Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1861-01-30
KISSED nY mINraTr

very wicked act instead Of asking a simpl,
= question.
, He was bashful. extremely 50 was Josiah
Hswley; at least in the presence Of voune
lsdies; most OF all, in the presence Of the giTl
/ be loved. No young farmer in an ihe country
possessed better Kept farm, OF talked with
more confidence among his compeers Of stock
I aud creps, and on kindred subjects. But The
glimpse or some pretty face, or foot. coming in
his direction, affected hin ike a fash Of lie sht-
ming. On such occasions, he never knew
wlat to do with bis hands and eyes and
always felt like screwing himself into mouse
hole. How be ever con rived to approach
Hester 1hcnas on the subject Of his preference
for her, probably remains to this day as much
a mystery 10 himself AZ it is 10 Others
Bat that young lady had quite an amount Of
tact and cleverness slowed away somewhere
in her pretty little head, albeit it tDes set on
he dimpled, inexperienced shoulders Of seven
teen. Josiah was worth, IN a worldly wav,
much more than any OF her other suftors. GOOD
looking, and intelligent enough to satisfy any
but an over-fastidIous person f: unexceptioa-
able, 10 short, barring his excessive bashful-
ness, which was a fruitful source Of merri-
ment among the Young people IN their Ettle
circle And so, when Josiah, in bis ayg iyvard,
biundeTing way, began to exhibit his prefer
ence for her In various little wavs, such as
! waiting on her to and from sirgius schoof-
+ on horseback to the solitary church in the
woods, and singing her out at quilting parties,
I Hetty took it all In the pIeasantest manner
/ possible. The girls laughed, and the Young s,en
cracked sly jokes at the expense Of her iimid
sutor; but Hetty stood up for him very indie
I pendently; encouraged him out Of his shvness /:
never noticed any unfortunate blunder; and
+ very likely helped him along considerably
when his feelings reached the " eliminating
I point" one moonlighted autumn evening, as
T they were walking home together from prayer
meeting.
( That was just week ago. Hetty had said
I "Yes,o and agreed to " bring father and
; mother around on the subiecto Josiah had
: not been 70 the house since, probably feeling
/ very much like dog venturiHg upon the prem
ises Of the person whose sheep-fod be bad
Just plundersd. As yet neither had had the
courage TO speak to the Hreigning poWers1 on
the subject; and HsLty, feeling as IL she wish
/ ed to put the ordeal of as long as Possible-at
any rate, to have one more confidential talk
with him on the subject, said:
e" Mother is going to Aunt Rulh's to spend
( the evening, and wants me to 90. But guess
] won't. Fye been working on fathers shirts
al day, besides doing The dairy work. and Pm
as tired as can be. So guess they'll have to
90 without ne. Don't come until O'clock
shall be through putting things to rights then,
and will let you TO-"
OF course Josiah was not too obtuse to
understand that, and forget bis bsshfulness so
far as to petition for goodbye kiss, which
was persmptorily refused, Of course.
No, ] shan't. Do take yourself &C. Think
! didn't see you fdgeting around Sarah Jones
at Deacon Badgers yesterday evening" Pys
not forgotten that, SIR 20
" Now Hstty -o
But the appeal was broken of by a tantal-
izing httle laugh; and as be sprang forward
to take pleasant revenge on his tormentrsss,
she slipped away and ran up tbs path to the
houss, where he saw her wave her hand as she
disappeared within the kitchen porch; and
then be turned from the gate and took the road
homeward.
The tea things had been carried out, the
table set back against the wall the crumbs
brushed from the clean homemade carpet, and
Hstty's work-stsBd drawn up in front Of the
blazing fire. bountfully piled waiter Of
great red apples and pla'e Of cracked wal
Huts were on it, in close proximity to Hotty's
work basket.
On one side Of the FIRE sat Mrs Thomas, fat
and fair, and at peace with I'll the world,
rocking ami knitting, and refreshing herself
at suRlry intervals with a bite from a half
ea'en apple that lay on the corner Of The table,
and touching every now and then in a cares
sing manner wiJh erfost sleek, lazy-lookiHg
cat that puTrsd and winked on the rug before
her. HettG sat on the other side, sewing, and
busy In thinking bow she should tell her mother
that she expected a visitor. S1e would have
given the world TO be able TO say In an of-hsnd
manner that she expected Mr. hawley to drop
in about eight. But she recoIlec ed with a
twnge Of conscience how bard she bad tried
to get the old lady to accompany her husband
to aunt Ruth's, spite Of Der fOrewarnings Of a
spell Of neuralgia; bow she bad also plead
headache as an excuse for not going herself.
and she knew her mother was quite sharp
enough to draw her own iIfereuces from these
facts, and from her being dressed With unusual
care to spend an evening al bone.
