St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1872-05-24
Chapter MI.
NO MI-TAk I.

Chapter MI.
TWO MISTAKES.
At the singing school and at til,
church August waited us inpatient II
| as possible for some sign of recognition
from Julia. He little knew the fral
that hc>ct her. Having seen her hNs
tcIic;ll mother prostratcd for weeks hl
the excitement of Il dispute with hes
father, il seemed to her that if She turn
eel one look of love and longing toward
Young Wehlc, whose sweet German
voice rang ont above the rest iii tn,
hymns. she might Kill her mother a>
quickly a> by piunging Il knife into her
heart. The stcamI-ductOr. who WAS tn,
family physician. had warned her and
her father separately of the danger oi
exciting Mrs. AndcrSon'S most cNcitablc
temper. and now Julia was the slave of
hcl mothers disease. That lucky ny
>teria. which the steam doctor thought
il fearful heart disease. had given Mrs.
Abigail the whip hand of husband and
daughter, and she was not slow to know
her advantage. and she used her heart
i'll Il most hcartlcSS way.
August could not blame Julia for not
writing. for he had tried to break the
blockade 10y Il letter sent through Jonas
and CNnthy Ann. but the latter had
found herself So well watched that the
note oppressed her conscience and gave
Il hang,log look to her face for two
weeks before she got it ont of her pock
ct, and then she put it under the pillow
of ,Julia'> bed. and had reason to hclicNr
/ that the suspicious Mrs. Anderson con
ti>cIted it within five minutes. For the
maternal government WAS ViSihly in
creased thereafter. and Julia received
many reminders of her ingIgttitudc and
OF her determination to kill her self
sacrificing mother by her stubborn
Hess.
wv ell" Mrs. Anderson would SAY.
ITS all one to me whether the world
comes to an end or not. | should like
to live to see the day of Judgment. .-
But | >hant. No atfcctiouatc mother
can stand such treatment as | receive
from my own daughter. If Norman
WAS only at home -
1t Is proper to explain here that Nor
man was her son. in whom she took a
great deal OF comfort hen away. and
whom She would have utterly spoiled
by indulgence if he had not been born
past spelling. He was the only person
to whom she WAS imdulgcnt. and she
WAS iudulgcnt to him chiefly hecau>c
he WAS 50 weak of will that there wa>
not much glory i'll conqucring him. and
because her indulgence To him WAS Il
rod of atiilCtl0n to the rest of her fam
lily.
Failing to open communication thro'
Jonas and Cymthy Ann. August found
himself in Il desperate strait, and with
iupaticncc common to Young men he
unhappily had recourse to Brt>cy Mal-
come. She often visited Julia. and
twice. when Julia Was not at meeting.
hc went home with the ingenious Bet
>cl. who always pretended to have
something To tell him .'ah"ut julie.
and who Vet. for the pure love of mis-
chief making, tricd /" make him think
H. poorly ~ po>>ihlr OF .Iulil'> sincerity q.
and who. from pune love OF tiiItatj"m
pucNcIcd hci red lips. and flashed at
Eiu hoI ~"u>Inu~ eyes. aud sighed amt
hlu>hcd. "I rather flushed. while ~ht.
+ >,lmpaihilcd with hiIm in Il way llEt
might have been pciil"u~ if hc had been
al American Instead at IL CONSTANT
| hearted .'Dutrhman." wholly absorbed
/ with the image of Julia. liut. - tu
H. carry img messages was concerned.
/ Hct~cN was certainly Il norr-cuIuIIct"r.
/ She prut,.>>cd never l." hc alb" To rlu,
the hl"ckadr with any communication
of his She said tn herself hat ~hc
wasn't going 10 help .lulc Nudci>"n t"
/ keep alt her beats. She meant to cap
tuIIr one or the other al them if She
could. And. indeed, she did not dream
/ how grirNoII> WAS the wrong She did.
/ For she could appreciate" no other feel
ing in the matter than vanity. and she.
could not sec amy particular harm in
taking julie Anderson down Il peg.
| And 50 she assured the anxious and
already suspicious August that if She
WAS in his place She should want that
singing master out of the way. "Somc
girls cant stand people that wear jew
cllH and mu>tacheS and straps and such
things. And Mr.. Humphreys is very
careful of her. won't let her sit too late
on the porch. and is very comforting in
his way of talking to her. And She
seems To like it. ! tell YOU what it is.
Gus, and she looked at him so be
wltchlngly that the pure and sensitive
August hluShcd. he could hardly tell
why-''l tell You jules nice girl, and
got Il nice property to back her. and
hope she wont act like her mother. -
And. indeed, | can hardly believe she
will. though the way she ewes that
Humphreys makes me mad" She had
suggested the old doubt. \ doubt is
dangerous when its face grows familiar.
and one recognizes the ''Monsieur Ton
son come again"
And all the message the diSintereSted
and benevolent Betsey bore to Julia
was to tell her eNultingly that Gus had
twice walked home with her. And
they had had such nice time, And
Julia. girl that she was. declared indig-
nantly that she didn't care who he
went with: though she did care, and
her eyes and face said so. Thus the
tongue somctins lics-Or seems to lie
when the whole person is telling the
truth. The only excuse for the tongue
is that it will not he believed, and il
knows that it will not be believed, 1t
only speaks automatically, maybe
But diplomatic talking is bad. Better
the truth. If julie had only known
that her words would he reported tc
August, she would have bitten ont hel
tongue rather than to have let it uttel
words that were only the cry of hen
wounded pride. OF course Betsey met
I August i'll the road the next morning
i'll quiet hollow by the brook. and told
him sympathizingly, almost affection
ately, that she had begun to talk t
Julia about him, and that julie had said
that she didn't care. so while Julia
uttered il lie she spoke the truth, anC