The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1853-02-09
MY G. h o st.

This is not a tale of spiritual rap
ping. | never heard any. Possibly 1
am not worth rap, being only an artist
My table does not hop, or rear up, or
fy.-Betwcen you and me, it is lucky it
docs not. If it did, the claw would
come off, to dead certainty. think
it right to mention this, and to warn
any playful young ghost or ghostess of
the fact.-Now to my tale.
Aurclia Garford and l loved one an
other so passionately, that at the age Of
seventeen we resolved to marry. Both
our parents opposed the scheme We
had neither of us any money. and though
l thought myself Titan. the portraits
1 daubed were poor things even for sign
painting. But we could not wait. We
grew desperate. We determined to run
away into the wido world.
The wide world How narrow it is,
after all A gimlet eight thousand
miles long would bore hole right
through it And what is eight thou
sand miles ; Less than most people
| a
anything compared to everything ?" as
the editor down east observed.
Aurelia's parents lived in Two hun
dred and twcnty-second street. II is a
long way sup town" Some say there is
no such street But that, of course, is
nonsense, because | know Aurelia lived
in it. Many people, no doubt, have start
ed off in the cars to look for the street,
and never found it, 1t is not easy to
find though as it is the next street to
Two hundred and twepty-first street, it
is not so difficult, after all. need not
add that that house was the house of
Aurelia's parents.
There was large garden to the house.
People can afford space tor gardens up
in Two hundred and twcnty-second
street. Only one thing grew in it, and
that was grass But give me grass to
walk on. Trees are all -ery we'll for
climbing, and timber is useful for build
ing. Fruit is a capital thing if you
want to cat, and flowers are pretty if
you care to look at them. But Aurelia
and only wanted to walk about with
our arms round one another's waists
and we preferred glass to trees, as VIC
did not want to climb like squirrels, or
build like carpenters. We valued grass
even more highly than flowers, because
we preferred sitting down upon it and
looking into one anothcr's eyes, to gaz.
ing at all the roses and magnolas in
creation. As for fruit, we scorned to
think of earthly peaches or apricots
when our lips could be so much more
sweetly occupied in exchanging celestial
kisses, of which no amount could posi-
bly, give a surfet
1t is my deliberate conviction that the
garden of Eden was a grass grown bit
of land, with good high fence around
it to cast a shade in hot weather. The
rest was love, which makes paradise
of any place.
We resolved to run away And we
did. We met one afternoon behind the
wall of the grass-grown garden. and
made for the cars. As we went along
| summed up the items of my happiness
and drew line and calculated the total
The items were -
| l. An angelic disposition.
2 The softcst black eyes in the
world silken tresses to match.
| g. A complexion pure as the white
ness of pearl
| a. A mouth which beats all the Greel
statues to fits.
| 5. A neck and shoulders of human
though quite equal to vegetable ivory
6. A slender, graceful figure, tina,
would have destroyed st. Anthony,
saintship to dead certainty, and SC
much the better for him If it had tempt
ed him.
7. Love for certain individual, (who
like Mr.. Ferocious, in Tom Pepper
shall be nameless,) carried to the con
fines Of hero-worship.
Total Aurelia Garford.
l was in state Of tremendous exhila
ration. My soul cut capers and threy
up its hat inside my breast at least S,
| conjectured from the thumps / felt a
gainst the walls of that portion of m
body.--Aurelia and / took one long
drawn champaignish sort of kiss, jus
before we turned the corner Of that, I
many, apocryphal Two hundred an
. twenty-second st., and in another mir
a ute VIC we're at the railway station.
So was old Garford
|, He had come home two hours befor
his time from his Office down town, wher
: be was supposed to make money som,
J. how, Not that he ever made any. Hi
wife had small income of her own, an
that supported the family. Mr.. GA