North Branch democrat. [volume] (Tunkhannock, Pa.) 1854-1867, 1863-04-15
The stranger shook his head.
" What ails you? Speak 2"

eu Harry. Nhat vixen this Mercy must
be! A fury incarnate! Prosperine in a
satin petticoat. l wish was a thousand
miles off,"
Turning again, he beheld one of the wild
est, prettiest, most good natured looking lit
tie flower girls he had ever encountered, who
dropped modest curtesy, and was passing
onward, when Harry caught her apron, and
asked what her name was2
Kathleen, ifyou please, sir" repeated
the girl. Kathleen the fower-girl, if you
please who gathers blossoms from hill and
dale, for the qualification of her customers.
Will you buy? Here are roses and lilies /;
but they are for the gentle and the good"
Am not good ?" asked Harry.
claw, no; you're man. Here is a
heart-ease for the forlorn lover; will you
buy? And here are some pretty tulips do
you love tulips ?"
Your tulips, of all the world, my pretty
Kathleen.'
"Law !" cried the girl, b)ushing and sim
pering. "They may suit you, for you are as
bright as the butterfly"
Gam like a butterfly 2" exclaimed Har-
ry Perceval.
"Why, no; not quite SO pretty" was the
reply.
"Eh my dear wench," said Harry. ~
should like to be better acquainted with
you"
"Should you, indeed! Well, that's very
kind, for nobody thinks of any pretty girl
now bu Mercy O'More. l was once beau
ty, sir"
'And are you not still-still-still most
beautiful 2"
"Ah, that's fat.ery!n said the girl
" Bnt the young men all thought the same
once. Before Miss Mercy came into the
ncighborhood, was the loveiest, happiest,
and gaycst of girls everybody envied me,
for was universally beloved. | had then
twenty lovers and half-real ones, too"
"Twenty and a half" cried Harry.
Yes. The half one was Cormac O'Casey,
a very good natured bit of man, rather ten
der here, sir, (touching her forelfead.) Ma
ture in creating him had made sad mistake,
aud transferred the soft place from the heart
to the head. He never told his love, but
only used to squeeze my hand when he bot
a posy, and sigh shocklngly-" Oh dear !''
"And did that merciess Mercy rob you
of all these 2"
"Ah, she did. There's not lover can be
kept from her."
at is very strange" said Harry Peaceval,
that for her capricious smiles they should
have forsaken the pretty Kathleen"
g Isn't it, sir. There must have been some
witchery in it, for they all of them, on their
Bonded knees, swore they loved me dearly
All, those were happy times, when, the days
labor being ended, l selected pne from my
many suffers, to accompany me in moon
light ramble, among the hills and valleys,
glades and glens, by wood and lake; each
seemed paradise, and the presiding spirit!
And when the sun was sinking behind the
distant hills, its last glories were accompan-
led by the music of my beloved"-
"Ah !" cried Harry, ga guitar ?''
"No; ajewsharp. He played so sweetly
that my spirit wept, as the divine melody
fell upon my young heart and when the
great round moon arose, our hearts were en-,
tranced with bliss"
:" see it !" cried the enraptured youth
{" picture the romantic scene-earth, Heav-
en- and water; moonlight, paradise, and a
jewsharp! Oh, delightful"
eyes, very except when a shower of
rain visited US and then my lover would run
away"
"Run away Now, can there be a man
on earth so vile? Run away from such
simple innocent girl as Kathleen Kathleen,
that man was william"
"Was he indeed 2"
" Kathleen, your charms, your innocence,
your delightful simplicity, entitle you to a
suitor of superior rank. Mercy O'More has
not one half of your attraction. She is pre-
cious ugly"
lam not precious ugly, am 2" asked the
flower girl.
" You -gow "-cried Harry 4" No! ! you
are all perfection; you are-you-are-
Zounds-I feel-I feel''-
"Do you feel i'll ?'' a
"Ill? Yes-no, not i'll, my dear; but
have the heartburn sadly"
"Shall fetch you little chalk and wa
ter?n
" o no; the only medicine that can effect
my cure lies deepin those lovely eyes; let
me gaze on them until my own dull orbs
shall draw it FORTH"
go, sir p cred Kathleen, blushing deeply
"Let me gaze and gaze again, exclaimed
Harry. "Tls thus | would fortify myself
against the witchcraft of Mercy ONO re-"
"Would you, indeed ?'' replied Kathleen
with such an arch expression, that Harry hal
suspected she was something more than she