Centre Hall reporter. [volume] (Centre Hall, Pa.) 1868-1871, 1871-02-24

hcsitating In a remarkable way. AMER an
huproyisgd eoughing-tit and a preliminary
iiigetting round the room, he commenced
AGAIN. "One cannot, Of course, overlook,
THAT is is-a-a-n Aud then he had an
other singalaFly bad attack Of wordless-
ness. At this point the visitor, with an
effort, nose fiNm his chair thought that
he was about % relieve the embarrassment
of che would-he speaker by taking his de
parture, but, ON the contrary, he made
stride, half a hop and half hobhle, up 20
him, and LAYING his hand fan,liarly ON bis
shoulder. exclaimed in genial good tone,
4" MY dear, good sir, you're ineoherent to-
day suppose YOU eyacuate the citadel, and
leave me 10 do the talking, as | know
what you want 90 say.n Then. much 20
my ast0nishment. saw the awe-lnsplring
Mr.. Edelston quietly pushed unresisting
cur Of his own room. "Am 20 be lee
tured by deputy p | sulkily asked my
SELF as sat dONn in obedience 60 wave Of
the cool fellows emAciated hard. The
Old gentleman's rather Disconnected" he
said, r,suming his own chair opposite me
" the fact r., there has been something
worse than a misunderstanding and rs
YOU are the sufferer, and am unconscious
ly the cause Of il, the pain Of explaining
ought TO fall upon me-" He spoke in an
irrtSistibly pleasant fashion, and could
not choose but hear "lou are, believe,
under the impression that Miss Edelston is
engaged to you Y
Under the impressionl Jove that
was too much. am engaged 20 Miss
Edtlston.n hotly interrupted, "and
should like 10 know what ,,ght you-N
"Ah! | must begin st the beginning, |
see" he said (; ''but don't be angry vet
YOU can throw me out Of the window when
I've finished my story, YOU know. Shall
start with myselfl Wen. | am now sup
posed 70 command a company OF the - th
foot-if there's a whole company OF the
poor fellows left. Some time ago, when
only A sub. had the sense 10 fall in love
with Miss Edelston; great many other
men were equally wise. But she was weak
enough TO care about me; the other men
had not my luck; nevertheless, several OF
them proposed 10 her. | did not, for her
father discountenanced me altogether. /
was hopelessly Ineligible, being poor and
soldier he hated poverty and military men. .
One week called upon her rather too often,
and ON the last occasion found that
parental edict had been issued by which
wss banished. However, Agnes considered !
herself engaged 90 me. | knew she did,
and my only fear was that she might be 4
forced into some marriage by her father, Of
whom she j. rather too afraid. Then the 4
regiment was sent 20 the Crimeas, ON the A
breaking out Of the war. Ii was much cut .
up at the Alma. and, by great luck, 50 was I
|, for a weil-meant twelye-pOunder took oil .
one set Of toes, while gcod-nAtured oppo- 1
nent sliced my left arm; and when | was .
down among the grapes, nh expiring Rus
sian spent his last moments IN thoughttullY .
prodding me with his bayonet. Then ! /
had fine fever for a few months, and .
they sent my remains home. Well, in the .
meanwhile, Agnes-Ah, here she is, y he /
exclaimed, as that culprit timidily rc-en-
tered the room "Cnme here, and excuse
yourself, BIZ said TO her, " for don't know
what can be said 70 you. l'm sure-you
double dealing darling p was added in
murmur, as she stole up 10 him, and, pre-
tending 20 arrange the head cushion of bis /
armchair, took ap position behind IL.
Shall you be very, very angry 7" she .
asked me from her fertilization. captain 4
Firmin says / have done wrong-and be 1
thinks | have +
IL do said the invalid in n serious tone, .
that made Agnes sound sobbingly as she /
began in her most nervous manner. Must 4
tell you huw il was Please PROMISE TO 1
forgive me. was in such despair-for 4
e.. -i.sss.W al
though I'm sure | always tried TO be rude 4
to them. | knew he would decide upon 4
somebody some day. But / was 80 fright
ened when YOU pro-posed 10 me, and said 1
papa wished me 20 mar-marry you, Mr..
Landorc,-that ia. mean | liked you
extremely, you are son-numerous eulogis- j
tic adiectives here uttered in most winsomc 4
way. Z" But you know | had solcmnly 1
promised myself mean, had promised 4
Lawrence Firmin-l mean had promised .
him 10 REself,n the girl was in pitiful /
state Of confusion, but was not going TO 4
ease her explanation for her guessing the 1
black worst that was reaching me. and 1
then ! fancied ron didn't care for me rerg
particularly and / thought that If I pre- |
tended 10 be engaged to you, nobody else 4
wait until-something might turn i'sUp," /
/ suggested. with gloomy resignation to my 4
now certain fate, no; turn papa's heart /
TO Law-Law" e. War, you must mean, " 1
bitterly muttered, Lawrence Well, 1
papa was so III after you left us, and had 4
TO read the Times to him. Gradually /
gave him bits OF Russell's letters he grew 1
10 ike them. The story Of the Alma /
quite stirred his feeling, and did him good. 1
Just as he got better Law-Captain Fir
min returned from the east, and, by happy /
chance, came down here, for his family live |
in this county. He was the first of the /
wounded that arrived at Heleshore so all |
the town met him ut the station, and had 4
arches and addresses, and chcered him as
he was carried out Of the train. Papa was
quite a. enthusiastic as the crowd. and /
went up TO welcome him and asked him TO /
come 20 us, and, OF course, likes him inn |
mensely, now he knows him well. lie is
gaining strength fast, and stands well at
headquarters, and il TO be n major directly.
So we explained the whole matter to papa;
and it's all right" Agnes in her exultant |
finale had utterly forgotten my claims
But you promised 10 marry mr." | /
expostulated feebly."
"Neyerm she answered with n covert l
smile. "You only asked If you might call
me yours and | said that you might
because, Of course, / could not prevent your
calling me whatever you liked.n
With this miserable quibble was / dis
carded! Yet, would any one believei IL
am of such mean-spirited nature, and
have SO little self-respect, that go con-
stantly to dine with Lieutenant Colonel
and Mrs. Firnin, and have even become
surety for the good behavior Of a certain
infant belonging TO them.
Terrible Mistake.
Z. L i