lt s and despots of old;
Grim ty ra .‘«*“ r , al collection
A F» ad t^edwith sword and with Are,
-Sid In rejection -
‘"*iS.rr»»'T crMl *" d
h«ld monarch dominion
Bat De« r e c with more powerful sway.
Sot ^!uint -Public Opinion-
Tb» n creation today.
“f lSdes with yictorious banners
w. how in tbe meekest submission,
uia veriest whtra i* a ia^i
need awk his permission
^rwery life's oreatn that we draw.
,.S , With iapture ecstatic
V?* leap up with a bound -
ihmeVwitb what terror dramatic
A vPe cower and shrink at his frown.
Memphis, Tenn. — J. G.
A NEW YEAR CARD.
By Kate Marshall Penney.
For Thb SuNNr South.
H, DEAR, WHY can’t
I be original? Christ
mas and New Year
cards from time im
memorial have been
made up of blue-eyed
shivery-looking an
gels in the midst of
snow scenes. Mary
does this snow look
realistic?”
“Why, candidly
dear, it looks more
like blancmange, but
don’t be discouraged, it is the fault of
environment. \V ho could paint nat
ural looking snow when the thermom
eter is in the nineties? One must be
in the spirit of a thing in order to put
iton paper. What a pity the cards
b&ve to be handed in to the judges so
soon.
“A New Year card in hot September
weather is as flavorless as a water
melon in mid-winter. You are tired
to-day anyhow; at any rate I would
put it up for a little while.”
The would-be artist looked discon
solately at the picture and then con
cluded to follow her cousin’s advice
so taking a leap from the artistic to
the practical, she sat down by the win
dow aDd began ripping up an old
dress to make a new one of, a task in
which practice had made her perfect.
Mary Horton and Alice Dare were
cousins and told themselves and each
other that their consanguinity was
deepened by an affiinity for art, which
Mary deolared she would not spell
with a big A, since that made her
humble self seem so much smaller.
Doe of their favorite school-girl
dreams bad been to study together in
New York, and Mary bad gone stead
ily forward in her chosen field, un
daunted by a long apprenticeship in
charcoal, which in Alice’s eyes was
dreadful drudgery, until now she en
joyed the proud pleasure of being self-
supporting, and blithely went on her
way as a designer of patterns for wall
paper and oarpets.
It was not exactly a ladder of fame
she knew, but her work was congenial,
and she was thereby enabled to help
the little brothers and sisters at home,
so she was as cheery and brisk as the
little brown wrens that hop about in
such a business-like way.
After Alice came,especially, life bad
seemed doubly en joyable, and yet she
had never thoroughly understood why
Alice bad come; the explanations she
gave were good enough as far as they
*ent, but she bad shown a reluctanoe
to enter into details which Mary re
spected by asking no questions, but
often turned over in her own mind the
unknown quantity in the equation.
-Judged by city standards, Alice’s
fortune of ten thousand dollars was a
m ere pittance, but in her small world,
a town of six or eight thousand inhab
Jt&nts, it was amply sufficient for her
wants and she was regarded as quite
*n heiress.
She had passed the three years in
Evening between her graduation and
coming to New York at the home of
her guardian, and in the enjoyment of
nor indisputed reign as a belle of the
town, had quite forgotten her former
visions of making an artist of her
self **
Her life in the home of Mr. Grey
bad been a thoroughly contented one,
he and his wife had been the personi
fications of kindness and considera-
tion, and she had become warmly at
tached to all the family. Her corres
pondence with her cousin had been
sept up in a less desultory fashion
than is usual between two people
Whose lives, interests and aims are so
dissimilar.
Mary’s letters were full or her work;
trom the beginning she had had a well
uenned purpose in view; when disap
pointments and discouragements were
l n majority she only worked the
Q&rder and brought out all her reserve
re of mental sunshine, and when
things were going smoothly her re
membrance of the dark places kept her
from being unduly elated; in fact, she
was living, in a quiet, common sensi
ble way, a piece of sage advice which
she had never heard:
“An equal mind attain? Ah list,
The happy secrets double,
In prosperity be a pessimist,
An optimist in trouble.”
Meanwhile Alice, like the great mass
of humanity, was simply drifting,
floating very sweetly and gracefully
it is true, but merely being swept
along by the current of events, with no
volition of her own and very little
thought.
