The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1871-09-21
From the Atlantic Monthly.l
Il Romance of MGII'O1lO
HOCCOIO.
BY BRET HARTE.

The latch of the garden gate OF tue
FOlinsbee Ranch clicked twice. The
gate itself was so much in shadow that
! lovely night, that 'iold man Follins-
bee" sitting on his porch, could dis
! tinguish nothing but a tall white hat
and beside it a few fiuttering ribbons,
under the pines that marked the en-
| trance. Whether because of this fact,
or that he considered a sufficient time
/ had elapsed since the clicking of the
I latch for more positive disclosure, do
not know; but after a few minutes
hesitation he quietly laid aside his
pipe and walked slowly down the
winding path toward the gate. At
the CeanOthus hedge he stopped and
listened.
There was not much to hear. The
hat was saying to the ribbons that it
was a fine night, and remarking gen.
orally upon the clear outline of the
Sierras against the blue-black sky.
The ribbons, it so appeared, had ad-
mired this all the way home, and ask
ed the hat if it had evers seen anything
half so lovely as the moonlight on the
summit? They never had; itrecalled
some lovely nights in the South in
Alabama ("in the South in Alabama"
was the way the old man heard it),
but then there were other things that
made this night seem so pleasant.
The ribbons could not possibly con-
ceive what the hat could be thinking
about. At this point there was a
pause, of which Mr.. FOllinsbee avail
ell himself to walk very grimly and
crunchingly down the gravel walk
toward the gate. Then the hat was
lifted, and disappeared in the shadow,
and Mr.. FOllinsbee confronted only
the half foolish, half mischievOus, but
wholly pretty face of his daughter.
1t was afterwards known to MadrO-
no Hollow that sharp words passed
between "Miss JO'' and the old man,
and tkat the latter coupled the names
of one Culpepper StarbOttle, and his
uncle Colonel StaTbOttle, with certain
uncOmplimentary epithets, and that
Miss 10 retaliated sharply. "Her
fathers blood before her fathers face
boiled up and proved her truly of his
race" quoted the blacksmith, who
aned toward the noble verse of By
ron. ''She saw the old mans bluff
and raised him" was the director
comment of the college bred Master.
Meanwhile the subject of these ami
madversiOns proceeded slowly along
the road to q point where the FOllins-
bee mansion came i'm view-a long,
narrow, white building, unpreten-
tiOus, yet superior to its neighbOrs,
and bearing some evidence of taste
and refinement in the vines that
clambered over its porch, in its French
windows, and the white muslin cur
tains that kept ont the fierce CalifOr-
MIA sun by day, and were now touch
ed with silver in the gracious moon
light. Culpepper leaned against the
low fence, and gazed long and ear
nestly at the building. Then the
moonlight vanished ghost-like from
one of the windows, a material glow
took its place, and 4 girlish figure,
holding s candle, drew the white cur
tains together. To CuIpepper it was a
vestal virgin standing before a ahallOw-
ed shrine; to the prOsaic observer,
| fear it was only fair-haired young
woman, whose wicked black eyes still
shoUe with unfilial warmth. How
belt, when the figure had disappeared
he stepped out briskly into the moon
light of the high road. Here he took off
his distinguishing hat to wipe his
forehead and the moon shOne full upon
/ his face.
1t was not an unprepOssessing one,
albeit q trifie too thin and lank and
bilious to be altogether pleasant. The
| eheekbones were prominent, and the
black eyes sunken in their orbits.
Straight black hair fell slantwise of a
high but narrow forehead, and swept
part of hollow cheek. A long black
mustache followed the perpendicular
curves Of his mouth. 1t was on the
whole serious, even QuixOtie face,
but at times it was relieved by q rare
smile ofsueh tender and even Dathet-
ie sweetness, that Miss 10 is reported
to have said that, If it would only last
throughout the ceremony, she would