Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1871-11-16

sr-irv returned with aEl it, sweets. east
wind included. and the period Of TnigrA-
ton had now arrived But was not Ut
terar checkmaied. for I knew that nv
friend Freshes had castle somew here AZ
the back 81 the fsse of Wight. and would
be too glad TO go there II he could get
any fellow 10 stay with him, for ihst Was
his constant object.
went 10 The club we both belonged
10, aud found him playing at billiards.
| and smoking pipe with MS coal OF
arms I'm II IN ali-reilef ] sid the pipe
was coloring; | praised his game I
! spoke ~ yachting, which ne EFed ior,
/ ard promised 10 take q cruise wifh him-
We dinei together. and spoke Of the
/ castle which turned OFT 10 he within 8
| connie 81 miles Of the HerTys' place. He
asked ne to go down there with him
srfeed- He said be would make up
party. and wrote 10 the housekeeper 10
gef rooms ready that very evening. You
might do anything with Frcshet If you
knew how to play him
I had known him AT school and At col
ic-e. poor feilow-yet why poor icl-
loW - He was rich and happy and IL
! he had q vague, uneasy selDi-conscious-
| ness AZ times that people were laughing
at bin, ii did not seriously damage his
! self-compIacency or his digestion. But
one always says poor fellow" Of good
natured man who il below the average
IN wits, and Freshet was certainly that.
Three men besides myself agreed TO be
Fresbet's guests, and / was somewhat
annoyed TO find that they were all adj
mircrs Of the girl ! had calculated on
monopolizing The reason was simple
| Freshct had gone about asking all the
men he knew, and only those who were
attracted by the knowledge thai the fair
Sarah was in the ncighborhood accepted
the invitation. II was case OF natural
selection. 1t did not promise to be II
very cordial group. However, flattered
myself that my presence was much more
Injurious to- their chances than theirs
vas to mine; and as each Of them had
| probably arrived at a similar conclusion
IN his own favor, and as, moreover, we
were all men Of the world and not Ar
cadians, we rubbed along very well to,
! gcthcr We never alluded to the secret
attraction which had drawn NJ individ-
ually to the castle. but pretended inter
esl in the place and ncighborhood. Were
| those cottages Freshets tenants? Was
there really once ditch and draw
bridge. Was that pig-sty part OF the
! old keep
CHoRus. "By Jovc !"
On the morning after our arrival some
I one proposed a stroll over to Vcninor;
some one else said, 'By-thebye, were
not the licryys Mt home 2" 1t was then
aYerred that lIcryy was "rattling good
fellow (Which ! take to mean one who
/ has iinging materials in his pockets,
and that II was moral duty to look him
up. 50 we called and queer game
Of courtslip was started. Four compel
4 TORS and only one prize, and no younger
/ or elder sisters or other spinsters to di-
/ vide our attentions and make things less
/ awkward. What a pretty tournament
/ We might have got up, if such things had
I not gone out of fashion
/ And ~ il four lovers were not enough
+ for one girl, our host took the Sarah fc.
I yer very badly. TO our great amusement;
/ for when we were 1T home, and not oc.
T cupied with whist or pool, we amused
/ ourselves by mystifying Frcshet; and
4 bis present passion, which eeemed to us
4 outrageous, formed new subject for the
exercise OF our wits.
The fact was that | found myself
4 great deal less alone with Miss
lcfyy than ] had been in London
even, and my weekly cram of Athengum
two OF my old rivals showed country ac-
complishmcnts which threw me some
what in the background. One rode, and
the other crGquetcd in a very superior
manner; and though | did not fear lest
such frivolities should make any real i'm
precision on 80 lofty an intelligence as
Sarah's, did not quite like the opportu-
| mites thus afforded to men who were UNI
1 dcniulBy among the cleyerest Of the tops
who tangled about her. Prudence sug-
! gestGd that it would be well to spoil their
littlc games when possible even if
could not ut the moment profit directly
4 by the mancuvrc for, of course, | could
nGt often interrupt rivals tete a-tete
personally without a row. SO, when
ever Martingale's riding lesson or
Mallcts instruction in croquet APP
1 pearcd to be growing dangerously
/ confidential, | set Frcshct at them.
The honest fellow had no notion that Ills
guests were his rivals. and took each of
rs in turn into the confidence of his pas
/ sion. So he had no conjunction what
ever in falling in with my views when
ever suggested that he should consti-
tute himself an odious third. ct was
nothing to Martingalc or Mallet, but he
was spoons in that quarter" he rca-
soncd
The others did not perceive my ma
nGuvcr, or make rcprisals, and rs Fresh
ct never took the initiative, was left in
peace when managed, in my turn, to
secure the ear of the fair Sarah.
"Why do you all laugh at Mr.. Fresh
etY" she inquired, on one of these occa
sions.
~ don't know. People always have"
| answered. He was the only child
ever heard of who practically attempted
to catch birds by sprinkling salt on their
tails"
:" Did you see himy"
"No; the first time l ever witnessed
his naiycttc was later, when we were
school-boys together, and watching the
sale of a horse. The purchaser, after
having stroked his legs down, etc, Sc
cundum artcm, went to his mouth Ris-
ing seyen,' said the would-bc seller.
Ay, all that replied the other.
! "'ilow did he know the horses age?'
| Frcshet asked me; and l. being coun-