The Hancock Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Ohio) 1857-1870, 1868-12-11

u "S NV SHusi " tuo uuS Dduu Ill
/ had SO long now been dead. TIL
Il granted, was it not sad that Nan mu
s put up with anything that was thl
|. proved to fall short of perfection
h But this suggestion when limited ;
y to Nan, by no means met with ht
It approval. Good gracious me, man
r ma, l am sure he is good enough i
o ell conscience. / don't know ho'
G many thousand times better than m
o already. That was lot saying much, b.
: N an was always to Eve young Asl
$ ley's daughter, and his virtues wer
e supposed to have descended, thong
g perhaps even Eve perceived they ha
r lessened, IN the descent. Nan look
Q ed as If she thought her mother ur
kind, and Eve took her child in he
arms, and sang to her Cavendish'
: praises, the sweetest of all lullabie
E to the girl.
. But now, this story that shoul
t run SO straight, swerves and diverge
D sadly. Cavendish threw up his hom
= appointment, having much better
+, one offered him abroad, and his las
: walk with Nan before starting wa
through fields that lay white 'neatl
, harvest moon. Poor Cavendish
through all the changes of his sfte
. life, that walk stood out clearly be
fore him. "A flood of light illumina
; ting the hills, and the very pretty
lines OF Mans clinglng figure, show
ing, too, her face, with real traces o
grief, and glistening on the wei
, fringes OF her eye. Dearly as he Low
ed her. she had never appeared tC
him SO sweet - now in her soTrow
"Nan, my poor darling Nan !" And
poor little Nan put up her cold hands
before her face, and sobbed as il her
very heart would break.
Breaking! Ewes heart had not
broken when Young Ashley had
died, and Eve was q true woman,
with true loyal heart that had new
er once swerved in its allegiance, and
knew not the meaning OF turning,
breaking! Mans heart would never
break. 1t was composed of too
light materials, was too elastic,
had too much spring possessed, in
short, too much pliable power. But
for all that, her grief was real, and
her tears very bitter. and the wound
that they flowed from was very pain
ful.
And Cavendish went of, being
bound for foreign shores, and all the
passage out his thoughts flew quicker
than the sea gulls back to England.
Back to England. Back to country,
back TO a village, back to dear old
familiar spot where Nan lived.
He would sit up high on the chip,
lying his length on the paddle box,
a cigar between his lips, and his eyes
on the silvery reflection of the moon
beams playing on the waves. But
who shall say what he thought of, or
the images that rose up before him
All / know is, the belle of the ship,
having taken fancy to his sunburnt
appearance, and got herself up to the
utmost OF her power, and flashed fire
at him from out very dark eyes, de-
cided at last it was all useless, since
the good looking swell smoked stead
lily, and would not look down from
the post he had chosen, or even relax
the muscles of his face What won
der? There were other eyes shining
before him. Quieter eyes as last he
had seen them, and the tones of 8
voice sweeter far than the bellies
we're ringing in his ears.
The whole Of the little picture he
did not dare eonjure up. The cling
ing hands, the quivering lips, the
piteous little face raised toward him.
Through the long summer nights,
when the ship was asleep, the spirit
of his dreams kept him company.
And in England, there was Nan
crying her eyes out, for once totally
disregarding her personal appear
ance. Eve was distressed beyond
measure, at this half and half sort OF
engagement. 1t was wearing the
girl out, who was querulous now
when she spoke, and by no means
easy to please. Poor Eve ransacked
her brain wherewith to charm Nan.
She brought her all the cleverest
books of the day, books that would
once have delighted Nan, but now
she only just looked at them and
tossed them unread to the floor
Presently, however, there came help
to Eve. "Please, nam, MIR. Pop,
hams regards, and the flowers, lie
SAYS, are for Miss Man." A large
fragrant bouquet, Of white flowers,
eamellss, jessamine, stephanotes,
white roses. A faint tinge of color
in Mans pale cheeks. The bouquet:
came daily, but, after a while, as was
perhaps natural, the message changed
The maid said. "If ss now, Miss Nan
felt we'll enough, Mr.. Papham would
like to come in' MIR. POpham was
by means bad specimen of Nsn'i
Numerous admirers. An athletic
young man, and very we'll made. He
owed a good deal to nature, but
his tailor put the finishing touch
es. Fresh, giving you the idea Of 8
man that was fond of his tub; and
his laugh spoke well for his diges
ton.
"How i'll she looks, Mrs. Ashley
I never saw one SO much changed
, Not a bit more color than her flow
ers."
a don't care for white flowers
: said Nan, petulsntly.
"Oh, Nan! Don't mind her, MIR
Popham, she has been SO ill, yo'
: know"
81 always mind her, said Pop
1 ham.
And Nan, undergoing q suddsl
T change, caught up the flowers an
kissed them. "I don't mean it il
D the least, she said, holding out he
s little hand to him "not in the yer
r least. Say you know don't"
r 81 know you don't. What flow
e ers do you really like, Miss Ashley ?
"Poppies," said Nan, and so Ion
o as they lasted Mr.. Popham wen
about with field flower fastened i
a his coat, although it must be owne
n that he picked out the little ones
v After which Mr.. Popham's visit
Ia became frequent, and about the sam
e time Mans BLASTING spring went ul
n and the sunshine OF her nature II
d turned. All thoughts of Cavendis
d seemed to have fed from her minc