Pomeroy weekly telegraph. [volume] (Pomeroy, Meigs County, Ohio) 1860-1866, 1860-06-12
Miste11anp.
From the Ladies' Own Journal.
A LEAP-YEAR WOOING
BY MELVILLE BELL.
I.-TOM PIDGER AND I.


He was one of my earliest school COM
panions, and loved him like brother
My heart became so full of love for Tom
that it could not contain it all, so dis
posed of the surplus by falling violently
in love with his sister-a very nice young
lady, about head and shoulders taller
than myself. [ recollect sending her a
valentine, in which tall, military-look-
ing man was depicted kneeling, in a
green lawn, before lady, to whom he
was making passionate declaration of
love in fat balloon which issued from
his mouth-in WHICH balloon l took the
precaution of inserting my initials to
prevent the possibility of mistake as to
the identity of the party. In return,
Miss Pidger presented me with large
pink heart made of sugar, (Which Tom
and l ate that same afternoon } but her
oacn heart she reserved for one Baines,
a banker, to whom she was married be-
fore left school
When Tom and I grew up We re-
moved to Edinburgh-he to college and
I to a bank-and we took rooms to-
gether in Queen street Tom had al
ways been rather slovenly fellow, but
now he became intolerably so. His hat
gradually became limp and napless and
though threw out very broad hints, and
at length openly demonstrated him, the
same hat remained in constant use.
tried to shame him out Of it by assuring
him that he would be taken for an Irish
man; and once / bribed the milk-boy
with penny to cry after him. "Who S
your hatter?'' but all in vain. His old
great-coat, too, he wore till it become
quite white along the seams, and glazed
at the elbows. 1t was very significant
fact that, though | passed the College
with him times without number, the
seedy old gentleman who used to step
out from the corner of South College
street, and say, in mysterious under
tone:' "any ole cloes, sir?" .invaribly ad-
dressed himself to me. And really it
would have been very gratutious as
sumption to have supposed that Tom
had any clothes older than those he
wore.
AS for his linen, doubt if he would
ever have changed it, had our. landlady
Mrs. Pritchard, not made point OF
taking clean shirt into his bedroom
every Sunday morning, before Tom was
up, and carrying the dirty one off.
Toms hair, from sheer neglect, grew
long and frousy. One day, remember
when he satdown to breakfast, itseemed
SO very very dry and matted that could
not forbear demonstrating.
positively, Tom," | said, ''you must
pay more attention to your personal ap-
pearance. Why your head is like a
mop"
''Is it?' said Tom. tsLet it be So L
saves time and trouble
would have urged that the ladies
would never look at him if he went sc
shabbily, but as I knew Tom to b.
scorner, for he didn't think them worth
hating-I waved that point. So thing
aoeat ON as before.
| was not woman-hater, for l hat
become enamored of Fanny Lowndes-
such dear little thing-had wooed her
and, last December, proposed and wa
accepted.
"Tom," said [, one night when W
were having our usual pipe by the fire
side before going to bed, atom, yo1
know Fanny Lowndes?"
GIVE heard enough about her, re
piled Tom.
"Well, she and I are to be marie,
next month
Tom gave short laugh, as if he con
sidered it rather good joke
"0n my honor, Tom, we are
"Tom's face became grave in an in
slant, and after looking steadily at IN
for few moments, to assure himself tina
was serious, he slowly took his pip
from his mouth, and laid it on the man
tle-piece, "Well, Dick" said he, in
tone ofgreat solemnity. II did not ez
pect this of YOU" He looked mourn
fully into the fire for a few moment
and then resumed-"Have you though
ON this subject? Don you know as we
as do, that once married you are don
for-there's no backing out again. A
your time of life, too, with the world a
before you-why, it's suicide-mors
and intellectual suicide. Oh, it cannc
he! you are joking"
~ asure you, my dear fellow, I al
quite serious. " ..f
"Then you are demented, said Tor
hitchiRg himself back in his chair
@'You think it is all poetry, l suppos
Wait till the cArtain lectures commenc
you won't find much poetry in ther
Children, too; why, my dear fellow, you
have your house swarming with them b
fore you know what you are about
The rate at which children multiply
prodigious. Have you read Mr.. Ma