The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1875-04-22
ANYTHING FOR A CHANGE.

ANYTHING FOR A CHANGE.
Nellie Tyrrel was very pretty girl out
very whimsical and impatient. She read nov
els all day, and felt deeply the gross injustice
of fate in not making her life like the lives of
the beroines of fiction. Chestnut Farm was
miserable place, in Nellie's view, and not bit
like q manor, or grange, or castle. Moth
ing mysterious or tragic could ever happen on
such prosaic ground, nor could anything extra.
ordinary occur to any of the people who lived
there.
Day after day the same monotonous drama
was enacted. The A train passed up in
the morning and passed down again an the
afternoon; but the passengers seemed to be
always the same people, and certainly 1t was
the same locomotive and train of cars. Here
was breakfast, dinner and supper; twice week
John Mortimer paid visit; occasionally some
one else dropped in, and in this set of incidents
was comprised the entire history of life.
Nellie was ennuied to death. This lovely
autumn afternoon she sat in the doorway of
her uncle's pretty farmhouse, book in her lap
and rebellion in her heart. The wind was
sweeping the red leaves from the trees, and the
long, tedious summer was fast coming to an
end.
allow much all this reminds me of my life !"
mused Nellie. II am growing old without ever
being young From the instant we are born
we begin to die; but some of US more rapidly
than others. Good heaven will there never
be change?"
: "Nellie," said little boy, making sudden
appearance from the interior of the house,
"Aunt Mary says you mustn't sit here, because
it is too chilly. You will catch cold"
'sI hope not" answered the young lady, with
infinite scorn. II may come in presently
'"But she wants you now," persisted little
Frank, her mischievous brother.
"I shall come when it pleases me-
"That's rude, Nellie and daren't tell auntie
that. There's company in the paror, and she
told me not to tell you, and she wanted to sur
prise you, and they will be gone away soon If
you don't come in," said Frank, with that de-
fance of grammatical proprieties which is the
pleasant privilege of childhood.
ssCompany Some bore, dare say but any
thing for a change Nothing could be duller
than sitting here"
So Miss Nellie went in. She found Aunt
Mary conversing with the handsomest young
man possible to imagine-tall, dark, slender,
rather piratical- looking. but on that account
only the more attractive. He might have sat
for Lord Byron's "Corsair" or "Lara"-in fact,
for anybody very wicked and very splendid in
appearance Aunt Mary rather stif1y intro
duced him as Mr.. Lionel Chelmont. Nellie
could hardly speak for embarrassment. Here
was her beau-ideal at last
It presently appeared that Mr.. Chelmont was
an author He was even now engaged upon
book, and, being desirous of rural solitude
until he could finish it, he had called upon
Aunt Mary to obtain board and lodging with
her, if possible, for month or so if impossi-
BILE, to obtain information where such accom-
modation in the vicinity could be had.
"It is so quiet here,'' he said, in thrilling,
modulated voice. "and quiet is what / seek.
have lived in such whirl of excitement du-
ring the summer, that am bent on trying the
opposite extreme. Sick with pleasure, he al
most longed for woe,' as the poet says, and
really the sentiment expresses my own feelings
exactly"
"It is very dull in winter" said Aunt Mary.
'The duller the BETTER" laughed Mr.. Chel-
mont. ~ don't have time for anything but
my book. should be under load of obliga-
tion if you could accommodate me, and shan't
be in the way at all ; and as for price, anything
you like to ask will meet my views exactly"
He had such careless, scornful way of
speaking, that Nellie already halfloved him.
This Indifference about what he was to pay Was
so romantic, and in such contrast with Aunt
Mary's penurious ideas, and John Mortimer's
greedy countngs up of the shilings and peuce !!
And how admirably he was dressed-at Chest
nut Farm he looked out of place. His proper
sphere would be a mighty castle of some kind
.one of these amazing structures described in
stories-with slaves around him, and all that
sort of thing.
Aunt Mary finally decided to take him for a
fortnight, at least-his sojourn after that time
to be longer, if mutually agreeable" --"and pay
ment," she coughed rather grimly, Gin ad.
vance," At this Nellie's ears tingled-it was
really 80 coarse, she thought-but Mr. Che-
mont merely said:
Admirably business-like! l respect that
quality for haven't particle of it in my
composition. scarcely know how to count
my own money, and never was able to learn
the multiplication table,"
So he paid the fortnights board in advance,
and was established. Here was chance at
least, and Nellie began to know somthing of
happiness already.
At first Mr.. Chelmont's book claimed great
deal of his attention for he remained in his
room nearly all the time He showed the effect
of this confinement being pale and without
appetite; but he was always lively and agreea-
bic, and very soon Aunt Mary began to like
him better than she could have ever believed
would be the case.
She encouraged him to spend more of his
time down stairs, and then it came to pass that
very soon he began to employ all of it there.
Sometimes he acted a little oddly but Nellie
said it was the eccentricity of genius, which
explanation her aunt accepted AS satisfactory.
And so the time went on-fUr Nellie glorious
dream.
The periodical irruptions of John Mortimer
wore the onIy djsapreeable phases for John