horror_. I don't mean that
she has given up school, for she is studying harder than
ever; but out of school she is simply _swallowed up_ by
these wretched things. I have remonstrated with her _almost_
on my KNEES. 'Hildegarde,' I said one day, 'do you
REALIZE that you are practically _giving up_ your
_whole_ LIFE? If you once _lose your place_ in
Society among those of your _own age_ and _position_, you
NEVER can regain it. Do you REALIZE this, Hilda?
for I feel it a SOLEMN DUTY to _warn_ you!' My
dear, she actually LAUGHED! and only said, 'Dear
Madge, I have only just begun to have any life!' And that
was _all_ I could get out of her, for just then some one
came in. But even _this_ is not _the worst_! Oh, Helen! she
has some of the _creatures_ whom she saw this summer,
actually _staying_ in the house,--in THAT house,
which we used to call Castle Graham, and were almost afraid
to enter ourselves, so stately and beautiful it was! There
are two of these creatures,--a girl about our age, some sort
of dreadful cripple, who goes about in a bath-chair, and a
freckled imp of a boy. The girl is at ---- Hospital for
treatment, but spends _every Sunday_ at the Grahams', and
Hilda devotes _most_ of her spare time to her. The boy is at
school,--one of the _best_ schools in the city. 'But _who_
are these people?' I hear you cry. My dear! they are simply
_ignorant paupers_, who were Hilda's constant companions
through that _disastrous summer_. Now their mother is dead,
and the people with whom Hilda stayed have adopted them. The
boy is to be a doctor, and the girl is going to get well,
Dr. George says. (_He_ calls her a beautiful and interesting
creature; but you know what _that_ means. _Any diseased_
creature is beautiful to _him_!) Well, and THESE,
my dear Helen, are Hilda Graham's FRIENDS, for whom
she has _deserted_ her OLD _ones_! for though she
is _unchanged_ towards me when I see her, I hardly ever
_do_ see her. She cares nothing for _my_ pursuits, and I
certainly have NO intention of joining in _hers_. I
met her the other day on _Fifth Avenue_, walking beside that
_odious_ bath-chair, which the freckled boy was pushing. She
looked so _lovely_ (for she is prettier than ever, with a
fine color and eyes like _stars_), and was tal