The Plymouth Democrat. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1869-1941, 1870-12-01

her as he would have been in love with
5 new tea-urn or rare book. She was mic
t thing to show. Other people than JOIN
5 have ms fried on the strength Of such feel
ing. and called it love. For John reall,
+ imagined that he was in love. And dur
ing that week he talked and walked an,
rode in the sleigh with Miss Dunton, ant
had made up his mind that he would carr!
/ this brilliant prize to New York. But
with lawyer-lil1e caution, he thought III
would put off the committal as long a!
/ possible. If his heart had been il
/ his attentions the caution would not have
been worth much. Caution is goot
break-water against vanity; but it ISM
J worth much against the spring-tidc of love
rs John Harlow soon found.
For toward the end of the week he be-
gan to feel warmer feeling for Miss Janet
1t was not in the nature of things that
John should walk and talk with pleas
ait girl week, and not feel something
more than his first interested desire to
marry snowy wife. His heart began to
be touched, and he resolved to bring things
to a crisis as soon as possible. lie there
fore sought an opportunity to propose.
But it was hard to find For though Mrs.
Holmes was tOlerably ingenious, she could
not get the boys or the deacon to pay any
regard to her hints. Boys are totally de-
PRAYED on such questions, anyhow, and al
ways manage to stumble in where any
privacy is sought And as for the deacon, it
really seemed as though he had some de-
sign in intruding at the critical moment.
| do not think that John was seriously in
love with Miss Dunton. If he had teen, he
would have found some means OF commu-
nicating with her. A thousand spies with
slceploss eyes all round their heads cannot
keep man from telling his love some
how, if he really have love to tell.
There is another fact which convinces
me that John Harlow was not yet very
| deeply in love with Janet He was fond
of talking with her Of Byron and Milton,
| of Lord Bacon and Emerson, 1. e., as | have
already said, he was fond of putting his
own knowledge on dress parade in the
presence of one who could appreciate the
display. But whenever any little thing re-
leased him for the time from conversation
in the sittingrOOm, he was given to slip
ping out into the old Kitchen where sit
ting on chair that had no back, and lean
ing against the chimney side, he delighted
to talk to Huldah. She couldn't talk much
of books, but she could talk most charm
| ingly of everything that related to the
l
questions about the great city. In fact,
John found that Huldah had come into
possession of only such facts and truths as
could be reached in her narrow life, but
that she had assimilated them, and
thought about them, and that it was more
refreshing to hear Ter original and piquant
remarks about the topics she was acquaint
ed with, than to listen to the tireless stream
of Janet DuntOn'S ostentatious eruditiOn.
And he found more delight in telling the
earnest and hungry minded country girl
about the great world of men and the
gerat world of books than in talking to
Janet, who was, in the matter of knOwl-
edge, a little Dtsee, if may be allowed the
expression And then to Huldah he could
talk of his mother, whom he had often
watched moving about that same kitchen.
When he had spoken to Janet of the asso-
Citations Of the old place with his mothers
countenancc, she had answered with quo
tatiOn from some poet, given i'll tone of
empty scntimentality. lie instinctively
shrank from mentioning the subject to her
again but to Huldah it was so easy to
talk of his mothers gentleness and sweet
ness. Iluldah was not unlike her in these
respects, and then she gave him the sort OF
sympathy that finds its utterancc in ten
ger SllCnce-SO uluCu IlOlC tSL'cA tHdH
any speech can be.
lie observed often during the week that
IIuldah was depressed. He could not
exactly account for it, until he noticed
something in his sisters behavior toward
her that awakened his suspicion. As soon
as opportunity offered he inquired OF HUI
dah, affecting at the same time 10 know
something about it.
Il don't want to complain of your sister
to you, Mr. Harlow"
"Pshaw call me John, and as for my
sister, know her faults better than you
do Go on, please"
well, it's only that she told mel that
Miss Dunton wasn't used to eating at the
same table with servants, and when one of
the boys told your father, he was mad and
came to me, and said, 'IIuldah, you must
eat when the rest do. If you stay away
from the table on account of these city
snobs I'll make a fuss on the spot So to
avoid fuss have kept on going to the
table"
John was greatly vexed with this He
was chivalrous fellow, and he knew
how such a remark must wound per
son who had never learned that domes-
tic service had anything degrading
| in it, And the result was just the
opposite of what his sister had hoped
John paid more attention than ever to
Huldah Manners because she was the vic
tim of oppression.
The evening before Thanksgiving Day
the ladies were going to make visit 1t
was not at all incumbent on John to go
but he was seeking an opportunity to car
ry OFF the brilliant Miss Dunton, who
would adorn his parlors when he became
rich and distinguished, and who would
make so nice head piece for his table
And so he had determined to go with them,
trusting to some fortunate chance for his
opportunity
But, sitting in the old "best room," in
the dark, while the ladies were getting
ready and trying to devise way by which
he might get an opportunity to speak with
Miss Dunton alone, it occurred to him that
she was at that time in the sitting room
waiting for his sister. To step out to
where she was. and present the case in a
lew words, would not be difficult, and it
might all he settled before his sister came
down stairs. The f,tes were against him,
however For just a. he was about to act on
his thought, he heard Amanda Holmes
abundant dresses sweeping down the
stairway. lie could not help hearing the
conversation that followed =
You see, Janet, got up this trip to-
night to keep John from spending the eve
ming in the kitchen. He hasn't bit OF
dignity, and would spend the evening
romping with the children and talking to
fIuldah if he took it into his head"
We'll" said Jonet, "OHc can overlook
everything in n man of your brothers cul-
ture But what queer way your country
servants have of pushing themselves
Wouldn't | make them know their
pIaces!"
And all this was said with the kitchen
door open, and with The intention of wound
ing Huldah.
Johns castles tumbled. The erudite
wife alongside the silver teaurn faded on,
of sight rapidly. If knowledge could not