It is a well known fact that the hun
dreds of pretty girls who glide along
in this easy, careless fashion, usually
land in the harbor of matrimony, and
the winds and the waves seemed
to conspire together to influence
Alice to follow this time honored cus
tom, though frequently she was swept
aside by various side-currents and
now and then seemed retrogressing.
Several nineteenth century Prince
Charmings bad appeared on the scene,
but being well content to let well
enough alone and naif-afraid to ven
ture into an unknown world, she al
ways shook her pretty blonde head
and said, in effect, “No, thank you
sir.”
Her replies on these occasions were
so much alike that, if she had been
less sincerely sorry for the victims
who were so anxious to immolate
themselves on the altar, she might
have been amused at her own stereo
typed phraseology.
invariably she expressed her sor
row that she was obliged to be a dis
appointment to them in any respect,
and her dark-fringed hazel eyes
showed the truth of her words so ex
pressively that the luckless youths
went away more than ever convinced
of the loveliness and loveableness of
tbe treasure they had missed.
But all things change, and finally
the conquering hero came in the per
son of Jack Howard, and our heroine
first became conscious that her heart
was something more than a mere
blood-propeller.
His stay in Huston was short, but
Cupid, we all know, moves swiftly, and
when Jack went away he took with
him a promise which made him feel
that his strength was doubled, his
energy and ambition increased ten
fold.
The engagement, it was agreed,
must necessarily be a long one, as it
would be more than a year before
Jack could get his license to practice
law. The Howard income was very
scanty and the loving mother and
maiden aunt deprived themselves of
many comforts to help defray Jack’s
college expenses, while he taught
each vacation in order to be as nearly
as possible self-supporting.
Tne class of people, who, because of
the low order of their own minds, are
unable to impute other than base mo
tives, found in this the explanation of
Jack’s attraction towards Alice, and
buzzed around vigorously, whisper
ing their suppositions, until finally
the whispers reached Alice herself,
who treated them with the scorn
which they deserved.
Her affection was built on such a
firm sub-stratum of trust, without
which love is not love at all, but only
infatuation, that her sweet serenity
was undisturbed, and she was more
than ever thankful for her small for
tune, knowing that after their mar
riage Jack would not have such a
hard struggle as he otherwise would.
At this juncture Mr. Grey became
ill. What at first seemed an insigni
ficant attacK soon developed alarming
symptoms,and the doctor looked more
and more grave at each successive
visit.
He himself was horrified when he
realized the seriousness of his own
condition.
In the midst of her grief Alice was
amazed to find that death had such
terrors for so honorable and upright a
man as every one believed Mr. Grey
to be.
At the last he was deprived of the
power of speech, his efforts to express
himself were pitiful, and his appeal
ing glances to Alice puzzled while
they distressed her.
Alas! only too soon did she realize
their significance. An examination of
his papers revealed the fact that he
had involved himself in disastrous
speculations, and in the effort to re
trieve himself, her entire fortune bad
been swallowed up.
She always considered it an error of 1
judgment rather than of intention,
and never doubted that, if his life had
been spared, he would have repaid
every oent, but her charitable view of
bis fault did not lessen her misfor
tune.
However, nothing is ever so bad as
it might be, and this was no excep
tion to the rule; his life had been in
sured for five thousand dollars.
Mrs. Grey was free from debt and
her home was unencumbered, and if
Alice had been selfish enough to ac
cept the sacrifice, every cent would
have been turned over to her.
The blow fell heaviest upon Mrs.
Grey, who was a particularly frail
and helpless little woman. To lose
her hnsband and confidence in the
so proud, at one fell blo^, and to find
herself and little childnfn absolutely
penniless, as they wouLb be if Alice’s
debt was paid, was eiough to make
the stoutest heart q^il. Neverthe
less, she insisted upon selling all that
she had and paying the just debt, the
only condition being that Alice must
agree never to mention the loss of her
money, since no sacrifice was too
great to keep her husband’s name
GEORGIA, OCTOBER 14 1893
and hardship when happiness shone
so clearly at the end?
But the eyes that read the letter
looked at the future through very
different lenses—the couleur de rose
was replaced by indigo blue.
