Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1868-12-24
">onc hu, Ourselves"
\ Story rorNpEp oN rA,r


years aiterm graduation, From thence
| went 10 Cambridge To study law Du.
ring the Hast months OF my study b3ard.
ed a mile or SO out Of town, with very
pleasant landlady, who had four boardcrs.
besides myself and my olum, Frank For
rester, three Young ladies who attended a
private school Al Cambridge
l was very pleasantly situated there
three months l should have been in Par
ldise had been, like the other men able
to enjoy To the depths Of my nature the
society of the fair sex, and had /, charm.
ed by their sunny smiles, been enabled 20
10 and appear my best Blu, this could
not do, / was tho farthcre,t from being
4 "ladics man" My natural d.Gilcucc
amounted 20 almost oursr. Ny mother
vas the only wom,u | had ever known,
and as her nature was like my own, shy
and reserved, we had never drawn near
together. | had no sisters, had been |
brought up with the boys, had been To
school with boys, and taught boys; aud +
with them under all circumstance, | WAS
at ease. First in rank at school or col.
lege, a consciousness Of my own powers
sustained me in the company of men. 80
that in spite of natural reserve and diff
ience got on well enough, and almost
,lways made friends But with wo-
man it was different
Few men So truly admire aud from the
depth of the heart respect woman, "a, |
| lid and there are few doaht 1t there
| vas another onc--so littlr able 10 make
such admiration and respect manifest.
NJ 1 6
even one woman turned 10 fetr; in the
presence Of two or three, absolute terror.
At such time | forgot my own morris, past
rriumphs or future prospects. ! remcm-
bered only my defects; that was tall,
md smooth faced. and shy-ycs, awkward I
then thought to the last dcgrcc-anl I
Jhis thinking Of course only increased the
rouhle So the past summer, which
would have been 50 pleasant in the oppor-
unity aitordcdSwIs to me one of almost
torture.
How | enyied Frank Forre,tyr his easy,
graceful ways. lie hadn't any brains To
pare, but the girls all liked him. new
II heard of him but once after we left the
law-school, and then | heard he married
. rich wife, and all his struggle was over
But for myself, the more stroye To create
| good impression the more | failed, |
icted steadily and constantly, day after
lay my best and at the end OF the term
was as dittident and i'll at ease as at the
beginning. In their presence ! never
could do or say anything | wished. /
[ sually,'So great WAS my terror that !
could say nothing nj all and no mortal
nm tell what | suffered day hy day, when
in their society, and | could not talk and
they would not.
Well, tho term was over wt~ soon
70 commence in distant city Frank
likewise was to return to his home Our
trunks were packed aud ready for our
departure. But before We made the final
start, we decided to treat ourselves tu one
ast week together at the seaside, aud Co-
hasset was to be the place. W. put what
things would make Us comfortable ior
weeks time into our travelling bags. and
At dinner bade the family, girls and All
good bye. We still reserved our room, in
which we left our trunks. thinking that
it might be convenient for Us 10 sop a
day or two on our return. pom
reaching the city, Frank and | separated,
each to attend to little matters Of business,
agreeing to meet at th6depot in time for
the last train.
Everything went wrong with me that
afternoon, and couspired to hinder nv. and
the upshot of it was that ! reached thr
station just five minutes after thtoar~ had
started. | was vcNod and at-l,- .E.l.
TO add 10 all the rc>t. n VI, saturday
night, and | was distressed beyond mrAs-
ure to think must 90 to the house and
stay over Sunday with those girls, with.
out Frank to help ing along. II Wa quite
late and a. glorious moonlight, l~ started
to walk out and lrtilected with pietsur"
that it would bc near midnight before l
should reach the house Then would
let myself quietly III with my uiglt-kcy,
and | should be safe for one night at least
All this happened as expected. But
what was my surprise, on entering the
room to see Franks form as usual OH the
bed
"Well," said quietly, "old fellow, did
you miss the train too But he did not
answer, and thought ii he WAS half as
tired as was, it would be pity 70 wake
him. missed the usual "haw hne"-
'haw hce' of his usual heavy hraath.u.r
but thought he was too tired cvs" 10
snore. So speedily disrobin1, without
even striking match-for the moon gave
light enough. even though it fell tuuny
through the foliage that SURROUNDED tl"
house-I was beside him IN a twiu1gH2,
and was soon fast asleep.
The fatigues Of the day were followed
by such night of rest comgs 10 us
sometimes; when we neither move nor
stir through all the night Whcuthe first
bird began to stir in the early morning
think oppressed by the fear OF how
should get through the day. suddenly
was broad awake. | opened my eyes to
see if Frank had awakened too, and, Oh.
horrors! it was not Frank at all, but fhc
beautiful Miss % the prettic,t ot III"
gals-and the one feared me't of all
For moment my hease stopped beat
ing. Ii | had been woman, was 50
scared / shoul3 have screamed murder,
and then tainted. As it was my first
thors Mt was to jump and run my next
vas that my first movement would waken
her, and then matters would be worse
than at that moment. While | was
hard and fast, what to do to get
both myself and her out OF 50 terrible a
dilemma, cast glance at the face oi the =,
still sleeping beauty beside me. | had IN
my boyhood often gone to my mother
room to say good night after she had re-
tired, and seen her, tall. singular. wo-
man, in dimity night-gown and close
fitting night-cap, and had pevcr been iiii-
pressed thereby. But oh, this vision no
cap or pin confined that rich brown hair;
but beneath one cheek it lay in masses,
pushed back by her dimpled hand; from
the other it rolled off in waving eurls,
and streamed upon the pillow. Her cheek
was flushed in Sleep and one lilly white
arm was thrown up high above her head,
over the curling waves Of brown halr' !