Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1873-07-10


ny them, instead of prudently flying from
the danger, foolishly exposed myself to
it, and 10! what might have been anticipa-
ted came to pass. Before l had been in
Dora's society an hour my doom was
sealed had ceased to belong to myself;
/ was her slave, the slave of her sunny
smile and bright eyes-talismen more po-
tent than any lamp or ring that djinn or
fairy ever obeyed.
A fortnight had passed, and we were at
B. During that time the spell that
bound me had been each day gaining
strength. AS an intimate friend of her
brother, was already, with Dora, on the
footing fan old acquaintance; she seemed
well enough pleased with my society, and
chatted with me willingly and Familiarity /;
but in vain did watch for some slight in
dicatiOn, glance or information, whence
to derive hope. None such were per-
ceptible, nor could the most egregious
coXcomb have fancied that there were.
We once or twice fell in with other ac-
quaintances of hers and her brothers., and
with them she had just the same frank,
friendly manner as with me. | had not
sufficient vanity, however, to expect a
woman, especially one SO much admired
as Miss MDermot, to fall in love at first
sight with my humble personality, and l
patiently waited, trusting time and ASST
duty to advance my cause.
Things were in this state, when one
morning, while taking an early walk to
the springs, | ran up against an English
friend, by name Walter Ashley. He was
the son of country gentleman of moder-
ate fortune, at whose house | had more
than once passed week in the shooting
season. Walter was an excellent fellow,
and perfect model of the class to which
he belonged. By no means unpublished in
his manners, he had yet sort of plain
frankness and bonhomn.te, which was pc
culiarly agreeable and prepossessing. He
was not university man, nor had he re-
ceived an education of the highest order
spoke no language but his own with any
degree of correctness-neither played the
fiddle, painted pictures, nor wrote poetry.
On the other hand, in all manly exercises
he was a proficient; shot, rode, walked
and danced to perfection; and the fresh
originality and pleasant tone of his con-
vcrsation redeemed any deficiency of read
ing or accomplishment. In personal APP
pearance he was splendid fellow, nearly
six feet in his boots, strongly, but at the
same time symmetrically, built; although
his size of limb and width of shoulder
rendered him, at twenty.siX, rather
what is called fine man, than a
slender or elegant one. He had the
true Anglo-Saxon physiognomy, blue
eyes, and light brown hair that waved,
rather than curled, round his broad,
handsome forehead. And then, what a
mustache the fellow had He was
an officer in crack yeomanry corps.
Not one of the composite ORDER made up
of pomatum and lampblack-such as may
be seen sauntering down st. James street
on spring afternoon, with incipient
guardsmen behind them-but worthy Of
an Italian painter or Hungarian hussar;
full, well-grown and glossy. Who was
the idiot who first set atloat the notion
now become an established prejudice in
England-that mustaches were unseemly?
TO nine faces out of ten they are a most
becoming addition, increasing physiog-
nOmical character-almost giving it where
there is none; relieving the monotony Of
broad, fiat cheeks, and abridging the
abomination Of long upper lip. In
clearly, say you? Not bit of it, if judi
ciously trimmed and trained. What, sir!
are they not at least as proper looking as
those foxy thickets extending from jaw
bone to temple, which you yourself, each
morning of your life, take such pains to
comb and curl into shape?
Delighted to meet Ashley, l dragged
him off to the hotel to introduce him to
M'Dermot and his sister AS friend of
mine they gave him cordial welcome,
and we passed that day and the following
ones together. soon, however, l must
confess, began to repent little having
brought my handsome friend into the So
ciety of Dora. She seemed better pleased
with him than | altogetlK Yer liked; nor
could / wonder at it. Walter Ashley was
exactly the man to please a woman OF
Dora's character. She was OF rather rO-
mantle turn, and about him there was a
dash of the chivalrous, well calculated to
captivate her imagination. Although
perfectly feminine, she was an excellent
horsewOman, and an ardent admirer OF
feats of address and courage, and she had
heard me tell her brother of Ashley's per
lection i'm such matters. On his part,
Ashley, like every one else who saw her,
was evidently greatly struck with her
beauty and fascination of manner. can
not say that was jealous; | had no right
to be so, for Dora had never given me en-
couragement; but certainly more than
once TtgTCltcu Univ
person into whh-honest Jack M'Der
mot counting, of course, for nothing
had previously been sort of tetea-tete So
ciety l began to fear that thanks to my
self, my occupation was gone, and Ashley
had got it.
1t was the fifth day after our meeting
with Walter, and we had started early in
the morning upon an excursion to a
neighboring lake, the scenery around
which, we were told, was particularly
wild and beautiful. 1t was situated on a
piece of table land on the top of noun
tain, which we could see from the hotel
window. The distance was barely ten
miles, and the road being rough and pre-
cipitous M'Dermot, Ashley and myself
had chosen to walk rather than risk our
nccks by riding the broken-kneed ponies
that were offered to US. A sure-footcd
mule and Indifferent side-saddles had
been procured for Miss M'Dermot, and
was attended by Withholding Bearnesee
boy, or gossoon, as her brother called
him, a creature like grasshopper, all
legs and arms, with SCARED counte-
nance and long black hair hanging in
irregular shreds about his face.
V-b.ro 10 M caasou more agreeable in