Mrs. Branscombe’s words, that
penniless wife would be a mill
stone around his neck, haunted
Alice’s thoughts; it would be a re
lief if she could only tell him her rea
pure and unspotted in the eyes of the son for breaking the engagement, but
world. her promise to Mrs. Grey kept her
Alice readily agreed to the condi-1 silent, so she penned & cold little note,
tion, but refused to accept the money, telling him that she was going to New
pointing out to her friend that the York‘ and that she had decided that it
change in her finances could not fail
to be noticed and commented on, as
one of the penalties of living in a
small place is the fact that each man
is well acquainted with his neighbor's
affairs, and she would thus bring
upon her husband’s memory the oblo
quy she wished to avoid.
Together • they agreed that Alice
should go to New York, ostensibly to
study art with Mary, while Mrs. Grey
should live on in Huston and en
deavor to increase her slender means
by teaching a small day-school; she
was to send her ten dollars a month,
which was all that Alice thought it
would he possible for her to spare.
Mr. Grey’s death occurred only ten
days before Christmas, and the gloom
of the bereaved household was inten
sified in contrast with the glad season
and happiness of other homes.
The ladies of the church, as usual,
were preparing a Christmas tree, and,
although Alice had no heart to enter
into the work, she had some
time before offered a prize for
regular attendance and perfect
lessons to her Sunday-school class, so
she took it and went to the church to
make the necessary explanations to
the committee who had charge of the
program.
Entering as the daylight was fading
out and before the gas was lighted, her
presence was unnoticed, and as she
stopped for a moment to look at t he
tree her attention was arrested by
hearing her own name mentioned; as
ninety-nine out of a hundred would
have done, she stopped to listen.
Contrary to the saying that eaves
droppers hear no good of themselves,
she heard herself warmly eulogized by
Mrs. Branscomb, a relative of Jack
Howard’s.
“I am so glad that Alice Dare is a
rich girl,” she continued; “a penni
less wife would be a mill-stone around
Jack’s neck. The poor fellow is in a
great deal of trouble just now.”
“Why, how is that?” questioned her
companion.
“I have just had a letter from his
aunt,” was the reply, “telling me that
his mother has had a fall which will
probably render her an invalid for
life. Of course they will have to give
up their boarders, and I suppose Jack
will adopt some business which will
bring in money immediately, you
know it always takes a young lawyer
two or three years to get into prac
tice. 1 only hope he will not injure
his health by over-work, you know he
is not very strong.”
“It is a good tning then that his
fiance is rich. By-the-way, didn’t
you tell me that some heiress in his
own town was in love with trm?”
“Perhaps I did, that is the general
Impression; her fortune is much lar
ger than Alice’s, too. I suppose I
ought not to have repeated that little
piece of gossip though, it seems rather
an unkind thing to say that any girl
is a victim of unrequited affection.
Then the conversation drifted to
other topics, and after waiting a few
minutes to recover her self-posses
sion, Alice emerged from her leafy
screen, and having explained the er
rand that brought her, went out into
the gathering gloom of the twilight,
feeling that her air-c&stle had fallen
and buried her beneath the ruins.
On her arrival at home she found a
letter from Jack, so full of anxiety
concerning his mother that nothing
was said as to his plans for the f utnre.
Her answer was all womanly sym
pathy ; her future course seemed mark
ed out for her very clearly, for con
science and duty had blazed the way,
hut to say anything to increase his
troubles now would have seemed like
piling Helion upon Ossa.
For the week that followed, while
her reason told her that there was lit
tle probability that anything could
occur to make it right not to sacrifice
all her hopes for the future, yet the
will-o’-the-wisn of unreasonable hope,
which dances delusively over the bog
of trouble and at times makes Micaw-
bers of us all, glimmered fitfully in
her mental vision. But nothing “turn
ed up ”
However, another letter came
from Jack, which in some degree con
firmed Mrs. Branscomb’s suppositions.
His mother’s life was no longer in
danger but hopeless invalidism was
the result of the fall.
Of course he could no longer con
tinue his studies at the law-school,
but bad been fortunate in securing a
clerkship in the office of a leading
lawyer of the town, and by bard study
in his leisure,bouis he would yet be
enabled to pursue his chosen vocation.
