THINGS WHICH ARE NOT WHAT THEY SEEM.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume VIII, Issue 35, 29 August 1891, Page 318

THINGS WHICH ARE NOT WHAT THEY SEEM.

Everybody in town is buying dowers. Everybody has a rose or a pink in his or her buttonhole, or branch of lilacs in his or her hand. The perfume of the dowers brings back to everybody that country which is God’s own, and which man w ho could only take bricks and build houses could not have made. It makes every human being want to walk across the grass and feel the soft ground under the feet, notwithstanding the care with which the sign of * keep off the grass ' is put everywhere. Everybody wants to get out into the parks, w here they can get great mouthfuls of sweet, fresh air. and oh, you people, who are fortunate enough not to be dwelling in great cities these spring-time days, please don't forget no* only the poor, but just remember that to the sick and the lonely a rose or a branch of lilacs will bring a happy time : a time, maybe, of reminiscences, but still the perfume of the dower will carry a joy with it wherever it goes. Sentimental Well, you can't blame a woman for being a bit sentimental these spring days, when the sun is so bright and the dowers are so sweet. And what is a woman without sentiment, anyway ? You wouldn’t like her, and nobody else would. But men in reality have much more sentiment than women. The other day I was standing on the corner, and a very fine turn-out went by. A woman with marvellous, glossy black hair and great dark eyes, beautifully dressed and looking the embodiment of happiness, smiled and bowed to me, and just then I heard a voice near me say, • I wish I were that woman.' I looked around, and there stood a sweet-looking dainty little creature, quite as attractive in her simple frock as was madame in her gorgeousness. For all the girl saw was the prancing steeds, the beautiful gown, the richness of lace and the loveliness of silk. She couldn’t see far enough in the deep eyes to discover the sadness and disappointment that lay therein. And I wondered what that girl would think, or if she wouldn't change her wish, if she knew exactly that woman's life. This is part of it. She is the wife of a very rich man, and to-day if she wants £1 she has to get it on one of her accounts and have them

charge it to frills and furbelows. She doesn’t know what it means to have money to spend. She can give her name for an enormous amount to a charity and her husband will send the cheque; she can buy the best ot everything in New York or Paris and the bills will be paid, but she cannot have any money to handle And why ? Because her people are poor, her husband does not like them, and he will not permit her to give one cent to them. A year ago her brother, a young boy, did as many another boy has done, got into some trouble, and £4OO was required to get him out of it. To be quite plain, he had forged a man’s name, and this man said • ‘ If you will get the money I will save you from shame, and because I believe you have suffered for this I will keep you in my employ. ’ The boy’s future depended on his getting that money. The man knew the boy had a rich sister, and it never entered his head that she would not easily and gladly give her brother the £4OO. Her brother went to her and told her the story, and she said : • Charlie, what can I dot \on know I never have a penny.’ And then he told her how much depended on it, and she said, ‘l'll get you that money in some way.’ And this is how she did it : She took the diamond necklace that had been one of her wedding presents, and which had cost nearly ten thousand dollars, and she carried it to a pawnbroker, where she got two thousand on it. Since that time she has never been able to get the amount of money needed to get it out, and it s only by saving and pinching that she hrs enough to pay the interest on it. That she may never have to wear it, she has assumed a fashion that very much pleases her busband.

She wears no jewels whatever except a tinv diamond heart that he gave her, and he is convinced that she shows marvellous taste in refusing to exhibit her diamonds, pearls, rubies and emeralds, as do the climbers in society, for as everybody knows she has them, she can afford not'to wear them. At one time she was very ill, although she was never quite out of her mind. W hen the time came around for the interest to be paid, she sent for a friend, confided her secret to her, and in this way it was paid, the necklace was saved, and the busband is still ignorant. Some day he will find out the secret, and if she was wise, she would tell him now.