Madison Whig advocate. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1839-1841, 1839-12-07

walked out of the church alone, and re- /
manned seated in the parlor at the Blue /
Boar the reinaindcrof the day. As may /
be supposed, speculation was busy at
work, al more than one lea table at Ho |
duct that morning. and conjecfures were
poured out with the tea. and swallowed
with INC Icasf.
A few days~cIapsed, and stranger was
almost forgotten, for there was 10 be a
subscription assembly at IIoduct, which |
entirely engrossed the attention of the |
villagers; SO important an event not hav-
ingtakcT place for near half century
bctofe- Great preparations were made,
IND al length the Important night arris-
ed; aud nine O'clock. which was consider
ed fashionable hour, the ball was nearly
full, and the first country dance, (tor
quadriites were not then known to the
villagers of Ioduct) was led off by the
eldest son of the squire Of the village,
who conducted the chosen divinity of his
heart, the only one Of the Justices of the
peace for the county of Shropshire.
gracefully through its MAKES Enjoy
rnent was att height, when suddenly the
merrinlent was checked, and more than
usual hustle pervaded the room. The
stranger had entered it; and there was
something SO different in his looks and
manner from any Of the other male crea-
lures present, that every body surveyed
him with renewed curiosity, which was
At first tinctared with awe. 1Who can
he be?n was the question that instantly
started up like crocus in many maid
ems throbbing bosom. ale knows no
body, and nobody knows him; sure he
never will think Of asking any body TO
Dances
For a long time the stranger stood aloof
from the dancers, in a corner of the room,
by himself, and they were almost be-
ginning TO forget he was present But
he was not idle; he was attentively OBJ
serving every group and every individual
In the room. And Judging by the various
expressions OF his countenance, one would
have thought he could read characters
at glance. He did not seem TO regard
the generality of the company present
with favorable eye. At length, how
ever, something like change seemed to
como over the spirit of his dreams His
eye fell on Emily Somers, and appeared
to rest where il fell, with no small degree
of pleasure. No wonder Emily was
not what is generally termed beautifully
q
gentleness about her, that charmed the
more the longer it was observed. Her
winning smiles her uncIouded temper and
her aflectionate disposition, sthrew their
hallowed influence around her wherever
she went. She was the only child of
widowed mother. Her father was an Of
ficer in the army, and fell in battle, and
the pension of an officers widow was all
they had to support them. 1t was to En-
lily Somers that the stranger first adj
dressed himself, and asked her 10 dance
with him. Emily had not seen him be-
fore of course; but concluding he had
come there with some of her friends, and
being little acquainted with the arbitrary
rules Of etiquette, she Immediately with
frank artiessness, smile an acceptance
of his request, and they ioined the merry
dancers on the ligh, fantastic Toe. At
the close Of the evenings amusements,
The stranger requested permission TO &c
company Mrs. and Miss Somers TO their
residence, which was granted; and upon
his taking leave of them for the night, he
asked if he might be permitted to visit
them the next day, which was assented
to by Miss Somers On the following
morning he called to pay his respects TO
them and so won upod their favor by his
pleasing and genllemanly behavior that
he was soon allowed TO be their dailvvis-
itor at Joy Cottage; but notwithstanding
the apparent intimacy, which was OBJ
served with no small degree Of jealousy
by some of the female villagers Of Ho-
duct, he, remained almost as great
stranger at the Cottage as when they
first became acquainted with him, except
that he had informed them that his name
was Frederick Bureight. that he was
single young man OF a respectable family.
The gossips of the village were not
sparing Ia their remar ks of wonder and
astonishment, that Mrs. Somers would
allow a person whom she had never seen
in her life before the night of the ball to
become a daily visitor at her house; j.
was very imprudent, wasn't it; for aught
she knew he might be q married man, a
swindler, or what not. Such was the
scandal of the village. Mrs. Somers,
however regarded not the idle talk of
her neighbors, which she looked upon
as only the offspring of envy and jeai-
ousy; for TO we'll cultivated mind she adj
ded considerable experience of the world;
therefore il did not take her long to dis
cover that her new friend was, in every
sense Of the word, man whose habits
and manners entitled him TO the rank of
a gentleman; and she thought, too, that
she saw in him after short intercourse,
many of those nobler qualities which
raise the iadividaal 10 high and mer-
tied rank among his fellow men. AS
for Emily. she loved his society, she I
scarcely knew Why yet, when she en-
ieavored TO discover the cause, she found |
ii no difficult matter TO convince herselfl
that there was something about him so
infinitely superior 10 all other men she /
seen before, that she was only obeying
the dictates of reason in admirng and
esteeming him. Her admiration and es-
TEEN continued to increase in proportion
as she became better acquainted with
him, and this sentiment seemed indeed /,
10 be mutual; for he now spent his time
almost continually in her society The Ii