The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1870-06-23
BARBARA THORNE.

Inere was no mNtake about it thil
timo; he was positively to arrive, with
out fail, on tho morrow, and the whole
household was agog With expectation
What wonder? ? For tho Grand Mogu]
was young man rich, handsome, t.l.
ented, travelled, and unmarried! And,
as ward Of the master of the house, it
was his boundeu durty to place him.
self and his possessions at the disposal
Of the daughter. This had been taken
as . matter Of course by Madame Ia
Mere, who had duly impressed it upon
Monsieur le Pere that he was to bring
the prize straight home with him upon
arrival, before it was possible that any
other Of his fathers old friends could
lay hands upon him. The unlading of
two foreign steamers had been watched
in vain ; the treasure was not on board {;
but to-day he was reported positively
among the arrivals in the Pereire. One
night in the city he would probably
claim ; bat the morrow would see him,
without fail, safely consigned to Rose
meath. Once domiciled there for the
summer, he would be a clever man if
he loft it alone!
Hence the flutter and fuss. Even
Miss Marples shared the general excite
ment, which might not seem singular,
seeing that she was the party most i'm
mediately interested, only that she was
generally too lazy to allow herself to
be excited about any thing. A magni6.
eent-looking girl, tall and large and fair,
with complexion ike day-lily, mass
upon mass of blonde-gold hair eyes of
the purple color Of grapes, and lips as
luscious as their wine-she was as su-
perb . specimen Of flesh and blood a. a
mans eyes could desire. If only the
Grand Mogul did MT etiuplate for fibre
either Of body or mind, the sumptuous
Sylvia could sacrccly fail Of pleasing
HIM.
Especially as she had made up her
mind to marry him; for, sluggish as
was the current which tinted so daint-
lily this statuesque mass, everybody in
the house-even I!-had to give way
before the vast IN ertia Of that passive
but powerful will.
1 cay even /; for was generally 40.
credited with tolerably strong will Of
my own. I bad manifested this very
early in life, in persisting in being
born, an unweloome surprise to my
parents, and despite considerable annoy
anee on their part, they beng already
entirely satis6ed with Natures bountie.
to them in tho way Of offspring. And,
when I permitted not only In being
born, but in being born = girl, the
fourth daughter Of sonless parents, The
innate pervernty Of my will was est.b.
lishsd beyond doubt. .:..- -.
Well, it was hard to hear, I suppose,
and doubtless my. mother bore it As well
as any other woman. Fortunately 10,
her, it was not for long; she was early
called to rest from her labors. My IA.
thor, finding life impossible withou,
her, followed as soon as might be, and
We four girls were scattered to the
four winds of heaven. So
The homelefs home of boarding.
school picked me up, and there I pass,
ed eight indssoribablo years. Then
went as governess, which, We all know.
is not the life best calculated to fll one
with stswcetness and light"
But to come to my story.
The children had been excused from
lessons that day by Mrs. Marples'.
desire, that I might assist the seam.
stross in altering the trimming Of ,
dress which had just been sent up from
the city, but failed to please Mis-.
Sylvia's exacting taste. It must be
done today for, after the grand arrival
of tomorrow, she whoull have no leisure
for "tryings-on," aud 50 il was that ]
was obliged to be an unwilling share,
Of al the hustle and fuss.
L interested me for q whileto watch
Mis- Marples, whom ! never remember
Cd to hare seen IN the least excited be
fore. She generally reminded me .
e great, languid- lotus lily ii her large
,iindolsnt grace; but today there wa
aotually y { lush on her creamy check
and aspalkle IS hsr hyleanthe syea. q.
Natohea hsr beauty with ! rsluetana