The Hickman courier., 1868-08-08
Prom Chambers Journal.
IN wOMAy9 CLOTHES.

W years old, was staying one long va
~ ~ tion with some friends of the I1Oth re
90 ment, then quartered in Ireland. In
90 regiment, there was certain Cant,
90 Dnndee, who was rather a heaVv. stp,
90 fellow, though a pretty good oiiicer =
NJ ~ who prided himself upon being We
~ sharp. He used to boast that 9o,'o,
90 could takeshim in, and that he wouId ,
% eognize person in any conceivable di
" gulse. was very intimate with Capta
~ Dundee, and so far from thinking hi
n very sharp, | used to abuse him for h
% stupidity, aud was always chafing hi
on the subject. : =
n COde evening II mess, when Captain
Dundee was not present, bets were mads
that / could not pass an evening in hi:
company dressed as lady without hi.
discovering the trick. / bet that coulc
do so. Many officers took. my side. anc
at last il ended inxery heavy bets ind deet
being made, not by me, but, what wa,
worse, by my friends, for felt that theil
losing or gaining almost fortune. de
pended entirely on me. AS the day drew
near these bets were doubled. | quite
trembled for the result. | may mention
that, though did not know it. almost
all these bets were fictitious, and only
proclaimed for the sake of keeping me
uD to the mark. In fact, those concern
ed thoughtlessly wanted to have jolIy
lark, and were afraid of my backing out
As it was, | felt that about Els. 600 In
bets depended on my getting through
the evening safelyin my assumed char.
aeter as lady. A
Captain Dundee married ssyoupe
lark u care-for- nothing, stick-at- n othine
Irish girl. do not al all mean to saw
that she was really bad; but, from,
thoughtlessness, from not over-refped
nature, and from very exuberant, uneon.
trolled spirits, she would rush into a
scrape, little thinking orcaring about the
consequences, or how she should get out
of it successfully. The bet was, that the
first evening Dir. Fenwick could get an
invitation for himself and an imaginary
niece, Miss Fenwick, to dine with the
Dundees, was to personate, or attemu.
to personate, the niece; and the said bet.
moreover, was to the effect that | should
successfully deceive Captain Dundee till
such time as the party separated, how
ever late the hour might be.
Without my knowledge, Mrs. Dundee
was let into the secret; hence all nv
trouble. She, in her wild Irish way.
quite entered into the joke, and at once
determined to make confusion worse
confounded.
For soon note came, stating that
Capt. and Mrs. Dundee requested the
pleasure of Mr.. and Miss Fenwick to
dinner in quiet way on the 10th in
slant. Only one or two brother officers
we're eaPAine Iha fatal izss ---s.~.s.
Remember, I thought that thousands
depended on the result, and that Mrs.
Dundee was as ignorant as her husband
of my intended appearance. Ina
me with profusion of false black curls !;
flower or two stuck here and there no
end of lady's jewelry-rings, earrings.
breach, &c, thin muslin dress. with
high body; my face skillfully painted.
In fact | was altogether. very well made
up by firstrate hand sent for from Dub
lin. Partly to keep up my courage and
get me up to the mark, and partly because
l knew that in my assumed character
must not drink much wine, l imbibed a
considerable quantity before l started.
1 CO0Ccaie0
small flask of brandy, with which I
hoped to be able to keep up my spirits
on the sly.
At table, played the part we'll. I
talked and hirted, chattered about dan
cling so forth, and protested 1 was mad
about balls. Poor wretch that was. I
wish had held my tongue; [ was un-
willingly rushing to destruction. | drank
as much champagne as 1 dared in nv
assumed character, and thought eyery-
thing was going all right, and that nv
friends We're quite 80 to win their mon
ey. Scarce had thceloth been removed
when Mrs. Dundee said ~ have pleas.
ing surprise for all you good people. A
few days ago, l received an invitation
from Sir George and Lady Clonmell to a
ball at their house this evening, with per-
mission to bring any of my friends. Sir
George lives twelve. miles off. Dundee
has secured the large omnibus from the
inn, and ordered four horses, and we are
to start at nine o'clock. We can all 90
together; we shall have jolly evening,
and I am delighted to think that you will
be able to enjoy yourself, Miss Fenwick. .
Good gracious how my heart sank
within me. My bet held good till the
time we separated. My friends must
lose their money. I could never get
through a ball, knew. 1 said my dress
was high and would not do for ball.
"My maid," said Mrs. Dundee, sshall
dress you in one of my evening dressess7
"No, that she shan't," almost shrek
ed out; ''if must go, will go Just as
am Lam so delicate that the doctors
will not allow me to wear low dress"
"Perhaps, dear, you would like her to
dress your hair differently; she is very
clever; or to put another wreath on your
head 2"
"Oh, no, thank YOU said I; and most
bitterly did l inwardly abuse my luck,
but I almost gasped: eff you had a
spare room where could wash my hands
and lust put my hair straight for myself,
I should be very much obliged"
/ I was shown into room, and sat down.
the very picture, l am sure, of despair.
1t now began to fash across me, too,
that what was, to say the least, a not
over-creditable joke among few larky
brother officers, would be very dishonor-
able if practiced on society at large that
it would be very wiNsg of me to go to q
ball at Sir Georges dh suised a . young
lady; that might be the means of un-
intentionally causing pain and shame to
some ladies. o dearl I was doubling
whether / should be taken suddenly i'll
and have myself conveyed home, or
whether / should send for Mrs. Dundee
and make clean breast of little
thinking that all the time the wretch
knew my fix. But then my friends would
lose fifteen thousand pounds @ q horri-
blel just at that moment my hand nm
luckily touched the pocket IN which was
my hask2z To spulk IL Out and drain il
was only the work of moment or two.
Ny courage returned at once; my spirits