Litchfield enquirer., 1874-03-26
From Goiey's Lady's Book. HOSE ouAKERS.
BY NO CHURCHILL.

very well that at least half Of said straws are iiagonaliy opposed to any such ar raugement.
 We had guests iiI the house, namely, my husband s father aEd his young bride odd company to be at ease With and en' tertain-aince hardly knew whether to be delighted at the new relationship, ol to be deiected that there had been al opening for 1t. Besides, 1 did not know what to call her. "Mother" did not seem to be anywhere near the truth, and' Mrs. sounded altogether too formal. However tue first blush of surprise and embarrass- ment had begun to wear off, and l was waiting one afternoon for Madame to come down, when every horizontal straw in my small retreat was startled into the per pendicular by the arrival of two staid be- ings, of whom I had stood in stage-struck awe ever since l had entered the Harring- ton family.
 John had gone one way on business, and father another, and no one knew at what time they would return, whether at all until night; and. there was IT thought to myself, as my visitors amour ced that their call was particularly in- tended for Monsieur and Madame the eld- er-the only medium of communication
 
 self il non-conductor, if not an opposing force.
 1 rushed up stairs with haste If not grace. and bruised my knuckles with a soften, and found myself, after the silvery ''come in, just the other side of the be- sieged door, not remembering exactly what l had intended to say. Madame Mere was making her toilet; the dainty WI q and fiuted ruff1er fresh, as by instinct, un- der the weight of her wonderful hair. I had the very night before magnanimous- ly represented to John, in answer to his expressed admiration of her lustrous tresses, as released my own padded locks from the all-concealing net, that not one-tenth part of those capillary tubes took root-in his step-mothers head; and now, unexpectedly in sight of her dress ing table, 1 found that neither ''rat," i" "tupsy" nor "switch" had ever done art full chignon duty. The only wonder was, how she contrived to adjust so much into any sort of compass.
 "Has anything happened?" she asked, little quickly, noticing my flushed face
 ''No,' l replied, working neryously at the door knob, ''but Friend David and wife Hannah are here purposely to see you"
 She looked mp again a little inquiringly, seeing that some demonstration was ex- pected of her. Friends should know about!' she asked
 ''Yes; those quakers; you know; hasn't he-haspt fath-that is, mean, has not your husband told you about them?"
 ''Not that remember" she repked, with composure that should have calm ed my perturbed spirits. but 1t didn't.
 "Win you please excuse me for beg ging you to please hasten, they are so particularly precise and punctual," I urg- ed, growing alliteratiye in my uneasiness, as l glanced at the dress thrown upon the bed-a soft blue tissue, with eight gossa- mer founces q could but count them), trimmed with the fringed-out edge of summer sky. Oh, dearl I was arrayed in green! These disciples of drab would think we were sending the whole prism | a-tilt at thelr peculiarities. ''1 will be down in five minutes," she l said, as l turned to go out, and, indeed, she could not have been longer, for had scarcely succeed in twisting two senten- ces Quaker-wise before she came in robed in silvery silk without trimming, save that the shimmering nipples of it's train made its plainness qneenly. No glint of color about her, or jewel at her throat, only soft lace filling up the Pompadour front of the waist and edging the flowing sleeve. Her hair in one massive coil about her brow. had never seen her so beautiful before. Ihad effected simplicity myself in times heretofore, when I knew these people were coming; my ''drab days" John ,coukd call them, and laugh. half suspect he thought had made a gray goose of myself, but ], I,certainly felt green CT than any new-fedged goslin when I rose now to say. Mrs. Harrington, Friend David and wife"
 "How dost thee do, Friend?"- Lucille, said Mrs. H. with easy grace, supplying the name he waited for. A
 ''Lucille!' he repeated after her, Sis the of French origen?"
 "Oh, no claim to be ofAnglo-Saxon birth.''
 "Where did thee get thy name?"
 "From my mothers favOrite book, she has told me-"
 "Ah, yes! named after fictitious char acter in some novel, I fear. Thou wilt let mo call thee Friend Lucy, since I trust there is no fiction about thee. I see thou hast donned butterfly garb."
 ''I confess to some .fancy" she said; ''the great volume of human life would be dull indeed were there no poetry inter- mingled with it's stern realities, and no warm pictures illumining it's quiet prose; and. smiling little archly, ''I do not always wear drab."
 Friend David, despite his meekness of vlsage. was accustomed to giving rather superciliOus tone to whatever conversa- tion he took part in, and I expected the crown of his hat would separate itself from the broad brim that shut down on to his ears like an overgrown bandbox-lid at her answer, but it didn't, it only seem- ed little nonplussed like its owner, and both remained for a moment statu quo, giving Dame Hannah time to pipe i'll with her high-keyed voice:
 'tHow dost thee like our sect?"
 1never met with any of Its members before; but from what have heard and read of their simple tastes, their strict principles, and pure lives, I am prepared to respond most heartily when any of them address me by the pleasant title of Friend"
 Mrs. Hannah was evidently not Quaker lzed beyond the subtle reach of fattery, for she'moved her chair little nearer to her ladyship.s silken robe, and was about l to continue the conversation, when her spouse looked at her little rebukingly, and she gave way; while he, head and hat rallying forces, tilted at my tranquil guest a series of startling and abrupt questions, such as always set ne erect on the very edge of my chair, and put my thumbs to twirljng. Whatever we're my well-set- tied inward convictions on the subjects broached. I let him say just what he pleased, and agreed with him with all my might, and sspart of my constitution" as John teasingly said, But here was she summer evenings calm epitomized- quietly accepting his challenge, and ex- pressing herself, though politely, in di- rect contradiction to his self-satisfied pre- judices.
 Happily exempt from his special notice had contrived to see that Mrs. Hannah still wore her bonnet, and apologizing for my negligence. pressed her to go with ne to my room and remove it; so she said 1 to her husband: sen