American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1872-10-12
CANTON MISS. SATURDAY, OCTOBER r.

tea-board, and made me for an instant al
cidal.
i What a meal l made! Miss JUN
amusement got the better of her 4D4(1
ness, and she laughed till the tears Wef,
In her eyes. ate straight through tn
bill of fare, leaving nothing but empty
quarter of the mince-pie was vanishing
under my attack, when the door opened
and Squire Harding, light in hand. con
fr0nted us-looking, am bound to say
Is astonished as anybody at the encoun
ter. Julia opened her lips, but no words
came, and her olive cheeks rivaled any O
the rosy damsels Of my school. As fol
well make the best of the situation SO
simply rose, still with the pie-plate in my
grasp, and made a low bow, after which
| finished to the last mOuthful in silence
while the Squire delivered himself of some
sentences, which for point and vigor vert
models of Offensive oratory; then.- moth
ing remaining to eat, stood up again
sna sr1sstsd him wtn dignity at the un
' VIII you enciss III; zlE;-f taid grave:
ly, ..fcr reminding you that one Of my
pupils is in the ROOM"
"Eh p growled the Squire; ssyes, that's
true. Julia, You can CO.
This was not precisely what 1 had
meant, as l endeavOred to explain to Miss
Julia by look while I held the door open
for her. She passed out, her face work.
ing in most extraordinary manner, and
as closed the door and turned round,
her father addressed me with ominous
polIteness:- .s,ss-
:. Now, young gentleman, perhaps you
will lave the goodness to explain all
this -
did explain 1t from beginning to end,
not neglecfing the detail Of a bean, and he
listened In silence, watching me from un-
der his gray shaggy eyebrows.
And now, Mr.. Harding, - 1 concluded,
striking an attitude. 8" you can take what
course you zee ut; / shall make no resist
anCe. / have eaten not only Of your
bread and salt, but Of your cold beef and
mlnco-pie, and even II you should put me
out e hat w d9 my only r.. senoatS1
not come In time to deprive me Of the
only meal 1 have bad for thrce weeks
1 don't know whether the oddly Of the
whole thing struck the Squire's sense Of
the ludlcrous, or whether my perfect
ffankness dfsarmed him but he smiled
somewhat like an amiable bear at my per
oraf3gns ard the end of it was, instead of
the violent exit had mentioned, an invi-
tation into his sitting-rOom. In the
coui &c Of our conversation there the cir
cumstances which led to my presence in
the town came out, drawing rom him an
other grim smile, and Prof. Gorton's
name occurring, he listened with interest
aud asked number of questions about
him. It appeared they had been intimate
Of the years since gone by, the Squire
still preserved . friendly feeling, and
seemed pleased to hear me sound the
praises Of my good old Professor.
WIN It be believed that this extremely
questionable adventure Of mine estab-
lished me as member of the very house
hold l had invaded? Even 80. The
Squire, remarking to me In his own felic-
it0us way that he preferred to seefor him.
self the consumption Of his provisions,
himself suggested this arrangement, and
made matters right with the school au-
thoffties. SO now lived In clover, and
the only reminiscence of my former mis-
ssss We. the Psa3s.s9s 81 n Mi yyi. s, a.
fections, in setting the bean-dish. when
those vegetables formed part Of the menu,
directly before my plate.
Once out of bondage to the beans, 1
found Fern City q much more cheerful
place than it had at first appeared to my
taundiced view. In fact, / made . pretty
gay winter of IL. what with slcighing par
ties, and bees" Of every description in
the g City, itself, and frequent festivities
over In Sabton, at one house and another,
sometimes at the Deacon's, where were to
to be had the most sublime cider and
doughnuts ever permitted to cheer this
wicked world. In all these excursions
Mss Julia was my chosen companion,
i h e he sss G Seeve atSep
sentimental one
It was the last week Of the term, the
Sunday before the Commencement We'd
nesday which was to launch some forty of
us s.lfberally educated Heaven save the
mark upon rejoicing world. Services
tional Church, and 1 was standing On the
steps with some of my classmates, among
them Riggs, junior almost as good . fsl-
low as his father, by the way,-watching
the people come out Of church. This was
very favorite College amusement, par
ticularly ON this Sunday, which broHRht
together = good many new and pretty
faces for the coming festivities. "A remark
ably pretty one had just appeared and
stopped to speak to somebody In the
crowd; was wondering where could
ever have seen It before, when one Of the
fellows asked -
"Who's that stunning pretty girl with
your sister, Riggs p
answered, with his affected drawl-
That's my cousin, Miss Harding"
Julia, by Jove!" I said to myself,
and on the impulse stepped forward and
introduced myself, and having q great
many inquiries to make, took the liberty
Of accompanying her on her way home.
1t was very agreeable walk least for
me; Riggs. who had to fall back on his
sisters company. did not look over
/ tSvvv <Hrr6