Muscatine journal. [volume] (Bloomington, Iowa) 1849-185?, 1854-02-24
AAHIN \ CLEMENS.
BIZ ELLA RoDxAH.


sss "Mys,crious RappiBgs."
BIZ ELLA RoDNAN.
@ta| sFN.tFHs@8 - sh@+ 1882
The great mahogany clock, that stood in
the corner, as erect AZ . sentinel on duty,
had just struck three, and the drowsy still
ness ofsa sumner afternoon seemed to per.
wade the whole house. Il was capacious,
eld-fashioned edi6ce, shaded by lofty trees,
that seemed like every thing else connected
with Mrs. Fold, trained up in the way they
shouldgo. ssa sss g $50 v sa.
The old lady, herself, had gone to her
apartment for an after.dinnsr nap, and
sleeping seemed to be the ordor of the day,
for. in the dining room, Mrs. Pancrust, the
housskeeper, though not s'snjoying the
comforts Of asquiet nap'-fsr her nsps
never were q,Ga ones was making her pc.
riod Of voluntary bondage a. lively 40 pos
sible. There never was so energetic .
sleeper 40 Mrs. Pancrust. With her funny,
little figure, whose breadth almost e4uallsd
its length, comfortably snsconcsd in the
large armchair her little, fat hands cross
ed. before her. and her feet resting on q
footstooi, she made regular business of it !;
and probably imagined herself locomo-
tive, letting of steam--for she snored, and
puffed, and sighed with q vehemencs that
was, to the uninitiated, perfectly startling
Her face, that looked like q full moon, with
. bit o. cap-border just visible around it,
was pufsd out, as though she was blowing
some imaginary trumpet while her mouth
was packered up into a round o.
Just opposite was perfect dnguerreotype
of the performance in the shape Of Marion
Feld--Mrs. FIELDS granddaughter tall
cnted, mischievous girl of fifteen who, not
feeling at all disposed to sleep, and being
rather dreary from the want of companion.
ship, had wandered into the dining room,
and struck with the old house keeper ludi-
crous appearance, now sat faithfully imi-
tating each contortion. Naughty Marion !!
A talent for mimicry was her besctting SIN !;
and she now sat puGng out her cheeks, and
puckering her mouth, and going gradually
backward, and catching herself up again |;
while her long, light curls swayed back
and forth with the violence Of her motions
The solitary spectator of the scene smiled,
in spite Of himself but then graver ex-
preston rested on his half pensiyc face, as
he gszcd earnestly on Mar on Field, stand n !,
almost upon the thrc, hold Of womanhood
But she did not see him; and quite unsus-
peetcd in his retreat, he watched the roguish
face that vas growing quite red with the
unwonted exercise. ...r. .u4
Suddenly Mrs. Pancrust opened her eyes.
Gns1 would naturally expect, in her case, a
gradual cooling off before the king world
fairly heamcd upon her sight; but she was
now wide awake, without the least warning.
Marion, never at loss, proceeded with
her slumbers as naturally as though the
contortion had originated with herself.
Mrs. Pancrust was surprised; she had never
scen such sleeping before; and in tone of
perplexed commisscrstion, she inurmured,
''i'oor child! What dreadful faces she
does maks!' ag re# at-H ndF
This was too much for Marion's gravity;
with sudden outburst Of laughter she
sprang mp, and without replying to the as
tonished house keeper, rushed from the
apartment. Suddenly she encountered the
quiet student, Wallace Hampton; ard be-
meath the half disappearing gaze of those
earnest ssas, her own grew grave.
"Marion," said he, kindly, as he drew
her into one Of the deep recesses at the
window, ssit Was remarkably web done as
well as anything Of the hind could be done
but would it not be better to attempt a
higher field Of action? To devote those
talents to some wiser purpose $50
He was great deal older than she, to be
sure but it must bo because he was study
ang for a minister that Marion received 20
Mcekly from her cousin what she felt very
much disposed to term alecturss.' She
was both motherless and fatherless a sort
OF waif whom Mrs. Field received from her
-sc- as the price of his folly in marrying
whel she had expected better things of
hiu; and not much subdued by the capri
'cious severity Of her grandmother, Marion
grew up like luxuriant zine that had
never been trained. She supposed that 1t
was always peoples fate to be scoldsd by
somebody, and listened to Wallace Hamp-
ton quietly and submissively. t
.5ssYouohave both talent and perseverance,
Marion" }" continued her cousin, ssyou have
access to books that are in themselves as
inestimable mines-you hnvo one who is
competent, from his longer experience, to
explain any difficulties that may arise, and
who is willing to use that ability to its
very extent lis it not, therefore, your ewn
fault if you throw away tho opportunity of
becoming an intelligent and talented wo-
MANI - s s,.si ..o
lie had touched the right chord. Mari.
on's ambition was aroused and in the long,
summer days, whom. in the garden below, !,
the beeswsnt culling sweets from flower to
fewer, Marion sat drawing intellectual
drasghts from "a fountain that never fails.
The patient young teacher was sometimes
half bewildered by his pupils quickness,
and thirst for all sorts of information; and
when Marion's natoral propensitiss tri-
umphsd, and aud,scious freaks of mischief
qniss upset his philosophy, he experienced