Delaware tribune. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1867-1877, 1867-01-17
q gleasina Storg
AMERICAN RVRAL LIF'E.
TpnoM mARrER's MAGAZINE. l
OLD AUNT MATILDA.
IN TWO PARTS.

carpetless floor, up and downwhich she ran
by the side Of hcr.big wheel, placing " rolf
upon ''roll, and singing:
I'VE are marelng forward Y 9aehec,
And the drums are loudly beniinti
America has gaind the day
And tho British have departed,
So open the ring and choose another IN
That you think will prove trne-hearled'
Strange 10 say, only ono woi'l Of her song
had in her mind any meaning attached to
it, and that word was the last. which drop
ped from her tongue again and again with a
dcliciously tender trill. AS TO what great
day the British came to the worse, and the
United States held up their heads under fly
ing colors, she thought nothing about IL 4;
she thought only of her sweetheart, Nathan
Armstrong; who but he was the man for
her hearted and altogether lovely
Ali, how poor and plain and worthless
seemed all the young fellows of the neigh
borhood in comparison No blue eyes but
his had such tenderness in them, no tongue
but his such truth upon il. no courage was
so stout, and no morality quite so sincerely
| moral. She had slender gold ring on her
third finger that he had given her, and she
had good many dried roses in her bureau
drawers that had one tip.c after another
been slipped out of his hand into hers.
They were not cngaged-that is 10 say,
not by any positive pledges given or taken
| but Natlan had kissed her good many
times, ann il was always understood that he
should go with her 10 church of Sunday
evening, and to the quilting and the evening
party, and once he had said to her, rs at
parting they fingered under the widespread
ing apple-iree by the door-yard gate, I" Will
the time ever come, Tilly, when we shall
always be together? and she had not said
him nay.
lie had not been long home from college
AT the time our story begins, and once or
twice since his return matters had not gone
quite SO smooth as they used still, there had
| boon no quarrel. A little arrogance, or the
like Of il, on The part Of Nathan, and a little
smothtrcd dispcasqre on the part OF the
girl-not quite resentmens, bnt something
that just fol- the moment hoyered to@ald j..
These tIilles however, did not affect the
general stability Of the relation between
them,
He was piadc specially at home in the
house of Widow Hastings upon that sort OF
understanding that somehow comes about
without Words and came and went when he
chose breakiasting or supping if it Glanced
quite lis one Of the family.
Mrs. Hastings was, in her motherly way,
almost as fond of the boy us Matilda herself;
for though he was little wayward and i'm
pusive, and given TO carry things upon occa-
sion with something too higha hand, he had
many generous and noble qualities, was
healthful in body and mind, young, ambi-
tious, and more than commonly good
looking.
These were cnilse enough for liking him
without our supposing that she supemddcd
the fifty acres of land that had been set apart
for Him, or the thousand dollars that were
invested for the benefit of his Uncle Toms
big commercial house in the neighboring
city Cincinnati. We may, and will, there
fore, leave such n suppostion quite out OF
the case, merely suggesting that there posi-
bly, are mothers in the world with yhom
these considerations might have weight
II was II pleasant thought to the poor
widow, certainly, that her Tilly was going
to do so wel and if she was little proud
Of il withal why she had a right to be so
and as her girl spun in the chamber she spun
below stairs, only her threads were drawn
from material more subtitle She had
sometimes spun her threads 50 long that
they easily cntaasled themselves among the
horns OF the elder Mrs. Armstrong; sheep
and cattle, and drew them off us Natty's
portion! An agreeable psstime, and harm
less enough, as II turned out. She was a
poor widow, ms before said, renting her little
plot of garden ground and the few acres she
cultivated, and the desire of her life was to
see Matilda better situated in the world than
; she had ever been. Not that they had moi
enough Of common comforts; she was
thrifty and managing, and her girl, as vel
as she, did her part cheerfully, and was con
tent to wear u washed and ironed ginghan
D to church, and to make the summer bonnet
answer for the winter too
All, they were happy days, the days wher
they dreamed dreams and saw visions, fol
they were more like sisters, these two wo
men, than mother and daughter. Mrs
+ Hastings was young at forty, and Matilda
was old at nineteen. Sometimes, as they
sat in the glow of the fre-light of a winter
evening, il would have been hard to tel
which Nathan was counting as he tossed his
gay triflcs Of talk from one TO the other.
Strange 10 say the match was regarded fa
vorably by the Armstrong side of the house
more especially by Mrs. Armstrong, who
in her provident zeal, had already put aside
, under lock and key, much fine linen, botl
for bed and table, marked with the initials
NJ. II. A. wrought cunningly by her own
loving hand.
"Natty," she would say much oitenel
than was prudent, for there is nothing like !,
little oillsliness with regard to these affairs il
one be desirous Of helping them on" Nat.
: ty,when are you going to bring Tilly homer
t And in one way and another she would make
allusion to his private and personal feelings
and expectations with Il taking granted
manner that rasped upon him sometimes
and made him reticent to obstinacy. She
was not wise in this, and 1t contributed Its
share toward costing her trouble in the end
The other mother piled him some too, thougl
. not so directly, and between them he hat
Q taken the bit in his mouth and was amblinl
i a trifie, just for the pleasure of having his
!, own head Matilda was unconscious of al
!, this as she spun in her chamber that day
: though even then circumstances were com
y y bining to change the amble to a curvct.
d She had a sweet seriousness in her hear
' and in her eyes, and something like a shadow
fitted now and then across her thought
! But Nathan was coming that evening tc
y drink tea with them, and afterward to walk