Litchfield enquirer., 1873-09-11

-Of old manuscript sermons, the existence
 oI which was 8 mystery, until Kate re-
 nlembered there had been gifted son of the house who entered the ministry and soon died. The windows had each a a pane of stained glass, and on the wide sllis we used to put our immense bou-
 quets of field flowers. There was one place which I liked and sat in more than any other. The chimney filled nearly the whole side of the room, all but this little corner, where there was just room for a very comfortable high-cushioned chair, and a narrow window where always had q bunch of fresh green ferns in tall champagne glass. used to write there often, and always sat there when Kate sang and played. She sent for tuner, and used successfully to coax the long inn prisoned music from the antiquated piano, and sing for her visitors by the hour
 almost always sang her oldest songs, for they seemed most in keeping with every thing about us. used to fancy that the portraits liked our being there. There was one young girl who seemed so solita- " and forlorn among the rest in the room, who were all middle-aged. For their part they looked amiable, but rather unhappy, as if she had come in and interrupted their conversation. We both grew very fond of her, and it seemed, when we went in the last morning on purpose to take leave of her, as if she looked at us implor- ingly. She was soon afterward boxed up, and now enjoys society after her own heart in Kate's room in Boston,
 There was the largest sofa l ever saw opposite the fireplace; it must have been brought in pieces, and built in the room. It was broad enough for Kate and me to lie on together, and very high and square; but there was pile of soft cushions at one end. We used to enjoy it greatly in September when the evenings were long and cool, and we had many candles, and a fre-and crickets too-on the hearth, and the dear dog lying on the rug. I remem- Der one rainy night, just before Miss Ten nant and Kitty Bruce went away; we had real drift-wood fire, and blew out the lights and told stories. Miss Margaret knows so many and tells them so well. Kate and were unusually entertaining, for we became familiar with the family record of the town, and could recount marvellous adventures by land and sea, and ghost stories by the dozen. We had never either of us been in a society con- sisting of so many travelled people Hard ly a man but had been the most of his life at sea. Speaking of ghost stories, I mnst tell you that once in the summer two Cambridge girls who were spending week with us unwisely enticed us into giving some thrilling recitals, which near ly frightened them out of their wits, and Kate and I were finally quite nervous too. We had all been on the sofa in the dark, singing and talking, and were sitting in great suspense after I had finished one of such particular horror that I declared 1t should be the last, when we heard foot steps on the hall stairs. There were lights in the dining-rooin which shone faintly through the half-closed door, and we saw something white and shapeless come slow ly down, and clutched each others gowns in agony. It was only Kate's dog which came in and laid.his head in her lap and slept peacefully. We thought we could not sleep a wink after this, and I bravely went alone ont to the light to see my watch, and finding it svas past twelve, we concluded to sit up all night and go down to the shore at sunrise, it would be so much easier than getting up early some morning. We had been out rowing and taken long walk the day before, and were obliged to dance and make other slight exertions to keep ourselves awake at one time. We lunched at two, and l never shall forget the sunrise that morn ing; but we were singularly quiet and ab- stracted that day, and indeed for several days after. Deephaven was''a land in which it seemed always afternoon" we breakfasted so late
 As Mrs. Kew had said, there was pow CT of china. Kate and used to conclude that the lives of her grandmothers must have been spent in giving tea-parties. We counted ten sets of cups, beside quantities of stray ones; and some member of the family had evidently devoted her time to making collection of pitchers.
 There was little cabinet in Miss Bran don's own room, which we looked over one day. There was little package of letters; ship letters mostly, tied with a very pale and tired looking blue ribbon. They were alone in drawer with a locket holding some brown hair, and some dry twigs and bits of leaf which had long ago been wild roses, such as still bloom among the Deephaven rocks. No one had ever spoken of her aunts having had love- affair. Kate said; and she had often heard her mother wonder why she never had cared to marry, for she had chances enough doubtless, being rich and hand some and finely educated. So there was & sailor lover after all, and perhaps he had been lost at sea and she faithfully kept the secret, never mourning outward ly. "And I always thought her the most matter-of-fact old lady," said Kate; '.yet here's her romance after all." We put the letters outside on chair to read, but afterwards carefully replaced them, with out untying them. I'm glad we did. There were other letters which we did read, and which interested us very much, letters from her girl friends written in the boarding school vacations, and just after she finished school. Those in one of the smaller packages were very charm ing; it must have been such bright, nice girl who wrote them They were very few, and were tied with black ribbon, and marked on the outside in girlish writing: My dearest friend. Dolly McAllister, died Septemher 3, 1909, aged eighteen. The ribbon had evidently been united and the letters read many times. One began: 'sMy dear. delightful Kitten: I am quite oyerioyed to find my father has business which will force him to go to Deephaven next week, and he kindly says if there be AAD 1@&%sAS 40AA4 4@Aay AA~A0 WAsAA 4AAAA SO SOC you. will surely come, for if there is danger of spattering my gown, and he bids me stay at home, shall go gallop- ing after him and overtake him when it is too late to send me back. have so much to tell you." I wish I knew more about the visit. Poor Miss Katherine it made us sad to look over these treasures of her girlhood. There were her compo- sitions and exercise-books; some samplers and queer little keepsakes; withered How CTS and some pebbles and other things of like value, which there was probably some pleasant association with. "Only think of her keeping them all her days" said I to Kate. q am continually throwing some relic of the kind away, because I forget why have itp'
 There was box in the lower part which Kate vas glad to find, for she had heard her mother wonder if some such things were not in existence. It held a crucifx and lnass-book and some rosaries, and Kate told me Miss Katherine's youngest and avonte brother had become Catho- lie while studying in Europe. It was a nFn46TnF hl0vw In $71a &a ,Tr-.