Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1873-07-24
Wy Pipe: and How Got IL.


these parenthetical periods of life are
Why not dine at nine instead of six, 81
that one would just have time to smOkt
a pipe and put on ones gloves before
making bow to the unfortunate crea
ture who is sat home" for that night
If ever l become an engaged man,
shall insist upon being married within
two weeks of the time | offer myself
Did you intimate that you were waiting
for the story? Very soon, old boy.
was wandering. Smoke always puts
me out, and this Green seaI-calleC
green" because it's ''blue, blows {
superb cloud, heavy, and yet delicate
wreathing itself in closest coils, anC
turning round and round your pipe
That pipe! Heavens and earth what
a frightful amount of trouble that cost
me. l once made an estimate of the ex
pense. | don't remember now what il
was, but | know | run in debt and wore
old gloves to a dozen parties, | was SC
hard up. What possessed the girl tC
give it to me. | never could see. HOwcv
cr she did, and thereby hangs the tale.
you see ! had gone to the "Beach,
of course | can't tell you where the
beach is, but Philadelphia people always
. 10 I!ltIt-Nl III NfuiI lt IItIINtl. anu
. Charlie presented me to his sister, and
his sister waltzcd with me and walked
/ and talked with me, and we got to be
/ great friends. One night, rs we were
/ walking-I remember we had Just turned
a corner of the piazza, and come into
/ the full mOonlight-she suddenly laid
her hand-deuced pretty hand II was,
too, with a pcarly glove on it-on mine,
/ (the one, you know, that fellow has
! to hold up in a beastly uncomfortable
! position) when he has lady on his arm
and said-(hang me if / can ever for
/ give that girl her behavior to me!)
"Oh. | do want you to promise me
/ something. | know you will think it odd
/ of me to talk so uureSGyedly to You, but
/ then you know | have heard of you Sc
/ often from Charlie. and from other pco-
! pie, that ! feel as though you were ap
/ old friend. And. oh am so anxious
about it. and if | could only persuade
/ you TO promise?'
What could do? | knew | was GO
ing TO be sold. but | couldn't well see
! how could help it. So | said something
/ about being only too happy to be en-
/ trusted with her confidence, and
/ 'w2aidn't she rely on me just as if |
had been her brother or uncle ?" or any
! other member of that unfortunate class
/ of men over which women think they
/ have a natural right to tyraniZe, and in
! fact made an ass Of myself generally.
/ And then she said.
! Yes, she would trust me, for she
/ knew | was noble and true" (she read
/ it in my face, she said, land would be
/ kind and oblige her in what she
/ wished" and then she looked up in my
/ face with such a lovely, earnest look
/ that | vowed that | would do anything
/ she desired. 0 wretched fool that /
/ was,
My dear boy, never walk in the moon
/ light with a young and attractive female,
unless you know she's engaged or imag-
| ines that you are very poor. And then
/ even, do it cautiously. Well, she went
/ on to say that she had some fricnds-an
! old gentleman, an old lady, and a young
lady, a niece of the old one-cOming to
stay with her party that week, and that
she wished me to be polite and kind to
the young lady, and not tiirt with her
''because, " she added. ''sheis very young
and inexperienced. You are a flirt, =
! (Of course / protested)- a cruel,
wicked f1irt, and ! want to save her if
can; and l know if you promise me not
to tlirt with her one bit you will keep
your word
And then she looked so sweet that |
went off in long speech, in which !
avoWed myself to be the dispiser and
contemner of all tlirts; that | looked
| upon the man who would seek to win
the heart of a woman without having
previously surrendered her his, as a vile
wretch, and that while | held myself in
capable of flirting under any possible
combination of provocative circumstan-
ces, yet in the case of a friend of hers,
the mere idea was peculiarly revolving
to my sense of honor, and that | felt
deeply hurt that she could fancy me so
base In fact | worked myself into such
a state of excitement that / should un-
dOubtedly have offered myself had | not
in my violent gesticulations managed to
break my pet pipe, which | happened to
have in my hand Now it chanced that
thought a great deal of this pipe. 1t
was a perfect thing in its way-a tiny,
violet meerschaum springing from a
stem of clouded amber, and l suppose
/ looked rather ruefully about it, for
she laughed little at the flight of my
enthusiasm, and finally said she would
give me another, since she had been the
cause of my breaking that one, if at the
close of the season she found that | had
kept my promise.
And that was the first scene of the
romance.
That night | drank four cobblers and
smoked half dozen cigars. | refused
to play billiards and took a long and
lonely walk.
| felt a presentiment that this very
lovely, very young and inexperienced
creature was to have marked effect
upon my life. | imagined the way in
which | should talk with her. The next
day | committed to memory large por-
tions of Tennyson's poems, and COM
posed several, and brilliant essays upon
divers subjects calculated to improve the
juvenile female mind Charley thought
| had gone crazy, and | am not sure,
looking at it in the light of experience,
that he was altogether incorrect.
They arrived on Saturday. We saw
their names in the list-Mr. and Mrs
Maynard, and Miss Maynard. | might
say here, en- passa7at, that | consider my
self one of the best dressed men | ever
knew. But this night | dressed with
great doubt and perplexity. | deter
mined to sacrifice gloves and cravat of
the most exquisite shade, which ] had
relied on for some final effect. But /
deemed it wise to adopt for the nonce
| the Napoleonic tactics and venture my
utmost strength. When [ got to their
cottage | found Charlie out, but Miss
| Denver received and presented me to Mr.,
Mrs. and Miss Maynard. Mr.. Maynard
was a portly gentleman, rather young
was quite ancient and rather unpleasant.
And was sorry to observe that he did
not seem as attentive as one likes to see
middle-aged gentlemen to their wives
and to my already jealous mind he SEEM