Litchfield enquirer., 1876-03-02
ia saa@ From scriIner's Monthly. ] A4 ~
 THE OLD FoLKS' PARTY. ?

THE OLD FoLKssPARTT"q stAnd now what shall we do next Wed r nesday evening?n said Jessie Hyde in bbusfnesssiks tone. st'Itis your turn, Hen r. t0; suggest aa I4iaols aae.g sIt Jessie was q practical energetic young lady, Whose Blus eyes never relapsed into I the ateaminess to which that color is sub l ject,l- She furnished the go for the clnb b Especially, she furnished the so for Henr. l Long, who had lots of ideas, but withou her, to Stiff him up, was as dull as a fin
 without steel ataG --Ho3 aai -@%t<,6 i4 There were six in the club, and all wer, present tonight in Jessis's parlor. Th' I feyehing had been given to little music aslittle dancing, little card-playing, ant Ia good deal of talking. It was near thu hour set by the club rule for the adjourn I ment of it's reunions, and the party haG I drawn their chairs together to consult up I on the weekly recurring question, wha
 should be doue at the next meeting b, l way of special order of amusement. The programmes were alternately read ing, singing, dancing, whist; varied witt 1 evenings of miscellaneous speciality lik'
 that which had just passed. The mem bers took turns in suggesting recreations Tonight it was Henry Longs turn, and te him accordingly the eyes of the group turned at Jessie's question. Let's have an old. folks party" was hi answer. ..., ...-..., F. Considering that all of the club were | yet at ages when they celebrated theil
 birthdays with the figure printed on tn. cake, the suggestion seemed sufficiently irrelevant. ...... ......--.. ..
 "In that case,' said Frank Hayes, ''we
 shall have to stay at home."
 Frank was an alert little fellow, with z jannty air, to whom, by tacit consent, all
 the openings for jokes were left, as he had taste that way. e.. s..a.s .':-a. #
 "Wbat do you mean. Henry?" inquired George Townsley. a thick-set, sedate young man, with an intelligent, but rath. CT phlegmatic. look. -. .,....s.....
 My idea is this," said Henry, leaning back in his chair, with his hands clasped behind his head, and his long legs crossed before him. ''Let us dress up to resem- ble what we expect to look like fifty years hence. and study up our demeanor to cor respond with what we expect to be and feel like at that time. and just call on Ma " next Wednesday evening to talk over old times, and recall what we. can, if any, thing, of our vanished youth, and the days when we belonged to the social club at C."
 The others seemed rather puzzled in spite of the explanation. Jessie sat look ing at Henry in brown study as she trac- ed out his meaning.
 n'' You mean sort of ghost party,"' said she finally; ghosts of the future, instead of ghosts of the past.
 i'' That's it exactly" answered he. "Ghosts of the future are the only sort worth needing. Apparitions of things past are a very unpracticable sort of de- monology. Tn my opinion, compared with apparitiohs of things to come"
 t'.How in the world did such an odd Idea come into your head?" asked pretty Nellie Tyrrell, whose dancing black eyes were the most piquant of interrogation points, ~ith which 1t was so delightful to be lp1nctured, that people were generally slow to gratify her curiosity.
 9tI was beginning journal this after noon" said Henry, ''and the idea of Hen ry Long, setat. 70, looking over the leaves. and wondering about the youth who wrote them so long ago, came up to my mind" |"
 sHenry's suggestion had set them all thinking, and the vein was so unfamiliar that they did not at once find much to say. .......- George, ''tbat such an old folks party would afford a chance for some pretty careful study. and some rather good act ing ...s "A ...~s ..... r...
 Fifty years will make us all not far from seventy. What shall we|look like then, l wonder?" musingly asked Mary Fellows.
 She was the demurest, dreamiest of the three girls; the most of woman, and the least of talker. She had that poise and repose of manner which are necessary to make silence in company gruceful.
 "We may be sure of one thing. anyhow, and that is, that we shall not look and feel at all es we do now,' said Frank. II suppose" he added, eff, by gift of sec- ond sight, we could zee tonight, as if in glass. what we shall be at seventy, we should entirely fail to recognize ourselves, and should fall to disputing which was which, g@L
 "Yes, and We shall doubtless have changed a much in disposition as in ap- pearance," added Henry. 'Now, for one, I've no idea what sort of fellow my old man will turn out. I don't believe people can generally tell much better what sort of old people will grow out of them than what characters their, children will have. A little better perhaps. but not much. Just think how different sets of faculties and tastes develop and decay, come into prominence and retire, into the back ground, as the years pass. A trait scarce iy noticeable in youth hnges the whole man in age"
 s.What striking dramatic effects are lost because the drama of life is spun out so long instead of having the ends brought together" observed George. ''The spec tators lose the force of contrasts because they forget the first part of every role be- fore the latter part is reached. One fails in consequence to get realizing sense of the sublime inconsistencies of every life time" D sut :4- @ "a.
 That difficulty is what xe prop ,se, in a small way, to remedy next Wednesday night, replied Henry. ...... Mary professed some scruples. It was so queer, she thought it must be wrong. It was like tempting Providence to take for granted issues in His hands, and mas querade with uncreated things like their own yet unborn selves. But Frank re- minded her that the same objection would 
 should do next week.
 'Well, but, " offered Jessie, ''is it quite respectful to make sport of old folks, even if they are ourselves?" ..z.... .... ....g. .a
 My conscience is clear on that point, ; said Frank. a"It's the only way we catf get even with them for the adepreciating, contemptuous way in which they will al Jude to us oyer their snuff and tea, IS cal low and flghty youth. If indeed they deign to remember ps at all. which isn't
 likely"
 ''l'm, ali tangled up in my mind." said Nellie with an air of perplexity, between these old people you are talking about and ourselves. Which is which? It seems odd to talk of them in the. third person, and of ourselves in the first. Aren't they oprselves too?'
 :. ''H they are, then certainly we are not, ? replied Henry. ''You may take your
 The fact is, :" he added. as she looked still more puzzled, ''thers are half dog en of each oae dfus, or dozen if you pleases one in fact for each epoch of life. and each, slightly or almost wholly differ