Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1858-08-25
THE RED PElTICOAT :;
OR, THE LIEUTENANTs CoNFEssIO,
BY NARY W. JASvRrS. AUTHOR OF "rEAcE."

BY NARY W. JANyRGN. AUTHOR OF 'PEAcE."
" Sothe pretty red petticOat has at length be
come fashionable" said Lieutenant Harry Stan
hope, U. 5. A., laying down the evening papel
he had been Perusing over a cup of tea, and ad
dressing me-Frank Rutgers, his mostintimats
friend, who sat at his elbow
" All Rutgers, | could tell you a story of the
red petticOat in which once gallantly figured
in short, genuine little romance / wOt OF, In
which your humble servant was here, while that
little lady there-but no matter about her
1t is enough that 1t would fairly beat ali
the modern novels, if well written out, and set
me down, not only gallant son Of Mars aud
Neptune, but Of dame Venus herself All
Clemence, what are you blushing there for -
addressing the Petite creature who sat behind
the tea urn, while smile played about the cor
ners of the Lieutenanl's handsome mouth-that
| Is, all the mouth left visible by the growth OF
glossy Jet black mOustaches and whiskers-
such mOustaches and whiskers as were the envy
of half the e1quisites who daily promenaded
Chestnut street " now what are pou coloring
so Violently for You will make ourI friend
think your husband Is going to relate some
| scaPegrace adventure or peeadillo, instead Of
an exploit worthy the most gallant and hand
soonest officer in Uncle Sans log book-aheml
What running away! 7" aad a merry laugh
followed the exit Of the beautiful girl with large
Spanish eyes, and hair of purple backness and
unrivalled lusture, whom Lieutenant Stanhope
called wife"
My friend Harry was home on a furlough af-
ter three years cruise, and certainly | could
not wonder at the passionate devotion he mani
Tested towards his beautiful young wife, whom
he had brought home at the expiration of his
previous trip, and left those intervening years
in the charge Of his own parents and family, in
the Quaker City which had given him birth
Il wish l could take her with me- God
knows | shall be miserable and lonely enough
all these three years till come back again, il
life and health be spared me - he said to me
when he wTung my hand at parting. But the
government vessel in which heiwas officer, was
no place for his delicately reared young bride,
and with kisses, and long lingering embraces
he bade hera choking good bye.
Ii there was one cOnsoling thought in the
bosom of that young sailor at the parting hour,
it was that he had left his wife in the bosom Of
his own home, with a mother who would admit
Ter among the children of her heart-with
brothers and sisters who tendery cherished
this beautiful flower tTansplanted from SUMMER
lands
Mrs. StanhOpe did not 90 much into { iety
during her husbands absence, though his fam
lily mingled in the fret circles of Philadelphia,
and many invitations came 10 the young stran-
ger, whose warm dusk, Spanish beauty attrac-
ted universal admiration. Her heart followed
her brave Harry over the seas, and fingered be-
side him all that long cruise.
was a frequent visitor at the StanhOpes,
people voted it because Of Harry's handsome
sister, Kale-but that's not to the point reader,)
and from being her husbands intimate friend,
soon st iOd in the same relation to Mrs. Lieut..
Stanhope.
1t was very pleasant to listen to her soft,
sweet, broken English, with its pretty Spanish
accent-to witness the eagerness and patience
with which she strOve t. acquire our harsh Ian
guage, for not a word of it did she understand
when she married Harry, she told me-to watch
the pretty futter OF her fingers, and the alter
nate play of red and white on her cheeks, when
the foreign mail brought her his letters; and it
was more beautiful still when, that long three
years voyage ended, she sprang to the arms of
the returned husband, whom che loved with
more than ordinary woman's devotion.
Lieut. StanhOpe a lucky fellow to bring
home that little Spanish beauty ~ was the fire.
quent acclamation of his casual acquaihtances !;
but /, who knew something Of their inner life,
rejecting on his ardent, strong, deep nature
concealed beneath mask of gay geniality, and
her transparent anu passionate love which so
filed every need Of his soul, realized how per-
feet was their union.
Harry had never spoken much Of his court
ship, save that Cemence was of noble family,
but an orphan, and had been educated in a con-
vent How or where they had first met, had
never known, but as he spoke then, laughing!y,
of that adventure in which he had borne the
character of hero, while Clemence ran. blushing
from the parlOr | felt very certain that Lieut.
Stanhope was about imParting to me a confes-
sion du eOeUT.
Frank, believe have hitherto related to
you every particular OF three years ago cruise
along the Ievant save one" commenced the
lieutenant, wheeling his armchair nearer the
CRATE, after ringing for servant to remove the
tea tray, a shouldn't wonder if I'd repeated
'em half dozen times mOre-for a sailor
naturally gets in the habit of spinning long
yarns, Frank, but I'm very confident no one
outside my own family knows any of the cir
cumstances connected with my winning little
Clemence-heaven bless her
We'll you see, my dear fellow, our cruise
was almost up-within month or sO-and I'd
begun to long for my own shores again We'd
been rather idle latterly-gOvernment business
all executed, and waiting the dispatches for
our return. Within the few months we'd put
into several ports in the Mediterranean, laid up
at Marseilles, till | knew every nook and turn
in that rich old eity-at Palermo, where our
men drank Sicilian wines and threw ,eOin 10
the dirty LazzarOni-and in Italian cities where |
the carnival frolics reigned in their widest |
license.
But l had wearied Of all-the wines Of the |
vintage, the jewellers, and Of the eternal calm |
Of the blue Mediterranean-and actually began /
to long for shipboard again, and the wild tossing
waves of the Atlantic At length all hands /
board, our good ship bore westward, and pass
ing through the Gibraltar Straits, we calamity /
rode into the harbor of Cadiz, where our cap /
tain furled sails for months stay ere we came 1
home.
81 do not wonder that Byron wrote IN rap
lures OF Fair Cadiz. rising DER the dark blue /
sea :" for to me, this soft cline was delicious
4 very paradise Of romance and enjoyment
its very air seemed fragranee-its skies heav-
en- and passed days in gazing from the win
dows OF my lodgings, or strOlling through the
streets or market places, noting the picturesque
costume of its dwellers, or the cOquettish grace
in which the beautiful donBas wore their man
ties and adjusted their folds to display TO ad-
vantage their perfect forms, and dusky Andalu-
sian eyes.
There was a tincture of sadness, too, in my /
musings. In this effeminate, voluptuOus, but /
hnanfIfuI II haI har