The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1872-10-03
THE MISSES SMITHS BURGLAR.

The Misses Smith were sitting in
their little front parlor There were
three of them. Miss Parthenia, the
elder, was past forty, and owned to that
age without any attempt at equivoca
ton.
al have always been a mother to my
sisters" she would say. with the air of il
person who has made great sacrifice
for the we'll being of others. "Our
mother died when Tryphena was baby,
ton to devote myself to taking care of
my two sisters have done the best l
could, and have tried to be a mother to
them. How L have succeeded, they
will tell you"
And here Miss Parthenia would as
sumo the look of heroine who had ab-
negated self for the sake of doing good
and wave her hands in the direction of
Charlena and Tryphena, who would re-
spond, by series of mods, to the truth
of her statement.
Miss Cnarlena, the second maiden of
the Smith family, vas really thirty-fve,
but nly owned to "about ttwenty-seven."
Miss Parthenia gave the world to un-
derstand that for the sake of her sisters
she had renounced everything else. She
had never married, because she con-
sidered that her duty called her in an
other direction. At least, that was her
statement of the reason why, at her ma
ture age, she was still Miss Smith. AS
Miss Charlena could not be "a mother
to her sisters" from the fact that Miss
Parthenia already held that responsible
position, she declared that she had never
married, and never should, because she
saw so much suffering among the circle
of her acqudintances, which was caused
by the union of persons whose tastes
and temperaments were so unlike, that
"she feared to venture upon the sea of
matrimony, and thought it best to steer
clear of the rocks upon which other
persons had run their bark"
This was her reason, practically ex-
pressed, if we accept her words as true ;
but am inclined to think the real rea-
son was because she "never had q
chance"
"My thoughts are pleasant COM
panions," she would say; and while l
have them 1 am content"
Miss Tryphena was about thirty, but
never seemed to have any idea as to how
old she really was. She had never
given up the idea of marriage, as her
sisters had, and was always on the look
out for the "coming man" She was
somewhat sentimental, and affected the
style of innocent, unsophisticated young
maidens.
AS the Smith finances were rather
limited, her sisters would have been as
glad TO see her married as she would
have been to have been married. But,
for some unaccountable reason, the
looming mar" had never got along.
She began to think he was remarkably
slow--in fact, considerably behind time.
On this morning, as have said at the
commencement of my story, they were
seated in their Ii tie front parlor--Miss
Parthenia very prim and erect, Miss
Charlena engaged in manufacturing
wonderful worsted articles, and Try
phena absorbed in book of poems
81 should think they'd be along be-
fore great while" remarked Miss Par
thenia, looking out. "She said she'd
have to call quite early"
AS you will see, thy were expecting
callers. Mrs. Brown-a friend living
neAU uOOI-udu VlblLOT, u MT. UOH
Green, bachelor, rich, and wishing he
could find wife, but droading terribly
to do anything about the matter Of get
ting one, from an unaccountable fear of
women in general. This item of knowl-
edge had been impaired to the sisters on
the day previous, with the additional
fact that she-Mrs Brown--intenned to
"bring Mr.. Green over in the morning."
to make him acquainted with them.
II do really hope he'll take liking
to you, Tryphena," said Mrs. Brown,
"He's rich, and you couldn't do better.
1 told him about you, and think he's
already interested, because he said he
should like to get acquainted. I'll come
over real early in the morning. Now,
remember, Tryphena, and put your best
foot forward"
Such was the state of affairs on the
eventful morning. Miss Tryphena be-
gan to think that perhaps the coming
man" was at last about to arrive. At
least, she hoped so. Figuratively, she
had her "best foot" all ready to "put
forward" when opportunity presented
itself for her to perform that feat.