Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1846-05-21
bit of paper, sprinkled with large drops of flower
dew and scented with half blown roses, which
is wften--


lhuughiiu aud beautiful he stood,
| As listening to the ocean roar"
/ "Yes-yes, that'll do 10 begin with-A creature
IN the shape Of man of course, therefore, not a
man. Heigho! | wonder if impromptus are al
ways so very hard to manage? "A creature in the
shape Of man. stood ConGering on the silent shore
Il they should happen to print it wandering, now &!
! Thoughtful and beautiful, and-nnocent' Oh,
that | could get the word innocent there OF
course, then, everybody would sec that ! didn't
mean mana real, downright, good-for-nothing
man. How beautifully it might be finished then,
without any Of these abomnable repctions that
father scolds about so much. Thoughtful and
beantfu and Innocent listening to the ocean
Rna, row having emptied her heart, up she jumps
andrlins TO the window, and looks out with eyes
brimtuEof danpncss and light, Just in time to see
her father pass almost within reach of her hand
/ How herlittle heart did thump, to be sVe And
tAn too how suddenly It stopped, when Ne stopped
and appeared to be stcning She was afraid to
move, almost afraid to breathe and when he turn
ed hastily, and, seeing the curtains dropped, put
his hands upon them, as if to know the reason why
she grew desperate, and gathering up all the ffar-
ments of paper within her reach, swept them care
fully underneath the table, and flung her apron
over them.
"Ah, Julia, is that you? ~ said her father. push
ing aside the curtains and looking in with smile
" You are up early this morning. At the piano,
hey ~
Poor Julia colored and looked foolish.
" At your drawing, too? Thank you, my dear
child. do really want to see that drawing finish
ed. And the letter to your cousin Martha you
have begun that, hope?'
eyes father
BY this time her fathers eye had taken survey
of the whole room, and the smile vanished. And
Just them the COMPOUNDED papers under her apron
began to rustic; and when she set her foot npon
them they only rustled the harder, and began to
unt"ist OF themselves very slowly, as if they would
be taken notice of. SO thought poor Julia, and she
never iorgave them.
"Ah, what's that?" and as he spoke he stopped.
but Julia was too quick for him. A little more. a
single hands breadth, and that scrap of poetry she
had torn OIL and flung at the window with such Vi
client emphasis a few minutes before-the only
fragment worth mentioning she had happened to
overlook while gathering up the rest, and the only
one she thought much of, since she had forgotten
what it was would have been slowly untwisting
itself before the very eyes of her father, the only
man on earth she ever cared a snap for.
What an escape! No wonder the poor thing
turned pale and dropped into chair and looked as
II she had just been sprnkled all over with wat
erng- pot or iished up out of the deep sea. But
when her father reached out his hand to her, and
she saw that he was in earnest and that the earth
would mol open and swallow her up, though she
mad wished 1t halt dozen times within the last
hVe minutes, and the paper was put into his hands
with avered eyes, and he had but to open it in her
very presence to become acquainted, perhaps, with
the only secret she had ever kept from him in all
her life; and when, instead of opening ii, he kissed
her-not upon the forehead, but upon the mouth
and said to her, laying his hand reyerenty upon
her head -Jua, no; if it is proper for your father
10 see what you have written, you will never with
hold it. If otherwise, my dear, he has too much
confidence in your heart Notwithstanding all the
faults of your head ever to ask it."
Father, dear father" she cried, throwing her
arms about his neck and sobbing violently 81 have
been very foolish-but you will forgive me won't
you: ?"
Forgive you? And for what, my DEAR"
"Read it, father" handing him the little twisted
paper without looking at it herself
Read what, my deor-a amplighterf'
"Oh father, how can YOU"
Seeing which way the wind blew, he UNFINISHED
the paper and read as follows with poor Julia watch
ing his countenance and wondering when he acouid
get through, and growing paler and paler every
moment till she was just ready to drop out of the
chair
Nonsense, Martha | am not in love, nor likely
to be. That was out of temper, | acknowledge,
for