Preble County Democrat. [volume] (Eaton, Ohio) 1857-1859, 1857-06-18

1
derstanding in the matter. ualloor
he shouted, at the same time bcckonine
to the driver of the "buss," and rcucw-
ing his hold on John Peters ARM
| ''Halloo, there, two fares this wayl" p
The driver held up, and Mr.. Meirs
in spite of the half formed rcmonstrancc
of the bcwildered John Peters, hurried
him into the ''buss," and in five min
utes more they were ascending the mar
bic steps of the merchants residence
"Is Bella at homer inquired Mr.
Meirs of the servant on the landing.
sTroth, and think it was the young
mistresses' voice l was afther hearing
jist now in the pednny roomm .r-
Mr.. Meirs led the way in the direc-
ton indicated, while John, much en-
barrasscd, followed. He felt it was high
time some explanation was offered, but
Mr.. Mcirs was too much pre- occupied
with the one idca-thc identity of ohm
Peters, and his proposed connection
with the Meirs family, to heed the con-
fused and broken sentences of our he
ro, and the next moment found him
face to face with the most bewitchidgly
beautiful creature he had ever seen.
''This is BellaI'' said Mr.. Meirs with
some pride, ''you doubtless remember
her. This is your cousin John, 1 hope
you have not forgotten him. What in
the world makes you stare so, hussy?-
1 told you his hair would be as dark as
your own, by this time, but you didn't
believe it Hero Mr.. Mcirs consulted
his watch, and said, ''but 1 must be in
Wall street by ten, so 1 shall be obliged
to trust you to your own government
till dinner" .-....
With this Mr.. Mcirs departed, leav-
ing our hero indescribably confused.-
No sooner than Bella burst into ring
ing laugh, and exclaimed: 'uow fun
hy!''ti ..ra.l n.7 -F.., .'.ss .-.r
Merrimcnt is said to be contagious.
John Peters laughed a response to Bel
Ia, and he had 4 most beautiful way of
doing it, which Bella, in spite of the
novelty of their situation, readily ac-
knowledged with Il blush ir al .,-.
'.There has been great mistake
made" said John Peters, bowling sor-
rowfully, as though he would "a tale
unfold .-'-u. s-..a
"I see" said Bella, "you arc trying
to cover up your red hair with a wig
L hate red hair, and the change makes
you look ftlnny-it does iudocd!''
1T is all mistake, persisted John,
Il never wore a wig in my
life!''
''Thcn you must have colored it, for
it was red ten years ago, and L used to
laugh at you when l was angry, and
advise you to Keep one eye open when
you slept, lest it set the bed curtains
afire." i.'.'i IL r. .
"What an awkward situationv' cried
John, desperately. sit is true, [ am
John Peters, but not the john Peters
you take me for, and as for having
red hair, | never had that honor, l as
sure you!'.'' ~. co.. ,-r.4-~ ..... n ..
1t was now Bclla's turn to look sur
priscd, r,...-. .s 4..f- trt--.t.
And who are you then" cried Bel
la, :if you are not John Peters of Bal
timorc??p f. -,.,.- ......g -..f ,.r..-, 3.
Son the contrary, I am john Peters
of Connecticut, graduate from the
mercantile college; and at present in
search of, a situation. l am not your
cousin, and never saw you, to my knowl-
edge, before to-day Though L must
confess you are the pretticst girl l cv-
er did see, and L begin to envy the gen
uinc John Peters, your cousin, for /
can't help but liking you great deal
already" t'i'~
''You do? Indeed, how funny! Then
you are not my cousin from Baltimore,
and what is better still, my father thinks
you arc. [ dctest cousin for hus-
band, and above al red haired hus-
how did it happen that papa should
make such an odd mistake? Tell me
all about it,
'Wcn, the fact is, the whole thing
was a mistake from beginning to end,
and was attributable to. an advertise
ment in the morning paper. Your ia
ther wanted book keeper, and advcr-
tised. L saw the advertisement, and ap-
piled directly for the situation. Be
fore stating my business, introduced
myself as John Peters, whereupon your
ther John Peters in the world, bundled
me into an omnibus, and hurried me
here before I could offer any cxplana
tion!'' -. H.. .. -
GLOW odd!'' exclaimed Bella. -sAnG
you are not my cousin, then, after all:
but rather like you, and am not lit
tie pleased with the adventure, because
we can both laugh over fathers mis-
take, and the absent. John Peters rec
hair"
'i''But I must explain the matter i'm
mediately, though L confess dislike
the idea of giving you up to the absen
John Peters,. answered our hero, will
the same winning smile; ESPECIALLY al
you have a natural antipathy to cousins
with red hair" -Tfl
} Il don't see the use in explaining
Supposing we both keep quiet and lie
; it go for granted you are cousin j OH
= what harm?"
"And then supposing that he, think
, ing me cousin John, should insist OF
our being married before the genuin
John Peters. comes?" ... .. -........
90, it would be delightful! l do S
) hate to marry my cousin; besides, lik
you q thousand times better. Their
/. isn't the least romance in marryin
ones cousin, especially such a cousi