81 shall not dare TO tel her now She'll be
sure to think ] wanted to get her out OF the
way so might have Josiah all to myself, and
I should never hear the last of it," And like
a wise little puss she was siien'.
I'l venture my word on it,, YOU would not
have wondered at our young farmers despeF-
ate enthrallment il you could have seen Hetty
Thomas as she sat sewing by tue hre-sids that
cold November night.
Under pretext Of being ready to go to her
uncle's "a thing she bad 10 idea Of doing,) she
had, Isst before tea, INDUCED in an indiscrim-
mate "GEing up" A neatly-ftting dark cal
jco, With the sioTe took still on *; fresh linen
collar and tasteful black silk apron-these
were the chief items Of Hetty's toilet; but she
looked as sweet and dainty in her plain dress
as If hours had been spent in donning lace and
Jewels tlEL AlGA ldlls DL AAE AdAh-HA dAUuIE
tings, fell in shining folds close TO her warm,
red cheek, and was caught up in a cunning net
behind.
Eight O'Clock and past Mrs. Thomas was
doing in her chair-her shadow on the opoo-
site wall bobbing about ia gTotesque mimicTY,
as she nodded to and fro; now crushing the
Toluminous white satin bows on her spruce
cap against the back Of her chair now almost
failing forward, and her rat hands lay listless-
ly in her lap, ahd Der ball Of yard had rolled
out upon the hearth, and puss was busy con-
vertiRg it into gordian knots.
And lust then came a double rap at the door;
% loud sudden and self-assursd, that Hetty
started up with little shrek, aud set her foot
on puss's tail, who in turn gave voice to her
smazemsnt and displeasuTe.
The combined noise aroused Mrs. Thomas,
ald, starting into an erect position, she rubbed
her eyes, settled her csp-border, and exciimed:
" Bless my soul, HettY, what was that ?
Somebody al the loor? Who can be coming
here at this time Of the nghtfD
q" It's not late, mother; only q little past
eight. I'll 20 and see who it is,D says HsttY
demurely, taking the candle from the table.
"No Here, you wind up nv bali and sR eep
The hearth, while / 90 to the door, says the
old lady, whose feet were struggling in the per-
picking meshes Of the unraveled yarn. "Drat
the catW
Aad all this time Josiah was standing on one
foot out On the cold porch, with bis hands in
his oVerc0at pockets, wondering IL Hetty had
fallen asleep, and every now and then giving
the door sharp rap By way Of variety.
In herh hurry, Mrs. Thomas forgot to take the
candle, and as she stepped out into the little
front entry, the sitting-room door slammed
after her. She had her hand on the handle OF
the hall-door at the moment, and opening il,
she suddenly found herself 10 the embrace Of a
stout pair OF arms; whiskered face 10 close
proximity 10 her own and before she could
think about TIE srangeness Of her situation,
she received a prolonged Kiss - hearty
Emack-full upon her matrou lips.
HOh, murder faint Obadiah, neither -
She had By this time divested herself Of The
impression that il was her usually sober spouse,
who must have come home in N unusually eX-
alted condition, thus 10 indulge in such un-
wontsd expressions Of affect on.
aGst OUT Get out, 1 say Who are you,
any how? Murder thieves Hety come
hefei Here's q man kissing me Ike mad
/ But the Intruder had BY this time discovered
I bis mistake; it Dad not need the indignant
I pummelng and scratching Of the old isdy's
vigorous fists 10 cause him to reiinqnish bis
hold, and fly as il pursued by some indigdant
ghost.
Hetty, nearly choking with smothered laugh
ter, in spite Of her trsPidation, now came to
I the rescue.
81 never was so frightened in all my life.
The mean scamp Who could it be? Hetty,
have you ANY idea ?v
But that daliful daughter was, to all appear
anre, innocent ss sucking dove. She sooth-
ed the old lady BY representing that It might
have been one Of the neighbors, who. having
drank too much, bad mistaken the house and
the housewife. she searched the entry FOR the
missing speetselss dropped in The senfile; rear
Z ranged tie rumplsd cap border: woand no the
~ as. l-fr -. -