Lewistown gazette. [volume] (Lewistown, Pa.) 1843-1944, 1864-08-24

| hams.
He was up and dressed ~hen the doctor
entered the room, but there was a contrac-
ton OF lip and brow, deadly paiior and
weary expression that told of acute pain,
borne quietly, To say that he accepted
the doctors invitation gracefully, gives but
feeble idea of the glow in his cheek, the
light in bis eyes that expressed his pleas.
ure. A home
I'VE can all feel independent enough
when we are we'll, DOCTOR he said smiling;
'but there is nothing like twinge OF pain
to recall a mothers love, or good fit of
sickness 70 bring out home memories
But | am afraid to tax your kindness SO far.
A stranger
Not at all, the women folks have dis
covered an old friend You may have
heard Hattie Coles speak of the Ham
monds'
Speak of them! Haven't | bowed in
spirit before Miss Leonie's picture, and
admired even TO Hattie's content the ex.
quisite stores of Miss Lucy. And you are
really DR.. Hammond
'Really, and Mrs Hammond is waiting
AL paI lOi W dud HeI iuFltdIlUl IO IUIu6s
and to see that you have the proper num-
ber of pillows in the carriage
The reception and first impressions of
our hero are best put in his own words.
In pile Of letters tied with ribbon, and
tucked away in Mrs. Coles work table
drawer, there is one which reads thus:
P, Dec. lS-.
DEAR HATTIE: You We're very anxi-
Gus to have me write, as | had seen your
dear friend Lconie Hammond, and tell
you how she impressed me; so here goes
for long letter. First and foremost, you
must 90 to mother for the details of a
lucky fall ] had, and the subsequent invi-
tation to make DIR. Hammond's house my
home; then, fancy me fairly domesticated
in a charming room, with that dear old
gentleman to pay NE dai ly visits, bis state
ly wife to see that have every comfort,
and the young ladies flying in or out as
the whim takes them. | have never been
too sick to come down stairs, but appear
daily In a charming crimson wrapper that
suits my Spanish complexion to nicety,
and slippers that would make anybody lazy
But all this time you are waiting to hear
of your friend, Hattie She is bewldering;
even your desert ptions fall short of the re-
ality, and your vignette portrait is mis-
erable libel. Such eyes-now full of fire,
now beaming with mirth, now melting
with pathos-such a queenly figure, such
beautiful rich tresses, such a sunny COM
plexion-well, words do her no Justice.
She is the most wonderfully beautiful wo-
man | ever saw.
Of Lucy I see but little; she is abstract
ed and seIt-contaiIed, spends whole days
shut up in the doctors library, and seems
to pass her whole time in dreaming out her
new stories or poems, which are certainly
worth the trouble
But, Hattie, why did you never tel me
of the other one; Nettie, the household
fairy, the wee, witching, graceful Cinder-
ella to these lovely sisters No, not Gin.
derella, for that heroine was neglected and
abused, and Nettie just wraps round her
warm heart the love of the whole family
While Leonie is riding, driving, dancing,
skating or sleeping, and Lucy is shut up
in the library bewailing the sorrows of Ar
amenta for creating a sensation for Glenn
entina, Nettie is the home fairy. She ap-
pears in the sitting room daily with deli
cious compounds which she informs me she
has manufactured for my especial delight,
though | notice there is always duplicate
dish for the doctors dinner or supper
She comes in demurely to sit down to great
piles of white stuff which she gravely states
to be weeks mending, and shoots long
thread in and out, reducing long thread
to miserable inches in less time than it
takes to tell it, her tongue all the while
keeping up merry rattle, or tracing out
deeper thought as the whim takes her.
The others are very gay, and dazzle me
night after night by coming in to twist
round before the pier glass as they are start
ing for party, sometimes dragging Net
tie off too, spite of her reluctance, to bring
her home full of pleasure at the admiral.
ion lavished upon her sisters.
But the most charming time of all is the
evening. DR.. Hammond IS generally at
home, or when he is out, one of the sisters
remains. On the latter occasions, we
have music and small talk; but when the
doctor presides then Nettie let's all her
hidden inner self out, and charming self
it is, SO womanly, so true, and pure, and
good. No deep thought to startle, but the
quiet, reliable intelligence of child, frank
and questioning, yet full of beauty. She
reads beautifully, and we have all Lucy's
stories, as she writes them, varied by the
articles in the Lancet, the news of the day,
poetry, fiction, history, anything that one
of the trio will suggest She seldom plays
when her sisters are present; but for the
doctor and | she will accompany herself to
simple ballads, which she sings with taste,
in clear, sweet, but not very powerful