Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1868-01-25
COLUMBUS. O., SATURDAY MORNING,

Now Just such nature as John Mar
shall had never happened to cross Miss
Sophy's path before. He was entirely
too simple for her to comprehend, and
the lock had twist in one of its wards
which set at defiance the pretty little
key she had lent Nettie. l sef
In other words, John quietly took up
the same course of action that had been
prescribed for his defeat, and attacked
Nettie on her own ground. That even
ing'he was more brilliant and entertain
ing than she had ever known him, studi-
ously polite to her, and very attentive to.
everybody else. Sophy was lost in ad-
miration. With the magnanimity of a,
great warrior, she could afford to ac-
knowledge the prowess of rival. AS
for Nettie, she felt like the fisherman in
the Arabian Nights who let the genii out
of the bottle and could not get him back
again. There it was, this dark, inn
ponderable volume of smoke, rolling up
before her, every moment growing worse,
and no effort of hers seemed adequate
to manage anything at once so vast and
so impalpable. So poor little Nettie
faded and sparkled by turns; brilliant
and animated whenever she thought
John was looking at her, dull and de-
jected when she saw his attention was
elsewhere. Nothing could be prettier
than the little, wistfulsidelong looks she
cast at him, the pensive poise of her
head, and the droop of her downcast eye-,
lashes. Sophy caught her in one of
these Clytie poses, whisked her into
corner, and rallied at her heartily.
Much to her surprise, the worm turned.
sits all very well for you to call me
shy and spiritless," said the transformed
Clytie, with flashing eyes; +" I think
with youthata certain allowance of spirit
is necessary for the preservation of every
pair. (She did not intend pun, and
trampled over it with lofty disdain.)
I" I am glad John has shown enough to
make it unnecessary forme to exert my
self. In your case it is different. Of
course you have to do it for two. I hon.
or your motives, but deplore the neces-.
sity. And 1 am afraid it is time to go
home. Good night, DEAR" s,
And darting at her friend with sting
ing little needle of a kiss, Nettie turned
away, skillfully extracted John from his
attentive group of listeners and departed,
leaving Sophy in a state of PROSTATE be-
wilderment, as the books say, more easily
imagined than described. What more
trying position for a woman of spirit
than not to know exactly how much she
had been insulted : ~. .-. -.
Meanwhile John and Nettie paced
quietly homeward. Very quietly for she
was struggling with an absurd but emf
nently feminine disposition to cry, and
in the effort to fight down her tears, nee
essarily had to hold her tongue. while
John was partly tired of his unusual
efforts at entertaining, and partly, too,
curious to see what Nettie would do if he
let her alone
At last they reached the familiar steps;
the scene of so many meetings and part
ings, greetings and farewells. The sight
of the old stones nerved Nettie to des-
perate effort. With one final and pro-
digious gulp she swallowed the last tear,
caught hold of one of Johns buttonsjust
as he was turning to go, and opened her
lips to begin a very pretty moral lecture
said moral picture she had been elab-
Grating to herself all the way home. and
in it she intended fairly to divide the
blame of their little misunderstanding
between them, and to wind up with an
assurance of better things to come.
But as she looked up and saw the old
kind face looking down at her, with a
CLEAN of amusement lurking behind the
gravity of the eyes, she forgot all her
formal explanations, and felt so ashamed
that she began to wish she had let ohm
go.'' Then, summoning up all her cour-
age, she looked wistfully at the very
middle of Johns top button, which she
was lingering, and whispered doubling.
ly, John, if you were to try very hard,
do you think you could forgive me 2"
History has not recorded what John
did. II my readers, that is, the sterner
portion thereof will take the trouble to
calculate the effect upon themselves of a
pretty upturned face, call kinder smily
round the lips and teary round the lash
es," said face Set in a frame of moon
light solitude. and romance generally,
they will probably arrive at something
like the actual result. History has re-
corded, however, what John said. Like
the speeches of all great men at moments,
it was short, simple, and to the point.
He said: Little woman, don't try it
again !" a..s i.,. .ag
And don't think she did. At least
by the last accounts they were still living
in a state of much humdrum content and
felicity. r.4as.1 sasrss
AS for Sophy, the bungling wedding
of one of her friends suddenly stimulated
her to an heroic exertion. She felt that
it was her duty to show the world how
such things ought to be. done, so she
graciously allowed the long suffering
Morton to marry her. In a blaze Of
1 glory, compounded with white satin,
orange flowers, tulle wells, bridesmaids
presents. carriages and wedding cards
the moral entity called Morton Dewitt
| passed out of independent existence. In
future he vegetated as "Mrs. DeWitt's
i. husband" Somewhere within the bril-
] liant aureole which surrounds that gor
geous and fashionable comet he revolves
unseen, his "ineffectual fires paled'
by the glory that envelopes him., lit
tie twinkling star hid forever behint
the sweeping brilliancy of his radian
partner. s i.if.e fsr Il,