Two Fortunes [pp. 371-376]

Two FORTUNES.
bloodshed, burning with fierce passion; that
of India is reflective, melanchloly, prodigious;
that of Persia subtle, airy, sensuous; and that
of China tame and uncreative, its principal
products being homely moral maxims clothed
in terse expressive language. To borrow the
striking metaphors of Alger, the Chinese muse
is a ground-sparrow, the Persian a gazelle, the
Indian an elephant, and the Arabian a lion.
Yet we are not to suppose that the Oriental
style is always according to this pattern, or that
the Occidental is always at variance with these
modes. There are passages in the Arabic, the
Hindoo, and the Persian bards as lofty and
spirited as Homer, as chaste and elegant as
Virgil, and as soul-entrancing as Milton; while,
on the other hand, the pages of our Western
poets at times present passages as gorgeous,
as florid, and as extravagant as any that were
ever traced by the pen of Firdousi or Hafiz.
(To Bl. CONTINUED.)
TWO FORTUNES.
HERE is n't enough, mamma."
Mrs. Ross stopped the noisy clicking
of her sewing-machine as her daughlter's
voice fell on her ear, and looked up wearily.
Tile girl standing before her spread out the
skirt of the soft silk which she had thrown over
her shoulder, and measuring its width with a
glance went on,
"There can't more than two breadths be
spared, and what can you do with that as fashions are now? Besides, I must have a new
waist to it."
iMrs. Ross pushed aside her work, and taking
the dress, began calculating, like the skillful
manager she was. "There's my old velvet cape.
We mighlt takle that for a jacket, and use these
two breadths-they are long and wide-for an
over-skirt."
"But the trimming?"
"Is n't there enough of that fiinge we have
had so long?"
"Not by half a yard, and I'm tired of it besides. It's done duty constantly for me for
the last four years; and the silk is faded."
"It could be turned."
"It has been once. The truth is, mamma, it
won't do. When we have done our best with
it, it will just be an old, faded, scrimped dress.
I'Il stay at home first." She gathered up the
silk impatiently-young and very pretty, the
trial of poverty was no slight one.
"But I want you to go, dear," her mother
said, detaining her. "Your aunt and cousins
will hardly like it if you refuse. You have no
reason."
"No reason. They know the reason without
our telling it. When every other girl in the
party will be beautifully dressed, Mary and I
do ni't want to look dowdy. I wvishl they had
not invited us. I wish-it's wicked to wish it,
I suppl)ose-but I do hope Aunt Hitty won't
live forever-I just ache for a little of her
mnoney."
"Georgie! Remember Aunt Hitty is my
sister."
"Only sister-in-law, thank fortune! What
sort of a man was Uncle James, I wonder, to
marry such a sour-well, he did not live long
after, and no wonder."
"There, Georgie, that will do. Uncle James
was my only brother, you know-the best one
ever was."
Thle girl flushed, half vexed, half penitent.
"He had trouble enough to make him good."
Thlen-seeing her mother's face-" I'm sorry,
or, at least, I won't say any thing about it again
to you. Let me take the old dress away, and
you rest."
"Yes, take it away." Gentle mother that
she was, she half repented already her reproof.
"We may think of some other way to fix it. If
we could but afford new ones. I want you to
go-you have so few pleasures."
"So very few "-her irritation rising again"that we do n't care for the doubtful one of being snubbed by our rich relations. I hate being
patronized."
"Do n't talk so, Georgie. Have you forgotten Aunt Mary's taking May to the sea-side last
Summer, and how much good the trip did her?
Our rich relations "-the smile was a little
bitter despite her efforts against it-" are very
convenient sometimes."
"Aunt Mary is good "-penitent again. "Not
much like Aunt Hitty, is she? But the girls
always seem patronizing."
"It is all seeming, I think. But, now"-anx
ious to break the discussion-"take this avavr
and get tea."
"Papa will be home to-nighlt."
"Yes. Try to have a little nicer tea than
usual, dear."
"What sent him off so suddenly?"
" Business for the firm." And with this
highly satisfactory answer Georgie left her
alone in the gathering dusk.
For years these few minutes between day.
light and dark had been the only rest hardworking, patient Mrs. Ross allowed herself.
Now, as she leaned back in her sewing-chair,
she covered her eyes with her hands, not to
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