The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1876-09-21
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ip age which, the soaE9 hf his name. "A 0
musical car, would cali up in the mind.
For John should be strong, and quiet,
aud true, and grave, and John Holt was
all of t1eses. HE, akin, was fsirapd bis
eyes biue, but Che hair, which had been
tow cplored in his childhood, had doep-
ENID to brown. Ordinary porsons would
call him good looking, rather than hand
come, but close observer would pro-
nounce hisiprofile peffees, and his mouth
and chin models of firm end symmetrical
chiseiiDg. The bfowS were straight and
strong, though smooth, and his not very
high forehead was broad and, Open.
John Holt'ss chaTacteristics were a
womanish gentleness, a. most n,arvelous
and Gbsurd honesty, land patience
which, to them, looked Gully too much
like coYsrdice.. II, mis- family John was
called q great fool. sN'''f'
johns father had died when the lad
was but ten years old. iaad let bis wife TO
bring up her family Of five children and
8 munagel theH farm. She was parfectly
capable Of doing it, and even vary bust.
ness men were on .their, guard when max
ing bargain with the sharp Yankee
Inatron. Four Of her children followed
In her footsteps. and knew perfectly well
which was the best end of the bargain !;
but John--well, il he was fool it was
not because she had not warned an,
talked to. him.
John did not grow wiser rs lie grew
Older, and took upon himself the cares OF
lie. sas.s.. Holt had large and valuable
farm JUST ON the bcrdefS tf the town!
Streets had crept gradually about hes
fiel9s ,rTRnd. saFroufIded thqm1 on fisree
sides oufthc fourth woodiantis stretched
back toward the east. Why she should
give the control Of this place TO John, in
stead Of one Of mis- sharper brothers, was
n puzzle eve'I to her own mind The
only reason she could give was that John
was steady and quiet, and more likely to
remain home than the others were. But
she confessed 20 herself to be in eonti1ualI
tribule.;on with him. ~
my DEAR" she said, to crony, "you
knew that fifty cords of wood we had.
good beech, birch and maple, with not
more than twenty sticks Of spruce
through the whole! Well, John must
mention that stoveful Of spruce, and 40
lose five dollars ON the bargain. l never
did see such fool, Then he wanted to
hurry off our potatoes last fall for fear Of
rot. told John particularly not to own
to s speck; but, If you will be.;e=o it,
"hen Thurlow care to buy them, and
asked if we had seen any signs Of rot,
that pinny said: i'Ycs, a little though 1
vow don't believe there were six spots
larger than the head of pin in the
whole lot. l don't know where this fell
low got his shiftlessiIess. I'm sure
could always make bargain"
John took all this very quietly, as we
haYe. said, He knew that though his
mother You'll say much thipgs;toj Others,
shc would by no means have allowed any
one TO cay them to her. But one thing
he could not bear was that Nellie Cramer
should talk III the same way. Nellie
seemed to delight in tormensing him.
She would follow him into the gardens
and fields, hang on his arm with her
cmrls blowing acrnsg his breast, locking
up smiling and chatting into hia face, go
soft and sweet as kitten then sudden
ly, if ne chanced to press those wander
ing curls against his breast, or to bend
too near herio7ely upthrned face, or to
breathea n Yqrds sSof tepdqrnesS co@ she
went With q toss of the head and a curl
of the lip, and as likely as not, some such
speech as: "I do wish you would not be
80 foolish, John Holtps iHIr '
He never got angry with her. How
could he2 But sometimes shadow
would drop over his face, and he wouldn't
nave much TO say TO her Tor e time.
Then, when she, went to- him with her
coaxing ways; and laid her li.sl6 hand on
his arm, Whispering:
Now, don't be vexed, John; like
yoa SO much, but ! don't want ynu TO
talk NONSENSE" he would look dowr. and
smile, though not very brightly, and
promise TO try to avoid nonsense .or tho
sutn5e, ap, ending his psoH promise .l with pigh.
"lt makes MO isissI niSiaaeEoly To near
you, One would think he'd done some-
thing dreadful to you," 'ta
Then John Holt would smile am.
still less brightly, and promise to cry not
to sigh any more. og
Such little scenes as this were mere
asides, however, Nellie usually paid
but little attention to John, being chiefly
occupied in dancing, flirting, and quar-
reling with his more ahowy brother
Frank, Or with any other gay fellow who
was so unfortunate as To be taken viii
her pretty face. For Nellie. VIA an in
corrigibiei AiFt. {. Il, was only S'bsn she
had no one else To talk 20, or waited to
pique some other lover, or when She
wanted some real service, that she went
to John, who was sometimes pleased aud
sometime. hurt that ah6 came to hiL1
only when ahe wanted help or advice.
"You are sort Of grandfather, you
know" she said ono day, giving his arm
O Iq1f Ut 6aye ah idea thst y6lt ars
about seventy-fiye years old. How old
are YOU, John ~
81 am jrst one,third of that" he said,
smiling; u am only month past
tWeEty7iira."
"Poasible Well, you munt have been
very old when you were born. Bealdes,
twenty-five 10 old 70 me. ] am only nine
teen. Nov, you come and hear my story
and tell me what TO do I came over
here on PURPOSE to see tyou," 0Eryir
John followed her obedleItly through
the garden, aud down % aJbench urider
the shadow of the beech grove on the
lawn; and when che took her seat thefe
he leaned against the trunk Of o tree and
waited, looking dnWn on her. ail'..sl
You sea, John, = she begun, tI've had
an offer.s sIsi' 3IR%fFi GYvtf
John Holt was tanned that summer
but through the BROWNIES one might
have seep 81 fAins blush spn 0sS his. ace.
Neflis didn't see It, For shet Was asi looking
down and rolling her apron tasseis, 3
very Bright color in her own face.t 2
There was q moments ssieIee, after
this announcement, and sseirg that be,
was expected TO say sonlefhiLy, John
said, aYss.' +; fa o,fs. tl
Nellie gave her shoulders ala impatiepS
shrup and looked rr, uTt,s a varx. <kAs1 h