The freeman. (Fremont [Ohio]) 1849-1850, 1850-02-16
THE BAsHFuL COUSIN.
By MRS. HARRIET sTowI

remember case 10 point Every body in til,
country admired Isabella Edmunds and in rrutt
she was admirable creature inst made fol
admiration. sonneteering, and falling in love with
and accordingly all the country was in love with
her.
Now shall not inform my reader how she
looked; you may just think of Venus, Psyche,
Madonna, fairy and angel ct cetera, and you
will have very definite idea on the point. But
Miss Isabella had sister.
Little Kate for she was always spoken OF In
the diminutive, was some year younger than her
sister, and somewhat shorter IN stature. She had
no pretensions to beauty-none at all-ln short,
sir, she looked very much like Miss G., whom you
admire so much, though you always declare she is
not handsome
It requires very peculiar talent to be over
stocked with good grace, and in this talent Miss
Kate excelled: she was placid and happy by
the side of her brilliant sister any little contented
star that for ages had twinkled on, unnotced, and
almost clisped by the side of peerless moon In
deed, the only art or science in which Kate ever
made any great proficiency was the art and sience
of being happy, and in this she so excelled, that
one could scarcely be in her presence half hour
without feeling unaccountably happy himself
She had word of fsprightliness,a deal of simplicity
and affection, with dash Of good natural shrewd-
ness, that after all kept you more in awe than you
WOulu SuppOS0 YOU COutu pG kept Uy SuCu Il
good natured little body. Not one of Isabella s
adorers ever looked at her with such devout ad-
miration as did the laughing, loving Kate. No one
was SO ready to run wait and tend-to be up stairs
and down stairs, and everywhere in ten minutes,
when Isabella was dressing for conquest.
It came to pass that certain college valetudi
arian and far off cousin of the two sisters, came
down to pass few months of his free agency at
his fathers and as aforsad he had carried off the
first collegiate honor, besides the hearts of all the
ladies in the front gallery at the commencement
So interesting, so polite such fine eyes and al
that, was the reputation he left among the gentler
sex. But, alas poor Edward. what did all this ad
vantage to him, so long as he was afflicted with
this unutterable indescribable malady, maady COM
monty rendered bashfulness, worse nulifer than
any ever heard of in Carolina; should you see him
in company, you would suppose him ashamed of
his remarkably handsome person and cultivated
mind When he began to speak, you felt tempt
ed to throw open the window and offer him
smelling bottle,he made such distressing affair
OF it; and as to speaking to alady, the thing was
not to be though of
When Kate heard that this rara auis was COM
ing to her fathers she unaccountably interest
ed to see him, ofcourse-because of her cousin, and
because dozen other things too numerous to
mention.
He came, and was for days an object of com
niseration as well as admiration to the whole fami
" circle. After a while however, he grew quite
domestic; entered the straightforward instead
of stealing in sideways; talked off whole sentences
without stopping looked at Miss Isabella full in the
face without blnshing even tried his skill sketch
ing patterns and window silk-read poetry and
played the lutte with the lades-romped and fro
licked with the children, and in short as John OBJ
served was as merry as psalm book from morn
ing till night
Divers reports began to spread abroad in the
neghborhood and great confusion existed in the
camp of Isabella's admires. 1t was stated with
precision how many times they had ridden, walked
and talked together, and even all they had said
and in short, the whole neghborhood was full of.
tsThat strange knowledge that doth come
We know not how, we know not where
As for Kate, she always gare all admirers to
her sister, ex-oicio so she thought of all men she
had seen, she should like cousin Edward best for
brother, and she did hope that Isabella would Ike
him as she did, and for some reason or other, she
felt as if she could not ask any question about it,
At last events appeared to draw toward crisis.
Edward became more and more brown studious'
every day-and.he and Isabella had divers solitary
walks and confebuations, from which they return
ed with solemnity of countenance. Moreover
the quick sighted little Kate noticed that when Ed
ward was with herself he seemed to talk as though
he talked not;-when with Isabella he was all ami
nation and interest reveries, and broke off the
thread of conversation abruptly, and in short had
every appearance of a person who would be glad
to say something if he only knew how.
So said Kate to herself they neither of them
speak to me on the subject should think they
might Bell should think would, and Edward
knows am friend of his. / know he is think.
ing of it all the time; he might as well telfme and
he SHALL
The next morning little Kate was setting in the
little back parlor Isabella had gone out shopping
and Edward was-she knew not where. Oh no,
here he is, coming back into the self same ROOM
Now for it, said the little girl mentally; I'll make
a charge at HIM She looked up, Master Edward
was sitting diagonally on the sofa, twirling the
leaves his his book in a very unsclfoiar-ke manner;
looked out of the window, then walked Up to the
and then poured tumplers water-tEen
be drew chair up to the work table and took up
first one ball of cotton and looked in all over, and
laid it down again. then be took up the scissors
and minced up two three little bits of paper,and
then began to pull the needles out Of the needle
book and put them back again.
DO you wish for some sewing sir said the
young lady, after having very composedly super
intended those operations.
How Ma'am, what?' said he starting and up
setting the box, stand and all upon the floor.
Now, cousin, I'll thank you to pick up that
IL. IL I