The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1866-12-04
Another! How contemptuous the word

ing heiress to hundred thousand dol
lars-I was just "another!" Why didn'
he call me person and be done with it.
Well, what would he do with my fright
| full wound? oo
"Mix little -four and salt and put on
/ it," said he; ''that viii stop the bleeding.
1t is mere trife.'
1t may have been tribe, but it was
enough to make me swoon. Or perhaps
| swooned out Of downright yexation at
the man.
/ When l recovered, he was gone. By
and7by, when Belle and IEere .alone-We
roomed together-I asked her what Mr..
Harrison said and did yhenI tainted.
! "He said" Belle answered, ''lay her on
her back, and leave her alone"
'Is that all he said?'
"No, not quite. Some one brought the
-four and salt, and he put it on your fin
gyr and said, There, tie rag around
it.
A ragl
should certainly hate this young
man. i; x After that he became
such an object of interest to me that L
could scarcely keep my mind off him an
hour at time.
was not long in learning something
of his history. 1t seemed that love Of
adventure had sent him on a cruise round
the world, when he was a boy of about
sixteen, both his parents being dead He
had been absent from his native country
four years without interruption, and on
his return had decided to go to the acad-
emy short time to correct certain lacks
in his education. This explained why a
man of his advanced age should be at
tending school-for he was twenty -one if
he was day, Belle assured me- l was
the only female student of German at the
academy, and it was on that account that
Mr.. Harrison manifested some degree of
interest in me, suppose, for he was al
most enthusiastic in his admiration of
that scholastic tongue. So saw good
deal of him after all.
The following winter at party at Mrs.
Sand lin Sanford, one bitter cold night,I
chanced to be alone with Nellie Wells
one moment in an upper chamber, which
was used as a,cloak room for lady guests.
There was furious fire in the stove and
its sides were red-hot. Nellie was
rather pretty girl, but rathor dull. She
wore dress Of some gauze fabric, and
going too near the stoyeit took FIRE. I
ran out of the room scrsafnisg ct the top
of my voice.:
"Mr. Harrison! Mr. Harrison! o, Mr..
HarrisonP'
He came quickly into the hall, saw me,
and was up the stairway in a bound, and
as was running back into the room, he
went past me, pushing me aside rather
rudely, and took in all with quick, cool
glance. Nellie had hauled quilt from
the bed that was in the room, and was
trying to stife the flames. He threw her
on the floor, rolled her over in the quilt
like mummy, and extinguished the
flames at once-hugged her, too. She
was not very badly burned, after all; and
her face was not touched by the flames;
SO that she renamed as pretty as ever
Remarkably sensible girl" said Mr..
Nrrlson afterward, to a group that clus-
tered about him in the parlor. "Most
girls would have rushed headlong into
the hall, screaming like"--he looked at
me--''like mad he added, with quiet
smile. "If ever / marry" said he.
(which I probably never shall, I shall
marry sensible woman--a woman, who
would notrset up a scream if our youn-
gest should fall into tub of hot water,
but would pull the child out as quickly
as possible, and send for doctor.
Somehow l was vain enough to think
this sarcastic speech was intended solely
to rebuke me. knew should certain
ly scream in such a case. 1t was my ma
ture to scream, and how could | help my
nature?
As for that poor little Nellie Wells, I
hated her, and almost wished it had been
my own dress that had caught fre-only
l should certainly have burned to death
before Mr.. Harrison would have come
and wrapped me in quilt and hugged
me. 800
From that day forward some powerful
influence was at work upon me. | strug-
gled hard after that cool manner in dan
ger which Mr.. Harrison possessed in so
eminent degree. even ventured, in
the pursuit of perfection, to ask him how
he could do it.
II suppose said he, "it is because |
naturally have such an extreme terror of
danger in every shape-such a lively
sympathy with those in peril-that I feel
very strongly the necessity for being calm
when others are'excited. | think that
whatever excuse lady has for losing her
wits-and that is, at the best, very lit
tle-a MAN has no excuse whatever. I
always try to keep my wits about me.'
"To be calm, them" | said, with the
whitening irony common to girls of from
fourteen to eighteen, "one only needs to
have his wits about him?" ac
Exactly" said he; cor, to change the
sex, her wits about her"
"Just as" 1 added, "the secret of
wealth is to get money" s
Sand to keep it, said he. s7s
On one thing / was fully determined
he never should hear me scream again.
However, he left the school soon after,
and did likewise in about six months.
had effected great change in myself
before | met him again.
1t was in the summer Of the year which