Whig and tribune. [volume] (Jackson, Tenn.) 1870-1877, 1876-02-19
NELLIE'S HERO.

NELLIE'S HERO.
''Ncllie, how often shall l have to re-
quest you not to make the acquaintance
of strangers about whom you know moth
ingg Nv dear child, if you are without
consideration for yourself, pray have a
little for me do not wish my sister TO
become known to any one through the
medium of sidewalk fllrtatiOnS."
''E was never, In all my life, guilty Of a
sidewalk Irritation, not even when l was
a schoolgirl. Really, Harry, you are too
bad to accuse me or such thing" re-
piled Miss Nellie, indignantly
She was very pretty girl, slender and
graceful, with Yiolet-tinted eyes, and
masses of golden-brown hair pushed
carelessly of her low white forehead and
falling in shower of ringlets over her
shoulders.
IL would have been hard to find love
lter picture than she was, in her pale
blue mOrniug-dress, with delicate lace At
the throat and wrists, as she leaned
against the broad window seat with the
sunlight flashing ON her hair.
No one except a brother cOuld have
found it In his heart to lecture her; but
then, brothers are always insensible to
their sisters charms
So Mr.. Harry Coleman went on as If he
had been a pedagogue chiding some de-
llnquent pupil:
"Do not get angry, Sis; you have done
something Tar more dangerous. To per-
mit Z stranger travelling with you tC be-
come aware of your name is worse than
a score of handkerchief and sidewalk
man@uvres. You can form absolutely no
idea of persons whom yOn- meet under
such circumstances. This man, who has
been so devoted to you, may march down
street i'm charge of policeman before to-
morrow morning. Even If he we're all
that he should be, he could not respect
you, after noting your heedlessnesE.
RcSllL, Nellie, IL is too bad you can't 20
down to " estham, "A paltry thirty miles,
without meeting some man who is so de
liChtfully attentive, and all that sort Of
thing. Nsu need not shake your head.
Listen now, and will check on on my
II will not, i will not!" said Nellie,
half laughing, half crying. "YOu know l
am not TO blame! Can L help being
prettys''
The last words came rather hesitating-
iy, and the speaker glanced up at her
brother from under her long lsshes as il
she expected to be laughed at.
Nonsense" replied Harry, laughing
in spite of himself; "pretty girls are as
plentiful as blackbirds-pientier, by far,
tlran either disnified or sensible ones.
Nellie pOuted, but said nothing.
''Once for all, " he went on, Il am your
guardian since you have not Il father TO
look after yOu, and you must promise me
that you will never do anything of the
~ II again otherwise | shall have to be
at the trouble of escOrting you where
sVer yoa NAV gO,'i and so saying, that
young mentor rose from the breakfast ta-
Bile, lighted = cigar, and prQceeced to
Wehd his way down 10 the office.
E !'HSY Unreasonable Harry can be when
he chooses - said Nellie to herself, turn
ing round on the WindOw-seat to watch
his retreating figure as it disappeared in
the crowd. What possible harm can
ever come to me from picking up chance
acQuaintanceS? None, am sure. 1t is
Edwards fault, believe; he dare not
lecture me himself, and so he has advised
Harry to do il. TiresOme fellow, if l were
only sure of his being to blame, would
net 20 down tonight when he called"
But Edward" had not had any part in
the chiding which the little lady had re-
crived. II had been wholly due to her
brothers wish to break her OF a habit
which he considered highly dangerous.
Now, Nellie Coleman was sweet and
bewitching in the extreme, but she was
romantic TO degree which Harry CON
sidcred absurd. Her pretty little head
was full of visions of novel heroes, and
dreams of romantic adventures. She
longsd for a lover who should be differ
cnt from the matter fact men whom
she encountered in society.
And how to find one the one with eX-
actly the right sort of mOustaChe, with
eyes just sad enough, and voice as melO-
diOus as her lovers voice must needs be?
There was no hope OF his emerging
from an office or counting g-room-suCh he
roes never grow in those placcs-he was
not likely To ride past her window, as did
the knights of old past fair ladies' bSlcO-
nieS, giving her 4 chance to smile upon
him. lie could nos be cOniurcd up from
the sea aS gallant lovers had risen in an
cient legends; no, if he were thus to arise,
one glance st the forlOrn dirtiness of VIZ
verify wharves would cause him To disap-
pear again.
Aud vet, come he must, provided he
came at all, through the medium of an
adventure. Hence il followed that Nell
lie, searching for her ideal, not in high
NAYS and hyways, but in rail-car and ON
steamboat, had made those sudden ac-
quaiutauceShips which so veXed her far
seeing and cautious brother.
So far she had not been succesSful-sey-
eral times she fancied that the Great I'm
known. who was 10 make her captive,
llad crossed her path but in a iittle while
She would find herself diseuchanted.
Ii the eyes were dark aud melting, the
tones were harsh; ii the voice were tmill-
ing, its owner rcjOiced not in a nous
tache of the proper description. But rs
he was only eighteen, she had not begun
to despair of the coming of her hero,
long before the first lise should be laid i'll
her rOse-tinted check. 4 month after
the conversation which | have narrated
above, Nellie Was waiting in the hall of
the Coleman mansion, arrayed in a very
becoming travelling dress, and barricaSed
in by trunks and KatchelS.
Harry, she called n little impatient
", will not Edward be latc-iS there rot
danger of our missing the train -
None whatever replied her brother,
through the half open parlor door ;''three
quarters of an hour yet. and only Uwcn-
ty minutes to the depot. | wish | could
go down with YOU myself, but this tooth
ache-i dare not let the wind Of heaven
blow roughly on my charming counte
nance this morning. Remember, Nellie,
no striking up acquaintance with Stran-
gers this time. | feel almost anxious
about letting you go alone, often as You
have before. If Uncle Willard were not
to meet you, should certainly have you
wait till l could go down with you next
week -
"And let me miss Iina's party? No,
iudeed?"
"WeH, you must 90, suppose, but give
me the promise ! have asked" " ne per
sisted.
Il promise" replied Nellie, hastily;
there is Edward now, - a. her brothers
partner came up to the steps. Goodbye,
Harry" giving him kiss, which made
Ar. Edward BriUtOn wish from the bot
tom Of his heart that he could be Harry
toOthache and all.
Half au hour later Nellie was leaning
back I'm her seat, making a survey of her
fellow passengers
\ good-natured-loOkiug woman in =
red dress. yellow shawl, and blue trimmed
bonnet four school girls behaving as ab-