The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1871-05-04

her hand to the 1altnful fr1end and
looked at him with eyes SO OVERLOOKING
with affection that Peleg's pulse rose to
fever-heat. at accept your pledge,
Peleg," she replied, solemnly, yet SO
softly that he alone heard her words.
"I will regard your success in this mat
ter as the will of Providence. That is,
all my former scruples shall vanish if
you recover my watch. You take my
meaning"
al do" rejoined the little man, in an
equally solemn but subdued tone and,
almost beside himself with Joy, he raised
the blushing Jerusha's hand respectfully
to his lips.
As half the gossips of the neighbor-
hood witnessed this innocent act of gal
lantry, we can see no reason to conceal
it from the reader.
1t becomes now the authors sad duty
to relate how our heroine continued
further to be prosecuted by her malign
star, and especially how the scandal
loving neighbors misconstrued the re-
spectful salute imprinted on her hand
by the devoted Peleg. 1t would, no
able to recover the lost watch at once,
and follow these two loving hearts to
the altar, and the end of the story but,
unfortunately, in this case again, the
old adage that the " course of true love
never does run smooth" was destined to
be verified, and this will perhaps seem
all the less strange when we remember
that Aunt Jerusha was born to unhap-
piness.
What mortal man could do under
these perplexing circumstances, little
Peleg Brent most certainly did. With
out stopping to take breakfast, he start
ed for the nearest railroad depot for the
reader will recollect that the rufhans
had alluded to the early train. He tel
egraphed in every direction; sent full
descriptions of the stolen articles, and
especially of the watch, to the police au-
thorities; offered large rewards; and
had the story published, not only in the
local papers, but in all the larger city
dailies of the country. All this trouble
and expense seemed, however, thrown
away. A large number of suspicious
looking individuals, with brstly boards,
slouched hats and shabby clothes, were
discovered and arrested, but to none of
them could be brought home the theft
pended the happiness of two loving
souls.
1t will thus be readily seen that 1t
still remained an open question whether
or not heaven had really predestined
Aunt Jerusha and little Peleg for one
another.
"Perhaps this question may never be
solved on earth!' Aunt Jerusha often
said to herself with sigh. Fortunately
she possessed an elastic nature,-and
then Peleg, who never ceased to hope
that all would be right yet, was always
at hand to console his friend when dis
posed to despond.
This consolation and support had now
become doubly necessary to her, for
while suffering all the tortures of sus-
pense, her position had in other respects
grown very embarrassing and delicate.
The fact is-nor can we, in spite of our
partiality for Aunt Jerusha, deny it
she had been guilty of very grave in
discretion that is, she had actually ad-
mltted Peleg Brent into her house as a
lodger.
The arrangement had been brought
about in perfectly natural manner.
his efforts to trace the robbers, Aunt Je-
rusha was still SO filled with terror at
the recollection of the events which that
terrible night had brought with it, that
she was hardly in her right mind.
"The rufians are sure to RETURN" she
repeated again and again, with tears,
"and then shall be murdered!" The
mere thought of living through such
another night was more than she could
bear, and she constantly appealed to Pc
leg to protect her, adding, "You are the
only person on whose devotion can re-
ly."
Peleg had thereupon proposed to ask
old James, superannuated constable,
to take up his quarters in the basement
story. But old James happened to wear
a bristly beard, and this sutficed to dis
qualify him for the position in Aunt Je-
rusha's present nervous state. Finally,
after several fruitless consultations, the
difficulty was settled When the sun
went down, Peleg himself moved, bag
and baggage, into the back parlor.
Our pen falters to describe the sensa-
ton to which this event gave rise in the
town-how Aunt Jerusha's friends and
neighbors put their heads together,
snickered, and talked scandal.
Little Peleg," said one, has hired
himself out as dwarf to tall Jerusha.'
"No," replied another, ait is as page.
to stand sentinel over the bed with
six-shooter."
"Not so," put in third. "Jerusha
has adopted him, and that is the reason
he kissed her hand the other day."
The scandal-mongers might perhaps
have wagged their wicked tongues with
out doing serious harm, but for some
dear souls who made it their special
business to repeat all these malicious re-
marks to Jerusha. Though they were
pricks of the pin, they nevertheless were
mighty to gall, and became at last so
frequent as to be unbearable, and to in
duce their victim to withdraw more and
more from the ill-natured world. Nor
was this, under existing circumstances,
a great sacrifice. Her diamonds, which
had once made Aunt Jerusha's position
in society so enviable and distinguished,
were gone. So even when the evenings
grew longer, and hardly week passed
without bringing some invitation, she
resolutely stayed at home. Nor was she
now any longer SO lonely there. When
the clock on the mantelpiece struck
eight, came gentle knock at the door
of her sitting room upstairs, and then
entered the faithful Peleg. The two
took tea together, after which the lady
sewed or embroidered, while the gentle
man smoked a cigar and chatted. When