The emigrant aid journal of Minnesota. [volume] (Nininger City, Minn. Terr. [i.e. Minn.]) 1856-1858, 1858-02-24

and | have become better acquainted with you than you
can imagine through your little cousin. All that she
covery of your smasquerading folly, to use your own
words, has filed me with the deepest gratitude. But
you have not answered my question =
What followed is Of no consequence to any one but
myself; suffice it to say that, in proper time my uncle
aud cousins were duly informed but they perversely
refused to be astonished. They all declared they had
had a presentiment Of this from the beginning; and
uncle Althrope mischisvously asked if he had not
prophesied that ! would do :
When MI. Denmore followed me home to be inspect
ed by those more near and dear to me, be passed the or
deal with credit; and no very long time elapsed ere /
was installed mistress Of the old mansion.
Strange to relate, none OF my Eve beautiful cousins
have ever married while l have gained a prize which
| believe any one of them would willingly have appro-
priated. l do not regret my masquerade aud / have
become reconciled to my nose, for l believe that, had it
becn:diherent, l should never have found my hush nj.
Very provokingly, the following part Of the story
was omitted after the oath line, last column of the first
page]
bly, settled in the cars, that the girls have been fright
ening you with all sorts Of stories about the place?'
mo, SIR l replied, Il am not easily frightened
'No?' said my uncle, looking At me with additional
respect, 4 have always heard that a long nose iudica.
ted a clear head
Nv poor nose again Why couldn't he let it alone ?
The girls are half beside themselves with fear he
continued, there is a story that the house is haunted
walled up room-Britisho officer, during the Revolu-
ton, shut up his daughter there for loving an American
of6cer-walks about at night and all that. Have l
frightened you p
mot in the least, sir; I don't believe in ghosts
That's a sensible girl ! emphaticalIy; and my I'M
Gle seemed to be considering this, for he said very little
more during the journey.
l kept an eager look. out for a glimpse Of the house ;
h< - unc noor1u u1nhf Union VIC orrivod a tho fafiOu
and then my uncle's carriage conveyed us to P~inehurst,
a distance Of two or three miles.
The carriage stopped at an ancient gateway, and the
first sight Of the place filed me with ecstacy. The
house was entirely out of sight, hidden by tho trees;
and as we approached it, through a noble avenue Of elms,
the avenue, We seemed shut in from the world and the
broad walks, the sloping lawn, and the aristocratic 81
lence were all exactly to my taste. l had a passion for
mystery. and my uncle's summer residence was exceed
ingly mysterious.
There was the house, and on the broad steps stood
the FIVE Graces waiting to receive US. Oh, that grand
old hall 1t did my heart good to see it. Everything
was lofty and spacious and as the old fashioned furni-
ture had been left undisturbed, the room presented a
perfect picture Of a century ago; and claw feet, lions
heads, and all sorts Of queer designs started upon me
from all directions. ~
for u quiet survey. ..gts+
sWhy Becky = exclaimed Matilda, after regarding
me in considerable establishment, you've really grown
pretty ..,k ,ss.a .sss1t&
so you have = chimed in lilly, Il declare, your
nose hardly shows at all ! +
This was not meant to imply that the organ in ques-
ton was too small to be seen, but only that the mon
strosity Of it was not quite so prominent as it had hith.
erto been.
Il love to look at your mouth, Becky said Celestine,
graciously. -a+, r-as. rf 4er.
/ had rather a decent mouth.
sWhat have you been doing to make your eyes so
bright? ? asked Anna, by way Of adding her contribu'
ton. r ..~. ..s
WELL exclaimed Emma, you've left me nothing
to say, but | prophecy that Becky will cut US out yet
/ was beginning to feel extremely foolish, when uncle
Althorpe turned me gravely around, and surveying me
from head to foot, remarked.
Stature, average, figure, good, neither fat nor lean
hair, very passable; eyes, fine, a straight forward, hon
est look in them nose, but that is a prohibited subject;
mouth, just what a mouth should be chin, very pretty,
| love to see a pretty chin complexion, delicate, yet
healthy; expression, modest but sensible. You'll do
Dc what?' l inquired.
THAT remains to be seen, and uncle Althorpe vanish
ed to his paper, and was heard no more that evening.
We girls sat and talked until twelve and by that
time l had become pretty well posted up in the history
Of Pinehurst.
It had belonged to the Pyott family from time i'm
memorial, and 4 proud and aristocratic family they were.
Staunch old federslists they had enjoyed the friendship
OF w 8SUlU2COus 6OU N0V always O8SAO0s ~ 81
cream Of republican society. But the family bad all
died out, with the exception Of an elderly maiden lady,
who lived there alone in her grandeur until she adopted
a nephew, the only child of a sisterwho had made what
the world calls a nesaN"nce.
This Miss Eleanor Pyott was the talk Of all the coun-
try around; anil every one had something to say about
her stately bearing, which people, who had never been
out Of republican America, pronounced exactly that OF
an old dowager duchess. Every fibre OF her heart seem.
ed twined about the old place and refused to have the
slightest alteration or Improvement made in it.
The Pyotts, for generations had dined in that dining
room-slept in those chambers-and held courtly recep-
tions in those drawing rooms; and as one generation Of
Pyotts went ont, and aEother generation came IN they
followed tenaciously in all the ways Of their a~ncest,rs.
/ was speedily shown the portrait of Miss Eleanor ;
a very grand old lady, indeed, with q long, sharp nose,
delicate complexion, and hair done up IN old fashioned
puGs. was rather struck, myself, with the likeness
which | bo,e to the portrait but would not acknowl-
edge this to my cousins. as4 aus
Miss Pyott never walked when seen beyond the pre-
cincts Of her ancestral mansion; she rolled a~ristocrati-
cally alone in an old fashioned carriage, driven by an
ancient coachmsn, who considered a quick pace decided
" plebeian. The old lady always looked like a portrait
Of one Of her ancestors descended from its frame; rich,
cofee-colored lace crname1ted the heavy brocades in
which she attired herself, and she sported a mutt that
would have extinguished any ordinary woman.
But the story Of Pyott Denmore, her nephew, inter.
ested me most. From early childhood be had played IN
and made those empty chambers resound with deter.
entail attention to MISS Eleanor's long stories Of tn q
and that ancestor, and faithfully promised her to keep
up the old mansion in its original style when she should
be gathered to her fathers; and now in his matured
manhood, when he could finally appreciate the value OF
the bequest, be was turned away as one who had no
right there, merely because she, whose heart was set
upon installing him as master Of the old house bad
neglected to commit her wishes to writing. 1t was very
hard, | thought; and in spite Of uncle Althorpe's learn
ed arguments, l persisted in denouucing the injustice Of
law. rfna ascse ~ s4 usaa 81
Fortunately, however, for her nephew, Miss Eleanor
had the good sense to give him an education calculated
lte nake him d.9s4d p2es biz ers resources; sRa wbsa