The Potter journal. [volume] (Coudersport, Pa.) 1857-1872, 1860-04-26


or fewhowers, or a new magazine for
me, untl the report of his visit came to
be an expected exciteufcsF = varied
the dull Gays wonderfully. Sickness and
sec usiotare a new birth to our senses,
oftentimss Not only do we get real
glimpse Of ourselves, unlocked and un-
clothed but the commoncst habits ofllfe,
and thethings that have helped to shape
them day by day, put on sort of strange
ness, aud come to shake hands with us
again, and make us wonder that they
should be just exactly what they are. We
get at ;tie primitive meaning OF them, as
Il rubbed off the nan qf life araa -
and they come and 90 before US with a
sort of old neWness that affects us much
as if VIC should meet our own ghost some
time, and wonder if we are really our own
or some other persons housekeeper.
| went through all this, and came out
with stock of small facts beside,-as
that the paper-haDger had patched the
hangings in my chamber very badly in
certain dark spots, | had got several
headaches, making it out, ,)-that the
chimney was little too much on one side,
that certain boards in the entry-foor
creaked of their own accord ia the night,
/ that Neighbor Brown had tucked few
new shingles into the roof of his barn, so
that it seemed to haze broken out with
! them and any number of other things
! equally important. Atlepgth got down
stairs, and was allowed to see few friends,
|Of course there was an inundation of
/ them and each one expected to hear my
story, and to tell a companion one, some
thing like mine, only little more so. 1t
was astonishing, the immense number of
peorle that had been hurt with guns. No
wonder | was sick for day or two after
ward. | was more prudent next time,
however, and, as the gossips had got all
they wanted, | saw only my particular
! friends. Among these my neighbor, the
sportsman, insisted on being reckoned,
and after little hesitation we were oblig-
ed to admit him. | say we,-for. on
hearing Of my injury my good cousin,
Mary Mead had come to nurse and amuse
me. She was one Of those safe, service
able, amiablc people, made of just the stuff
for satellite, and she proved invaluable
to me- She was immensely taken with
Mr.. Ames. too, Il speak of the younger,
for, after the first call of coincidence, the
elder sportsman never came,) and to her
| left the task Of entertaining him, or
rather of doing the honors Of the house,
for the gentleman contrived to enter-
tain himself and Us.
Now don't imagine the man hero, for
he was no such thing. Hewas very good
looking,-some might say handsome,-
wcll-bred, well educated, with plenty OF
common information picked up in pro
miScuous intercourse with town aud coun-
Try people, rather fine tastes, and great
strong. magnanimous, physical nature,
modest, but perfectly selfconsciOus. That
was his only charm for me. despse a
mere animal; but, other things being
equal, [ admire a man who is big and
strong, and aware Of his advantages and
[ think most women, and very refined
ones, too, love physical beauty and
strength much more than they are will
ing to acknowledge. So [ had the same
admiration fer Mr.. AmeS that | should
have had for any other finely proportion
ed thing, and enjoyed him very much,
sitting quietly in my corner while he chat
ted with Mary, or told me stories of trav-
eli or hunting, or read aloud, which he
soon fell into the way of doing.
We did try, as much as hospitality per-
mitted, to confne his visits to few cer-
emonious calls but he persisted in COM
ing almost every day, and walked in past
the Girl with that quiet sort Of authority
which it is so difficult to resist. In the
same way he took possession Of Mary and
me- He was sure it must be very dull
for both of us; therefore he was going, if
we would pardon the liberty, to offer his
services as reader, while my nurse went
out for ride or a walk. Couldn't I sit
ont nnder the shadow of the beach trenS,
as we'll as III that hot room? He could
lift the chair and me perfectly well, and
arrange all so that [ should be comforta-
bic He would like to superintend the
cooking of some birds he brought one day.
He noticed that the girl didn't do them
quite as nicely as he had learned to do
them in the woods And SO in a thou.
sand things he quietly made US do as he
chose, without seeming to outrage any
rule of piopnety. When | was able to
sit in carriage, he persuaded me to drive
with him; aud had to lean on his arm,
when | first went round the place to see
how matters vent on.
Once l protested against his making
himself SO necessary to us, and told him
that | didn't care to furnish the gossips
so much food as we were doing.
When | turned him out of doors, he