Weekly Calaveras chronicle., 1867-05-18

to suspicion OF his near proximity to
that barrier just previously.
'Julep, Jukes,' quoth the Major
briefly; and added 'like the last.
The ex-Sergeant disappeared, and re-
turned expeditiou<ly with the required
refreshment.
GO ahead, Buck " said the other.
'One moment = quoth the Major. re-
moving the straw from his mouth, and
lighting a cigar 'Now then I-oh !.
| went to my brothers of course. He
was widower with one child-a girl of
fourteen, and as cunning little puss-
howe ,er, when | came dow, next morn
ing to breakfast (she was abed when 1
arrived the nj eht before) in full dress,
and kissed her; she looked at me for a
few moments, and says she:
Uncle Tiu,, must 1 Gull you Gen.
eral p
Not quite. Fanny says I; Il am
only lieutenant as yet; but you may
call me uncle Tim, as you did just now
my dear
"Only Lieutenant y says the little
jade. why you look SO shiny and
proud thought you were at least a
general, uncle Tim; and cousin Ned is
colonel of our volunteer company. So
he's your superior officer, ha, ha, ha !!
how funny? Why, he's year young
er than you, uncle Tim
II fancy my brother must have seen
something unpleasant in my face Git
burned like the devil, l know, and l
felt an itching desire to give Miss Fan
ny smart tap on the cheek with the
teaspoon) for, says he:
''Don't mind Fanny, Tim she's a
spoilt child and makes fun of every one,
including her father. You're too pert,
Miss; your cousin, Ned, is only colo
mel by courtesy. He has no real mill.
tary rank. Your uncle is an officer in
our regular army, and outranks all
militia-o officers. So pour out the coffee.
and don't speak about matters you
know nothing Of.
81 know l think cousin Ned's uni
form much prettier than uncle Tins,
at any rate muttered the little damsel,
as she officiated at the cofee-urn.
1t was evident l had not made
very fattering impression on my niece,
and l began to feel little doubt about
my veni, vidi, vici campaign, and not a
little uncomfortable jealousy of the
youthful volunteer colonel, cousin Ned,
whom | mentally reso we'd to crush, in
case he gave me the slightest provoca-
tion.
After breakfast, my brother took me
to walk about town with him. AS we
passed certain window, he raised his
hat.
''That was deuced pretty girl"
said |, in an off hand way.
every pretty he replied, smiling.
And very young for a widow be
added.
ga widow ? cried I 'the devil you
say! Why she don't tlook over eighteen
''She's only four-and,twenty, 1 be-
lieve, said my brother; but she is
nevertheless widow, and widow with
two children to boot
''She must have married dev-very
young!' l exclaimed correcting my ex.
preston, as I saw my style of expletive
seemed to annoy my brother. whats
her name?'
''Mrs. Keith
''Ah! any relation to Fanny's friend,
cousin Ned?'
She is the widow of Ned's brother
There was sort of crispness about
the tone of my brothers answers to these
questions that struck me for lnou ent
as singular, but it made no particular
impression on me at the time.
That evening opened my first par
ralel by going with Fanny and her
father to a small dancing-par at the
house of another cousin of ours.
These cousins, by-the-way. were as
new-found treasures to me. | didn't
covet 'em much, though.
'Mr Edward Keith was there. My
brother introduced US in an informal
manner as Ned, my brother Tim. You
knew each other as boys, l believe,
then passed on.
81 think, Colonel Keith l began,
with au irouic emphasis on the Colonel
''Oh, sink the Colonel !! cried cousin
Ned, ipterrupting me with blush and
a laugh. 'I'm only show colonel, you
know. Call me Ned, or Keith, or any
thing else you like. I'm really glad to
renew our acquaintance; and if you
want to do me favor, you'll give me
few private hints about the new drill.
We're terribly awkward squad down
here. There's Florence. Let me in
troduce you
Il was presented to Mrs. Keith with
all the honors, and asked her to dance
She didn't dance.
Il was presented to divers young
ladies and asked them to dance. They
did dance.
But though 1 was certainly the
handsomest fellow in the room, aud
sported the only buttons of the lot,
the besieged-I refer to the damsels-I
didn't seeem to be awed into uncondi-
tioual surrender by my martial appear
auce, nor even to keep warily within
their defences. On the contrary they
came gayly out. and treated me with a
fearless familiarity which, to my mind,
seemed to SAVIOR of contempt.
'One of them even had the effrontery
to call me Mister Tim Aud | once
iancied that | detected Miss Fanny in
the performance of a most impertineut