Wilmington journal., 1876-03-17
hOi The iOurnAi.
THE MAN | SAW AT THE CIRCUS.

l.
Are You positively in earnest? sal,
: Miss Beverly to me with look o
, ute. astonishment. ~ L ind Just fin
lshed declaring my in tei,tion of at
tending the show which was to tax
: place in the village to morrow after
noon.
Why certainly, said I, surely ther.
Is no harm in my going, as / have al
ways had a desire to see the sights t.
be exhibited there, and being 40 neal
oy, L shall certainly avail myself ol
this fine opportunity and trust to
Providence. ..- .a.. ....
.iWhat they'll say aboutt?
Say, Mrs. Whetmore, will not You
aud yolr husband accompany me:
said ], undressing the lady at whose
house [ was visiting. Come, don t
say no; We will surely have u pleasant
time. Johnny will be delighted tn See
the sights. 1t will make d las ing i'm
pression on his mind Who knows
but l might find my af1i ,ity there.
! Turning to Miss Beverly said, La tie
. long Years of the future you will see
me swinging on the arm of my beloved
who [ succeeded in captivating at the
circus; you will rue the day Ill sack
D., cloth and ashes for refusing me your
| company and criticising my attending
such places. ...
Ii could not cap.iva:e a bean with
| out going there to do 1t, 1 declare L
| would rather remain i'll a life of single
i bless edness, retorted Miss Beverly,
gathering up her fancy work and n.ak-
| ing her exit. The door opened and MIR.
WhctmOre came in, and before he Ind
time to collect has thoughts, [ present.
ed my petition to him, drclaring We
must have an escort as 1T would afford
, him more pleasure than any one else
to act the gallant. He complied with
our request and at ha!f-past two found
our elves seated in a large tent busily
engaged looking at the remarkable
feats performed on the tight ropes. l
invariably shut my eyes when l saw
tue. men turu sHnIn1ersuutts. Fearing to
inok In that direction again. l glanc I'd
around to see the crowd, aud if posi-
ble to recognize some of my friends,
for snre'y l would De delighted to see
them there. My attention was attract
ed to the opening of a door, presently
a gentleman with Grape on his hat
which immediately occurred to me that
be was widower, and was still more
convinced of it when [ saw a troop of
children marching like dumb driven
cattle c'ose to their father; it was evi-
dent 1t was their first trip to the circus;
he began to survey the surrounding,
i'll order to select good place for his
dear ones to see. As kind Providence
would have it there was long vacant
seat near me, and soon the father snug
~ seated them in rotation. and quietly
took seat by me. [ became so much
interested in them that forgot all about
tha man who Was walking the tight
rope, until my attention was called to
him by an exclamation from Johnny,
who said: Look, Miss Hot, and see
th 1t man low he is doing. just then
the drum sounded loud. and in the
twinkiiug of an eye the actor Was
quietly sitting in IL swing, much to the
sst.-nishInent of the spectators. The
old gentleman turned slowly round
aud said, do you see that, my children,
and resumed a quiet Look. Here l
found fhat my attention was much
divided between the &C or anl widOwer.
[ was interrupted in my star-gnziDg
by Mrs. Whetmore, who said: Who are
are you looking at SO intenty; have
yOn at last found your affinity ?
No, said /, but I have found Judge
smith, uf Orange. and his iucum
branccs.
Do tell ls it possible that is Judge
Smith It can't b. Why, L thought
ne was a fine looking man. Oh, my!
now deceived we are III forming our
opinions of persons before We have
seer! them. Well, [ don't blame Miss
Marshall far not marrying him, said
Mrs. Whetmorr
b ing weary, We took II stroll round
to see the animals, and it was difficult
to tell who had the most childish
curiosity, and for many months Johnny
fOnrd ample things to tell labOut his trip
to the circus. Time drew near for me to
visit ot her friends, bnt my stay at Mrs.
WhrtInO,e ,es vas one continual round of
pleasure, and will over be All oasis in
the desert of the past. They gave me
cordial invitation to mike them another
visit. / Thanked them for their kiud
invitation aud said [ would come again
when | should hear of another circu
coming that way. as L would not
have missed seeing Judge Smith and
his childen- for the world.
year glidcd rapidly away, and
found me again on second visit ut
Mrs. Whetmores. After the for
III .ity of meeting was over. l anxious
lyinquired what had become of Miss
Beverly? Has she as great aversion
for tending cfcuses as ever said L.
Vel, / t,eIieve she still has a strong
antipathy for them as of old. She left
us for Lake George. where she spent
the summer; but, By the way, We are
expecting her home to o-night, said Mrs
Whetmore. And her beau il coming
home eiwith her, cried little johnny.
Her beau, said I, much amazed. l
IL Il al a
Oh, said Mrs. Whetmore, what
blunder You caused me to make at the
circus, by telling me that the old fellow
you saw there was Judge Smith.
Why, surely it must have been he,
said I.
What made you think it was the
Judse? said Mrs. w.
Because he was widower with a
host of children-but tell me of the
blunder. .i ...t'-.' -.'
One day last spring. began Mrs.
| Whetmore, Miss Beverly informed me
| that Judge Smith was in the parlor,
aud had accepted of Mr.. Whetmore's
| invitation to remain after tea.
What, said I, that old thing going to
stay until after teal what prompted
him to stop here? I do dec are, Mr..
Whetmore should be termed the good
Samaritan OF the day. only wonden
who will come nexts 1 have mind to
give him a very plain supper. will
| honestly say that L am much provoked
at such proceedings.
Why. Aunty, said Miss Beverly.
where did you see him?
At the circus, of course, where L saw
] so mouy curiOsities; it was laughable
| to see him and bis children going round. :.
Who told you that it was the Judge?
Why. .Annah Holt. DIR .Grissom intro
duced them whilst or ssing the ferry
at Jersey City.
Well. I will leave you now and
return to the parlor and entertain
him. Soon he was announced. Jast
imagine my surprise 'shen in walked a
fine looking man, escortlng Miss
Beverly to the dining room. So be-
wildered was that l almost forgot the
L h. Il,