Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1857-03-06
EVENING STAR.
I n Z + tai KISS,
Y b. p. SHILLkBFR.

serena Lovewell was one Of the pr<ttiest
sisters that attended the Sunday class m eetipg
OF our church, as we called 1t at the boarding.
house, and was an object Of admiration from
the devout and those who were not 90 hopeful
pious among the outsiders Her amen va
the sweetest, and her singing of the hymn
was the divinest that could be conceived, and
L always believed that her living charms did
more towards keeping our church alive than
all the material the preacher threw into his
sermons. It was q silent admiration, how.
ever, as the loudest never dared approach her
shrined ssnctity, deeming th at she might van.
| ish If ever spoken to by profane humanity.
| And so the summer wore away Along
| toward the fall of the year it was observed
| that young, thick headed member of the
class, coarse and uncouth, was peculiarly and
| aggravatingly sweet upon her-fxing her
cricket for her to kneel upon, finding her
place in her hymn book, responding when she
did, and going home with her at the close of
meeting-which latter was considered by our
side as being direct Interference with their
| rights. No one knew where she lived, though
she had been seen in the vicinity of Summer
street, and 1t was coDjectured that her home
was somewhere in that vicinity.
About this time L was in company with q
party Of young female friends, one of the best
looking of whom-it was strange how nv
young fancy took to good-looking females /
| never could account for it on any other ground
than that they were good looking-I went
home with. We went on the rule that the
farthest way round was the nearest way home,
for she led me through streets that seemed to
double upon each other in most labyrinthine
manner. Once we thought we had got lost
and went away back, and then we found We
had been right all the while, and walked the
street again. There were shadows on the
path. and L must confess to the weakness of
indulging in certain labial sacrifices as we
from weariness rested beneath shadows that
were thickest At the turn Of every corner I
found that the tendency of our steps was
toward summer street, and passing down a
place that led from that aristocratic thorough
fare, as 1t then was, we arrived at a large
stone building, and my fair companion in.
formed me that this was our destination, back
ing tie remark by vigorous jerk of the bel.
The summons was answered speedily, and,
standing in the door with her hand shading
the light that revealed her own features while
it concealed those Oh the outside, was Serena
Lovewell, the object of the dreams of our cir
Gle Of worshippers
L speedily accepted an invitation to call.
and the next evening found me at the stone
house, where / was most cordially received
and introduced to the fair Serena, whom I
found as sensible and kind as her appearance
had indicated. She was a charming girl,
with the most delightful fund of fun, and
sparkled with refined and brilliant fancies.
but she was only nursery maid, Our ac-
quaintance grew to a pleasant intimacy-a
orotherly and slsteriy sentiment, such as boys
and girls may indulge in with innocence and
delight, which no one but person of impure
fancy could imagine wrong-snd without the
least shadow OF sin in our intercourse, the
communion was intensely agreeable and pure
ly Platonic. The lover made his weekly visit
on Sunday night, which I magnanimously gave
up to him, contenting myself with q majority
of the other six.
On one of these evenings was making my
call, and was seated in little back sitting
room enjoying delightful tete-a tete with my
sweet sister, as 1 called her. She looked
charmingly. 1t was in the warmest part of
summer, and her low. .necked dress revealed
roundness of beautiful shoulders that might
have awakened the admiration Of an anchor
or an anchorite, and her bright eyes sparkled
with excitement and pleasure.
We've had visitors this afternoon said
she, a whole family of them from New York;
and such kissing time they made of it when
they met with ours Twas enough to sicken
one to see it. / don't see any propriety in
women's kissing when they meet, do you!'
assured her that ii seemed to me decidedly
wrong; and deemed that kissing was per.
formance that should be religiously observed
by sexes jointly, and suggested experiments
illustrating this, enforcing the suggestion with
q practical demonstration One such prompt.
had been gone through with, Of the most
harmless character, decidedly proving, to our
own satisfaction, the soundness of our opin.
ions.
How sweetly she did look as she sat there
with the " blush on her cheek and the smile
in her eye" She was the most bewitching
piece of Methodism / thought had ever seen,
and fully understood Tom Moore where he
sings
Had I such a sweet little ssin, of rny oxzn L.,
| deemed by those not versed in Platonics as
| slightly freelovical in its scope.
Fate owed US particular spite, and that
evening determined on liquidating the debt
We sat slipping the nectar Of enjoyment from
| loving cup, more appropriately named than
Mr.. PeabOdy's, ignorant of the storm that was
eliminating and ready to break upon our
heads.
Why was that lover of Serena's walking the
streets at that particular moment? What
spirit of love or mischief prompted him to pass
| by the house in which she lived? Why had
villainous scavengers allowed the pile Of rub
bish to accumulate by the wall over against
the window? How could he, so dull usually,
have thought by getting upon that rubbish
| which Serena sat? These questions arc easier
asked than answered. The fact is all 1 have
| to do with, without going into argument.
Thus we sat, Serena and 1, and parted at
| ten o'clock, with kiss for friendships sake,
| and hearts as innocent of any thing harmoni-
| Gus, as Mrs PartingtOn would say, "as the
| babe unborn "
slept that night dreaming of flower gar
| den of tulips, that took strangely the form OF
Serena's lips, and was transformed into q
big bee, and whizzed around among them
with delighted wing, while the lover OF Se-
rena, changed into an immense owl, sat upon
| the limb of an adjacent tree and looked stu
| pidly on the scene. What business had he
| there at such time?
The next evening, for the third time during
the week, called upon Serena. found her
in tears, and it Immediately suggested itself
| to me- that in all the love tales had read
tears were kissed from the cheek, and ap-
piled this remedy with a success that soon re.
stored my fair sister to q condition to make an
explanation Of her grief, which lay in offend.
| ed pride. She recovered too soon, thought
and hoped she would cry again, but she didn't.
In fact she laughed as she placed in nv bends