Delaware tribune. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1867-1877, 1867-02-21

peg more elegant than was cOmpatlDle WIN
your gcrund in dim, had, on this particu-
lar Saturday, deprived Mr.. Barker Of amy
prctext for putting an extra brown upon his
slack baked mind in the oven Of the dormi-
tory and an amount Of sell-control, ar
guing rapid growth toward manhoods
worldly astutcness, had prevented him from
whistling with ecstasy over his unusual luck
before he left the school-room, and being
called back to write the noun descriptive OF
his act five hundred times upon slate So
Briggs and !, at three r. NJ, as aforesaid,
stood untrammcled by aught save guilty fear
in the little siaby-smelling pen, shared by
the whips ledgers, and buffalo-robes of MIR.
Greeseels, the livcry-man.
Il want u conveyance" began boldly.
:" In the nature o wot." returned Mr..
Greescels, cying us suspicionsly from under
fell left eyebrow, which needed the singc-
ing lamp more than any hacks coat in his
stud.
8 think Mr.. Barker prefers ii fourscated
rockaway,' interposcd Briggs, with prompt
acutcness, which showed that his tussle with
the gerund in dim had done wonders for
his intellectual discipline.
At the same time ! pulled out a gold
watch, which my mother had given me dur
Ing vacation, stated the time, and asked that
the vehicle might be got ready Immediately;
also, drawing out a wallet which contained
my entire savings for the term, and de-
manding how much il would be for the
whole afternoon, with first rate horse let
him take notice, turned around so as to
show Mr.. Greeseels that he was not dealing
with one of your jacket sort of characters
by any n,oapa. So much opulence, assur-
ance, and tails were too much for Mr.. Gree
secls who succumbed without another word.
In five minutes the rockaway and big,
long-stepping gray stood at the mounting
block. paid the price in advance, notion
ed Briggs to the back seal, ,grasped the rens,
jumped up in front, and drove away. To
favor the impression left upon the cautious
hippodromic mind, yet with fear and trem-
bling lest Barker should meet us, we kept
the road toward the school till turn shut
the stables out of sight, then cut down "a
side street to the retired candy store, at
which, during Miss Noodles last bi-monthly,
we had appointed clandeshne meeting
with Miss Tucker and Miss Crickey. We
found those young ladies chilling their con-
sciences with ice-cream in back-room, and
quite unable, through preoccupation in
watching for momently possible Miss Moo
die, to say whether it was lemon or vanilla
They were pretiliy attired in Marseilles
basquines and dresses of sprigged muslin /;
and the novel position of committing an i'm
propriety had impaired an interesting flush
to the cheek of Miss Crickey, which could
not but observe with satisfaction, as def
nitely intended her and Briggs for each other,
"a purpose additionally fprlhered by put
ting the two together on the back seat The
direction in which should drive was per-
picking by several harrassing conditions.
Miss Tucker was not quite sure whether the
honest peasant, who accommodated Miss
Noodle in the matter of milk, lived upon
the Pratt's Corners road or the Tinkervllt
turnpike, and he was familiar with. .hel
beautiful countenancc, having sold her soul
buttermilk for its sunburns, had long
memory and communicative tongue. a
day boardcr, who objected to Miss Crickey
from the fact of her always answering first
for the men who built stone walls in given
number of days. or the boys who had ap-
Piles to distribute in mental arithmetic, would
probably be swinging on the parental gate
all the afternoon, three miles out of town in
the direction of North Jenkins and moth
ing would give her greater pleasure than the
solution Of the question, If two girls went
out riding, unbeknOwnst, on Saturday, P.
NJ, how many would get put on bread and
water the next Monday morning.
Briggs's step-father had an aunt with piles
of money, on still another road, but as he
knew the boss (such was his unfilal express
ion) would never go to see her unless she
died, and there was no danger of her doing
that, for all the family had way of hanging
ON like thunder, he didn't care row of pins
whether we took that road or moi, As thai
road happened to be the one leading to
Squash-ke- -bosh, and felt natural interest
in seeing how it looked since my mother was
at the other end of it, / decided that we
should take it. 1t was very pleasant one
oak forest upon either hand, enlivened here
and there by more ambitious grounds, trim
lawns with stately Palladian residences shin
ing through bowers of ash, larch, althea and
smoke-tree in the background, and tho
fcrmes 0ynees of retired merchants, who
had passion for skipping away their hare
dollars ON the bottomless pond of fancy cat
tle-brceding.
A pretty little brook kept us company al
the way,-now running alongside tht
straight old turnpike, now dodging under i
TO come gleefully singing out of the umbcl
bridge-shadows on the other side, like 60
quetish child gambolling about the knee
and dueking between the legs of some stai,
ancient gentleman. Everything in the gif
of bountilul nature was received with sucl
thankful joy by the four escaped criminals
who freighted the rockaway, that only til,
J eye of an expert in natural depravity, lik'
/ Barker or Noodle, could have pierced til,
/ thick veil Of deception and gloated on til,
depths of iniqnity which lay hidden in til,
compass of the ore horse vehicle. As 10
| myself, can say that was full of IA fearful
) happiness l drove in a dream of bliss.
was already married to Miss Tucker; tn
big, raw-boned grey was my own team o
y thorough h-breds; we were making an origi
Y nal honeymoon tour by easy stages, stop
{ ping at rural inns over night, having on
Y coffee as strong as we liked, and sugaring
ourselves, in the morning; unrestricted a
opancakes, gravy, bedtime, anything; pay
: ing large bills with easy nonchalance out q
. an exhaustible cheque-book carried undc
k the back seat; having our groom and brides
r maid behind us already engaged and drive
d to tanializations of rapture by the consun
/; mated hymeneal example in front; Will,
d adding an intoxicating zest to all this swec
y ness, like the spirituous soupcon which tin