Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1856-12-22
EV ENING STAR.
The Singular Manner in which Mr.. Rollins
fell in Love and got Married.

fell In Love and got Married.
| Mr. Roderick Rollins was a bachelor who
had seen some forty nine summers, and al
though he was bundle of eccentricities, there
were few men more popular with old married
! ladies, or even with such single ones as had
| ceased to be Eighty end had begun to take a
| sober view Of the pomps and vanities of this
wicked world. 1t is just possible, indeed, that
the gentleman's popularity might be sttri6u-
ted in part to q very handsome estate which
he had inherited from his father for l have
generally observed that large landed proper
| ty is q great enhancer Of the wit, beauty, or
profundity of its possessor As Mr.. Rollins
| gradually numbered along in life, he naturally
became less and less disposed to rapid locemo.
tioD, and at the time he is introduced to the
reader, he had dropped one and another OF his
regular visiting acqusintsnces among the la
dies, until the number had dwindled down in
number to exactly three families
In one of these families-thst Of Mr.. Petit
grew-there were two elderly young ladies,
named Rachel and Amelia These ladies were
| of the respective ages Of thirty seven and
| thirty nine, and having outlived their taste
for balls and jams, now solaced themselves
with the society of few old bea1x who would
occasionally drop in Of an evening and have a
quiet game Of Backgammon with them by tie
side of an old fashioned Liverpool coal fire.
Among these visitors, none was moro welcome
than was Mr. Rollins. His stories were gen
orally long, and he had much to say of the
sad degeneracy Of the present fast age; but
then, beside being rich in the funds, he was
rich in his "reminiscences Of the olden time.
lie would every now and then 80 sffoctingly
allude to the brilliant evenings Of bygOne
years, when he used to dance wich the Misses
Rachel and Amelia at the public assemblies,
that the young ladies would in Imagination,
revel again through those gay and festive
scenes; and, as Mr.. Rollins named one and
another Of the bellies and their adorers who
used to figure in the Spanish dances and la.
dies chains Of that simple era Of TerpsichOre,
the tears would course one another down their
innocent noses. Mr. Rollins was also a con-
noisseur, and a highly gifted critic in green
and black teas, aud was well posted in cough
and rheumatic medicines generally. Since he
had got along in years, he mad likewise come
to take great interest in church matters he
kept the run Of proceedings Of all the annual
conventions, and was supposed to be familiar
with the private opinions of several of the
Bishops. Now, none of these subjects were
Indifferent ones to his fair companions, and a.
such human weaknesses as love and marriage
seemed out Of the question, the Intercourse
between them was as calm and cool as moon
shine In winter. The condition of ancient
beaux and ancient bellies who have retired
from the drawing rooms Of mirth ana fashion,
and have taken to chess and needlework and
to sober "reminiscences Of the heart-conficts
they have undergone, is not OF the cherries
character which some consider it. It may be
likened to that Of pensioned soldiers carefully
housed in some snug harbor provided by the
State, whore they may rest and smoke and
talk Of the mighty deeds they have done for
the residue Of their lives. The wars are over,
the battles have been fought and what,
though one may have lost an arm, another q
leg, and a third has been Topped Of all his
limbs, yet the pain arising from the wounds
have been long fOrgotten, AID they now re-
member but the incidents and the glory Of the
conflicts
One of the other families which Nj Rollins
used to visit, was that Of the we'll known DR..
Auodyne. The Doctor himself was q gentle
man Of the old school, and his lady could give
you the history Of every family of note in the
metropolis, but the great attraction to Mr.
Rollins was the society Of their daughter Har
riet. Miss Harriet had been in her day a
celebrated beauty, but having now attained
her fortieth year, it was generally supposed
that the grand meridian Of her charms had
been passed. In carly life there had been
some talk Of a match between her and Mr.
Rollins, but this mad long blown over and
their conversation was now, to all human ap-
pearance, as rational and unimpassioned as
though they were a couple OF prosy philoso-
pliers. The remaining family, honOred with
the pleasant acquaintsnceship Of Mr.. Rollins
was that of Mrs. Atterbury, q widow lady of
considerable wealth and position. She wes
the sister Of Mrs. Ansdyne, and consequently,
her daughter, the amiable Miss Anna Maria,
was own cousin to Miss Harriet, and very
nearly OF the same ripe age. Both these young
ladies were on terms of the most agreeable in
timacy with the Misses Rachel and Amelia
Pethgrew They had been companions in
girlhood, had promenaded on the Battery,
had taken moonlight walks in company with
each othe- and their lovers through the gray
eled walks of st Johns Park, and would
doubtless sometimes have extended their strolls
to the Fifth avenue, were it not that the time
Ltreat Of was anterior to the discovery of that
fashionable thoroughfare. When these fair
spinsters would get together and grow in
spirited and loquacious as they slipped their
hyson, Mr.. Rollins was their toast and their
oracle. But delightful as was he relation
subsisting between them and their antiQ uated
beau, 1t was temporarily destined to a very
singular kind Of an interruption. All at once,
as one Of the wonders of the world, new light
sprang up in Mr.. Rollins's mind, and this liGh.
was none other than q reflection from the torch
of Cupid. How it cams to pass that that heart
of adamant, which during the fervor and pas
sion Of youth had resisted the we'll directed
v0lleys from female eyes Of every color, and
had at last succumbed, must forever remain a
mystery.
But Mr. Rollins's love wsa as droll as it was
untimely. Worse tnan the poor ass of the
schoOlman, hesitating between two bundles of
hay, Mr. Rollins had fallen in love with all
four Of his female companions at the sane
time At first, this bachelor love developed
itself 10 periodical fits of psFtiality for one or
the other Of ths ladies, just as it happened
vacillating, as it were, from day to day.
Thus, for a while, Miss Amelia Pettigrew
would be the queen Of his affections He
would call to mind some roguish dimple of her
girlhoOd, and what splendid set of teeth one
of her regular ringing laughs would disclose
in those days of remote antiquity. When
Mics Amelia was thus boosted on the topmost
round of Mr. Rollins's ladder of weathercOck
admiration, she would suddenly be precipi-
tated to the ground by a dim shadowy recOl
lection on the part Of that gentleman of the
bewitching manner in which Miss Anna Maria
Atterbury used to dance nearly quarter of a
century ago. Then the tender memories of
his early partiality for Miss Harriet Anodyne
would 80 stir up poor Rollins's vsgrant sensi-
bilities that he almost made up his mind to
H. ahohl ly unrld