Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1876-12-28
ILouIlnuea from nr,i pasr.I

ILoutinueo from nrst paSr.l
death that we scarcely knew when the
end came.
After that our lives grew more quiet,
more mono,onous still. for we missed our
child-like invalid greatly and felt sad loss
of occupation when there was no longer
any need OF all the little attentions he had
demanded at our hands, and we had pos
itively forgotten what work meant, when
Just at the end of our two years OF mourn
ing. great excitement came, for Prls-
ella received letter from a cousin OF
ours, with whom we had for years kept
up desultory correspondence, saying she
had been advised to take her son to Men
toHe for the benefit of his health, and
well there is no use to repeat her pream-
ble--would we have her daughter TO stay
with us whilst she was away from En-
glandp
That day, at least, we found more than
enough 10 talk abodt. Should we or
should we not grant Mrs. Meadows re-
questp And, supposng we did grant it,
what could we or what should we do with
Kitty Meadows?
Why, the very name had an alarming
sound to our old-fashioned ears. If it had
been Katharine or Kate we should not so
much have minded; but Kitty We were
aghast at the ideal We could scarcely ex-
pect that Kitty would command any re-
spect from our prim, methodical servants !;
and such vision as we conJured up
would indeed have been firebrand in any
peaceful household.
Mercy. as usual, took the self denying
view OF the case, saying in her gentle
way:
Perhaps we had better think it over,
sister Priscilla, before replying 10 cousin
Margaret's letter. There is plenty of room
at the Hawthorns for visitor, aud if 1t
would be doing any one kindness. -"
81 am sure | would be the last one to
object" interrupted Priscilla. eff it were a
child or an old person-but Kitty is nine.
teen.n
"A very awkward age" remarked
at which Mercy sighed, whilst Priscilla
elevated her eyebrows, and felt that /
had better retire from the discussion; so
listened meekly whilst Mercy described
how pretty Kitty had looked when she had
last seen her, child ten years old.
But kitty's possible beauty was evident
1y no recommendation in Priscilla's eyes.
Still, when the matter came TO be decided
Mercy's opinion, as l had foreseen from
the first, was the one to be acted upon
and in due course of time our visitor ar
rived.
think the day she came was one of the
brightest of my life. We had sent our old
housekeeper up to London to fetch her,
and carriage 10 the railway station to
meet the train by which they were to
come; and when from the drawing-room
window we three women saw the carriage
coming up the road-wel we telt that the
future peace of our lives depended upon
what it might contain.
OF course Priscila-who is really one
of the best creatures in the world, her
only, fault il indeed it can be called fault
being too rigid an attention to the propri-
cites of existence-had arranged Kitty's
reception and, according to that pro-
gramme, Priscilla was 10 receive our Wis
itor in the drawing-room, with few
words of stately welcome, which Mercy
and | were to echo after the fashion of a
chorus in a Greek play. But it could not
be. Such a reception seemed to be enough
to brighten any girl so directly the car
riage came in sight. ran down to the
garden gate. whilst Mercy followed me as
far as the hall door.
as eho EatS NhO Noi StVHRcd- ioi IL
was only in bad weather that we allowed
the gravel OF our carriage drive to be cut
up with wheels-and then Kitty jumps
lightly out, and all the doubts had ielt
as to the propriety of the course we had
adopted in asking her to the Hawthorns
vanished, for at the first glance caught
OF her fell head over ears in love with
Kitty Meadows. But in spite of that.
could find nothing better to say than,
Welcome, my dear !" as gave her lit
tie hug, which she returned with interest /;
and then. lifting her big brown eyes to
my face--for she was fully half head
shorter than l--she said merrily:
"Thahk you, Aunt Hetty. You see |
know you are Aunt Hetty, for remem-
bered your pretty, wavy hair. think
should be quite happy if mine would Gre
pir like that; but it will go in such great
waves
Continued tomorrow.