What a buoyantly hopeful letter it
was! The fear that bad hung like a
funeral pall over his head bad been re
moved and her love was the beacon
light which beckoned him on. Why
was best to break their engagement—
for a woman’s reason, she had changed
her mind. Fearful of betraying too
much, she condensed her letter as
much as possible, and closed without
tbe words of regret for his disap
pointment and wishes for his future
welfare with which she had been
wont to try to console other rejected
lovers.
Mrs. Grey had always been so en
tirely in Alice’s confidence that, had
she been less engrossed in her own
sorrow, she could not have failed to
divine the true reason for the despon
dency which the brave girl tried to
bide. As it was, it was but dimly im
pressed upon her consciousness, and
only in the lignt of future events did
her knowledge become clear. So
Alice turned over this page in her
book of destiny, and only her own
heart was the wiser. Oue other short
chapter succeeded, and then she wrote
finis to her pitiful little romance.
Jack was dumbfounded with amaze
ment wben he read her letter; it was
so utterly incomprehensible, so out of
harmony with what he knew of her
character, that he wrote for an expla
nation. The letter was forwarded by
Mrs. Grey, but w*s oid when Alice*re-
ceived it. She felt that no satisfacto
ry answer could be given, so gave
none at all.
He waited impatiently for the letter
that never came, then, as blind trust
is not a masculine characteristic, sid
ed with the cynics who decry woman
ly constancy, and tried to bury the
debris of his sentimental episode, as
he scornfully called it, under tbe dry
dust of Blackstone, Coke and jLittle-
ton.
The truth of the little book “Blessed
be Drudgery,” was exemplified in
both their lives at this
time. Alice found that her knowledge
of art, which had been quite satisfac
tory as a pastime and pleasure, was a
poor dependence as a bread winner
Blossoms and butterflies which bad
heen warmly praised by admiring
friends were not so salable as she nad
fancied they would be, but at last she
gained steady employment, at starva
tion wages, as decorator of fancy arti
cles for a large store.
Tbe delicious piuk-and-whiteness of
her apple-blossoms called up visions
of whole orchards to the passers-by
and her dainty clover blooms might
almost have deluded tbe bees, but con
sidered as “pot-boilers” they were not
a brilliant success.
Her regular ten dollars a month
ought to have been made of India
rubber to cover all she meant It to,
and the way she dyed, turned and re
made her dresses would have
filled a fashionable dressmaker with
awe.
So we find her at the beginning of
our story deftly arranging her trim
ming to hide the worn places, and
anxiously inquiring as she surveyed
the effect in tbe glass.
“Mary, does it look bome-madey?”
“Not the least in the world; you
know Miss Hester says you wear your
clothes with such an air that nobody
would be presumptuous enough to
think of economy in connection with
them. By the way, let’s have her into
tea, you koow she doesn’t know any
one in the house yet, aud my box of
good things from the country will
come in nicely. So by the time you
run down the street and get some ice
for the tea and diluted essence of cow
for tbe peaches. I’ll have the
paints cleared away and the table
set.”
Miss Hester Brown bad been a warm
friend and acro^s-the-hall neighbor in
their former lodging house, and since
they had changed for the sake ot
larger rooms, she had been induced to
es, but then they usually helped, so it
was lots of fun. I’il initiate you into
the Eleusioian Mystery and let you
peep behind the scenes where Alice is
cutting bread. The coal oil stove
looks natural, doesn’t it? Smoky lit
tle monster. We’re going to have a
gas stove wben our ship comes in.”
“I see you have a folding bed-stead,”
said Miss Hester, as they re-entered
the larger room.
“Yes, trying to look like a cabinet
organ. Alice insisted on it, but it
makes me feel like a hypocrite every
time I look at it.”
t|“Mary threatens to paint ‘I’m a
fraud’ on it in big letters,” chimed in
Alice.
“Well, it is really necessary to ao
something,” said Mary; “a lady called
here the other day to see me about
some work, she was evidently unac
customed to makeshifts; she looked at
it through her eye-glass and drawled,
“Ah, Miss Horton, are you musical as
well as artistic?’”
In the midst of the laugh that fol
lowed they seated themselves at the
table, and Mary’s mother, who had
sent the box, would have felt more than
repaid for tne trouble could she have
seen how the home-made bread, thin
slices of pink ham and peaches and
cream were enjoyed.
“What extravagance,” exclaimed
Miss Hester. “Tne idea of using
painted china.”
