Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1872-06-26
according to his aunt's wish in

I tranquility OF MISS Barbara mousse
hold. was broken up by whisper which
/ came to her#ears-J Ohm, her John, was
'spaying attention" to somebody! ! She
was at first incredulous, but as the
days went by1she was forced to believe
it; for one night, John, sitting at her
feet, with his yellow hair shining in
the freIigif, told her with much con-
fusion and embarrassment that he
"was going to be married. ,...4 +. ....
| ! Miss Barbara was good woman, but
she was very whimsical, a little selfish,
and above all, very jealous of her own
dignity, and the knowledge that -John-
had asserted his independence and
Actually planned OUT his future life.
was very hard thing for her to bear
She was notypatient nor forgiving, and
the result Of Johns confidence was
a very unpleasant scene ); she who had
never spoken to him ,harshIy before,
overwhelmed him with hard, bitter
words, and then, when he was gone,
! tude, as she called it.
/ When at last he was really married,
/ her sanger@knew no bounds, and his
first visit to her after that event, ended
as we have seen.
| The days passed slowly after john
with his bright face and ringing voice,
was banished, and Miss Barbara, half
regretting her harshness, was often
tempted to send for him again, but her
obstinacy, or"Epride," as she called it,
prevented her, and SO she fretted and
worried Until Jane was almost driven
distracted by her irritability and I'M
reasonableness. She was SO cross, so
hard to suit, and sou Sawfully savage,
as John would have said, that Jane be
came at last entirely worn out, and one
day when her duties had been more
than usually hard, she surprised her
mistress by packing up her movable
property and departing from the
house. Then Miss Barbara was wretch.
led. For three days she sat iii solitary
state, and then, sending for her lawyer,
directed him to insert an advertisement
in the leading papers to the effect that
she wanted q ''yOung, neat and lady
like person fora companion.
No more old women for me-" she
said savagely, in response to the law
yer's look of surprise, "after the be-
havlor of Jane, who has been with me
for thirty years and then authoriz-
ing him to examine the applicants she
sent him away and walled.
Tive days after the lawyer returned
accompanied by tall, slender woman,
who had come to see if she Miss Bar
bara) would engage her. Miss Bar
bara's black eyes looked keenly at her
| for some time, and after inqu1ring
sharply into her antecedents, references
and the like, Miss Barbara pronounc-
| ed herself satisfied, and Alice Wor-
! thington Gas the lawyer called herr was
duly installed in the office-of "compan-
Fion," and most charming companion
! she proved to be.
# Miss Barbara was at first disposed to
be bit critical and captious, but the
young girl was so anxious to please,
SO sweet-tempered and amiable, so
4quiet and seif-forgetful, that Miss Bar
bara's severity melted away by degrees
and at last she began to love her atten-
/ dant and try in various little ways to
make her cheerful and contented in her
new home. .. ..
"Aice," she said ene day as the
young girl sat opposite her before the
/ fire, "how old are you?"
" Not quite nineteen, " was the SHY
answer
And Miss Barbara looked at her in
surprise. "Not quite nineteen" and
yet so quiet and dignifed, and woman
ly; it was almost incredible. Miss
Barbara looked at her again, and with
a new appreciation in her face she saw
how pure and sweet the fair face look
ed, with the shy brown eyes half-hid-
den by the white lids; she saw how
smoothly and plainly the brown hair
was fastened back, how neat and trim
was the dark dress, how snowy were
the cuffs and the narrow collar, and her
heart was filed with wonder A girl
in the nineteenth century without a
puff, a crlmp, an overskirt, sash, or a
suspicion of a panier about her D.! Truly,
wonders would never cease, and, as she
gazed on the rara avis, ner eyes filed
with pity for poor John, who had
: thrown himself away.
"She's just the wife for him, she
thought, g if he had only waited lit
tle-he would have liked her, I am
sure" And then she dismissed the
thought with sigh, and turned to
AI1C0 1OI. .CUDSOldblOu.
AS the days went by Miss Barbara's
heart began to yearn for her nephew
She loved Alice dearly, but even she
did not take the place of the absent
one. His handsome face haunted her
day and night, and often as she heard
a sudden noise in the hall. or at the
door, she would look up eagerly, half
expecting to see him as she used to do
g Lam getting DID," she said sadly to
herself. q Perhaps [ was little hard
with him-ny boy-I'n ask Alice.p 4
And SC. one night she called Alice to
her, and rs she sat at her feet IN the
freight, as John had done so often,
she told her all about it-and how she
I longcd to see him again.
: am getting old, Alice" she said.
@ may die soor. and [ want to see my
boy. Perhaps / was wrong abort his
/ wife. It would do no harm to see them
just once, Alice"
And Alice answered gently that per-
haps it'would be better for them all to
do so; but she avoided her kind
trends eyes and there was a scarlet
flush on her face that was unusual.
The next day, Alice, under Miss Bar
bara's dir ction, wrote alittle note to
John Burton. 'FTell him to come
hsoon," said she; and as Alice wrote
this, Miss Barbara sat and thought in
tently for time, her face resting on
her hands. Tell him." she said
again, tell him he can bring his wife
if he El1es-I can at least see her to
please him." And so the note was
Written and the message dispatched.
After this decisive step was taken
Miss Barbara waszinya -futte of nerv-
BUSINESS at the time. She donned her
richest dress, her most costly cap, and
then sat expectant, until she heard
Johns step on the stairs, and John
came in himself as of old. OF course
there were a few minutes during Which
both talked at once and then. when