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

all know Is, if had forth left me, and
Miss Mary wHs my daughter, Id spend halfOl
would I"
"Ah, my good sir, how easy It is for you
to talk who have no children, and can't feel
as do" and the smile now took the charac.
ter Of triumphant superiority, which could A.
ford to pity.
1t is u valuable and unanswerablc argument
against all bachelors What can they know
about its Mr.. Burrows gave In, i0lled but
indignant. Il had been i0retold TO him n tho
days Of his youth, BY gipssy fortune teller,
that he should listen to tall fair lady, who
should speak him fair, and turn out q dark
dccriver. beware Of her" had been the
ominiouS words, and he had walk ed IN fear
and trembling in presence Of ell such cnchan.
trcSSeS all the days Of his life. And now the
prophecy seemed in the way ofbeing fulfilled,
like all prophecies, in the most unlocked for
manner; to be sure the lady now before him
was not tall, but she was fair, and that was
quite as close an Interpretation rs such fulfil.
mentS admit Of lie wished Mrs. Simpson " a
very good morning" refused to listen to the
Syrcn voice which she put on to sooth and
stay him and left her rather disconnected with
her own success, for she had no desire to OF.
fcnd.
"ConfOund her for covetous old sinncr!'
was Mr.. Burrows explosion within his own
| hrcnSt us he stamped Cncrgetically along the
terrace. $50 she thinks her daughters may
look higher now they've come into this bit Of
money, nndmrans 10 throw poor George over |!
Ill give him hint though, OF what he's got
to expect, and hang me Il he shan't be before.
hand with them in crying Oft; Iwon't have
him Tilted by any such Iubbishl"
BY the time, however, that he had got
mile from his own door-for ho was toO much
indignant 10 90 in and sit down-Mnd had
cooled himself in that labyrinth OF muddy
fields and unfinished houses north Of Noting
Hill, beyond the knowledge even OF cabs and
policemen, called by the residents, for some
mysterious reason, KcnSingtOn Park, he 10.
gan TO think within himself that the term
rubbish" could not apply with any degree
Of fitness to his favOritc Mary Simpson. If
the mother was spoiled by little sudden
prosperity, it was no reason the daughter
should be. "Gcorgc wouldn't have given her
up," he thought, mot if he'd been left q mil
lion !" And why should the girl be less hon.
est than he wasl So Mr.. Burrows resolved,
with very wise and unusual selcdenial, to
let things take their course, for the present,
and TO smother his knowledge Of Mrs. Simp.
sons bascnCsS as he best might within his
own breast.
Mary came home from her aunt's the next
day, and heard tho news of an unexpected
change in the family fortunes with so little
outward emotion az to diEappoint very conSid.
crably her sister and mother, both Of whom
thought to have had tho pleasure Of overwhel.
ming her by the magniRccnce Of their an.
nounccment. Perhaps one reason for her Ia
king 1t so quietly was that, at the moment, abe
did not connect Il In the least with her en-.
gagcments with George Harrison; for engaged
they had been for the last six months, a. Mrs.
Simpson was perfectly we'll aware-thOugh
certainly she had received no formal noiiRca.
tion Of the fAct-and therefore thought her
self quite justified in protesting ignorance to
Mr., Burrows, Perhaps Mary thought of George
so much that everything which did not direct
ly refer to him seemed to her Of little impOr.
tancc. Girls are so foolish sometimea She
felt very glad on her fathers account; she re
mcmbcred once. when shc was but child, and
some little difficulty about money had occur.
red, as such things will occur in the trading
community even to the most prudent, that he
had said to her mother IN her hearing, "Ah,
Sally, if had but thousand poundsl" and
how much she had wished some one would
give her thousand pounds to give him, and
wondered whether she could ever save so much
out Of her monthly allowance Of half.a.crown,
by being more careful in the matter Of boot.
lacCs; and now he would have thousand
pounds every yearl She wished some Of Il
had come then; for she had dim and painful
recolleCtiOns Of her mother crying, and her
father walking about the room instead Of eat.
ing his supper, and OF herself going to bed
with heavy and puzzled heart, after long
I kiss from him which Shcw knew by instinct
had as much sorrow aSlovc IN it. II she ask.
ed him more questions when he came home
from the city that evening about Barton End,
and whether he had ever been there, end what
sort Of place Il was, and when he meant to
go and live there, than even Mra. Simpson or
Augusta had yet asked, Il was not because
Mary was moro curious or moro impatient
than the others, or because the thought Of her
new wealth was more delightful to her, or be.
cause she was as tired ~ her mother and sis
ter profesSed themselves to be of living "pokcd
up in London" (perhaps she had her private
reasons to the contrary but because these
were new and pleasant sources of common
interest between her father and herself, which
she felt, after all, she could enter into much
more heartily than his usual topic Of conver-
saliOn, which had seldom gone beyond the
dry details OF the rise and fall Of markets, or
the last commercial gossip from the city; and
poor Mary had often confessed, rather to the
annoyance Of her family, that shc had not
much natural taste for sh0p-crat, and had al.
ways found herself much more congcnially Oc.
cupied in aunt Asrtha's quiet cottage at Drix-
ton, where there wers books and flowers, aud
old songs which shs was never tired 0f sing.
ing, nor her aunt Of hearing. In fact, though
almost uncOnSciouSly to herself, and certainly
not admitted to such distinction by either
mother or sister, she was quite the lady Of the
family. Mr. Simpson felt Il every day, though
ne could not have put Il into words; and his
honest but uncultlVated mind warmed and
opened with a strange but not unusual attrac.
tiOn to his eldest daughters influence. His
wife complained on this very evening, not with.
out some truth, that Mary had got more out
Of her father in few minutes than Rhe and
Augusta had arrived al IN ell their croes.ex-
animation Of him since the news arrived; for
Mr.. Simpson had actually, Cor Ew weeks in
his boyhOOd, been . dweller In this paradise,
Oor such the Surrey eoUntry.house had be.
come in their vivid imaginations,J and could
remember all about II, they were sure, II be
chose. ''"
MY loves, don't remember much about
It was only boy, you know, (and that'sa
long whilo ago. Sally y but I do remember
poor uncle Sam was very Kind, ana e was 3
very nice place to me after London street, AS
YOU may suppose. Fssalleet eeItllAs