The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Transfiguration of Miss Philura, by
Florence Morse Kingsley
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net
Title: The Transfiguration of Miss Philura
Author: Florence Morse Kingsley
Release Date: February 17, 2009 [EBook #28102]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TRANSFIGURATION OF MISS PHILURA ***
Produced by Annie McGuire
THE TRANSFIGURATION
OF MISS PHILURA
[Illustration: Mrs. Smart's Theme was Thought Forces and the Infinite
[_See page 18_]
THE TRANSFIGURATION
OF
MISS PHILURA
_By_
FLORENCE MORSE KINGSLEY
_THIRTEENTH EDITION_
FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY
NEW YORK AND LONDON
COPYRIGHT, 1901, BY
FLORENCE M. KINGSLEY
_Registered at Stationers' Hall, London, England_
[PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA]
Hour-Glass Stories Edition. Published March, 1902
* * * * *
CHAPTER ONE
Miss Philura Rice tied her faded bonnet-strings under her faded chin
with hands that trembled a little; then she leaned forward and gazed
anxiously at the reflection which confronted her. A somewhat pinched and
wistful face it was, with large, light-lashed blue eyes, arched over
with a mere pretense at eyebrows. More than once in her twenties Miss
Philura had ventured to eke out this scanty provision of Nature with a
modicum of burned match stealthily applied in the privacy of her virgin
chamber. But the twenties, with their attendant dreams and follies, were
definitely past; just how long past no one knew exactly--Miss Philura
never informed the curious on this point.
As for the insufficient eyebrows, they symbolized, as it were, a meagre
and restricted life, vaguely acknowledged as the dispensation of an
obscurely hostile but consistent Providence; a Providence far too awful
and exalted--as well as hostile--to interest itself benignantly in so
small and neutral a personality as stared back at her from the large,
dim mirror of Cousin Maria Van Deuser's third-story back bedroom. Not
that Miss Philura ever admitted such dubious thoughts to the select
circle of her conscious reflections; more years ago than she cared to
count she had grappl
|