Mexico weekly ledger., 1876-11-09
was rather ungallant to ask her to come

" 60 &tbS
to him, it was equally undigniied to go
to her; however, he went presently and
sat down inthe seat just in front of her,
facing, and leaning n arm upon her
desk.
"Miss Georgia." he began, 81 am
disappointed in you"
ain mel" looking up archly. 81
handn't promised any thing, that I'm
AWARE
SCI wish you would be serious, Miss
JONES'" he pursued. 81 assure you
this seems to me a matter OF too much
Importance to admit of trifing. /
could not believe that goa would stoop
to such devices and deceits! Don't you
see how you wound, how you disappoint
me? How hard it goes with n who
has formed an ideal, and" he paused
in his eloquence; Miss Jones was re-
garding him with an air of surprise;
he blushed and stumbled in his speech
-" and-and-I don't know what I
was about to say; however, I hope you
are sorry, Miss Georgie!"
"I am dreadfully sorry to lose my
tea; we were going to have hot mullins.
Aren't you hungry, Mr.. Reed?"
"You don't mean to say that you are
not sorry?" he flashed. alt can not be
possible that you have so little regard
for truth, yow in whom I have believed,
with whom | would have trusted every
thing and any thing, yoW whom I
love-" He paused again, COMPOUNDED
by his own words, which seemed to
have slipped from his lips unbidden.
"Mr. Reed, did you keep me after
school to listen to a proposalP" she
asked, rising quite angrily. "It is
something quite unusual"
81 did not intendit believe nae, Miss
Jones. Pardon me; but out of the full
ness of the heart the mouth speaketh-
I must have been thinking aloud. If
you have found out nay secret, | dare
say you are none the happier for it,"
81 suppose l may be dismissed if you
have nothing more to sayP" There
standing in her eyes.
"You may be dismissed. / have said
too much; you have been terribly nom
cOmmittal." He held out his hand, but
she did not choose to see it, or the dusk
prevented. The stars were coming out
in the evening sky, scents of wild rose
and sweet-fern were blowing in through
the open windows, and a bell was toll
ing softly in some remote church tower.
"s5hall I walk home with you, Miss
Jones?" he asked, as he locked the
school house door; "you have quite a
walk over a lonely road"
"You might have thought of that
earlier. | am not afraid, thank you. l
know every rock between here and the
farm" she answered. as he held the
gate open for her to pass. Mr.. Reeds
emotions were not Of an enyiable nature
as he walked home alone that evening;
he had proposed to that little witch,
whom he found it impossible to hate,
and she had rebuked him. A pretty
affair between teacher and pupil, verify!
How pleasant it would be to open school
next day, with each young lady ready
to touch his wound with the scalpel of
her ridicule, and Miss George more
audacious than ever! But Miss George
did not present herself, and the mis-
chief of the others seemed to proceed
lamely without her. Nh. Reed thanked
Heaven that it was a half-hOliday, ard
instead of going home to dinner like a
sensible man-though what lover ever
is sensible, for the matter of that?-he
struck out for the woods and the river,
a long tramp in the burning sun, and
being exhausted on his walk homeward,
he threw himself down in the shade of
some wild blossomihg shrubs and fell
asleep. He was awakened by the
sound OF voices. We're the leaves talk
ingP Was the wind syllabling familiar
wordsp
"Georgie had a headache this morn
ing when I called for her; lectures
don't agree with her digestion" All
at once he sat upright. Il was Miss
Kew who was speaking, and he could
see her and half a dozen others through
the openings among the boughs, weav-
ing oak leaves and gossiping idly.
"Poor Mr. Reed looked like a ghost
this mornings broken reed, indeed!
l guess he found that George belonged
to a stiff-necked generation"
81 wonder what they talked about.
Do you suppose she promised better
behavior?"
"Maybe she promised for better or
worse"
"Pshaw!" put in Miss Kew: "I
asked her If he said any thing tender,
and she said, 'Tender! isa bear ten
derp'"
"He hugs!"
"I've told her that he was dead in
love many's the time" continued Miss
Kew, sand meant to marry her some
day, with all her imperfections on her
head"
81 dare say she wouldn't say no."
"Indeed, you needn't dare say any
thing of the sort. George Jones is
above marrying a poor pedagogue."
"She's poor herself. Her uncle's
only a farmer, and she's got to teach"
but a beauty like George doesn't
need to jump out of the frying-pan into
the fire. What sort of q. match would
Mr.. Reed bep"
GA l%ueifer, I guess"
Surely listeners never hear any good
of themselves, thought MIR. Reed, as he
picked up his hat and strolled quietly
screamed nv the friend1v leaveS