The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1872-05-02
In Twenty Years.

]
And so you really think there Is
nothing serious in Margaret S
naughtiBess, my dear SIR said q
fashionably dressed lady Of five and
forty summers to a gentleman fifteen
/ years her junior, who stood behind
the open library window, regarding
her with an amused smile.
/ Nothing at all serious, my dear
Mrs. Gray said the gentleman
quietly.
"And what do you think had
better do with her?''
Send her to me if you ike" was
the negligent answer.
! The lady's anxious face cleared
sEAd frightened at once.
Would ytsl really take her?''
I" If 1t viii give you pleasure i will
be happy to do SO.
! "Oh, 1t will be such weight OF
my mind, Dir. trong. / cannot tell
you whet l have suffered from the
girls peculiar ways since I came In
TO this house TO live. Fond as I was
Of Judge Gray, ] doubt II I ever
could have made up my mind To
take him, had known as much OF
his only child as / know now. And
since her fathers death, she has run
wild-pOsitively wild, Mr.. Strong.
1 have not the slightest control over
her. In fact she sets every one at
defiance, and"
Yes, my dear madam" said Mr..
Strong, bowing politely, as if he
thought she had completed her sen
tence. 81 can easily understand it
all. But send her to me and We will
see what can be done. l have had
some wild natures in my time.
Good afternoon, madam"
With these words a human desti
ny was decided.
The next day saw Margaret, the
only daughter and heircss Of the late
Judge Gray, sitting quietly at 4
desk in the village academy among
group OF girls who eyed her over
their school books as stealthily and
curiously as if she had been a newly
imported kangaroo. r
First, because with her clear,
bright brunette complexion, her
large, dark eyes, and her curling,
brown hair. she was by far Che hand
somest girl ia the whole school
Secondly, because she was ali
heiress.
Thirdly and lastly, because they
had heard many a tale of her Haugh-
ty and capricious temper, and were
in daily aud hourly expectation Of a
strife for the mastery between her
and their grave and handsome teach
er, whose authority no one within
those walls would ever dream Of dis
putting, unless, indeed. it would be
She.
But much to the wonder, and
very possibly to the disapPOint-
ment, of the school girls, no such
outbreak had occurred. Margaret,
perched in the library gallery at
hone, among her we'll ll-beloved books,
had h7ard her step mother 5 accusa-
tiOn, and the teachers laughing re
ply. Neither Of the speakers had
been aware Of her presence, and she
did not make it manifest by word,
or look, or sign. But when they
were gone she clenched her little
white hapds, vowed passionately TO
herself that she would surprise them
both, and make her step-mother ap-
pear to others the harsh, censOTiOuS,
and unjust woman she herself. in her
own secret heart, had always been
willing to believe her.
Accordingly, when Informed Of
the existing arrangements, sne ut
tered no word of opposition, much
to the astOnishmcnt- of Mrs. Gray,
who could scarcely believed her
own eyes when she saw Margaret
obe.liently leave the house each
morning with her satchel of books
swinging from her arm. Mr.. Strong
was also puzzled. His deep blue
eyes often met those brown ones
with q look of wondering inquiry
that made Margaret long to laugh.
But the one asked no questionss the
other answered none. And so the
day went on, and Margaret passed
her first examination triumphantly,
and was proclaimed the best and
most promising scholar in the
school.
She ought therefore, to have been
happy, But It was with q very sad
face that at dusk, on the evening Of
the great examination day, to collect
her books, and take one last, secret
look at a place which she would
never again see tenanted as it had
been tenanted of late-the masters
chair.
There it stood upon the raised
platform, empty and desolate. The
statley figure that filed it like a
throne was absent; and yet, to her
eye, present and plainly
as ever, she saw the high, white I
brow. and the curls of sunny brown /
hair, and the deep blue eyes, and the
ehiseled lips that closed /
so firmly in spite of their beauty.
She heard the deep, sweet tones OF |
that beloved vOicc-beloved She !
started at the thought.
"Oh!my dear master! she said |
aloud, and bnrying her head IN her
hands, she sank down upon the |
empty chair and wept.
A step crosse / the hall hastily, An |
arm was thrown around her waist
that voice, all hurried and agitated,
was speaking In her very ear.
"Mv pupil, Oh, if l we're younger
or YOU older; if 1 were richer oryoo |
poorer, / would dare to say my /
Margaret, aud do my best to turn
this girlish liking into woman
love! But I am poor man, daT-
ling, and am fifteen years older
than you. Remember me IN after
DAYS, and say to yourself that these
we're the barriers that rose between
US. NY darling, nothing else should
keep me from you 4 I were your
auuaI in those two things. HeaVen
bless you, dear. l dare not KISS
gonr Inns. You viii keep them for
and fF.rW one