“Because we can’t afford plain,”
laughed Alice. “You see I painted it
long ago when I was taking lessons,
aud wben Mary and I set up house
keeping it was much cheaper to use
wnat we had than to buy even the
commonest new ware.”
“To change the subject,” said Miss
Hester, “I have had a letter from
Annie Gorham, you remember my
niece who was with me last year, and
she tells me she is going to be mar
ried.”
Indeed,” said Mary, “and she is only
htunn f
stainless honor of which she had been 1 worry over afew years of hard work
follow them, and had just moved in.
She was a maiden lady, not of uncer
tain age, because she did not hesitate
to tell it, and who, if she had been in
clined to falsify in that regard,
would probably, in her con
tempt for false pride,have made herself
appear older instead of younger than
she really was.
Mary had dubbed her “sweet pickle”
as she said nothing else expressed the
combination of sharpness, spice and
sweetness in her composition. Now as
she entered, doubtless fee^iug a little
tired after her hard day’s Work of get
ting settled, but showing no evidence
of it in her spick-and-span briskness,
Mary met her and began to expatiate
on the advantages of their new loca-
t'OD.
“Just see how luxurious we are,”
said she; “we’ve actually got a suite
of rooms, at least the landlady makes
out her bill that way, though the other
room is only a good-sized closet aud
we have made a kitchen out of it; you
know at the other place the guests at
our little tea-parties had £ full view
of the modus operandi of all our dish-
eighteen !'
“Yes,” was the rejoinder, “and the
happy man is not quite twenty-one.
Well, ’ shaking her head dubiously,
perhaps it is not altogether a bad
thing. I’m rather in favor of a young
mau marrying early ; the responsibil
ity of a Benedict is a very sobering,
settling kind of a thing certainly.
Beneficial, I suppose, and the love
makes it seem desirable at tbe time,
something like a sugar-coated pill,
you know.”
Why if you think it’s such a
good thing, I wonder that you stayed
single, Miss Hester,” said Mary,
while Alice gave her a look of rebuke
for being so personal.
“Well, it was partly predestination
and partly free will,” was the reply;
“but I’m forgetting that I have not
quite finished my room yet. Good
night. This little tea has been like
an oasis in a desert,” then, laughing,
“no wonder I thought of a desert,
everything so dusty in my room.”
The next morning Alice again be
gan work at her New Years’ card, but
got more and more discouraged.
“I must have a model for my angel,”
she said; “Mary, try to look as angelio
as possible, and I’il make a sketch of
you.”
Mary laughed merrily, “the idea of
an angel with a turn-up nose. But
that gives me a thought; seriously,
Alice, you do the rest of the picture
and let me take you a model and put
it in the angel.”
4 ‘Oh, 1 am not conceited enough for
that, and besides, the aogel is the
main part of the picture, so it would
be your card and not mine. I’ll hunt
up some faces and try to make a com
posite angel.
What a glorious thing it would be
for me If I could get the prize, not
only the money itself, but it would be
a new opening. You know, the work
1 am doing together with the money
Mrs. Grey sends only pays bare expen
ses and don’t leave a cent to lay up
for the proverbial rainy day.”
She worked on and on day after day
making and destroying one card after
another; fiually she painted all the
minor pares of the picture and said to
Alary that she would send it, whether
she succeeded with tbe angel or not.
“i’ll begin on th*t bright and early
i n the morning,” she said, “I have such
a headache now.”
But when morning came tbe head
ache was worse and a slow fever set
in. She was never seriously ill, but
too much so to think of work, and the
time was rapidly approaching when
the competition would be closed, so
Mary carried her point, copied Alice's
own sweet face and sent the card.
The result was not known for some
time, and when it was they could
hardly say that they were disappoint
ed, as their hopes had never been
high.
Of course it did not wim the prize,
the subject was too hackneyed for
that, but it was accepted and, best of
all. well paid for.
Mary was especially glad of this, as
Alice was sadly in need ef something
to encourage her; since she had been
able to be up she seemed a pale ghost
of her former self and worried no lit
tle about the debts which her illness
had obliged her to incur.
Meanwhile Jack Howard had suc
ceeded beyond his hopes. It was now
more than two years since he had ac
cepted a clerkship in Mr. Walden’s
Continued on Ninth page. 4