The democrat. [volume] (Weston, W. Va.) 1868-1874, 1869-02-15

business firm, Perhaps the word part
ncr was suggestive. My young friends
who went into business QLis was years
ago, remember, went, as the fashion of
those times was, into matrimony also, as
if that proceeding were part of the pro.
cess Of beginning life, forsooth! We
have changed all that; and young people
mustnow wait till they have made their
fortunes, instead of putting on the yoke
to pull together.
AS | said, began to bcjealous. When
everybody was getting married, | felt
that ought to be making some demon
strations in the same direction. | was
impcllcd with an indefinite intention to
commit the fashionable act of-wisdom or
folly, as the case might prove. My
dreams, if they took on any form and
distinctncss, usually ended in the image
of my cousin. But she was in the coun-
try, and was in the town. had pro-
posed correspondence to her. That would
have been employment. should have
had the excitement Of waiting for letters !;
and, moreover, theNopportunity to let the
outsides be seen, and give my friends a
prctext for that pleasant rallying which,
after all. to boy and girl, is one Of the
chief charms of courtship But, when |
said to Susan, one day, "Lct us write to
each other" she answered, "Why, John |!
What should we do that for!" So, there
| was, with all my young friends deep in
the delightful excitement of boy.lovc,
and nothing but cipher among them;
a knight without "faire ladyc." l
tried town Irritation or two, but the
thing did not work; except to give me a
very bad name the fame whereof, though
did not suspect it, extended even to ny
cousins in the country.
Puzzled by my lost town love, and-I
am now old enough to confess the truth
triaed with by her, l discovered that il
clerks had their vacations, the partner in
the house had a right to bis. My father,
who had been cycling my proceedings as
'kancc, aud who now began to fear that
should make fool Of myself, or get in
to habits of trifing and folly, heartily
second my proposition to spend week at
the homestead. And l despatched let
ter to my cousins, naming the day when
should cnlightcn them with my aaable
presence. Those were not tho exact
verbs; but whatever the words were,
that was the way ] felt when I wrote
them. Puppyish, pcrhaps-but l was
only boy. And, the son Of SimpSins,
Son & Co .-who could take airs, il not
he? And especially when he was going
down to astonish the natives, and to see
il those rude fellows would dare to laugh
at Simpkius, Son & Co!
My reception at the homestead was hos.
pitablc, in most respects all that ! could
desire. But the sons, my cousins, were
aot overwhelmed with my new dignity.
They did not bctray any apprehension Of
the circumstance that l had become
man by letters patent, to.wit, the circu-
lars and advertisements Of the new firm
of Simpkins, Son & Go. And my uncle
and aunt actually congratulated me as il
were but boy still. unde. trial IN n
new position, and hoped | would succeed,
as if there could possibly be any doubt in
the matter.
And the girl, my cousin-Cousin Sue
did mt anticipate my tender Of myself,
by the offer of her own hand and heart,
leaving mo the opportunity Of gracious
acceptance after suitable delay to mark
my condesccnsion. Indeed, l bad not
been IN hour at the farm before I discov-
cred that in those rural precincts l was,
as when boy, stil.less than nobody. At
home / KEEP. the books, and had at least
that official dignity. But here! Heigh-
no! the place really looked intolerably
stupid, aud l wondered how | could ever
have been SO pleased with it. Cousin Su-
san was actually away from home when ]
arrived, although she knew | was OK
peclcd. And l had the pleasure Of seeing
her return from ride with one Of her
country admirers. And my jealousy was
aggravated by witnessing how much more
gracefully he assisted her to alight than /
! possibly could have done. The old farm
horse, my ancient friend, who looked de-
murely over gate at the dismounting,
winked at me, as much as to say, "Now
there is somebody who is not left handed
with his feet y could have burned the
barn, and RACED the house and hamstring-
ed the horses, and demolished the prem
ises generally. | was only boy, and
boy love and boy jealousy and folly are in
ratio inverse to the yenrs Of life.
But why enlarge on all the particulars
Of my discontinue, more than half Of
which now know were in my own i'm
aginalion? tried the loyer.cousin tao.
tics /; strategy ms old MS the existence Of
blood relationship. In that skilful farce.
1 il you are frowned npen MS lover, you can
gracefully fall back on your base rs cous.
in, and protest that was all you meant,
and nothing more Or, if you arc en-
eouraged as lover, yon can cut loose from
your base, and throw yourself boldly for.
ward on your Independent resources. A
word from Sue, or look. would have
given me eloquencc, and opened new
aud charming Irritation. But the sly
beauty was as dumb as an image, and
distinctly placed me, in all heart matters,
precisely where should have stood had