Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1865-04-20

4
him, awaited the announcement of his errand.
! 81 must request your indulgence, Miss FIarton,"
said Ralph, with perfect self-possession, although
inwarly completely realizing the strangeness ofhs
position, "for having taken so great liberty rs to
call upon you pers 'naly, without ever having had
the honor of an introduction. Ny object is simply
10 return a handkerchief which picked up in the
street, bearing your name. I night have restored
it TO you without intruding upon your leisure; but
| trust you will pardon the freedom Ihave ventureJ
to take in order to apologize more completely for
what must have seemed much like Intentional
rudeneSs. by some strange fatality, | have thr e
times caused YOU great annoyance, although moth
! ing could have been further from nv wishes. 1
beg ycu to believe that deeply regret nv own
awkwarlness, and most sincerely sorry ever TO
have placed You in such embarrassing situations. -
"lndced, Mr. Barker" replied the beautiful girl.
with pleasant and cordial smile on her features,
81 beg you never 10 think of il again; | assure
you, you greatly exagSerate the Importance of
such ;Iifes, which required no apology at all
am extremely sorry you have taken the trohLle to
come SO far merely to restore handkerchief,
which l was ignorant | had lost until you men
toned the fact
AT the conclusion of his little speech, (which
We fear. hardly extcmporc eff,rt,) and du-
ring Miss Har,on's reply to it, Ralph had been
searching his pockets for the lost article, and pic
ture the intensity of his chagrn and modification
the truth came upon him ike an avalanche,
tllt he had LETT it behind Isabelle instantane-
oIs!y OWNED the real state OF the case she saw
the blood rush to his face, rsdening it to the roots
of his hair and swiftly retreat leaving pal
lid as marble.
If she had not perceived the real distress of the
young mans mind, the incongruity and absurdity
Of the whole matter would have overpowercd her
selfcontrol but her quick sympathy with all kinds
of suffering took away every inclination to laugh.
~. l.cr
countcnance, and voice trembling in spite OF
himself.
"ls may seem. perhaps, preneGitatcd insult,
Mise Harion, when tell YOU that the handkerchief
thought | had with me has been left behind by
some careless mistake of my own. have once
again made myself ridiculous in your ewes, but
promise you this shall be the last time. Your
property shall be sent Immediately by post If
had no other motive than simply to vindicats my
own sincerity, i should be concerned to see it re-
stored. If you will only have the same charity for
ms last misfortune which you have expressed for
its predecessors, will take pains never to need the
same indulgence fifth time
So Swing, he took up his hat and rose to 90, but
Isabelle eagerly motioncd him to remain.
"Do not feel so keenly about a mere nothing.
eHtreAt YOU, Mr. Barker,' She said, with genuine
kindness in her large, beautiful eyes. II shall
never forgive myself for having been the innocent
cLwse Of so much chacrn, it you persist in viewing
this idle matter through microscope. Pray hugh
1T the whole affair With me, for We have both been
equally placed in ridiculous light; ald believe
me, il is true wisdom not TO waste feeling on such
uncescrvins objects as little accidents"
The unaffected kindness of her tone and m inner
went 10 poor Ralph's heart, and, ms we often feel
more gratitude for little favors thin for great he
fit that beauty was the least of her arms, for il
WAS only the transparent veil through which shone
her true wsm inly nature in all lis lOveliness. As
h. again rose 10 60, she extended her hand to-
wards him /; he took il in his own and bowling his
head, was on the point Of imprintins kiss upon
the white taperins fingers, when the door suddenly
opened, and Nj Harton entered. Isabelle hastily
Withdrew her hind, and coloring deeply, said to
her father:
Let me introduce you to Mr.. Barker papa"
The large, stout gentleman advanced. and offer
ing lis hand, sal with penetrating glance in the
young man S face
al always glad TO welcome NV daughters
friends; how 90 YOU do, Mr.. Barker ~
Rllph s;ammered out something about the
weather. and was evidently in no lir;e confusion.
when Isabelle came 10 his rescue, and said with
quiet selcposse'sion:
MIR Barker found my handk erchief in the street
papa, and WIS so kind as 20 come on purpose TO re
store il. feel very much Obliged to him, indeed.
for his po,itcness.'
"Barkcr, Barker" said Mr.. Harton, repeating
the name atstracteily, he saw there was enbar
BASEMENT on both sides, and having unlimited con-
fdence IN his shter, wished To extii ate them
from it, .an old schcolfellow of mine named
Barker-Ralph james Barker. Perhaps you are a
relation OF his, sir 2"
THAT was my fathers name, sir," answered
Ralph, internally thanking the old gentleman for
his tact: ''but he died several fears ago"
"Thcn upon my wo-d,'' said Mr.. Harton, warm
ly, ''it is the luckest chance in the world that
brought YOU here, Mr.. Barker. Your father and
oil friends OF long standing, and for years and
years corcsponded together; but after | went
to Calcutta, ! suddenly ceased to hear from him.
and never knew where he had went TO, or what had
become of him. You must stop and dine with us
this evening; have hundred questions TO ask.
| might have known YOU were Ralph's son." he
added, looking in the young mans face; ''same
eyes, same hair, same everything. Well, well, it
will be my turn next"
And with these wcrls the old gentleman left the
room.
The two Young folks remained in silence some
time. Ralph at last broke the pause. saying:
"May consider that have Miss Harton's priv
ilegc to remain. as well as her fathers ~
IL shall always welcome my fathers friends"
she answered evasively, and little distsntly, ad
ding in moro cordial tone, al am sure nothing
has happened to make your visits other than &C
ceptlhc. Resides" she continued. little mis-
chieyously. "when YOU next cali. YOU may well
bring my handkerchief yourself, instead Of sending
it,"
Having thus seen our hero fairly launched on
"the course of true love- we hope that it ''ran
smooth for the future, and that the little ripples
atits commencement were not prophetic of suisse
qucnt matrimonial storms. One thing is certain.
and that Is about year after, the scs contained
she following notice:
"M-y IL, at st. Matthews, Brixton. by the Rev.
Albert Coupler, D. D.. RALrH BARKER, Esq. OF
the Middle Temple, to ISABELLE, daughter of Fred
erick IImton. Esq. Of Busby Hill, Brixton."
II mag be n.eresting 10 add that Raph's grooms-
man on The occasion Henry Livingstone; and
alter the ceremony was over, he was overheard to
WHISPER in tie bridegroom's ear:
al sly. Ralph. il You find any more handkcr
chiefs, send me one. viii you.''