The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1873-03-01

roundings.
But an habitual inhabitant of the front
parlor must have required natural insen-
siblity to his surroundings quite abnormal
1t had been furnished once upon a time,
no doubt; but the once upon a time must
have been very long time ago indeed
They say it takes hundred years for dust
to gather an inch deep. If so, one or two
of the articles of furniture must have been
invaluable to antiquarians who measure
the value of thing by its age. That cab
met, in spite of its modern build, must
have been contemporary with Julius Caesar;
that solitary armchair of King Lear. In
fact, dust was wherever dust may be, ex-
cepting-so far as the accumulation of
darkness in q room into which the sun new
er shone enabled one to see-upon por-
ton of the leather-topped central table,
upon one chair that stood before it, and
upon a man who was STOPPING over the
table and sitting in the chair.
1t was difficult to account for the raison-
G-etre of the room at all, except upon the
celebrated principle of lucus q non lucendo.
On that principle, however, it was easy
1t might, for instance, be a library, for it
did not contain single book; it might be
the cabinet of a collector, for nothing was
collected in it but dust and darkness; it
might be studio, for there were no signs
of the pursuit of art in it, any more than of
the pursuit Of anything else, save in the
shape of three pictures that leaned against
the wall. with their faces inward, and of
which, therefore, the furnished gilt frames
were alone visible.
lie who sat busily at the table making
memoranda with gold pencl-case on a
scrap Of paper did not look altogether out
! of place in the room, for he somehow look
ed as though, if not gifted with an excess
of animal spirits, he was of temperament
that was able to dispense with them
! There are some men, whom it is easy to
recognize at first sight, who do not, like
most, take their tone from the surround
ing atmosphere, but who, whatever may
be their surroundings, live and move in an
atmosphere that, as it were exhales from
themselves. The dust and the gloom
seemed somehow to be natural accessories
of the man: and yet he was himself neither
dusty nor gloomy, at least in appearance.
Soap-and- water, the laundress, and the
clothes brush had done their work upon
him well. For the rest, he was about fifty
years old, rather less, perhaps, than more,
was we'll preserved for his age, full broad
shouldered, muscular and inclining to cor
pulence. His full face was sh-complex- |
Toned and rosy; his hair dark and coarse,
but growing gliEzied and bald; his eyes
darl, and large; his teeth large and white;
and the expression of his full and heavy
mouth was made up Of many things-of |
little sensualty, little obstinacy, a little |
selfshness, and great deal of hard, self !
reliant, unsympathetic energy, not an al
together agreeable expression, but certain
/ ~ not that of a weak man or of fool
What was his habtual calling or oecupa- |
ten would be difficult to decide. At pres |
ent, he was absorbed in his memoranda
At last he laid the paper down upon the
table, placed the peneil-case in his waist !
coat pocket, and rang the bell sharply.
1t was answered almost Immediately by |
a rather pretty girl, about whose French |
birth there could be no mistake, any more
than about a greater tendency OH her part |
to ribbons and bright colors than would |
have been allowed to a maid-servant, i'll
that terribly respectable neighborhood,
under strict feminine rule.
"Elsie, tell Miss Felicia to come to me
Immediately" he said, in loud and des-
potic voice, that at once harmonized the |
expression OF his whole person to an I'M
mstakable key of coarseness and vulgar
ity. Like many others, he was passable
enough as long rs he held his tongue.
He rose from his seat, and stood bolt up
right on the hearth-rug, with his back to
the fire and his hands behind him, in the
favorite attitude of an Enslishman, with
his full lips pressed tightly together, and
with q frown, or rather an incipient scowl,
on his forehead, until, after the expiration
of few minutes, gentle tap was heard at
the door, and the voice of a girl, clear
though timid, asked: "May | come inP'
Well" he said, as the door opened, 81
can't say you've hurried yourself. Do you
think everybody times as cheap as yours ?
It's lust seven minutes since | sent Elise
after you.''
1t is to be hoped that Miss Felicia liked
being bullied; at all events his tone was
that of one who liked to bully. She only
said, quietly, @ l was as quick as | could,
papa;" and then, closing the door gently
behind her, she stood and waited for what
he had to say.
The best way to describe Miss Felicia is
to take description of her father given
above and to read it by contrairies. That
is to say, size was, in the first place, very
long way short of fifty years old indeed
in fact, by some two and thirty years,
rather more than less; and she did not look
over strong for an age at which the growth
of strength should by rights be most vigor-
Gus. Her features were small, and almost
too delicate even to be in keeping with her
small and delicate figure, and were shaded
over by cloud of hair that was very fair,
very profuse, and very fine; neither gold
en-, however, nor flaxen, but more of the
hue that the French term blond cendre: and
yet it had something of golden brightness
about it too. Her complexion was beauti-
fully clear, but almost too pale, with just
so much coloring as white rose may have
without ceasing to be white rose. In all
this though there was much that was at
tractive, there was nothing very dis
tingushed Or remarkable. But, as in her
fathers case, it was the voice that was the
characteristic feature, so, in hers, her dis
tinctiye personality seemed to express itself
in her eyes. They were rather large, and
were of an underlined gray, almost opal
tinted in many lights, and almost pale blue
in others-always, however, of singular
but bright and speaking color, that gave