Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1861-02-05
LApY,s HEART TO LET.

DNOaA an OVulu mar MI tlckeEy.
1hat MIR. Vickery was a bachelor, verging
upon ffty-6ve, of a retiring and perfectly in
offensive disposition; who lodged in a very
white house, with very green blinds, over
looking Hampstead Heath. His means were
sufficient; his tastes simple. His name was
Jersmish. He wore very high and stiff muslin
heck k-tles, Id all weathers; took in the Gentle
mans Magazine, and looked upon days fish
ing oat OF punt at Teddington Lock as a
piece OF wild excitement, only to be INDUCED
an upon great and distant occasions. The fact
was, that Mr.. Vickery had been kept so closely
at work, during the early part of his life, in
the well-knOwn establishment of Messrs Grind
hem and ShOddy, the eminent Manchester
yarehousemen of Cannon street, that by the
time he had scraped together sufficient to re-
oro upon comfortably, and had quilted the
o'.slness, he had not the slightest idea how to
spend his hsrd-earned savings. He was very
harmless old party Il use the word advisedly, }
was Vickery-a very harmless old party, in
deed,
Miss Tabitha Buckram was a gushing thing
of-(l am not breaking confidence, for She has
openly stated il for the last twelve ycarsl-of
twenty nine. She had been Leetlc fast once
upon time, if seandslous people are to be be-
heVsd, but she had long given up all levity Of
conduct, dressed deinurely, affected evangeli-
cal tea parties, and had an eye upon curates
generally. She resided not very far from Mr.
Nickery, and the origin of her dislike for that
he would not marry her. Not that she had
asked him In so many words to do so, but by
her demeanOr and conduct she had given him
TO understsnd-A she had many other elderly
single genuemen-that, as far as she knew,
there was no lawful impediment in the way of
their immediate union Poor Miss Buskram
was becoming desperate; her friends, the par
sons, welded pretty young girls-a knack they
haVe-and the wary elderly single gentlemen
would not be caught. She set her cap at our
simple old friend; but he, being too stupid, or
100 wise, or too something else, to fall into her
snares, kept out Of them Thus she remained
aspinster, and he bachelor, whom she could
not Glide.
Ii was not from any affection for single bles-
sedness In the abstract that Mr.. Viekery re-
NAMED in his present solitary position. "Sin-
gle blesSednesS ~ he was heard to excIaim
when the washerwoman sent home half a dozen
o. Ms SHIRTS, having only seven buttons be-
tween them Single cRSsedlsss I call il. -
Marriage, then, did enter ints his head more
tnan once, but only to come out of it. as be re-
viewed his scrubby locks and ample waistcoat
IN the glass. All" he would say with a
grunt, fiat single gentlemen don't sigh1 al
was too busy to think about it when I was
young, and-bless my soul who'd have me
now Plenty of people, Mr.. Vickery-scores
and scores of girls-including Miss Tabitha
buckram, who cant tebide' you; for you are
cherry hearted old fellow, and perhaps what
is more to the purpose, warm old boy'' and
sly old fellow with good account at the
bank-eh. Mr.. Fickery who is it for Jer-
emlah why don't you buy an annuity with
1t cut lodgings, and have house Of your
own, en- who are you going to leave it to
old boy! Me-or tbs Prince OF Walcs-or the
Hay Fever Hospital, or Thornley's Mug, or
the Talking Fish, or whs You have neither
chick, nor child, nor rsl-Stop. I'm wrong.
There's Jack Fssper-the idea of forgetting
Jack was the only son of Mr. Vickery's
youngest sister. His mother and father were
dead-long dead; and his uncle was duly NOM
mated his guardian. Guardian Ha ha
Why, at seventeen Jack knew more of the
world, and its ins and outs, and the good bad
and Indifferent people, and places upon it,
than my dear old friend will ever know, should
ne live 10 be two hundred. Jack had been
brought up as civil engineer, and was doing
very we'll; be mad chambers in Clements Inn,
where ne Ted bachelor life, very different 10
his guardians quiet vegetation in Prospect
House. mighty man was Jack; he could
color you clay pipe as black as your hat
Of 1t Is a black one) in two days; hs could
win five pounds of you at pyramid pool
before you knew where you were; he could
chaf any humber Of cabbies, bargies or
Gnkmen blind. But where he comes out
strongest, 10 my mind, is at children's par
ties. He is six feet high is Jack, and as hand
some fellow as you could find in DAYS
march, but he is not above playing with the
shttle ones-not he. He will make himself into
bear, with great rough coat that he has
and be led about all-fours by the boys. He
will dance with the little girls. doing all his
steps, holding up his trowssgs as they do their
frocks. He will wrap himself up i'm the crim-
son table cloth-put the worsted work pillow
on his head, and be coDjurer and right down
we'll he can conjure, to- He will play Oyertures
on apenny trumpet; make shadow & fgures on the
wall; act charades; dress up as an old nurse
Il III r.
apple-candles that will burn; cut up oranges
into all sorts Of shapes, from an elegant pas
sion flower spread out on a plate, to a likeness
OF an old gentleman very ill on board the
Boulogne steamboat, with a napkin over his
head-besides doing a dozen other pleasant
things, that have not time to enumerate. At
grown-up parties, Jack is very demure; he has
steady, resolute way Of dancing. Jacks
partner Is never hurt in the widest gallopade
Jack never runs against other people, aud
other people, after they have once tried it. do
net ruR against Jack. Watch him about half
past twelve o'clock when supper will soon be
announced, and if the girl he is dancing with
is not the prettiest in the room, I'll be bound
she is the incest. Jack is ready and resolute
as have said; but, somehow or other, there is
never room for him and his partner at the reg
ular supper table. He is obliged to lodge her
, IN some corner by the dumb waiter, where she
cannot get out, and where nobody but himself
(Oh, sly Jack. can get at her. Then he will
say ali sorts of pretty things to her, with his
back to the company, so that they cannot see
the expression Of his face-not tori getting crea-
ture comforts the while, Jack never leaves her
side to struggle about after plates and dishes,
!, over peoples heads, and between their shoul-
ders-spilling wine, and upsetting plates of
trife down their necks. No, no. He is very
comfortable where he is, and does not intend
to move. He will tip a waiter wink-per-
haps something else-snd that waiter is his,
body and soul, for the rest Of the evening
The idea of that waiter attending to nybody
else, or letting even thciady Of the house have
the perigord pie, or the plover's eggs, or the
peaches until Jack and his partner have quite
done with those deficacies, is too absurd to be
entertained for a moment.
Taking him all round, then, Jack Vesper was
not a bad sort Of young man. Some gentlemen,
who do not get on in ladies' society quite as we'll
as be does, say that he is a conceited ass; but
perhaps they are jealous. Fanny Parker thinks
he is the handsomest fellow and the greatest
genius that ever breathed; but perhaps she is
partial
Fanny Parker has no cl&im to classical beauty
Her nose-it is not q snub, Of course, only q