Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1870-10-28

I.OpeIlIOTS lived; away from the common
place, two-story dwellings clustering
around the church, the store, the black
smiths shop, and the.post-oflice Ito bit
of level slightly removed from "The Hol-
low by sloping hill. Here were scat
tered group of houses where the doctor,
the mill-owner, the minister, and two or
three prosperous farmers lived. Lived, so
the Hollow people said, stuck up" and
apart from their neighbors. ~
But this aristocratic isolation was all the
work of the Hollow, for, as Mrs. Wood
cock often said "Folks can choose their
own place in the world. If they havela
mind to'hold up their heads and be some
thing and somebody, they can be- or they
can be nobody and nothing--either one"
Accordingly she held up her head and
made herself somebody, equally in the
kitchen of Mary Duffy, the Irish laundress,
in Speck Lane, at, the lowest dip 4of the
Hollow, and in the parlors of the spacious
mansion that crowded the brow of "Qual
ity HILL"
So now she went up the wide, flower
bordered walk leading to Dr. Seacrests
stately doorway, with the assurance of Il
welcome guest, and, tapping confidently on
the open door, stepped in with little nod
and courtesy, as much of respect to her
self as of Difference to Mrs. Seacrest and
her daughter Marian, sitting sewing and
looking tranquil, as though no storm had
ever passed over either vineyard or spirit.
Dear mel Is it you, Mrs Woodcock9
How you startled me Come in. We
were speaking of you not half an hour
age" cried Mrs. Seacrest, who was lively,
cordial woman as round and flushed as a
poppy and always sitting in the sunshine,
no matter what clouds there might be in
the sky
Mrs. Woodcock came in. "Quite show
er we have had" said she, dropping upon a
velvet sofa with an air of being very much
at home on velvet. II noticed, as | came
along, Mr.. Hulbert's oats are beaten fiat,
and shouldn't wonder if good deal of
injury was done by the hail"
"Very likely" replied Mrs. seacrest, Sc
renely. "The hailstones were very large.
But it has come off beautifully now, and
the air seems so much purer for the
storm"
Some people might have felt put aside at
this, but not Mrs. Woodcock She per-
ceived that something hay under this placid
surface, and, never being troubled by eX-
cess of delicacy, proceeded at once to send
out her bloodhounds.
"How was it here?" said she, boldly;
anything damaged about your grounds "
"The dahlias some of them were bro
ken oh-didn't father say?" responded
Mrs. Seacrest, appealing to her daughter.
"And think some glass was broken in
the hot-house The doctor has just or
dered a different style of sash, so these
are out of the way just in time"
Everything was always fish that came to
Mrs. Seacrests net.
"'Tisn't that" said Mrs. Woodcock to
herself. Something heavier than hail
stones is ON her mind"
She started on another trail.
Heard from Ernest lately?" she
asked.
h lH Not very long since, replied Mrs. Sea-
crest, carelessly, but with the faintest
shadow of shade slipping across her
sunny face for an instant fr
THAT is it," said the visitor, inwardly,
nodding approvingly to herself For it
was not everybody who would have had
the skill to touch upon the sore spot so
soon.
But before she had decided on her next
question, Mrs. Seaerest spoke again.
1--WE are expecting him home, soon,
Mrs Woodcock, with his wife"
His wife!" cried Mrs. Woodcock.
Even with her discerning foresight she
was not prepared for this announcement,
Ernest Seacrest being yet junior in the
State University. i.t'.t
Miriam looked steadily upon her work,
flushing with look of painful annoyance,
but her mothers tone was as blithe as ever.
Yes" said she g Ernest is young, isn't
he? But, after all, he is as old as i was
when | married. Our children take us by
surprise, coming to be men and women so
much sooner than we expect"
% When 1n Won pyDnnt hif1-tbeu1 ~ fa1
tered Mrs. Woodcock, too much bewil-
dered for her usual aptness of questioning
" 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 herlong eyes, deep ears and broad
tongue! Oh no! Mrs. Woodcock would
have scorned herself with contemptuous
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. rsr'e
Miriam, evidently unable to bear the
slow torture, soon found an errand to her
chamber and found no reason for return
ing.
Wasn't your sons marriage a little sud
den to you?" asked Mrs. Woodcock, as
soon as she had collected her ideas.
Somewhat. But it is so much better
for young man to settle upon some one
lady rather than fail into a habit of flirt-
ing" replied Mrs. Seacrest, with cheerful
satisfaction. ''And | have always been in
favor of early marriages. Where people
wait till their habits are crystalized it is
much harder adapting themselves"
Mrs. Seacrest's sentence was brought to
an untimely end by the stopping of car
nage at the gate--the doctors carriage,
too, 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 was, as my
good fortune would have it, right in the
midst of the homecoming" said Mrs
Woodcock afterward, in relating the story
to Mademoiselle Widger
Mademoiselle Widger was the milliner
who lived only three doors from Mrs
Woodcock and said mon dieu" to appear
like a French woman. She was equally
fond of a cup of tea and dish of gossip
and made all Mrs Woodcock's bonnets for
nothing.
So there sat and saw it ALL" pursued
Mrs. Woodcock. And what do you think,
madamoiselle, but Ernest came in with a
lady on his arm older than his mother
My wife, said he, and you might have
knocked me over with one of your feather
poppies. There was never such surprise
in Throckmorton before" .en O.
Mon dieul" cried mademoiselle, with
a little foreign scream. "Did you learn
how it happened -"
mo more than the dead" replied Mrs.
Woodcock, solemnly. Mrs. Seacrest
tried to pass it off in her smooth-it-away
manner, but she couldn't deceive me. /
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"
$50 you stayed to lunch?" quered
mademoiselle, helping herself to third
cup ofthat beverage from Mrs, Woodcock's
round black pot as she spoke.
HVee thAv' asked me- and I didn't wait