Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1871-04-05
VOL. XI.

he has been two years in italy two
years, and we may never all meet her
ugain.
Sylvia!" said Ella, shortly.
Had she struck me I could not hav
been Inote astokished.
Glow do you knows" 1 gasped.
don't know, only guess. Whe1
were you here last, Ruthy2"
CT have not been here since Sidne-
LEFT. You know I went to Boston m,
last holidays, and this visit is fairl:
stolen. Ishall to give extra lessons TO
my holiday. But about Sylvia 2"
eff you were not here when Sidne
left, Ruthy, l was sure you had see11
Sylvia since"
No, tot .vsr tc-dsy.''
+" [ was here thteG iaoriths bef6r,
sgd left. I am sure he is IN love w,tl
Sylvia; and, from sort of couBinl,
regard, such as we all gave him, Syl
via suddenly became perfect miracI.
of stately plopriety."
go Nell who could help lovins
Sydney ~
"Ruthy, 1 think she did love him
but she Is SO proud and SO conscien
tious. You know there was some
mystery about her, father"
"Eo mystery at all, OILY grandma
don't like it talked about. He was
mixed up in a trust fund swindle, q
so6pegoat for an unprincipled lot o1
men, and, when he found money and
reputation both gone, he drank him.
self into delirium tremens, and SC
died.
Is that the story7 Bad enough it
is, and Sylvia thinks has forever dis
graced her. She says nothing, but
once, in a sudden burst of confidence.
she described to me the angelic being
Syd's wife ought to be"
Nonsense ! sgd, being rather too
angelic himself for this work a-day
world, wants a good, common-sense,
practical woman to worship his genius
if she will, and keep him in order. A
nice mess the housekeeping would be
If sgd married another angel. Sylvia
Is just the wife for him -
Mind you, Ruthy, this may be all
notion of my own, ALI that is GER
tain is, that Sydney went off to Italy
like flash of lightning, grandma has
grown twenty years older since he left,
and Sylvia don't like to talk about it.
She is little sadder, and likes to get
off by herself sometimes, but that may
mean nothing"
"Or everything. There's the tea
bell, and I have not taken off my
travelling dress"
Never mind. Nobody is very fine
to-day. We will all beeutify tomorrow
Come =
There IS nothing in the conversation
given above to tell the reader what a
harum-scarum madcap Miss Ella was
Rarely was she SO grave as she had
been during that little chat. The
prime leader in every kind of mischief,
full of animal life, overfcwing With
gay spirits, Nell was the merriest and
most mischief making cousin of the
S1oap. Aifrel, another cousin sti53,
was usually her ally, d5de-de-canap, or
prime minister, whenever there was
any especial trick or fun in prospect.
1t was impossible long to be grave
where Al and Nell had any share of q
festivity
1t struck me when I entered the
room to meet the family at tea how
aged and broken down our dear grand
mother had become, but change al
most as marked had come to Sylvia. I
cannot describe it. She was as active
in arranging for every ones comfort, as
attentive to grandmother, as loving to
all, but the old joyous ring was gone
from her voice; her eyes had sad ex-
preston in repose; her movements
were as graceful as ever, but some
thing of the spring was gone from her
step. Subtle differences not easily
seen by casual observer, but 1 was
thinking much of Elias confidence,
and during the evening noted so much
change.
The birthday was merrily passed,
every one had gift, and on this occa-
sion grandmother gave us each keep
sake. When all were distributed, she
put upon the table, where her own
presents lay, diamond ring, that we
all knew had belonged to grandfather.
"This is for Sydney" she said to us
all. IF do not see my boy again,
this is for him, and for his wife when
he marries
There was hush in the room for
some moments, and I saw Sylvia go
softly away. Nearly an hour later I
met her in the library, crouched down
in corner, white and still.
"I am tired, SO tired" she said, as
I came in.
"You have had all the trouble,
while we took the pleasure" said I.
eyes, that is it, abe answered,
eagerly, as if anxious for an excuse
Grandma has enjoyed it." I said,
"but it was evident that she missed
Sydney. He ought to come home, or
he may never see her again"
go Ruth, he ought to come home
to herln
1t seemed as if the exclamation was
forced from her, for moment later
she said -
But he is learning a great deal. He
writes that he never knew what it was
to be an artist till he saw ItaIy. -
"Does he write to you 2''
4 answer for his grandmother. You
know I read and write all her letters. -
HTrue! If you are so very tired.
Sylvia, go lie down till ed-time, or GO
to bed, and I will undress grandmother
and read to her tonight.
She accepted the last offer gratefully,
anu iiCtuIuco W tIlt tuIdWluS-IOOul ana
made her excuses.
The next day the whole household
went crazy. It was April Fools Day,
and every one of the busy beehive of
young folks tried to outdo the other in
the magnitude or mischief of the tricks.
Practical Jokes were the order of the
day. Nobody was safe. Even grand
mother joined in the innocent merri-
ment, and gave us for dessert a
wonderful pie made of shavings, white
cotton, wool, and crimson worsted, a
delectable compound SO skilfully CON
cocted that half of us tasted it before
we discovered our white of egg was
wool, our preserves worsted and our pie
crust wood shavings. Sylvia seemed
to catch the merry tone Nobody's
surprises were more startling than
hers, but she was so wonderfully on
her guard that at dusk nobody could