The weekly north Iowa times. [volume] (McGregor, Iowa) 1857-1867, 1861-02-13
MISCELLANEOUS.
JOHN SMITH.

| An arrant coquette was Caroline Faulk
ner, with the bluest, lnerries eyes, the red
dcst, poutingest lips, the prettiest, bcwitch
ing ways, that ever made sad havoc with
uuguaIded hearts; and those proved to b.
many, in tn. town Of Readingvillc-all the
way from the squirc's and the young stu.
dent minister, down to the young man who
helped her father out OF the farm. All tn
way down-that is, If hearts are measure,
by the social standing Of their possesors.
1t was convincing proof Of the wis
dom OF the victims, at least, the care they
took, when their h.srts were irrevocahly in
the little coquettc's power, to fence round
the place where there hal been u high, i'm.
penetrable wall of resolves and avoidance Is
and c0l,lneSs. 1t is doubtful If they an
swered any good purpose, however, except
to keep out the truant things; in case they
had power to get back. ..
AS for the young lady herself, it is un-
certain whittier she possessed any such
troublesome appcndage of her own. Per.
haps that was the reason she wanted su
many Of other peoples. Most certainly, il
she had u heart, it had never yet cause,!
her any trouble. or would she have been
more cOnsidcrnte Of others?
Therefore, Caroline Faulkner, in the
quiet town of R,adingville, managed to en-.
joy herself tolcrably well, sporting with
mems hearts as child with it's toys, think.
ing these dangerous pla' things male for
her especial breaking and tormenting.
and rejoicing in every new victim to her
destinations.
And when the Squire's proud son, re-
| senttul at her teasing and caprices, incau-
ti0usly declared that he would rather mar
~ any girl within twenty miles, were she
ever SO poor and ignorant, than Garry
Faulkner, and it was repeated to her, (for
who ever knew words Of that kind to re-
main idle.) how the elf's eyes sparklesi
with glee, and what silvery laughter issued
from her sweet lnuuth rs she arche,l her
white neck and threw back h>r aubura
curls.
That evening, At singing schoal, she
looked so appr,achable, that he was almost
beside himself with hope and joy; and
when he walked home with her, which she
graciously permitted him to do, he was
foolish enough to ask her to marry him.
And then how innoeently surprised naugh.
ty Carry looked as she said:
II am very sorry, Mr.. Hubert. thought
you understood me when | told you cold
be no more than friend to you."
Mr.. Hubert Clay yton--that was his nam
turned rather quickly on his heel and
went away. ...
Garry went tripping along the pink bor-
dered path to the house, stepped On tls.
woodbine covered piazza, and looked at the
sky.
The door opened behind her, and
young man appeared. He said, very cody:
Hurry in, Miss Faulkner, am going to
lock the door,"
II don't care about hurrying, thank you.
It is n splendid evening. | am looking at
the stars. See how bright they are"
Perhaps Miss Caroline was not unwilling
to say mo" again that evening; for shs
looked up very smilingly in the young mans
face, though he was only her iather's
"man," and one could see, even by the
moonlight, that he was dressed very plainly;
of John Smith.
He must have hecn very cold or stu pill,
or something, for he answered drily:
~ cannot wait for you to look at the
moon; am too sleepy. You can lock thu
door when you get ready to come in" and
walked up stairs.
Too sleepy to gaze at the moon with .
beautiful girl for company! No wonder
Carry was indignant. She did not stay out
much longer. star-gaxing, but came in d.
rcctly, and turned the key rather cnergeti-
cally; and two or three times the word
'bear" escaped her lips. To whom, or what
lid she refer! Perhaps her mind wandered
10 menagcries In general, and something or
somebody had suggested bears in particu-
lar. Be that AZ It may, it was the burden
Of her song until she FIJI asleep.
Mr.. John Smith had been Mr.. Faulkner's
"h+lp" but short time. His coming there
was accidental
Some weeks since very plainly dressed
young man had called at the door to re-
quest glass Of water. While little Char