The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1873-09-06


as relief. | could play the two parts at
once, | thought, and so we proceeded on
IA trio. The knowledge that | was the
protector of a young lady who had been
described to me as of retiring and almost
timid disposition, made me doubly anxious
to prove my powers of entertaining. |
continued to rattle on in slight asides to
Elsie, and then at length, after we had
gone some way in silence, | turned to
Delliah with some remark about the
weather. Don't laugh, lisa yery genuine
| remark. She turned away, and thought
she laughed, but perhaps it was only
thought, for when she replied it was a
quiet acquiescence In my observation.
Then again there was silence, and an
aside with fair Elsie, who blushed and
turned away. A few minutes afterward ]
yentured to inquire of Delilah, with all the
modesty l could, if she were fond of
poetry. Did she like Shelley She stared
at me so hard for "a moment. | thought she
believed | was questioning her as to ner
knowledge. | was about to relic ye her
from what | thought an embarrassment,
when she said:
"No, he's SO jolly dryw
"You know the old saying, ~ ou might
knock me down with feather2' 1t was
true In my case. The manner was so
rough and boisterous that l was quite
taken by surprise, / ventured, however,
another remark, and said, mildly, that /
thought Cumberland very charming, and
that | should not Vind living there forever.
And then turning to Elsie, whispered
softly, with you,
"Delilah answered quickly:
"' 1t may be charming, but it's awfully
slow, and you'd soon get the odd notion out
of your head
"And then she ran on telling me of the
opera she was dying to hear, the fetes
at the Horticultural Gardans she
pinned to go to, and the thousand and one
of the Jolly old London lions so she
expressed it she had heard of by name
and knew nothing of by acquaintance.
Elsie said never word, and the retiring
tlmid Dell rattled on as if she possessed
fund OF information of London life, and
only longed to be in it. My mind was in
whlrl OF confusion. | remembered nv
friends description, fair and good
bumored, with high spirits; dark, modest t,
and full of quiet grace / had made no
mistake
"That walk did not finish as it had begun
ut our meeting In almost total silence
we approached the house. Delilah had
long since stopped the flow of her talk
cannot say our conversation for in truth
she quite run me off and 1 could but
think. The sisters exchanged looks, and
Elsie shrank away from me, as though
were mad and would bite, when | ad-
dressed her. The other only curled her
lip In scorn, or turned away her head if |
only looked toward her and ut last | was
SO annoyed with them-not with myself
that could scarcely tell what | did say.
| knew | was right, however, and was glad
when We reached their home Would |
not stay = SAID mamma-the girls had
fled away the moment we arrived, and as
soon as they had crossed the hall could
have sworn | heard a laugh. 'No' |
thanked the good lady, and said that had
particular engagement few miles away
which would detaln me two days After
that, ] hoped to he permitted to call on
her and her charming daughters again.
With this lame excuse. | left for two DAYS.
Is 1t necessary to tell you how | employ.
ed them | was wild, excited, mad, be-
cause IN youth one feels these little crosses
somewhat mere keenly than we do in later
lite, and when we know that tman is not
perfect, nor woman eIUher' 1 had deter
mined, then, to write to Jack, 'my good
irlend,' and tell HIM Of the extraordinary
conducts | thought of his modest
and retiring maiden, and request any ex.
PLANTATION it might be in his power to af.
ford. | caught that nights post, and
throughout the next day remained indoors,
fearing, if | stirred out, to meet the family
L had made my friends, and so give the lie
to my assertion that had gone away for
two days. Those two days, [ shall never
forget them, the fever of excitement [ was
IN, and the monotony of the selfconstituted
imprisonment. The post on the second
morning brought me letter from Jack
| tore 1t OK en-, and dashed at once into the
pith of his epistle. How [ cursed his
circumlocution Instead of at once reply
ing to the question | had put to him, he
commenced with a roundabout story of
his acquaintanceship with the ladies of the
Lodge? | skipped the pages one, two,
and three, and determined to know the
worst, | went at once to the last break Of
his letter. This was it:
60 Alter all, you see, had jolly time
of it, and between the two, wonder that |
came away faithful to the little woman
soon to be my wife. If did make little
error in my description of them, set it down
to the dangerous fascination they exercised
over me. 1t is Elsie who is fair and retir.
ing Del. who is dark and dashang, that's
the word He would have written before,
he said, had he thought it of any conse-
quence, but he apoIogized for what b
considered after all only Il little mis-
take
"Need tell you how. when called at
the Lodge again, was met with the re-
ply to my inquiry, not at home, though |
thought the servant was long time gone
to give my name, and felt almost certain,
as | let The house, that | saw dark,
haired, girlish, laughing face peeping from
behind the drawn curtains ? Need | tell
you how, in envy, hatred, malice, and all
uncharitableness Of spirit, | rushed up to
town only to find the story known to all
my set, and going the round of the social
and literary club | had joined shortly
before? Unnecessary, too, to tell you how
L experienced to the full extent the
capacity of tho club for sociability,' in an
Immense amount Of chaff' upon the mat
ter from the members and how thence
forward, till | left the place, was known
as the bashful man. Suffice it that had
at first decided inclination to sacrifice
my dear friend Jack upon the altar of
my wounded pride, by horsewhipping him
for putting the story about. But at length