Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1870-09-22

her confidence in her own abilities. tbs,
she deemed the match a. good - settled
IL might have been with some girls
but Miss Morris was not quite an easy
person TO manage. Accustomed TO be ad
m;red and wooed, the situation had nc
novelty for her. She could be as coolly
critical Of sutton as II the handsome
head she carried On her shoulders had
been many years older than it was. She
had a warm heart though, and was nc
doubt willing enough 70 fall in love should
the proper object present himself; bu,
Mr. Hunt was not that object. She liked
the man well enough, enjoyed his fine
singing, smiled secretly at his awkward.
meas, and amiably helped him out OF the
absurd, isitpsti0ps he MAS always get
ting into; but that was all. Mrs. Bar
together, and-rnost important OF all, In
her estimation-contrived that they
should be constantly singing together.
As the good lady heard, Day after day,
Mr.. Hunts magnificent bass mingling
| with and sustaining the pure soprano OF
her friend, she mentally declared that a
girl must be more or less than human to
resist voice like thAfl ,ltlIif 10 FL
But Mr.. Hun. was less sanguine. The
poor man felt, through all the charming
and gracious kindness of Miss Morris's
manner, the subtle infusion of certain
silent but itrestible prohibitory force, the
weapon of defense which woman Of the
world knows how to use SO effectively.
| If he chafed against this silent barrier, or
showed any disposition to overstep 1t, ehe
pitilessly turned him over to the tender
mercies OF Miss Laura Hathaway, who was
also one of Mrs. Barlow's guests, and who
1 was more than Suspected of cherishing o
decid ed genc1nns for the musical Hercules.
| At first he was in despair at this treat.
ment but, alas for the instability OF hui
man emotions he soon began To find a
kind of solace In the cOmpanionship OF
the lively Laura Miss Halfway was
pretty; her face was animated, and she
| laughed great deal. She chartered in
cessantly, and one could not pick ten
sensible words out Of all she would say in
week. She was rs ignorant Of music as
/ am Of Chinese literature, and, much as
she admired Mr.. Hunt, she could not keep
still while be sang. When he asked her
if she enjoyed one of ,Beethoven's sonatas,
played superbly by"Mrs. Barlow, she an.
swered, ooh yes; think II Is 90 nice.
Did you ever hear Casey's band play
When Johnny comes marching homeT
And yet she was so amiable, and she adj
mired himself so much, that Mr.. Hunt
could not help being charmed. In fact
the poor fellows ideas were in some CON
fusion. He knew he was in love with
somcbody--he knew he had lost the heart
he was in the habit Of calling his own
but which of these two charming crea-
lures had it In her possession he was not at
all sure. And that sly Ada laughed in her
sleeve TO gee her despairing swain reviv-
ing from the chill Of her GOODNESS in the
warm beams Of new sun.
Mrs. Barlow was alarmed. "Can Hunt
be such fool" she thought, f"as to fancy
he can pique Ada in thiswayy OF course
he does not admire Laura-a dear warm
hearted little thing, to be sure ; but, then,
she hasn't thirnbleful Of brains, and
can't sing note. dare say he thinks
to make himself more desirable by hold
ing aloof little. Connected, like every
other man. But he viii lose Ada If he is
not careful. must warn him."
She did SO at the first opportunity. The
poor man was terribly embarrassed "Mys
dear FRIEND" he said, II hope you do not
think me capable of flirting with onelady
[ in order to make an impression upon
another. My attentions to Miss Hatha-
way have been the result OF accident. Cr-
cumstances have constantly arisen which
made them unavoidable" A. f5G
"Of course could not suspect you Of
any thing 80 dishonorable," replied the
lady, fibbing without a blush. "But |
feared dear Laura might mistake your
feelings toward her."
81 trust not But, indeed, fear Miss
| Morris will never care for me. She is
quite cold and Indifferent"
"That you will never know unless you
ask her. She is not the girl to let you see
preference for yen until you do. And
I think it right TO tell you that your time
! Is short; she leaves us Tomorrow"
Mr.. Hunts countenance fell The
thought Of losing Ada was misery. He
rose and walked the door. "And do you
really think have CHANGER" he asked,
dolefully.
81 have always told you that I think
the chances are in your favor. Any way,
faint heart never won fair lady, If you
care to try your fate, will see that you
have the opportunity"
She was as good as her word. That
evening Mr.. Hunt found himself, through
her adroit management, seated with Ada
in deep bay.window, quite apart from
the rest OF the company, who were occu.
pied with new game, and knew that 1t
was n0ao or ntDsr.
1t was delicious summer evening. The
moon was at the full. The faint, fra.
grant night wind breathed tenderly
through the garden trees, and fire flies
cleaned palely among the dewy shrub.
berry. At the foot Of the garden, and
separated from 1t only by narrow lane,
flowed the river. flashing in the moon.
light; and its pleasant ripple mingled
with the rustic OF the leaves and the oc-
casional chirp of some drowsy bird in the
branches IT was the kind OF night when
people say soft things almost of necessity |;
but Ada did not choose TO talk sentiment
with Mr.. Hunt and once or twice, when
she thought he was verging ON q tender
strain, she brought him back to common
places so skillinlly that he could not re-
sist her lead. at length, almost in des-
pair, he begged her to sing to him once
more a song which he had often admired.
She consented readily, and sent him to
bring her guitar from the table.
Meanwhile Mrs. Barlow was wstch,
I'M thd Dair with anYiOua avea She felt