Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1870-11-30
Vol. XI.

wefe speaking of you not half on hou
age" cried Mrs. Seacrest, who was live
ly, cordial woman, as round and flushed q
a poppy; and always sitting in the sun
shine, no matter what clouds there nigh
be in the sky.
Mrs. Woodcoek came in. ''Quite
shower we have had" said she, dropping
| upon velvet sofa with an air of being yer,
much at home on velvet. II noticed, as
came along. Mr.. Hulberts oats are beatel
fat and I shouldn't wonder if good dea
of injury was done by the hail "
"Very likely" replied Mrs. Seacrest
serenely. THE hailstones were yer,
large. But it has come off beautiful,
now, and the air seems so much purer fo
the storm"
Some people might have felt put asid
at this, but not Mrs. Woodcock. She per
ceived that something lay under thi
placid surface, and, never being troubled
| by excess of delicacy, proceeded at onc'
to send out her blcod-hounds.
"How was it here ?" said she, boldly
Anything damaged about your grounds?
1.-THE dahlias; some of them were bro
ken of-didn't father say2" responded
Mrs. Seacrest, appealing to her daught er
stAnd, think, some glass was broken il
the hot-house. The doctor has just or
dered different style of sash, SO these
are out of the way just in time.
Everything was always fish that came te
Mrs. Seacrest's net.
kTisn't that" said Mrs. Woodcock te
herself. 'Something heavier than hail
stone is on her mind"
So she started another trail.
"Heard from Ernest latelyP" she asked.
mot very long SINCE" replied Mrs.
seacrest. carelessly, but with tine faintest
shadow of shade slipping across hel
sunny face for an instant.
'sThat is it., said the visitor, inwardly,
nodding approvingly to herself. For it is
not everybody who would have had the
skill to touch upon the sore spot so soon.
But before shs had decided on her next
question, Mrs. Seacrest spoke again,
''We are expecting him home soon, Mrs.
Woodcock, with his wife,"
"His wife cried Mrs. Woodcock.
Even with her discerning forethought,
she was not prepared for this ammo unce-
ment. Ernest Seacrest being yet junior
in the State University.
Miriam looked steadily upon her work,
ance, but her mothers tone was as bIithe
as ever.
EYES," said she. ERNEST is young, ISM
he7 But, after all, he is as old 8 t was
when | marri d. Our children take us by
surprise, coming to be men and women so
much sooner than we expect
"When 60 you look for him-them?"
faltered Mrs. Woodcock, too much bewil-
dered for her usual aptness of question
ing.
''Almost any time; shall not be sur
prised if they come to-day" answered Mrs.
Seacrest, not able to conceal some nervous
dread.
Not dread that the married pair might
arrive before Mrs. Woodcock should go
away, with her long eyes, deep ears, and
broad tongue! Oh, no! Mrs. Woodcock
would have scorned herself with contempt
uous scorning if such unworthy jealousy
had crossed her self-assured mind.
So she sat, and sat, and sat, and sat-
while Mrs. Seacrest sewed, and sewed, and
sewed, and sewed.
Miriam, evidently unable to bear the
Glow torture, soon found an errand to her
chamber, and found no reason for return
Ing.
"Wssn't your son 8 marriage little sud
len to you % asked Mrs. Woodcoek, as
soon as she had collected her ideas.
Somewhat. "But it is SO much better
for d young man to settle upon some one
lady rather than fall into habit of dirt-
ing" replied Mrs. Seacrest, with a cheer
full satisfaction. sAnd have always been
in favor of early marriages. Where peo-
Pile wait till their habits are crystalized, it
is much harder adapting themselves :"
Mrs. Seacrest's sentence was brought to
an untimeIy end by the stopping of a car
riage at the gate-the doctors carriage,
90, with the doctor himself to drive.
$50 it seems she knew all the time they
were coming this very day, though she
made it SO vague. And there I was, as my
good fortune would have it, right i'll the
midst of the home coming" said Mrs.
Woodcock, afterward, in relating the story
to Mademoiselle Wldger.
Mademoiselle Widger was the milliner
who lived only three doors from Mrs.
Woodcock, and said 'fmon Dieu, to ap-
pear like French woman. She was equally
fond of cup of tea and dish of gossip,
and made all Mrs. Woodcock's honnets for
$50 there sat and saw it ALL" persisted
Mrs. Woodcock. ssAnd what do you think
Mademoiselle, but Ernest came in with a
lady on his arm older than his mother" !"
"My wife," said he, and you might have
kpoc led me over with one of your feather
poppies. There was never such surprise
in Throckmorton before"
ssMon dieu p erich Mademoiselle, with
little foreign scream. 'Did you learn how
it happened p
s.No more than the dead" replied Mrs.
Woodcock, solemnly. "Mrs Seacrest tried
to pass it off with her smooth it-aTar
manner. but she couldn't deceive me. i
could see she had hard work to keep her
feelings in. But there she poured the tea
and passed the cake to that old thing as
smiling as the moon. She is such hand
to cover up, and make as though every
thing is just right that happens to her"
80 you staid to lunch?" queried Ma
demoiselle, helping herself ia a third cup
of that beverage from Mrs. Woodcock' 8
round black pot as she spoke. ==
Yes, they asked me, and l didn't wait
to be urged. 7 thought it would be a
good chance w see the bride, how she
looked, and how she appeared"
sWell, how was it ?" asked the milliner
between her sips of tea.
''She appeared well enough, far as that
went, if she hadn't seemed old enough to
be his grandmother. You know Ernest is
master young looking for his years, and l
don't suppose he is a day over twenty"
''Mon dieu But didn't you have any
surmise how it happened to take place ?"
pursued Mademoiselle.
''Well, suppose she must have been
worth property" returned Mrs. Woodcock.
who, like wise general, never acknowl-
edged defeat. '.But for oil that, I don t
it in him, and had as lief tell
him so at his dinner table"
While thus the hidden affairs of the doc
tors family were being discussed aud
stirred up in the Hollow, as hen stirs
dead leaves, on the Hill they were
being carefully covered over like the lost
Babes in the Wood. 1t was never the Sea-
crest fashion to parade the family skele-
tons like family jewels. So they ate, and
drank, and talked, and laughed, and tried
to look at the elderly bride without shud-
dering.
But her age was not the worst of it. She
was homely. And her homliness was not
the worst, she was stiff and unattrac.ive in
manner as well as person. And 1T was
hardly the consolation that, perhaps it
should have been, to perceive the UnIimit-
ed fondness that the boy bridegroom had
for his aged companion For it is really g.
comfort, though small one, to see our
-