The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1872-05-17
~ 3sa gara r
and the impulsivc Eva stood for q.
moment in mute admiration, and then
Oaspod ont.

gasped out: a7sfs'
Q Who is she, Fred?"
: mThis is Miss - he began.
d Tracy" suggested June.
Q Miss Tracy, who, by a stupid blum
g der of the eoachman, was brought herr
Q ! in your place.
= "Well am glad she happened total
p into the hands of gentleman % re-
piled Eva, looking proudly at hel
! brother. o. -
She welcomed her unexpected guest
: most cordially-made her feel instant
: ly at home-declared that she would
4 Keep her until morning; that until
/ then nothing should be done to ascer-
: tain where Mr.. Griswold lived, and in
the end triumphed, and took her to
her own bright room to alfange her
, hair.
4 In the company of the spirituelle
Eva, June soon forgot her vexation,
J and the late dinner and the evening
passed pleasantly-had almost forgot
} ten her singular entrance into the
family. But now and then q smile
would curl the dark mustache of Fred
Buswell, as he thought of his funny
mistake, and how agreeably it had
turned out; and the tell-tale blush
4 deepened-on June's cheeks, as, she
caught the expression ofhis eyes, and
! revealed that she had not forgotten his
overwarm manner of greeting.
To one acquainted with the city and
its directories, the finding fher uncle,s
house was not difficult task, and,
! after breakfast, Eva and her brother
escorted her thither, promised to call
soon, and then separated, mutually
/ pleased. Uncle Nathan received her
( kindly, but in different way from
Fred BuswelI. He was tall, gaunt,
| grim; wore old fashioned clothes, and
| q huge, pointed shirt collar that con-
stantly threatened to- .amputate his
ears. With few words he handed
her over to the care of his sister, who
fitted the name of Prudence perfectly,
and was an exact counterpart of HIM
self clothed in petticoats.
ttMy dear child, she exclaimed, hold
ing up her hands in holy horror, s'what
a terrible risk you ran in taking the
wrong carriage. The gentleman who
called upon US this morning explained
the matter; and I never was so much
shocked in my life"
"Mr. Buswell is gentleman re-
turned June, seeing that some reply |
was expected. l4s-
'tWell-hem! yes, suppose so. But |
come up stairs now and take off your
things. To think of your being alone |
with q strange young man. / know / |
should have tainted"
June blessed her stars that her aunt |
knew nothing of what really transpired |
nothing save that a mistake had been |
made-nOthing of the warm embrace |
and kisses; and mentally thanked Fred |
Buswell for his retieence
"This is your room, my dear. When !
you have arranged your toilet, your
uncle aud / win be happy to see you
in the sitting-room."
Everything bore marks of wealth, |
but was as antiquated as its mistress.
The heavy, tail posts, old fashioned |
iron bedstead, with its quaint canopy
and curtains, must have belonged to |
the grand father of Miss Prudence. 1t
contrasted grimly with the pretty little
French one she had occupied with Eva
Buswell so in fact did everything.
But the room was large aud pleasant;
everything was neat and arranged for
comfort, and June soon became at ease
and happy. AT least she would have
been if Aunt Prudence had not so
frozen the Buswells when they called,
and there was little danger of their
repeating it.
The truth was, the old maid dis
trusted the good looking Fred. She
could not but own to herself that he
was a gentleman in every respect, but
as she had concluded to adopt June,
she was not going to have any horrid
man around to pursuade her into fool
ishly getting married, when she in
tended her to be the comfort and nurse
of her declining years. Henceforth
June, with all her life, and youth, and
lOyeliness, was to be a sort OF prisoner;
never going out save to ride in the old
barouche OF the Griswolds when the
weather was warm, with the stern,
yellow face of Miss Prudence, looking
older and more ugly by contrast with
the bright, dove-eyed, golden-haired
girl who accompanied her. Occasion
ally they met Eva BuswelI and her
brother, dashing along in their neat
phaton, surrounded by party of
friends, and June turned away signing,
and with difficulty keeping back the
tears. But she dared not give express
sion to her thoughts.
The Buswells are nothing to you, my
NhiAot anu rc<tll ktuHt |
Prudence, when they CHANGED to be
discoursing one day upon the manner
of her coming. "They did only what
was proper under the circumstances; |
just what your uncle Nathan and 1 !
would have done; but they are frivol- ,
Gus, fashionable people, and the sooner !
you cease even to recognize them the
better" f arf-
nThey were very kind, aunt
q" Yes, know, and your uncle and
wrote them q formal letter of thanks.
That balanced the obligations" (
1t was the last time the subject was
between them, and at length
they passed each other as almost stran- I
gers. Not that Eve and her brother I
did so until they found it impossible to
keep up the acquaintance They reas-
oned correctly that such state of af-
fairs was not according to the wishes of
June, to whom they had taken great
fancy, especially Fred. s.-5.aa,.f
"The devil take the old ogress of an c
aunt, |" he muttered, as he saw June 1
passing, looking even more lovely than
ON the night of the first meeting. "I l
wish that something might happen so I
that could gain an entree into the 1
house.
He wouldn't have confessed, even to /
himself, that he had fallen in love with I
the girl at the first sight. No. nothing +
of the kind He only pittied her on .
account of her close confinement,
when,. like other girls of her youth .
and beauty, she ought to have 5
been enjoying her life, as bird does ,,
sunshine and liberty to fiirt, among :
flowers. But try as he would to think
Of some plan of visiting her, he could ,
determine nothing. and was about to
give up in despair when an accident
came to his relief. sfa.e
On returning home one evening from
q ride, he saw crowd collect in front !
Of his door, and upon inquiry was told !
that an old man had fallen from apo
plexy. One glance revealed to him
who the man was, and he instantly CT.
dered him to be carried into the house,
and dispatched his sister to Prudence
Griswold and her niece. They came.
Physicians were summoned, but all in | 4
vain. Nathan Grlswold never aroused I
from his sieep-was never moved until I
he was taken to his last resting place. /
Dark days followed. The blow was {
q terrible one 10 his sister. He had !,
been to her as husband, children, BROTH
er, everything. ALI her love was GEN. I
tered in him, and she was completely ! !