The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1857-11-14
A Day IN Petticoats.
BY A MODEST NAN.

the whats his name"
And my friend, Bob Styles, held up befor'
my hesitant gaze = suit Of feminine apparel.
Ills idea was that should personate his
lady-lOve for one day to prevent anybody
from suspecting the etruth--namely, that sh'
had joined him in runaway marriage par
| ty-until it should be too late for interfer
ence; that is, until the minister had tied ~
not between them, that nothing but spee
ial grant of the Legislature could unite.
| This scheme was not actually % absord
ae it appeared At first sight Maggie Les
was tall, queenly woman, with an almost
masculine air, and, at that time, l had q
very slight form--almost efieminate, so that
in fact, there was but little difference in tina,
point. Then l had light hair, tolerably
| long, and fresh complexion. Part my
hair in the middle, and putt a bonnet on my
head and few persons would have suspect
eC but what l was really one Of the softer
sex, These accessories also gave me quite
decided resemblance to Maggie Lee, e.-
pecially when, as In this ease, the disguise
was her own.
Then the day chosen for the runaway
match was an auspicious one. Maggie's ia
ther WAS to drive her to D-,a small
village near where she lived, and there she
was to join q sailing party down D.
river, to the grove three miles below, from
which the party was to return in the even
Ing, in carriages.
Our plan was, that should be in waiting
| in the village, and should DO on the boat
WI n the sailing party, while Maggie, after
| leaving her father, should ship of with Bob
Styles, across the country.
At last. ] got dressed, and presented my
self before Maggie Lee, blushing a great
deal, | believe, feeling very much pinched
about the waist, and with an uncomfortable
consciousness that my-shirt sleeves were
too short or wanting.
Everyt thing finished in the way Of toilet,
Bob Styles took me into his light wagon,
drove me over TO D, by a secluded
route, and left me at the hotel, where the
sailing party was to assemble. Several Of
the pic-nickers were already there, and they
greeted my cavalier cordially, everybody
knew Bob styles asking if he was going
with them, etc. He told them he was not.
Pressing business engagements, you
know, and all that sort OF thing. Deuced
sorry | can't go, though. Ijust had time
to bring Miss Lee over, and now I'm off
Mr.. Bimby this is Miss Lee Miss Wither-
gall, Miss Lee, and he ratified off a long
string OF bri,f fintrodustions which colvinc
ed me that but few of the company were &C
qualnted with the young lady whom | was
then personating-a very fortunate thing
for the preservation Of my disguise.
Mr. mby, tall legaI-ooking man, with
a hook and eye-slass and puffy hair
seemed TO be possessed with my personelie,
and overheard him whisper to Bob Styles
as he went out:
Nice-looking girl, that Miss Lee"
Ers - .nsX.r.I Rob with rnisekie.
veous glance at me, " she is nice girl,
though little go-ahead sometimes. Keep
little lookout on her, viii ou,'-then,
lowering his voice not bad match for
you, Old fellow she is rich
Is she:" said Mr.. Bimbp, his interest
deepening.
"On my honor" replied Bob. "Forty
thousond dollars in her own right. Day
dly :" and he vas gone.
Maggie Lee, artiul creature that she was,
had told her father that the sailing party
wac to assemble at another hotel, and thith-
er he had taken her. HsviBE business in
ID. he left her there, merely saying that lie
would send the carriage for her at eleven
o'clock. She. like du;iful daughter. kiss
ed him. bid him good bye, and before he
had gone a hundred rods, took seat in
Bot Styles light wagon, which had driven
up 10 the back door as old Lees carriage
drove away from the front, and the old sto-
ry of head strong love and predjudioed age
was enacted over again.
4 for Us, OF the picnic excursion, We had
a delightful sail dewn to the Grove, but
somehow | could not enjoy ii as much as
ought to have done. When | walked On
board the boat, | felt awkward, as if every
body WAS looking at Inc. found Mr.. BIN
by, rs had suspected, young and rising
lawyer, mighty in Blackstone and his own
opinion. He insisted on paying for my tick
ct (the boat was regular excursion packeO
and purchasing enough oranges, pears and
candies, to set up sterect stand. Four or
five times | was on the point OF swearing At
his impudent otficiousness, but bit my tongue
just in time TO prevent the exposure. But
it was not with him that found my role
the hardest to play.
No; the young ladies were the difficult
ones to deceive. For instance, there was
one among them, beautiful girl Of seven
teen, just returned from boarding school,
who had not seen Maggie Lee for three years.
OF course, she was delighted to see me,
when she found out that | was Maggie, |
which, by the way, did not occur until after
we had started. She threw herself into my
arms, pulled my veil aside, and kissed me
half dozen times, in manner that made |
my finger-ends tinge for an hour 1t was
all very nice, but if had been in proprid
persona, l would have liked it better. AS it |
was, felt as If / were obtaining goods un
der false prctences," and that lawyer Bimby |
might issue warrant for my arrest on that !
ground, at any moment.
A whole knot of or Moline then surround |
ed me, on the upper deck of the boat, to |
the utter exclusion and consequent disgust
Of Mr.. Bimby and the other gentlemen. |
kept very quiet, only speaking il. monosyl- |
lables, in fasetto voice !; but the others
Lord bless you! how they gabbled! Un-
der strict promise of secrecy, the little
boarding school maiden, who had kissed
me so affectionately. revealed all her love |
affairs, and also became unpleasantly conf
Dental about other matters-in themselves,
but not customaIily talked of between ladies |
and gentlemen.
was terribly embarrassed, but it would
not do to give up then. AS soon as my
trick should become known, Bob styles
trick would also come out; and as news of
that kind travels fast in the country, he and
his ladylove would be tclegraphed and fol-
lowed before they could reach Philadelphia,
where the Styles family lived, and where
the knot was to be tied.
The river breeze was very fresh where
we sat, and I noticed that several of the la
dies were glancing uneasily at me.
couldn't divine the reason, until Jennie, my
little friend from boarding school,, laid her
face dangerously close to mine, and whis-
pered: my dear Maggie, your dress is
blowing up dangerously high-your ankles
will be town talk with the gentlemen!
Nor was conscious of having very small
(o0 for a man, and had donned pair of
Open-work stockings which came up nearly
10 my waist, with pair Of CATERS borrow.
ed from the servant girl, in all OF which tog-
gery nv "running gear" looked quite fem