Mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado Co., Cal.) 1854-1860, 1859-04-09

as che beginning of winterS And if the pecu
liar irrItability of Mr.. Simpsons skin made
this style Of clothing especially disagrccabc
to him, could that be laid to her charger Was
he TO catch cold, and risk his precious life, be.
cause he "didn't like the feel" Of what was
good for himS All Mr.. Simpsons shirts were
made at home, either by her own hands or by
those Of her daughters They did not cost
much less, that was admitted; the collars -
being made after an approved pattern belong
ing to Mrs. Simpsons papa; treasured up aS
Sort Of standard Of what u collar should be
did, ny Mrs. Simpson averred, cut him un-
der the ears, and double over behind; but Mr..
Simpson had short neck, which was certain
ly no fault either Of Mrs. S. or the collars
She put the cayenne pepper, to which Mr.. S.
was rather addicted, carefully out Of his reach
at dinner timc-it was so bad for his digestion;
she woke him ruthlessly rom his nItcr.d dinner
nap-those things grew upon people, and were
very bad for man of his full habit. She hid
his snutfbox, banishcd his old "down.at-
heel" slippers, and worked him q smart tight
pAir instead and. in short, tried MS far as
possible to keep him in the way in which he
should 90.
Mr. Simpson, it must be said, was ungratc-
ful for some Of these attentions, and eVaded
uity. lie continually ignored or disputed tho
date ofresuming the flannel and worStcd, wore
the new slippers down at the heel, kept snuff
in his waiStcoat pocket, and had gradually ac-
quired the faculty Of sleeping, like fish, with
his eyes open. But Simpson was the best
tempered man in the world and he and his
wife, in spite of these little antagonistic pccu-
! liaritics, might almost have claimed the fitch
at Dunnlow. He had quiet will Of his own,
too, in more important matters. which the Ia
dy content with acknowledged sovereignty in
what she considered her own departments Of
government, had sense enough seldom to try
to interfere with. They had two daughters
Mary, the eldest, who had been to n good
school, and now was on a visit to maiden
aunt at Brixton, and who was tactly admit.
ted to be rather the fathers pet-haYing q
good deal Of his quiet good sense, and very
sweet disposition; aud Augusta, who had
never left homc and might be considered to
have adopted more entirely her mothers tastes
and manners In Master Samuel, the only son,
now about twelve, the hopes Of both his par
cnts were alike centercd: and his going to
school had been delayed from time to time
I to that young gentlcman's disadvantage, a
stranger might have thought-tirSt, upon one
prctcxt, and then another, partly because Of
the expense, but in fact chiefly because neith-
er father nor mother could make up their
minds to part with him. There were mo-
mcnts, no doubt, when some unusual fit Of
trOublcsOmeneSs caused sentence Of immcdi.
ate deportation to be passed; but it had new
er been put into execution; and he went ON
! picking up such scraps Of learning-good and
cvil-as the little suburban day school offered.
You'll give up the business Of course
Simpson ?" said the wife after pause, follow
ing up one Of her own train of thought.
mo, Sally; l think not" quietly replied
; the husband.
Mrs. Simpson had been thinking not, too,
in her own mind, and had not much hope Of
any other answer when she put the question
And she had very little confidence in her own
powers Of persuasion on this point, though
she did follow up the attack by remarking,
that she saw no reason why he should 60 on
shaving oil his life when they couldn't want
the money. Mr. Simpson wasn't above his
business, and didn't call it shaving; and as
to wanting the money, everybody wanted
money as far as he saw; he meant everything
to 80 on in the city just aS usual.
LA, Pa, what ever for!" asked the ener-
getic Augusta. " For good many reasons"
replied her father. And that young lady,
/
meant what he said, rclapsed into silence, as
the servant entered to clear the table; for if
they had sat long enough they had said little.
And Mr.. Simpson went off an hour later than
usual, TO Aldcrmanbury.
The wife and daughter hardly felt inclined
to settle themselves to their work baskets as
usual after breakfast, and Samuel had given
himself q whole holiday in honor Of an event
which as yet he scarcely cOmprehended. and
had begun to tease his sister to tell him all
about il, when there came ring at the bell,
and Augusta, locking out Of the parlOr window
which fully commanded all the approaches,
announced the carly visitor to be their neigh
L0r, old Mr.. Burrows Of No. &. lie was a
gO"d-natured gossiping old bachelor. who had
retired on competency from a business Of
his own Of some kind--it appears to be
hnrdlys etiquette in Portland Terrace to in.
quirc into particulars on that point--and
occupied his leisure hours, at present, in ma
king himself master, rs far as possible, of the
business Of other people Not that there was
spice Of ill-nature either in his curiosity or
/ his gossip, but hc liked as he observed, to
know what was going on; and it was wonder
fIl what trouble he gave himself about his
ncighbOr's affairs-what clever plots and plans
he laid for other people, and what very little
thanks he got for it. He would have done
anything in the world to Obligc his friends,
the Simpsons, except let them alone. His in
reference however, was never resented; in
fact, he was looked upon as q privileged friend
OF the family and no one was surprised or
annoyed at his early visit. The arrangement
in Mr.. Simpsons usual movements had not
escaped his busy perceptions, of course for
he spent good deal Of his time in looking out
Of his window, and in holding conversations
with his housekeeper, who kept him excellent
ly well informed of all the doingS in the Ter.
race. Samuel who was very fond Of the old
gentleman, (an unrequited attachment as il
appcarcdD danced round him on his entrance
with unusual glee.
"Wcll, my little man, good morning" said
Mr.. Burrows in the passage, soothing Master
Samucls antics ss one would reStive horse,
I'VE seem very lively here ; what's going on,
eh ?" '--r
"Oh Papa's cousin Johns dead, and we're
all SO gladr'
"Sam, come here, you shocking boy :"
screamed Augusta, always prompt in a diff.
Guilty, for Mrs. Simpson was aghast and speech
less at this abrupt statement Of the circum.
stances and she rushed into the passage and
seized and shook the offender vigorously.
whats that for Y" said Samuel rebellious
ly, while Mr.. Burrows tried to meditate-
Amt to tell Mr.. Burrows thene"
For shame, sir" said his mother; "iS that
the way to speak Of your poor cousins death!"
and having duly welcomed her visitor, she
n n