MAY PERRIAN.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XI, Issue 262, 2 December 1876, Page 1

MAY PERRIAN.

" I am sure I could do that," said May Perrian. She Avas sitting on an inverted starchbox in the middle of the kitchen floor, her round chin in her hands; her dotted cambric dress turned deftly up to protect it from all possible contact Avith dust and. dirt ; for Miss Perrian spent a goodly portion of her time in that identical kitchen. Mark Perrian had been a Avell-to-do merchantonce, but uiiAvarily allowinghimself to be persuaded into endorsing for a plausible villain, he sank almost as if by magic into the Slough of Despond which men call poverty. He Avas not a man of much courage or endurance, and consequently he gave up almost without a struggle, took to his bed, and sent for a doctor. And May, his eldest daughter, Avas left in entire charge of a battalion of younger children. Servants had been discharged, the bighouse Avas exchanged for a shabby little tenement in a side street, and all expenses Avere curtailed as much as possible. But May had all the spirit and energy that her father lacked, and this she could have borne braA^ely enough had it not been for the eA'er-increasing heritage of petty debt that seemed to Aveigh her doAvu. She Avas sitting on the starch-box, with a grocer's bill in her hand, her pretty brows knitted, and her lips pursed up in mute perplexity, when Annie Smith came in. Annie had been seamstress in the family Avhen they lived in the big house, and she had noAv been promoted to the position of general assistant in a fashionable millinery. She was taking home an order, and she could not resist stopping to exchange a greeting Avith her young mistress as she came by the door. "It's for Miss St. James," said she. " Just look, Miss — such a love of a hat." Miss Perrian turned the hat around and around on her hand, eyed the biirich of crushed roses, the cloudy folds of tulle, and the crystal butterfly that quivered on a spiral wire on the top. " I am sure I could do that'" said she. " 'Deed, miss, and I Avish you had the chance," uttered sympathetic Annie. " For Miss Halwyn is ill — the best trimmer that Madame has — and Ave 're dreadful hurried." "Could you get one or two for me to trim? It would be so nice if I could earn a little money when the children are at school." " I'll try, Miss," said Annie. And the next night she came at dusk, Avith a mysterious paper box under her arm, and her face wreathed Avith smiles. " There's two of 'em, Miss," said she ; " one chip and one lace, Avith the floAvers and trimmings in a paper. And if they suit, you can have plenty more to do." May trimmed the hats to the best of her ability, studying OA r er them as if they had been prize essays, or cabinet paintings, or anything else that required the deepest thought and the most careful manipulation, and Madame Denise went into ecstasies over them. "She shall trim Miss Laplace's hat, Smith," said she, to the pleased little assistant. " And tell her to do her very best." It Avas a piece of pale pink crape, Avith ribbons of the softest sunset hue, and a cluster of delicate spring honeysuckles, that Annie Smith brought round that night to Miss Perrian. " Miss Laplace is Madame's best customer," said she, Avith a pleased air of importance. May Perrian Avaited until Dr. Lindsley had left her father's sick room — Dr Lindsley, whose gentle patience and uniform kindness filled her heart Avith the deepest gratitude. He looked in as he passed the open sittingroom-door. " Your father seems brighter this morning, Miss Perrian, said he. May's soft broAvn eyes sparkled. "I am so glad," said she. "And I hope, doctor, in a feAV days to be ablo to pay you at least a portion of " •" Oh, there's no hurry about that," interrupted the doctor.' "Time enough — time enough." And the next instant, May Perrian could hear his carriage wheels rattling doAvn the street. With a sigh, she Avent to the cupboard Avhere she had placed the halftrimmed hat. But, as she did so, a pallor

spread over lier face. Little Miriam,. the eight-year-old girl, had chanced to findjier younger sisters playing with the bottle of cod liver oil which Dr Lindsley had prescribed for Mr. Perrian, and to ensure; its safety* she had climbed into a chair; and put it in the safest place she could find, quite unconscious that the bottle had beea cracked by the children's play, and was oozing ita liquid contents, aU over the shelf where, alas! May had deposited the French crape and sunset-rcoiored ribbon. May stood a second or two. looking at it through a mist of tears, while her heart throbbed so that she could scarcely draw her breath. " What shall I do?" she asked herself. "I will go to Miss Laplace at once, and tell her the whole story. I will throw myself on her kindness and charity. The price of a hat like this is an insurmountable sum to me, to her it can be but a mere bagatelle: Surely she never can be cold and cruel to a sister women." Miss Eudora Laplace was in her pretty drawing-room, when the page, with much social discretion, announced " a young person to see her." And May Perrian, following her introduction, almost instantaneously stoott in the young beauty's presence. ,j " Miss Laplace," said she. u I have been trimming a hat for you at Madame Denise's order. Unfortunately, it is ruined." And she told the simple story. A. dark frown gathered between Eudora'S; brows. " And what do you expect me to do abont it ?" said she. ■' Of course, you must pay for the matierals you have spoiled." " I am very,; very poor," said May . perrian, with a quivering lip. "My father is ill, and ■> S V ■'* "Oh, yes, of course," , peevishly interrupted Miss Laplace. " You needn't go on. I know the whol"e"stereotyped story hy heart. Do you suppose I can afford to buy costly materials to be ruined by every milliner's girl who chooses to be careless about them? You will pay for them, of course." " Miss Laplace " [ " No more, altercations, if you please," said the arrogant beauty, tapping her foot stormily oh the carpet. "You will pay for them. . That settles it. Ido not intend to be imposed upon by — — " " Miss Laplace." ' . ", It was a deeper, more serious, voice that interrupted her this tirde — the Voice of ,Dr. Eindsley, who parted the draperies that divided the beudoir from the sleepihg-roora beyond. " Your voice is raised to a pitch tjiat seriously interferes with the nerves of your sick sister." ; Eudora Laplace colored, and shrank away with burning cheeks: Of all Hying beings, she cared most for the opinion, of Pr.Launcelot.Lhidsley,and had she dreamed for a second that he was listening to lier, she would have moderated her ace .fits', to r quite a different key. He advanced quietly into the room, taking out his pocket : bbok as he did so. . ' ' „[~' "Will you allow me to settle the amount in which Miss Perrian is indebted to you?" asked he. " Her father is a particular friend of mine, and " "Oh, doctor, it's not of the least cohse--quence," said Eudora in sugared' tones. 1 " Then why didn't you say so to Miss Perrian ?" brusquely demanded 1 tlie physician. " It's all right, I'm sure, Miss Perrian, if that's your name," said Eudora. And May withdrew with burning cheeks and downcast eyes, murmuring a word or two of thanks to the doctor as she went. •3 O O <S O ' "Not married to Dr. Lindsley!" cried out Eudora Laplace, just three months afterwards. "What, that milliner's girl?" " But she's not a milliner's girl at all," maliciously retorted Stephania, her sister. "She's the daughter of a decayed gentleman, I'm told, very highly educated. And I tell yen what, Eudora, you lost your chance the day you scolded her so about the hat, and he overheard you. It's your own temper that has done it, my dean" : It was too true. " Pity," as we all know, is" akin to love." And when Dr. Lindsley so sincerely pitied the pretty young victim of Miss Laplace's anger, the first spark of a tender feeling flamed up in his heart ; and May is the happiest of young brides.