New Orleans Republican., 1873-08-24

| Or lite . well remembered song, .
l That hsppy tears lies brought. - sr4
That bright brief summer holiday. Il. "a
| The willing wind, the sea, the sky.
l Gave gifts no winter takes sway,--------------
~lScribner's for September
| MY PRETTY COUSIN.
She was SO pretty that from little chile
it had been . matter of course for Meta tt
be admired by all who saw her and. unlike
most child beauty, hers grew with he1
| growth, so that ct seventeen she was the
prettiest Of the aOek of girls at home. Iwai
the oldest Of six sisters, aud Meta was oul
orphaned cousin, who had been our mothers
charge from infancy. sharing all things
with us, one Of ourselves, although in hel
own individual. right she did not possess
ono penny, and We we're small helresses
having about one thousand dollars each
from our late fathers estate.
| My sisters were all pretty girls, though
nome of them were 90 lovely ~ Meta. Per:
haps some OF her admiring friends were in
Auenced by the laws Of contrast, for we
| were all brunettes, while she had com
| plexion, like an ivory miniature, large violet
EYES, and hair - 6ne,- soft and waving a. a
| figure, two, was petite, plump and graceful.
| while we were all tall Ind slender. No
/ body disputed her claim to.be the beauty OF
our circle, and she reigned with winning
! grace among US.
Il was at the wedding party given for
| May, my third sister-Bertha and Lola
| were already married, and was an ae-
! knowledged old maid-that we made the
acquaintance of Herman yandercoort, who
was our new brotherin-law' . groOmsman,
! facing Meta as bridesmaid. y
He was long, he was gaunt, he was al
| most - ugly a. Meta was pretty; he was
shy as school boy, and awkward to clum-
| siness. Meta laughed at him, flirted with
him, and fairly bewildered his slow brains
with her butterfly yivacity. and coquettish
! tricks. AL the evening he kept near her,
his bic black eyes resting ON her face in
dumb admiration, and his awkward gal
lantries awakening her ssuciest sirs and
speeches. . - .-.--f
Carl, Mays German husband, carried her
off for q wedding trip to Berlin; but before
he left he told us something about Her
| man. --.-
.'Do make him feel at home, girls, if you
can," he said. HE il the best fellow in the
world when you know him. He has just
sent over for his father to come here, and
they are going to live on the hill. His
father is great chemist, and Herman
il studying medicine. He is not hand
come"
Here Meta gave saucr exclamation of
WONDER and the laugh that followed ended
the description.
DR.. Vandercoort arrived in due season,
and the house On the hill, only short dls-
tance from our own, as taken possession
Of by plump German housekeeper and the
two gentlemen. We seldom saw Wander
coOrr pere, but Herman seemed always hsv-
ering about the house. s#-
He began to be spoken of as young
physician of great promise, and his list Of
patients increased rapidly, people having
an implicit faith in the Invisible Father,
who was supposed to direct his professional
movements. Butch, what a "but" it was.
-he never seemed to improve on the shy
2wkwardncss of the first evening. We all
knew that he was counting Meta, and the
girls-fOr Bertha and Lola lived next door
to US on each side, and were included yet In
that plural-Were never tired of teasing
her about her new admirer. Such court.
ing! He would como in with one gar
ment OF radiant cleanliness, contrasting
with the general carelessness Of his
dress in most ludicrous manner
Sometimes cuffs Of brilliant whiteness
cleaned from the we'll worn coat sleeve,
making more conspicuous . shirt front
stained with coffee or eggs; or if the bosom
was snowy hued, the cuffs were sure to bear
marks of service He seldom spoke more
than four sentences in An evening, but
would gaze at Meta as she sang, worked or
chatted, with an absorbed air that was very
trying to our gravity.
Meta accepted his devotion with care
less grace. never disputing the tact when it
was mentiened, but never admitting any
return OF bis affection.
"Meta, ny DEAR" Bertha would say. ''has
Herman proposed yet"
'Did he tell you he intended 70 PROPOSE
mo, my child. Don't trihe with his
youthful affections when he dOes.r -..-l-
why! would it affect his beauty! He is
so handsome and graceful
What did he say last ev enins when you
were on the porch!''
'He said .Ahn twice and 'Ohr four times;
yes, MISS once and 1 think 30 once"
"Meta!"
"Fact assure you!'
But if we ridicutet. him ia the character
of lover we were forced to respect Her
man Vandercoort in the light of public opin-
ion. His private fortune was large, and he
had very largepractice among the poor.
Every voice was willing to give him praise
for his generous charities and his devotion
to those who could never repay him dol
lar. In my capacity Of old maid sister l
was one of the church parish visitors of the
poor, and L soon gave to Metals awkward
suitOr my warmest respect. r
IBID you see the beautiful cork leg the /.
doctor gave nike p said one woman to me.
"All the winter since Mike lost his leg in |
the factory. Mike has been under DR.. Van |
dercOort's care. and many's the dollar he's |
slipped under the bottle or given the chill |
dren when l was out washing, and niver |
cent of a bill for all of his visits. And now |
he's bought an, Elegant false leg, SO Mike |
can get about again
See" said another, ''the little news stand |
DR.. Vandercoort started for Billy. He says |
he won't be fit for hard work for long
time after the hurt he got in the chest, an
so he's doing first rate. Tended him for
nothing, too, all the time he was sick'
Not two, nor three, but dozens of in
stances of such kindness came under my
imme diate notice; funeral expenses, aid for
other, q months rent paid for q third, and
ltwas.not . rare sight to SEQ the doctors
carriage driven by himself and beside him
\ ragged -pstient, we'll wrapped and blank
sted, taking drive for health.seekipg.
So, as we laughed at Herman's manner,
We gravely respected his sterling goodness
If heart, his professional skill and benevo-
ence.. g~e y7 --.. ~
Meta, be it known, not content with csp-
lvating the son, had struck up Q most
lourishing firtatilo with Papa Wander
'oort, who made our house his only visiting
,lace. He was . little. old man. dried up
nd wizened face, With long, silky, white
|oard, and long white hair, over which he
vors skull cap. He taught Meta German
or hours together when His eoa was away,
cling her Wild German legends and anec-
lotes Of his son, tho worshipsd child Of his
"TEsy are all dead but Herman" be told