The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1873-07-03

with. and looked across 1t mother.
ssAunt Anne, think III take q wife,
he said, exactly as he might have said, 81
think I'll take another cup Of coffee"
Take a wife p repeated mother, by no
means receiving the information IS tranquility
as It had been given 'sWhst fort"
well, Il don't know answered Tom,
thoughtfully, ssIt's notion have got in
my head, somehow"
San nonsenseln said mother, very
sharply.
'sDo you think sosr said Tom, apparently
doubtful, but not in the least put out.
Think sol / know 1t. What IN the
world can you want of wifei After all
these years We have lived so comfortably
together, TO bring home somebody to turn
the house upside down. And then what's
TO become Of that poor child4n
The ''poor child that was I-redden-
ing at being brought into the argument in
this way was about to speak for herself
when Tom interpOsed warmly:
I'm sure May knows / would never
have any wife who would make it less a
home for her-don't you, Maya
''0f course" I said.
HAnd I'm sure she knows nothing of
the sort, =" persisted my mother, ''nOr you.
either Tom Dean. How can you answer for
what a wife may take into her head to do,
once you get her fixed hereg You can't ex-
pect her to forget, as you do, that May has
no real claim on you.n
THAT have no real claim on her, sup
pose You mean, ma'am, Tom put in for the
second time, Just as was getting thor
oughly uncomfortable. "But for all that,
intend to keep her-that is" added Tom,
with one of his short-sighted blinks side
ways at me, ''as long as she'll stay with me,
ell, Maya And whoever has anything to
say against that arrangement VIII have TO 60
out of my house to say it-not that I'm
afraid of such result in this case-and, OF
the whole, Aunt Anne, 1 should like to tn
the experiment.
Mother smiled grimly, but Tom was SC
evidently bent on his experiment, as he
called it, that she gave up the argument.
'FYou can dance if you're ready to pc
the piper" she said shortly. Sand, prayI
how soon do you mean to be married2"
Toms face fell q little at this question.
'sWell," said he, 'sI can't say exactly,
suppose we shall have to be engaged first.
WHAT" said mother, opening her eyes,
''Why you never mean to say, Tom, you
haven't spoken to her YETI"
''Not yet" answered Tom cheeTfully
''Time enough for that, you know, after
have spoken to you"
Mother, as a minister's widow, was not
much given to idle mirth that is as tho
cracking of thOrns under pot, but now
she leaned back and laughed till the tears
stood in her eyes.
''Well," she said, ''If it was anybody
else / should say he was cracked; but you
never were like other people, and you never
will be Tom Dean.s But, at least, you have
fixed on the lady!"
so, yes" answered Tom; ''but if you
will excuse me, Aunt Anne, would rather
not say anything about her just yet; for, if
If anything should happen, it wouldn't
be pleasant for either party you know"
With which yelled allusiOn to his possible
rejection, Tom took his hat and left the
room.
Our household was rather queerly put to-
gether. There was no particular reason
why l should have been of it at all; for /
was not really related to Tom, nor even to
another" as called her, though am sure
we were as dear to each other as any mother
and daughter could be- She was the second
wife of my father, who, like most ministers
had been richer in grace than in goods, and
had left us at his death with very little to
live on. Then it was that Tom Dean had
come forward, and insisted on giving a
home to his aunt and to me, whom he has
scarcely seen dozen times in his life be-
fore. That was exactly like Tom-''queer
Tom Dean" friends were fond of saying,
''who never did anything like anybody else"
suppose, in spite of his clear head for !
business, there is no denying that he was
whimsical; but am sure, when think of
his unfailing generosity and delicacy, 1
can't help wishing there were few more
such whimsical people in the world. Ma
turally, at the time am speaking of my
opinion had not been asked, all had to do
was to go where mother went, and while
she gave her energies to the housekeeping,
give mine TO growing up, which by this
tiTeI had pretty well accomplished. But
perhaps for that very reason-for one sees
with different eyes at twelve and eighteen
my position in the house had already begun
to seem unsatisfactory to me; and the
mornings words put it in a clearer light,
since it had been used as an argument
against Toms marrying. i knew that
mother had spoken honestly, believing that
such a step would not be for his happiness;
but was not he the best judge of thatG
l knew him, if reflection should bring
him round to her opinion, to be perfectly
capable of quietly sacrificing his own wishes
claim on him; SO it must be my part to pre-
vent his own kindness being turned against
him now. Still it was not easy to see how
was to provide for myself, IN case it should
become advisable. What could do9 Draw
and sing and play tolerably, but not in a
manner to. compete with the hosts that
would be in the field against me. Litera-
ture9 had read so many stories whose
heroines, with a turn of the pen, dashed
into wealth and fame. That would be very
nice, ONLY was not the least little bit
literary; had never even kept a journal,
which is saying great deal for girl in her
teens. The fine arts, then, being out of
the question for me, what Temained9 There
was some clerkship, or, perhaps, place in
some family, and-and there was Will
Broomly
That may seem'like going away from the
point, but it was not, ] was mstter-Of-fact
but could see well enough what was going
on right under my eyes, and / had a pretty
clear idea of what was bringing VIII 70 the
house so often as he had taken TO coming
lately. There was q 'ssituation, then, that
would give me the home life I liked best,
and felt myself best suited for but-wOuld
it answer in other respectsl I overcast the
long seam was sewing twice over, was
/ liked Will Broomly well enough to pass
my whole life with him. and even then
had not como to any decision, when was
called down stairs e Miss Lefty Walters.
Lefty was the prettiest, think, of llmy
friends, and certainly the hvelicst. Tom
called her 1.-THE tonic, " and used to laugh
heartily at her bright speeches. suppose
il was this that made mother fix on Lefty
as his choice. When I came into the sit
ting room, found 5 kind of cross examina-
ton going ON. Il was amusing to anybody
in the secret, as l was, 10 watch mothers
artful way Of continually bringing the con-
versatiOn round, as il by chance, to bear on
what she wanted to know, but it all
amounted to nothing, either because Lefty
was too good fencer, or because she really
had nothing to betlay, but when Tom came
home, mother took care TO mention that
,fk.- haI ral1o1