The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1874-12-01

"Our great difficulty sald he, Hs the
uncle, Mr. Merrick--his name is Mer-
rick. j told you before that he was &c
centric; but thst is not the word-'ex-
aeting' describes him better. He is aw-
fully exacting, and possesses immense
influence over his niece an. influence so
great that his choice would be hers, even
were she not still under age, which i be
lieve she is. My dear fellow, all depends
upon the impression you make in that
quarter / cannot eXaggerdte the i'm
ppriance of devoting yourself from the
very first to Notwithstanding his tastes.
sharing his pleasures, and attaching him
! firmly to your interest. The old fellow,
is So selfish in insisting on these atten-
tons that don't think, were even free,
could stand enough of his society to
insure success. But there is no know
ing; the prize is well worth winning, and
perfectly attainable through him, and
| through him alone"
"Apd about Miss Elfing p Inquired.
"Miss Elfing is charming girl" said
Fred "quite young, and ready to believe
anything bad of her lover her uncle con-
demns Being an heiress and beauty,
she has already received several propo-
sails, but all have been rejected in conse'
quence Of the suitors having had the
] egregious folly of paying more attention
to the niece than to the uncle.
SO then the uncle was the only real
difficulty mot very grave one, thought.
At sill events, ,forewarned was forearmed,
and inwardly vowed, to tax my patience
! to the utmost for 50 great q stake. AT
the moment it never occurred to me how
remarkably well informed Clayton ap-
lpeared in all that concerned our future
host l was only too glad to find him
$50 well able to advise me, and perhaps Q
little relieved that the great result did
not involve much courtship or attend
ance on young lady. ..4-..
We were not long in arriving at the
station, where q carriage was in waiting
to receive us and after a rather cold
drive OF couple of miles we reached
our destination.
! Mr. Merrick's, or Miss Efflng's house
) for | did not know to whom it actual
lly belonged-was large, handsome
building, situated in fine park, with un
! dulaling lawn and fine planted trees; Sc
} much was I able to perceive in the grow
ing darkness.
Our arrival had been heraldcd by a
handsome pointer that we found repos
ing on the. terrace and, on alighting, we
: were met by Mr.. Merrick, who treated
! me with a long and unequivocal stare
: and, after greetings and introductions
! hurried US off to our several apartment;
to prepare for dinner.
/ shall never forget that dressing. ]
5 had heard so much of first impressions
| T believed IN them 80 implicitly thas
anxiety to produce the proper effect al
5 most amounted to frenzy, and / coult
have strangled Fred Clayton for hi
(, GOODNESS and equanimity, when he good
naturedly came into my room to accom-
+: pany me down through the ordeal OF
: first appearance in the drawing room.
Miss EfIiug was there. and the momen
e saw her, understood the failure of al
former suitors; l realized the almost su
e pelhpman effort that would be necessar,
voluntarily to resign such companion
a ship for that of the superannuated I'm
y Gle, and resolved to steel myself by th
r constant recollection Of my predeces
sors' fates. Graceful, witty, and livel,
4 to degree, no wonder the old mai
: dreaded to lose the sunlight OF her pres
I ence, and the affoctioEate charm OF he
!, manner toward herself
n With exemplary fortitude ! dashed .
!, my task, and before the evening was owe
q found myself, to my great surprise, es
), tablshed as the chosen companion o
f Mr.. Merrick. / listened with admirable
got-up interest to long, dreary anecdote
n of his past experiences, comprising mi
a mute details of the dates and even tn
l hours at which people long since dead
y had been born-the, memories OF thes
: old people are always prodigious!-an'
Il submitted to an account of his presen
n devotion to the collecting OF mineral;
o which now occupied all his time, excep
! during the shooting season, for the oil
n gentleman was very, proud Of still bein
a able to carry a gun.
l. OF course 1 Immediately professe
g myself all enthusiast on the subject c
If mineralogy, and was forthwith carrie
4 off in triumph to large ,cavernous den
i to admire what he. called his specimen:
l. The examination of these hideous Ii
y tie bits of tin and stone lasted what al
peared to me about two hours; an
h when, ultimately, we returned to iii
,e drawing room, human nature asserted ii
p rights, and unconsciously / stole over
Is the piano, where Miss Effing's fairy fiji
G gers were wandering listlessly over I'll
: keys, while Fred Clayton stood besid
1t her looking through some music. In
medately wandering glance from Ere
recalled me to sense of danger, an
turning in the direction Of Mr.. Merric
n l perceived an unmistakable scowl upo
at his face, as he watched the party. Ha
er tening to his side, succeeded PARTIAL
~ in removing it,by the proposal of a gan
st of chess, which absorbed all his facu
al ties, and agonized all mine, till the gen
,r raj move was made for retiring.
D. AS l approached Miss Efing to wis
n. her goodnight l overheard the old t
/ rant remark, condescendingly, to Ere
Your friend is an intelligent fellow, '
sympathize, and like him; rather S
perficial in mineralogg, but we must t
y and remedy that by making most of o
70 time, as your stay will not extend b
ID yond few days In fact the young M
al interests me ;,I wish you had his taste
. Frederick" .afrs
- So virtue was rewarded, and / b
~ made a good impression.
7 CONCLUDED NEXT WEEK