Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1871-11-23

well henccforward of the horrid place,
though YOU know how | always hated IL
was enraged enough az having 10 come
this year, for the Saie.tes had made up 4
vacht-party, with Eugene Astor and
Emily Finch: and If Cousin julie hadn';
chosen TO fall i'll just al the wrong tipii'
she could have come with ma. IS r, 1aa.
and should have gone with thev. put,
ron see, we never know: sol no use
iussing when things go wrs.is
WAS so cross about Y that wnen we
FIRST rot here | made ayseif disagTeeaoie
IN every one left 81 crimPs, and Just
Low on The he,, Tr-,st of the time reading
novels and sxlking. In fact, there was
nohody in fne house worth crimp the
season, vas on its very last legs-and. you
know how horrid these second-rate little
rlaces become when that takes place.
Then Mr.. Blodgett came. isn't ].
horrid nance John Blodgett so
prim and precise y i didn't notice him
at all at first, and he looked as ofi1sh as
felt; so we didn't get on, though, OF
course. he was introduced, and all that.
But when he had been here about week
| got letter from Jane Calhoun, telling
me about her cousin Miss Ellis's engage
ment TO a very nice Mr.. Delano, whom
they met this summer in the mountains
Blythe she wrote, do you
happen to know Mr.. Blodgett who Is
now at Sharon If so, do tell us what
he is like. We are dying to hear, for he
is great friend of Mr.. Delano's, and he
and Rose are in the greatest twitter to
learn how he takes the news of their en-
pagement. IT seems that they, with one
other Young man, belong to club called
1.-The Gibraltars so named because its
members consider themselves impervious
to female charms generally. Did you
ever hear of such idiots. And the Oldest
of them is but thirty-two! That's Mr.
Diodyett. He seems to be the leading
spirit Of the three; and though FREQ
laughs Rose SAYS she can see that he Is
quite nervous as to what he will say"
This passage made me look little
more curiously at Mr. Blodgett, and be-
gan to think him "foeman worthy OF my
steel" He's really fine looking, dear, and
his air is not bad-comme il fault if not
exactly distingue. And then-which slim
ulated my pique-he didn't seem to care
pin to pursue my acquaintance. So,
to make long story short, donned my
armor and went for that heather Chi
nee" expecting a tough conflict. My
dear, on the contrary, this famous Gibral-
tar proved as easy fortress as | ever met.
He melted like butter before my eyes |
had presentiment that the ''violet-prim-
rose A." tack would be a failure, so didn't
even attempt it. but took the role of belle
femme du monde with right principles,
and some latent religious feeling thrown
in.
should Judge he had lived all his life
with goody women, and was tired of their
fadaises. SO rapidly did he swallow my
bait WHY, | didn't even bring up the
heaviest artillery you know what mean,
but Just kept TO the ordinary siege guns.
Nv Gibraltar loved to talk, aimed at the
cynical, but was too soft-hearted to do it
well. met him gracefully on both tacks.
In ten DAYS | had carried the out-works
down TO the least redoubt A fortnight
showed the very citadel in distress. Up to
this time it was all play, ofcourse but just
then heard something which changed play
to earnest. Nv dear, it is the Blodgett,
who came in for the great Desbrow estate
Think of that OF course the game became
serious. Finding him ripe for it, | just
cut off supplies for forty eight hours, and
order at the breakfast-table. Desperate
at being no longer the object OF attack,
the garrison rose in revolt, flung
down the inpregnable draw bridge, hung
out red flags, white flags, all colored flags,
opened the portcullis, and cried for quar-.
ter. OF course | granted it, received the
offered keys with the air of Queen Phil
lippa, at Calais, spared the lives of the
principal inhabitants, and, mounted on
a high horse, rode triumphantly into MY
city, and was received with high masses,
pealing of bells, feux de joie, and installed
thenceforward governess and most puts
| SAINT lady-paramount over it and all its de-
| Tendencies.
| Two of these said dependencies | may
say dread-namely, the other members
of the Gibraltar Club. 1t required all my
influence and diplomacy to induce Mr.
| Blodgett to write them of our engage
ment He evidently shrank from it.
| in the most singular manner; and yet
/ strange to say, both these fellow-idiots OF
| his have done exactly what he has done
that is, fallen in love with girls they hadn'
known a month. Why he should dread
them | can't conceive; but he does ant
till the mighty confession is replied TO
do not feel my reign secure.
Adieu, carissima. We return OF
Wednesday, and plunge at once into shop
ping My fortress demands that | shall
establish permanent residence in January
Write speedily. Tout tot, EssIE.
p. S.-Two iubilant kilograms from Mr.
Delano and Mr.. De Whit. Hurrah
That's the last, HOPE, Of the Gibral
/ tars.