The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1873-01-04

well, is that your hired man % quer
led Fanny, after her comfortable install
ment in one of the luxurious easy-chairs.
g Yes, dear; that is Mathew Donn How
did you like him %
He looks like gentleman" said Fan.
ny, after little pause.
"He is gentleman, DEAR in the best
sense of the word; I told you that
"And does he speak English well9''
"Why, child, he isn't Foreigner
laughed Olive.
II mean dramatically" said Fanny.
"Oh yes; presume he has had good
common school education,' replied Olive,
"and something better. l know there are
certain classical books in his room: wheth-
er be ever reads them or not can't say"
"Why in the world does he hire out -
cried Fanny, dismay in her voice.
"Why shouldn't he ?" asked Olive laugh
ing heartily again. "He likes the country,
is used to horses, and-and I suppose he
can't get any thing better to do
but ~ hdu Inc liHi lllgNI-Ue SOlnc-
body!' calculated Fanny, with vehemence.
" My patience. has he no ambition ? I'm
afraid l shall despise him.
perhaps, dear, he wouldn't mind if
you did, said Olive, hiding her face in the
white neck of her baby. Gle is so cery
independent
Surely, why should he care what she
thought of him. soliloquized Fanny, her
cheeks flushing.
The next day she met him at the table.
1t seemed strange enough to sit down with
hired help, but she was forced to confess
that in nothing did he give the impression
of being mental.
"Shall we take hold of that five-acre lot
this morning ?" he asked, respectfully, of
Mr.. Maynard, Olives husband.
"No; l prefer you should look to the
drainage of that strip east of the hill" was
the answer "There'll be no rain yet a
while, and want to prepare that land for
potatoes
Fanny watched Mathew Dom out on the
sly, and Olive caught her at it.
81 wanted to see what kind of dress
he works in,'' said Fanny, with tell-tale
cheeks.
"Don't you think him little handsom-
er in his blouse, and heavy field boots -
asked Olive.
"He certainly is very handsome" said
Fanny, frankly; "but why in the world
However" she added, stopping short, "it's
none of my business; but such man as
that should surely work his own land"
"That's true" said Olive quietly.
Time passed on. Fanny became accus-
toned to eat, sit, and even talk with the
hired man. One day Olive took her up in
to his room. Fanny stood aghast. 1t was
as exquisite in its way as lady's boudoir.
"He furnished it himself" said Olive in
reply to Fanny's look of surprise.
GA Wilton carpet" murmured Fanny;
marble-top set; that Psyche. those flow
ers.-and what is this o. She lifted a
lovely little miniature from the table, one
of the most beautiful and refined faces she
had ever seen.
"Oh, one of his friends, - said Olive, in
her undemonstrative way. "And see how
perfectly neat every thing is kept; always
in this beautiful order. Do you wonder
Harry calls him rara aris2"
"Indeed can not" said Fanny, slowly;
"but he must spend every cent he ears to
furnish himself in this extraordinary man.
ner.
"He has nothing else to do with his
money, DEAR said Olive; che don't even
buy cigars. For my part, think he is
perfectly elegant"
Fanny said nothing, but she found her
self wishing that she knew who was the
original of that lovely miniature and try
ing to reconcile the tastes and surroundings
of the man himself with his servile occupa-
ton. Not but what the work was good
enough, and honorable for any man; but
why was he not laboring for himself in
stead of another?
For days she thought of the miniature
Every time she met him, heard him talk
or sing-he had fine voice, and was not
averse to using it-up popped that mystic
rious face with the Spanish eyes and the
clustering curls.
Mr.. Eben Wolcott, meantime, had taken
advantage of her reluctant permission and
brought his dashing team to Winnicut.-
Poor Fanny at sight of his respectable al
dermanic person, his gold bowed specta-
cles, and thick gray whiskers, felt a
strange sinking at the heart. Why would
that six-footer rise up in her imagination
and cause by mere force of contrast a re-
pulsion so terrible?
cts positively wicked for me to seem
to encourage that man," she said, almost
passionately, one morning, the day after a
drive.
(Which MANI asked Oliver, innocent
ly, and their eyes met.
The red blood flew all over poor Fanny S
face; she felt hot to the crown of her head
and yet why should she?
That's a pretty question to ask" she
exclaimed, nearly angry.
"Well, dear, but how am l to know who
that man. is % queried Oliver with a
conscious look.
"You know it is Mr.. Wolcott," said
Fanny, nearly crying.
"Well, he is a good man, and rich one, -
was the answer. 81 know girls who
would jump at the chance, as the saying is.
| could either marry him or send him off.
Pshaw.' said Fanny, biting her red
lips and few moments after she left the
room, conscious of new, painful, and
at the same time strangely delightful ex.
perience. No use to try to conceal it OF
cloak it to herself-not the slightest: she
loved Mathew Dom, her sisters hired
man.
How she paced her room, half distracted
sobbing without tears, forming wild re
solves, and then throwing herself dowr
with a sense of her utter helplessness,
shall not describe. How could she eve
meet him again? Could she keep her al
most painful secret, and did Olive guess a