Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1866-02-24

I'M tomorrow 4, Young fellow like you
should enjoy himself Baipes vii show
vou vorr room. We dine at ~ ts,,a ,.i..r
B II was lost i've minutes to 7,whent j made
INV yvav dow "a stairs,, rather nervous, Dpt
Nevertheless dste-nlined to carry. bold
'front.' and show the Joung ladies thati Mr.
Grant was not to be des pised- Sir Thomas
was standing on the heaFthS rug talking 70 o
venerable but stately lady, to ;ghomo he m
trodnced me In this wise 4 other, tnls ls
my old friend Grants SOM }, The OLD ,lady
greeted me cordially, ayingrYI am glad 70
see the son of such an old friend, You are
not like your father either in feature or
complexion. j suppose you are like your
mother, | never SAW her.nig HaI 9I. .rJg .tugi
~ am generally thought like my
,mother;" said l, land truly too, for SO !
am.' ~ 7Iur ~ .ung 0i vf- ni 9g7i -mn
"You remind me very strongly of some
one / have seen,r broke in Sir Thomas, Ybut
for my life Iean'tremember whOttis, Here
come the girls-very nearly late for DIM
ner as usual" 71If~ il EefW 1910 tgs.I
In they came; first alady of q certain
age, who evidently thought to pass as 2
lady of an uncertain age s'Aunt Maria"
thought I. Tnen a Laughing, buxom girl
of fourteen or fifteen, whom Sir Thomas
saluted thus: ''What. Rosie, not TO bed yet!
It's time for little girB to be In bed long
ago." NJ nna.su N15 -f.t.EH- ILzuI ..yr,
s'oh, butJInele Ashton" said Miss Rosie,
%this is holiday time, you know, and am
to make my debut Tomorrow night; so
have come TO dinner tonight to practice"
"You will spoil your roses, child" said
he. 'BuG what are the rest of these girls
doing, laughing out there instead of coming
in? The gong will sound in minute the
dinner will be spoiled. Where's Mro
Milkinsop? Was he not TO dine with
us?" ,aT a' l'f. ma, .uair 'si.Il IL. ..f
s'Yes, uncle; but he takes such time to
part his back hair, that he's generally late,
Here are the others nOwp ..rrrr. ..t-.
A charming group of girls entered, to
whom was introduced in running fishion,
thus: 'Gerty, Mr.. Grant-Mr. Grant Miss
Vaughan, Miss Rowatt. The young ladies
curtseyed; l bowed. Mr.. Milkinsop, a
mild young curate, was ushered in; the
gong sounded fiercely, and, before j had
time to steal glance at any Of the young
ladies, or try to ascertain which was the
flirting Lucy or which the more sedate
Clara, was handing Lady Ashton down to
dinner. . .'. e. .r.fg o.. .i
When l had got settled in my chair be-
gan to reeonnoitre. Aunt Maria was seat
ed opposite me- Rosie at my side, having
beside her>Clara and Lucy, and opposite
them Gerty and Mr.. Milkinsop. / first
looked at Gerty; and, indeed, | was re-
warded. | thought to myself, any man
could love that fair face, were it her only
dover. An aristocraIic little head, with a
mass of chestnut hair cOied round it, a fair,
rather pale complexion, with delicate fea-
lures, made upa tout ensemble which charm
ed me. Miss Gerty," thought |, you are
dangerous enemy! Those hazel eyes
might turn stronger head than mine. 1t
is not safe to play with edged tools. turn
ed to look at her friends-a dark brunette,
with an espiegle countenance, set down as
lively Lucy ;r while Clara was stately.
blonde, with sweet expression. = .,...
After taking this survey, | set myself to
work to make good impression, and, by
| dint of using my conversational powers,
which Jack admired so much, and which, l
| flattered myself, were Of no mean order,
Isucceeded in interesting Lady Ashton, and
in keeping Rosie in fits of laughter, To
tell the truth. it was not difficult. Miss
Rosie was easily amused. The converse
ton at last became general ....t .-.r
"Mr. Grant, said Sir Thomas, 81 have
| Just discovered to whom it is you bear so
great resemblance. | found it out when
you spoke just nOw--it is to Lady Hillary,
DO you know her? She was very dear friend
OF mine 20 years ago; but have not seen
her for long time. She was beautiful
girl, and must still, / am sure, be lovely
woman. You needn't blush, my dear fell
low. 1t is no crime to be thought like a
lovely woman--any of these girls might
] think it great compliment to be thought
like her, and you really are strangely like
her at times" lt.- f-..-Lsr5a, f.,g-
| r No wonder / blushed. Sir Thomas had
| certainly some foundation for his assertion,
| for the lady in question was my own
mother; but Sir Thomas could not divine
the reason of my blushes; it was blush of
shame at the silly trick, as l now thought
it, was playing. Ihad almost resolved to
confess when l heard Sir Thomas speak
thus of my mother, but shame kept me
SILENT and then the thought OF the conyer-
sation Ihad overheard brouRhtto my mind
my desire to make Gerty think little more
of the Mr.. Grant she had so signally design
ed to snub. | had scrupulously avoided
speaking to her, and iadeed had contrived
to address good portion of my conversa-
tiOn to Aunt Maria, always addressing her
as Miss Ashton, so that the young ladies
| might think / had fallen into their snare.
/ was vain enough to imagine, from the
| looks they oceasionIly cast at each other,
that Mr.. Grant had taken them a little by
surprise After dinner, / commenced a
violent Irritation with the arch-looking
Lucy, who was nothing 10th, and that even
ing was destined again to be listener.
= During a duet which Clara and the mild
young curate were perpetrating, OVER
heard Sir Thomas say to lady Ashton, '"His
father told he was very quiet and shy,
and needed to be encouraged when fn
ladies' society; but, bless my heart! the
Young fellow seems quite at home amongst
4 those girls, and has talk enough for half-a-
dozen. He's fine young fellow, though,
barring that he's little bit of a puppy;
but that will wear off. l can't think how
he got that resemblance of Lady Hillary;
1t warns my heart to the, boy,"T ,,,taiSi.if Snn
The evening was spent in a merry, style,
but we separated early 1as,Sir Thomas said
all must reserve themselves for the NOR
rows eXertions. / went TO bed, and again
had restless, dreamy night but this time
all my dreams were of laughing hazel eyes,
and sweet, though rather naughty, little
i mOuth.gu9 bnR gHOidi5ilsui mo yort.tb al
ly9 The last of the old year broke clear aud
cold, with bright sky above and q snowy
ACKNOWLEDGMENT, The house was all astir
lat an early, hour. After breakfast. Rosie
claimed lhmy assistance IN putting up mis-
Jtletoe!at every available point aud we be-
ooatne fast friends oYerourinteresting work.
bAfter it was finished j made myself geAeE-
Tally useful and escorted the ladies ON sew
Eeral charitable expeditions through the
Evillage. L was abeginning, to feel quite, at
thome9 and would have been quite hap
by, had / not felt myself somewhat of an
timpOstOF. m9di ial ,snRW y9d1 booid Il ID
IqoThci day passed swiitlySOn.a l. was al
lreadyon good terms with ALI Even Gerty