New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1852-09-20

NUMBER Ire.
dance with him, she refused all other partners
too, and did not dance at all that when, after
several refusals, the long continued urgent So
hcitations OF the company induced her to sing,
she sang the same song that had first attracted
his notice IN those ten minutes at the evening
party, the winter before; and that in all her
excursions and stroils for flowers, either her
companion was one of the other young ladies,
or else she formed one Of party Of four or five.
We say these things might have been observed !;
but we do not say that any body observed them,
unless, perhaps, it may have been Mr.. Hiram
Blunt himself. We are inclined to think that
they did not escape his observation.
he was not, however, very happy. For
while he had SO efiectually succeeded in making
himself uncomfortable and dissgreeable to her
during their ride together, she, on the contrary.
had but rendered herself more charming in his
eyes And SO, although her coolness kept him
rather at distance, he could not help being
somewhat pleased to see that she did r,everthe-
less seem to retain slight lurking regard for
him. But as he could not account for her con-
duct by any other supposition than that she was
trifilng with him for the purpose of annoying
him, he soon rather reluctantly concluded that
he had better waste no more time afJout her.
and determined to turn his attention to other
things.
Some children, who were striving to get lad
der up against q cherry-tree, afforded him a
good opportunity to employ himself in q useful
way, by aiding them. The ladder was very
heavy, and he found it by no means SO easy to
lift as he had imagined. Il fell over his head,
and curiousiy Gagged his neck, but somewhat to
| the destruction Of his hat which he accordingly
gave them up as cherry basket. The exertIon
Of lifting was fatal to his gloves, which split
open in a most CHASTITY manner. The children
were finally made happy in attaining their OBJ
ject, and were all mounted into the tree with
some trouble, where, undoubtedly, they enjoyed
the cherries obtained in this inconvenient way,
a great deal more than if they had awaited
themselves of the abundant supplies which
formed o part of the provisions for the pic mic
Just then he happened to meet one Of the par
ty, a lady of his acquaintance, who cast an ap-
pealing glance towards him. After a moments
conversation, he ascertained that special mes
senger had arrived by railroad from the city to
inform her that sad news had been received by
telegraph from q relation at a distance, and
that it was desirable that she should start for
| the South with as little delay as possible She
| was good deal perplexed; for she wished to be
| able to leave the company quietly. and without
| disturbing their enjoyment by relating her own
sorrow There would be no cars bound towards
/ the city until q late hour in the afternoon, and
fyet no time was to be lost. Mr.. Hiram Blunt
did not hesitate for moment, on learning these
circumstances, to offer his horse and buggy tt
| the lady and her messenger to convey them tt
the city; and his offer was most gratefully ac
oepted. With his mind full of the matter to tht
exclusion of every thing else, he hastened to The
| spot where he left his horse and, the operation
| of harnessing having been quickly performed
he returned and consigned the vehicle to the Of
! flicted lady and her friend. 4,
1t is not worth while, however, to occupy
| much space with circumstantial narration d
the details of all the little incidents which hap
pened to our hero during the rest Of the day. ii
is enough to say that he forgot his private feel
ings in the attempt to make himself generally
| useful; an attempt in which his practical
knowledge and good sense secured himself CON
| siderable success, and rendered him most con
venient and important member Of the party
He had quite lost sight Of Miss Alice, if he hat
not wholly forgotten her; and it was not unit
| the sound of the whistle at the end of the day
the concerted signal, brought the party togethe
J, again, that it flashed across his mind that
should be obliged to carry her home, and tha
] he had sent away the vehicle which brough
them.
II Nothing was to be done but to proceed with q
much haste as possible to the nearest farm
house, and beg the use of some sort of Wagon
This course he Immediately adopted Afraid {
being too late. he rushed madly along, disre
| garding in his flight the mud and dirt of til
road, in which his feet sank at every step
Having secured q country wagon and borrowet
a hat of the farmer, he drove back to the pic-ni,
ground as furiously as he had leftit. When h,
| accordingly appeared before Miss Alice to claim
her for the return, he presented quite differ
! ent appearance from that which had first greeted
| her. Tue lustre of his varnished shoes wholly
obscured by the dust which covered them, hi.
| whole person plenteously besplashed with mud
| his gloves and cane thrown away, and his
jaunty little straw hat supplanted by a rough
| shaggy fur-cap, she surely could not complain
| of the foppishness of his exterior. Nor was the
rude vehicle in which he now proposed to place
| her likely to incur her disapprobation on the
same score. And when, disnissing his poetry
and his eloquence,s he began to tell her the ad-
ventures through the day, and she saw more
| thoroughly his real character, she began very
quickly to change her opinion of him. She be-
gan to find out the truth, and to think that his
only mistake was one that should be the most
pardonable in lady's estimation-that he had
forgotten himself, and sunk his own individu-
ality in the effort to make himself agreeable tt
her; and although the effort had been as VIZ
have seen, ludicrously unsuccessful, although ht
had so far concealed his natural character as te
seem fool instead Of a man Of common sense
she began to be inclined to excuse the mistak,
on account of the excellence of the motives il
4 which it originated. And so they got along
nicely together on the way home; and theil
ride was very different from that in the morn
ing. And so Miss Alice, when the wagon ar
rived at her door, gave Mr.. Hiram the curiou
decoration of flowers which she kept in her hant
all day, and went into the house.
elbow did you get through the day with YOU
conceited fop'" asked her mother.
ssConceited fopr' exclaimed Alice. She ha6
forgotten that she had ever applied the express
sion to her companion, so entirely did it appear
at variance with his character as she now un-
derstood it, and the impression that now re-
mained upon her mind
The experience of this day was enough te
teach ourhero thatit was altogether superiiuous
to take so much trouble about his external ap
pearance on his subsequent visits to Miss Alice
and she meanwhile had learned to like him il
whatever guise he saw fit to appear, so that af
fairs are proceeding very we'll; and do no
know, Mr.. Editor, how soon you may be favorct
with q box of wedding cake, accompanied by th
card Of '' Mr.. and Mrs. Hiram Blunt"
Writing for glory aud printing for fun,
Is surely game at which little is won
| The papers announce the death of J. P. Nor
ton Professor of Agricultural Chemistry in Yale Coeg
lie the editor of the American edition of Stephens
| Book Of the Farm.
traveller in stage coach, not famous 70