The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1864-05-26

'Indeed, Wilfrid," he would say, i'1 mus
burn my books, if you persist in examining
g from them. 1t is not honest"
''All very fine; but | did not get hom
till so late last night | could not write m
exercises, and old Torment $50 | disrespect
fully called my tutor comes at this morn
ing"
why did you not get up early and d
them yourself? l would certainly have call
ed you"
;, what bully you are, John!
And John would blush scarlet and depre
cate such an accusation, and | would rotor
with some thing worse, and my father woulv
come in and ask John for an explanation
and John would hesitate and, between hi
almost morbid love of truth and his desir
to screen me, become utterly unintelligible
My father " ould then merely shrug his shoul
ders and say.
Really, John, you are too old to have
these perpetual quarreIs with Wilfrid.'
And John would retire, really provoked
and hurt at such an accusation, but find il
impossible to clear himself
| tried once or twice to set right with my
father, but he would not listen.
"There, there have no time to attend
|
but rather pragmatical, think
| would strive for time to do what was
right for the sake of pleasing John, and
showing | attended to what he said but
the weakness Of my nature soon made me
trip up again, and with the usual justice OF
sinners being angry with myself revenged
myself by being especially irritating and tire
some to John. But still, he had an influence;
and not only on me, but on all of us. My
uncles appeared to almost ignore his exist
ence. They had expostulated with my faith
er upon the preposterous notion of taking
charge Of him, and Them as usual, the wash
ing of the hands and the prayer process, had
been gone through, and he was ostensibly
forgotten. With my usual quickenss of OBJ
servation, saw, however, that when the
clergyman uttered some very pious observa
ton, he often looked at John for approval :;
and that in the midst of some intense gor-
mandzing, when appopectic manifestations
about the flushed cheeks and thick breath
ing were painfully visible, the banker would
fdget and look uncomfortable, if John came
into the room. Shy, awkward, painfully
modest as John was, he had uncouSciousIy
impressed all who came near him with a
sense that he had loftier estimate of char
acter than most persons. Even my grand
father was chary ofswearing and raging be-
fore him l was delighted to see the effect
obtained, more for lnischiefs sake than any
thing else, of course and was also very
curious to discover how it had been produc-
ed. In the fairy lore of my childish days
there were tales told of persons who possess
ed an amulet against evil. | was too old to
believe that now, and not old enough to APP
preclate to its full extent the fact, that noble
integrity of character and loving sweetness
of disposition formed the true amulet after
all, though the casket which held it might.
be ungainly in appearance and most diff
cult to open.
| The only individual who had ever uttered
a single comment on my grandfather's mar
riage was John, and yet he was the only per-
sou Immediately affected by it. My grand
fathe had told my father that he should
want the two rooms John had hitherto oc-
cupied-a sitting room and study-for
his step daughter, Miss Gwyn. AS soon as
he returned from his honeymoon. Mr., Thorold
was going to give a series OF parties, and
receive a number Of visitors, and every cor
ner of ThoroId House would be occupied.
Would John mind for a time sleeping
III CdO oiiioIl pay -IOOHl OuLSIu6 w IlTIu b
comp he asked.
My father was vexed, but there was no
help. He mentioned it to John, and John
looked grave but was silent,
mot at all necessary, my dear fellow"
said my father, ''to move Immediately. |
have written to my father to make other
suggestions, and it is needless to disturb
yourself till | receive the answer
Il think it better to move at once in case
Mr.. Thorold should arrive sooner than you
expect besides-"
What q"
Il am in hopes to receive favorable re-
ply from schoolfelow, to whom | have
written about my desire to find employment.
| know that it is possible that he may be
sent abroad, and | think he will want tu-
tor.
"And you have offered yourself?'
eyes"
My father looked vexed for a moment, but
! recovered himself instantly.
''You are right John, that would be an
opening-it is the right thing, at all events;
and yet-and yeti will be deuced bore
not having you here. wish to heaven, if
tutor you must be, you would be tutor to
Wilfrid but | can't afford it,
1t occurred to me that if my father had
limited his expenses in horses and hounds,
there might have been a way for John to
have remained with us; but how many men
kind and generous ones, too-never dream
that the cutting off of some entirely super
auous luxury would enable them to be liberal
in some less snowy expenditure. But all
the Thorolds had huuted and to have
horse less in the stable and dog less in
| the kennel was not to be thought of.
| | also admired the cool way in which
John had extricated himself from what was
certainly false position. He might have
been kept dawdling forever at Thorold for
it was the manner of Thoroldians to,leave
all as much as possible in StGtU quo. There
would always have been a talk of finding
employment for him but unless it had been
dropped from the sky, or started from the
earth, it would had come, the search was so
very desultory and dilatory, and his strong
youth would have passed into old age while
he still hesitated at Thorold House.
Il AS John never spoke Of himself, we did
not know how much most of his schoolfel-
lows loved him have since heard that no
, boy had ever passed through the trying or
deal Of a public school with so many fast
friends and SO few foes.
Johns removal had only just been effected
in time. The very next morning we re-
ceived letter announcing Mr.. and Mrs
Thorold's return.
cam to call her grandmama, wonder ~
said to John, as we sat together in the IL
brary waiting for them
YES, | suppose So
''And her daughter?-there is daughter,
you know"
she must be called Miss Gwyn,l should
think"
''But she is a relation now. Let me see:
her mama is my fathers fathers wife-she
is his mama now; and her daughter must be
his sister,"
j 'Not really his sister p