Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1860-06-01
MIS- C. L. A N Y .
THIRTY-FIYE.


had already reached the end.
Such was the remark tha. addressed to
myself upon the morning Of my thirty.
9Th birthday. was not in the best Of hui
mor., a. may 10 inferred from portion Of
my remark. but when had. had pushed
aside the curtain and opened the window,
and had reyellel for awhile in the glorics OF
an October morning, (for the reader must
know what am proud OF telling, that my
birthday comes in the slOriou, month Of
October. (which makes the woods so
eay.") then did my 'pir., acquire i;' usual
tone Of serenity. and became half asham-
ol Of my fr,, exclamation. Bu. the day
had begun BADLY, and was destined to en-.
counter and overcome many more ycta,ion'
before I, ended.
A. | looked in the elas. tha. morning,
never 80 I, seemed to me. had the ravages
Of time hcen 50 perccp,iblc. My brown
locks. which had been the pride and admi-
ration Of my friends, and which only yes-
terday had seemed to me as glossy, abund.
ant and bcnutiiul a' ever, now looked faded
and ihin-and ycs-aciualIy there was n
gray hair am ashamed to confess that
f,r csO instant, | was almost disposed TO
.is down aud cry, bu, happily, dad not
Weld TO the temptation. Ny eyes, too,
which in my younger days had been dark
and lustrous, anu whieh, a. my cousin John
bad once said. 4" shJnc like an angel swhen
| was animatci," now, upon the morning
Of nv thiriy.Gth birthday, looked doll AMI
green. Th sro were wrinkles. too. upon
my iacc, which could only have been placed
,hero by the hand Of time. In fact, !
looked wrinklcd, faded, and with the i'm.
preston strong upon my mind. | put on
tho mos, Quakcr..likc dtcs. ! possessed,
combcd my hair back as plainly as possible,
and went down TO breakfast. Asl opened
the door, was unfortunate enough 10 ia.
,crrup, family conference, ior there wore
seated a, the t'blc. uncle and aunt, John.
lllrry, Frank, and ll,,lc Annie, all sccni-
inslr engaged in very earnes, conversation.
Upon my sudden entrance there was an ab-
rupt paus, and some embarrasncni eHpre'.
sci BY the younger members of the family.
Another advantage in bcin; an old
maid" though, | to myself &" she's shurc
to stumble into places where she isn't want
cd"
AL seated myself in my accustomed
place at the table, there wa, an exclamation
from John:
Emily have you turned Quakcr2 What
in the world 1, the meaning Of that draD
dress"
81, means tha, ! am thirty.GS. to day,
so be rsvcrcnt il you please, said | shak.
ing my finger at him.
"ln half.mournius for her hopes, I sup
pose, mu,,crci Harry, with a mos, mali.
ciJus cAl preston ol lacc'
a, thi. point j1,,cd down memoran.
dun in my mini-to g.vc Harry a lecture
upon respect before the day was through.
81 DO not believe Cousin Emily has made
n mistake" shouted my pet, Frank, a, this
moment, shaking bis eurls all over his head.
q" know ,hc i. forty instead OF thirty f,g
to day, and I'll prove II by the family Bi.
bic after breakfast. Oh, Cousin Emily :
70 think tha, you Of all Others, should cheat
IN your aga shall never believe In you
after this"
4" Hold your tongues, boys" interrupted
nv uuele. Z" u you behave % rudely you
shall take no part in you know what"
And here my uncle nodded my',eriously.
rs lclt the table that morning | felt
sur9 that hated the boys mos, decidedly.
and came 70 tho conclusion that they
were the mos, ungra,eful set ,ha, ever liy.
ed. Even Frank, 10y whose sick bed ! had
spent some years Of my life, who bad often
declared that he loved me better than any
thing else on earth, even he had wounded
me by foolish jest.
"Pleasc, Emily, don't come down to
dinner In drab." said John, a, he handed
me to the door in an unusually gallant
style.
Z" And Cousin Emily, mother Gays you
are no, to enter the kitchen to-day" whis.
whispered little Annie, with a mast be-
wl,chins smile.
$50 they want to &c, rid Of me, thought
| bitterly. And what can have come ov.
er those boys this morning' never knew
them to behave 20. really believe they
wish was out Of the house. and 50 | DO.
Gun to think do uncle and aunt, too. Las,
year was loaded with presents, aud to-day
there is not even the mention Of onn. Not,
Of course that care anything about the
presents themselves, but then !, is pleasant
to know there !. some one In tho world who
cares about you. Well see ! shall have
to go away from here and find home by
myself, for who cares for an old maId?"
Thus grumbling, | entered my room and
cast my eyes around to see what 1t was best
to employ my time about-fOr upon this,
my birthday, was extremely iastidious as
regarded my occupation. II pleased me
jus, then to remember that there was a
quantity Of letters to bO looked over and
sorted-a task that had put OF from day
to day as painful one, for 1t would neces-
.arily recall the one bitter sorrow Of my
life.
Twelve years before, upon that very day,
my marriage was to have taken place.
But before the time came we had quarrel.