Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1868-08-27

without drink
:" But am dying with thirst; l can
hold out till supper-time, and my plucl
IS oozing out at my finger-ends, for fee
| am in a mess, and l am sure I shall
put my foot into it, and be discovered
. ifI do not get some stimulant to keel
me up"
Cant help it, my boy; you must d,
your best. tell you what you had bet
ter do-smuggle your flask out of you
pocket, and give it to me; l will fill i
with sherry: and then, while you and
, take the one turn together on the terrac,
which prepriety allows, you must con
trive to drink it,"
Soon supper was announced, and
felt better. If, however, my partner
|. who was Fred, had not been in the Sc
!. cret, he would have been astonished Il
see how very much l ate, and how yer,
many glasses | drank on the sly when
!. thought nobody was noticing. FREQ
watched one side of the table, and l tn,
] other. When he thought no one wa.
looking, he would give me a kick; anC
if / was satisfied that l was not watched
on my side, down went the champaign
in the twinkling of an eye.
i AT length the company began to dis
perse, and rather quickly too, for the
rain was pouring, and an awful thunder
storm evidently coming on. L heard
one anxious parent hasten their charge
away with "Come, come, my dear; you
must come now, or, as papa says, we
shall be obliged to stay here all night. y
! The words did not strike me much al
the moment, but did they not afterwards:
lSoon the storm; it was something fright
full; and after the severity of the thunder
and the lightning had spent itself, the
rain came down in torrents, and gave
every sign of continuing to pour in that
way, for some hours. Sir George and
Lady Clonmell would not hear to the few
guests who remained going home Such
weather! no one ever saw anything like
it; the river was swollen, the ford i'm
passible. the house was very large; the
young ladies could sleep two in a bed,
| 70 goodness, how my heart sank y; "the
bachelors must rough it for once; the
cushions in the smoking room and the
billiard room were very soft"
A few desperate and, as L thought,
happy people would go. Mrs. Dundee
easily persuaded her husband to STOP
What on earth was l to do? NV face
showed the mess l was in, for
one of my friends came and whispered
to me: Keep your pluck up, old boy; a
few more minutes, and you will have
won your bet, for you are sure to be sepa-
rated from old Dundee, and may,n he
wickedly added, perhaps be Joined to
some one better" Oh, how l did in
wardly abuse anything and everybody.
The sleeping arrangements were soon
made. or course, unless compelled by
circumstances, was not going to state
who was. 1t struck me that Mrs. Dun
dee, who was great friend of Lady
Clonmell, rather favored me. Hurrah
it ended that l was to sleep alone in a.
tiny little bedroom, close to that of Cap
tain and Mrs. Dundee. HurrahI thought
L; will lock my door, set all the ladies'
maids at defiance, and throw myself to-
morrow on Mrs. Dundee, for help and
protection, with an ample confession and
apology, for she must, at any rate, in a
few days, know the truth, and she will
help me out of my mess and out of the
house.
Good night, Lady Clonmell.n "Good
night, my dear Miss Fenwick; 1 hope
you will sleep comfortably"
My conscience Smote me, as the kind |
hearted, impulsive old Irish lady kissed |
my forehead.
was alone in my bedroom; had not
locked my door, because l was waiting
until the lady's maid had called and ask
ed if she could do anything more for me |
Of course, a decided peremptory mo, | |
thank you," wou,I have been the an
swer. And there L sat with my elbows, |
in most unladylike manner, on both /
my knees, my head filled with the most
unmaidenly thoughts. They were COM
pounded of semi-prayer of thankful
ness to the presiding genius of luck for
t,,aring pulled me, as l thought, quite
through my serarf, and mixture of
dou OF as to whether l had better trust
the heather deity or 'baccy, ana srfoke4
a couple of cigars out of my open window
or for once in way chew a bit. Tobac-
60 in some shape / felt must have, to
soothe my excited nerves.
A knock at the door. Come in ~ and
added to myself: at is only that bere
loir of lady's maid. | will dismiss her,
md then hey for "'baccy" She did
come in, but not the lady's maid was
'he. Radiant with beauty, and exquisite
y flushed with excitement, robed in a
most charming dressing gown, with hair
langiLS down her back, there entered
7oung lady 1 had been introduced to, and
who had rather taken my fancy, in the
course OF the evening-one Miss Even ,
ede!
What, Charles why, that was your .
ylfe's maiden name, calculated more
han enc of the circle who We're assem- 9
lied in the parsons study listening. h
My wife looked sheepish; but L went :
IN. Do not interrupt me, but hear me :
,ut. 80 dear, Miss Fenwick," said Miss :
Ivenlode, - an so sorry to disturb you,
'ut know what state of confusion the !
louse is in, and l find that somebody :
las got my bedroom. / have been un- :
loing my hair in Aunt Clonmells room. /,
nd now she has sent me here to saw.
With her love, ,that she,hopes you will al 6
ow me to share your chamber. She 7
,nows, Miss Fenwick, as Mrs. Dundee n
old her, that you have always been ac- q
ustomed to be alone, and cannot bear r
nybody in the room but she hopes q
nat, under the hecircumstances of the case, =
ou Will excuse her request this time
md we shall be so jolly together; won. a
,e talk over our partners and quiz them q
icely!" :,
Tie girl spoke in avery lively, N atural "
1anner, but did not particularly look at "
ne. Had she done so, she must have q
otlced that L was almost tchoking-bIack f. +,
the face-going into a fit. "Good n n
eavens, Miss Evenlode, l can't, 1 shan't, ;is i
won't-you must not, you ought not
uear In the horrible embarrasS =,
lent OF the moment, covered nv ewes +.
18th my hands. Miss Evenlode seemed :.
'ruck dumb with astonishment, and no W
'onder. You must CO." said L; Il o.
ant, l won't have you here" =
"Of course" she replied, ''I will 90 if y, ~
ou wish it, and tell my aunt, lady C1on- o. q.
leli, what you say, but have had such ri ri
ouble to avoid being seen by those hor- fa
Ole men, that L must wait a minute to ~
'e If the coast is clear. You see the q,
ZEN are very well in their way, and 8,
hoy dancing with them; but / should p
ot like to be caught by them looking h,
le fright am now.n o.
L groaned audibly, and shivered with q,
lame: L could not tell what was the 90
ght thing for me to do. Another knock Of
5he door-no, not knock, a bump of
Id an entrance without permission.-n NJ
nter Mrs Dundee pa