Knoxville journal. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1874-1986, 1874-12-03

her escape. The young people were dis
! covered to have every fault the imaginar
ton of their accusers could summon up,
and Mrs. Belknap and Mrs. Seymour
shared the odium and pity with Mrs.
Granger, who certainly should have at
tended more strictly to the education of
her daughter, and given her more care
full training.
Every mother in Myrtleville was pious-
ly thankful that it was not her daughter
who had SO disgraced herself; and the
daughters, as a general rule, secretly
wished they had Miss Changers chance,
for Fred Seymour was beau in Myrtle
vile, and his mother was known to have
property from her late husband that
would make the young man independent
| when in course of nature 1t reverted to
| him. He was engaged on one of the
daily evening papers OF the great me-
| tropolis, and considered talented and up
right, man who in time would make a
position of honor. His attention to Susy
| Belknap, though the fact of their engage
ment had not yet been published, had
been too marked to escape the notice of
eyes so prying as those possessed by the
good people of Myrtleville, and his in
| csnstancy was matter of marvel, as
Susy was maiden whom any man might
have been proud to win.
When the four o'clock came in Mr..
| Granger, little. nervous man, all excita-
| bility, was amazed at the sympathizing
| faces that greeted him on the platform.
A chill like death seized his heart For
years his wife had been an invalid, suf.
| fering from spinal complaint. Had she
| died While he was away? White as a
sheet he turned to a friend standing near,
saying:
"Why do you look at me so? What is
the matter at homer"
MY poor friend, have you heard
| nothing?''
A choking sensation came over the
loving husband, but he struggled against
it, saying:
Quick, tell mel Is it Nary"
"No. Mrs. Granger is as well as usual,
believe; but there is a very sad story
| to break to you regarding your daugh-
ter"
Wrath took the place of terror.
MY daughter" cried the little man,
furiously. WHO dares carry stories
about my daughters"
"Well-you-see," stammered his
friend, the women folks says she eloped
this morning with Fred Seymour"
Fired Seymour! Why, he's head over
ears in love with Susy Belknap. My
Belle! Why, she's been engaged for
two years to Lieut.. Weston, of the
navy, though we did not publish the
fact for the benefit of the tattlers of
Myrtleville."
II am afraid" was the reply, :" that it
was the fact of these engagements that
drove them to secrecy and elopement."
all tl,a -h,1a Oh 10 Al pa
reared the excited father. ON make
these mischief makers eat their own
words! My Belle, indeed! They must
be crazy"
But on his way home Mr. Granger met
the report in so many places, heard it in
such plausible versions, that he entered
his wife's room with very grave face,
from which all angry excitement had
vanished.
"Where is Belle, Mary?" he asked
"She went to New York this morning
to do some shopping. She will stay at
her Aunt Maria's tonight"
"DId young Seymour go up on the
same train?"
Il suppose so. He usually goes at
eight, and that was the train that Belle
took" .rs4s ..
Mr.. Granger was on the point of tell
ing his wife the whole story, but on sec
ond thought he restrained the impulse.
Sure in his own fatherly confidence in
his gentle, modest child that there was
some mistake admitting explanation, he
said nothing. After all, it was subject
Of congratulation that none of the busy
bodies of Myrtleville had invaded the
sick.room, and he easily made some triv-
ial excuse for going out again. He was
determined to sift the gossip thoroughly
before alarming the invalid, and his first
visit was to the telegraph office at the
railway station.
as Belle at your house?' flashed over
the wires, and was carried to a handsome
house in the city.
eyes. Will be down on the next train"
was the answer; for poor Belle imagined
that there was death or frightful Illness,
to cause her fathers message, when
visit to her aunt's was such common
occurrence.
Satisfied on this point, Mr.. Granger
quietly waited until the train came in,
walked up Main street with his daughter
on his arm, left her at home, and started
out to defy all Myrtleville.
From house to house he travelled with
exemplary patience, and followed the
snake-like coils of the story till he faced
Mrs. Sawyer, who earnestly assured
him:
Mrs. Seymour and Mrs. Kitely were in
the sitting-roo as | came in the back
way through the kitchen. They were
talking, and just as | got to the door
Mrs. Seymour told Mrs. Kitely that her
son and Belle Granger had elOped. They
saw me then, and Mrs. Seymour said,
very carelessly:
"'Here are the morning papers, Mrs.
Kitely, Just to change the conversation"
And you rushed off to carry the news
all over Myrtleville, said Mr. Granger
"Well, | thought it must be true, from
such an authority"
"Pshaw! You misunderstood what was
said"
81 tell you heard her as plain as /
hear you now"
"Telling Mrs Kitely her son and my
daughter had elopedg"
"Yes, I'd swear it on my oathl' SAID
Mrs. Sawyer, as if there were several
other ways of swearing if she chose to
take her choice. NJ.