Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1870-12-08


The next morning John had : letter
from his sister. Part Of 1t ran about
| thus -
"Pve concluded, old fellow, hat If you
don't marry you'll dry up. and turn 10
parchment I'm going 70 bring home Win
me the smartest girl / know. She reads
Carlyle, and quotes Gothic, and under.
stands Emerson. OF course she don't
know what am up to, but you must pre-
pare to capitulate." -, !
John did not like Amanda's assum.
ing TO pick q wife for him, but he DID
like the prospect Of meeting smart
girl, and he opened the letter again
TO make sure that he had not
misunderstood. He read again, under
stands Emerson" John was pleased.
Why. / think can divine. John was
vain of his own abilities, and ne wan,ed
woman that could appreciate him. lie
would have told you that he wanted con-
genial society. But congenial female So
ciety to an ambitious man whose heart Is
yet untouched is only society that, in some
sense, Understands his own greatness ana
admires his wisdom.
In the old home they were looking for
the son. The family proper consisted OF
the father, good Deacon Harlow, johns
two brothers, ten and twelve years Old.
and Huldah, the help" This last was
the daughter of neighboring farmer, who
was poor and hopelessly rheumatic, and
most Of the daughters hard earnings
went To exc out the scanty subsistence at
home. Aunt Judith, the sister OF Johns
mother, looked after the household at
fairs of her hrother-in law, by coming over
once week and helping Huldah darn and
mend and make, and by giving Huldah
such advice az her inexpcrience was sup
posed to require. But now Deacon
Harlow's daughter had left her nus
band to eat his turkey alone In
Boston, and had brought her two children
home to receive the paternal blessing Not
that Mrs Amanda Holmes had the paternal
blessing chiefly in view in her trip. She had
brought with her very dear friend, Miss
Janet Dunton, the accomplished teacher In
the Mt. Parnassus Female Seminary. Why
Miss Janet Dunton came to the country
with her friend. she could hardly
have told Not word had Mrs.
Holmes spoken to her on the subject OF the
matrimonial scheme. She would have
resented any allusion to such project.
She would have repealed any in
SIUuhtiUu tHdt BIG CN1I uICuiuSd
that marriage was desirable under
any conceivable circumstances II is way
we have Of teaching girls to lie. We
supcr-addcd accomplishment is put on with
the distinct understanding that its sole use
Is TO make the goods more marketable.
We get up. parties, we go to watering
places, we buy dresses, we refurnish our
L. 1n1.~ S,;r Ia 20, "a atph
And then we teach them to abhOr the
awful wickednesss of ever confessing
the great desire that nature and
education have combined to make the chief
longing Of their hearts. We train then, to
lie to us, their trainers; we train them to
lie to themselves; to be false with every
body on this subject to say mo" when
they mean "yes; :" to deny an engagement
when they are dying to boast of it. II is
one Of the refinements Of Christian civiliza-
ton which we pray the Wcman's Mission
airy Society not to communicate to poor
ignorant heathens who know no better
than TO tell the truth about these things.
But, before digressed into that line OF
remark, was saying that Miss Janet Dun
ton would have resented the most remote
suggestion Of marriage. She often declared,
sentimentally, that she was welded to her
books, and loved her leisure, and was de-
tcrmincd to be an old maid. And all the
time this sincere Christian girl was dying
to confer herself upon some worthy man Of
congenial tastes which meant, in her case,
just what 1t did in John Harlow's-some
one who could admire her attachments.
But, sensitive as she was 10 any imputa
ton of a desire to marry, she and Mrs.
Holmes understood one another distinctly.
There is a frecmasonry of women, and
these two had made signs. They had
talked about in this wise:
Mrs. Holmes dear Janet, you'll find
my brother bear in manners, fear. |
wish he would marry. hope you won't
break his heart, for / know you wouldn't
have him.
Miss Dunton. know my views on
that subject, my dear love books, and
shall marry nobody. Besides, your broth
er's great legal and literary attainments
would brighten such a poor little mouse as
am.
And in saying those words they had
managed to say that John Harlow was an
unsophisticated student, and that they
would run him down between them.
Mrs. Holmes and her friend had arrived
twenty-four hours ahead of John, and the
daughter Of the house had already in
stalled herself as temporary mistress by
thoughtlessly upsetting, reversing, and
turning inside out all the good Huldah's
most cherished arrangements. All the,
plans for the annual festival that wise and
practical Huldah had entertained were
vetoed, without thought that this young
girl had been for year and half
In actual authority in the house, and might
have some feeling Of wrong in having a
guest of week overturn her plans for the
next month. But Mrs. Holmes was not
one of the kind to think Of that. Huldah
was hired and paid, and she never dreamed
that hired people could have any interest
in their work or their home other than
their pay and their food. But Huldah was
patient, though she confessed that she had
feeling that she had been rudely
"tmmpled all over. I suspect she had q
good cry at the end Of the first day. can
not affirm it, except from general knowl-
| edge Of women
When John drove up in the buggy that
the boys had taken to the depot for him,
his first care was to shake hands with the
deacon, who was glad to see him, but
could not forbear expressing hope that
he would "shave the hair off his upper