Eaton weekly Democrat. [volume] (Eaton, Ohio) 1866-1875, 1873-09-11

well, never mind his other name, as
some of you may know him, though
now he's settled down to what he calls a
'quiet life That means a small house,
his suburban retreat, and large fam
lily of babies crying about the place
from morning till night. Jack, I say,
had given me light commission to ex-
ecute for him in the neighborhood, and
it was to serve as an introduction for
me to some lady of his acquaintance,
who, he said, possessed two charming
daughters. A man has liking for fe-
male society at that time of life, and, the
ladies being so promisingly described, I
determined on my arrival in Cumber-
land to take advantage of my commits
sion. did SO, and found the ladies'
one dark and the other fair-the young
ladies 1 speak of now. My good friend
Jack had Informed me that they were of
very opposite temperaments. Elsie
very fair-was gay and fond of bold
and merry natures, he said; Dell
short for Delilah-was dark, and
retiring almost to bashfulness and
timidity. He had joked me by saying
tied to one of their apron-strings and
that, if I were anything of a reasonable
being, these were two girls who ought
to satisfy any expectation. Of course
my commission procured me an invita-
tion to the house, and my stay in Cum
berland began most favorably. Alas for
promises I had determined to act
upon Jacks suggestion, and render my
self agreeable to the young ladies ac-
cording to their respective inclinations.
When, therefore, 1 met them, I con-
versed with the fair one in light, live
ly, and, as believed, happy manner. I
even forced myself into merry mood,
made jokes, and laughed at them my
self, but, strange to say, she answered
scarcely word to all my observations.
I sought all opportunities before a week
was out of catching her unexpectedly.
dining-r room I hemmed her in, and
of her hair and eyes, and vowed Pdsteal
ringlet of her hair, if only to kiss it.
If she ran away, I thought it was coy
ness, and followed her. Mind you, I
was only acting upon my friends sug-
gestion, and was not rude beyond what
youth will excuse. With the sister,
Dell-dark, dark-eyed DELI played a
wholly diverse character. Books
Scott, Byron and Shakespeare music
the oratorios, Schubert, and the works
of the "severe" school of composition,
formed the groundwork of my dis
courses, and never attempted to catch
her alone. Being by chance one day
wandering about, met the fair Elsie
coming across a-hilI toward me Two
were company, thought, and here was
happy occasion for rehearsing my part.
Laughingly I talked to her-I cannot
say with her-joked and told stories. I
spoke of my travels, my college life, my
London experiences as lady
might hear-and enlarged upon them
almost to the verge of romance-to in
terest and amuse her. Not word above
a monosyllable could extract in reply.
Shall I admit that I had begun to feel
what slow work was, when luckily the
sister, also lonely pilgrim upon the
hills, appeared before us Although it
placed me between two fires, I felt it al
most as relief. I could play the two
parts at once, I thought, and so we
proceeded on-a trio. The knowledge
that was the protector of a young lady
who had been described to me as of re-
tiring and almost timid disposition,
made me doubly anxious to prove my
rattle on in slight asides to Elsie, and
then at length, after we had gone some
way in silence, turned to Delilah with
some remark about the weather. Don't
laugh, it's very genuine remark. She
turned away, and 1 thought she laughed,
but perhaps it was only thought, for
when she replied it was a quiet acqui-
escence in my observation. Then again
there was a silence, and an aside with
the fair Elsie, who blushed and turned
away. A few minutes afterward I
ventured to inquire of Delilah, with all
the modesty I could, if she were fond of
poetry. Did she like Shelley? She
stared at me so hard that, for moment,
I thought she believed I was question
ing her as to her knowledge. L was
about to relieve her from what I thought
an embarrassment, when she said
emo; he's so jolly dry !'
"You know the old saying, You
It was true in my case. The manner
was so rough and boisterous that I was
quite taken by surprise. L ventured,
however, another remark, and said,
mildly, that thought Cumberland very
charming, and that I should not mind
living there forever. And then, turning
to Elsie, whispered softly, With
you
"Delilah answered quickly:
cit may be charming, but it's aw-
fully slow, and you'd soon get the old
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 Gardens she
'pined' to go to, and the thousand and
one of the Jolly old London ions'-so
she expressed it-she had heard of by
name and knew nothing of by acquaint-
ance. Elsie said never a word, and the
retiring, timid Dell ratified on as if she
possessed fund of information of Lon
don life, and only longed to be in it.
My mind was in whirl of confusion.
remembered my friends description,
fair and good-humored, with high
spirits dark, modest and full of quiet
grace" [ had made no mistake.
THAT walk did not finish as it had
begun at our meeting. In almost total
silence we approached the house. Deli
lah had long since stopped the flow OF
her talk-I cannot say our converse
tion, for in truth she had quite run me
off-and could but think. The sisters
exchanged looks, and Elsie shrank away
from me, as though L were mad and
would bite, when 1 addressed her. The
other only curled her lip in scorn, OF
turned away her head if I only looked
toward her ; and at last L was SO an.
noyed with them-not with myself
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