American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1876-01-22

, eyes of Flo was e6iately mirrored 1
those of Fred, and sigh from one bOsoI
) found an echo in that of the other. l
: short, they were human duet, sun
: sweetly in tune, and as such there was il
terest about them which might otherwis
, have been wanting.
They wished. on the present occasion
that one of them should succeed, but the
really did not care which; and Flo woul
have assisted Fred with the wealth
| sutton as willingly as Fred would hav
helped her sister to the prize. A love
was looked upon as quite secondary TO
! sister, and with the idea of marriag
always came the thought, "Of course N
one could separate u.s." If one was +
be a bride the other must be a perpetua
bridesmaid.
Mabel Heathcote, with her golden hail
was certainly more beautiful; and man
thought the second Miss Leighton a pre-
ty girl; while the grace and vivacity q
the elder sister gained her hosts of al
mirers and followers wherever she went
But still would bet upon the twins TO
the reasons above stated.
OF course the poor cousins were entire
ly out of the running. They had beel
sent to play with a vulgar curate, ant
" those two dreadful Miss What'stheir
names, who must be invited, )" on the yer,
|
much on the slope that their balls wer,
always running down the hill, and keep
ing them in hot water among themselve.
and with their more fortunate nefghbor:
| on the level ground below-and so they
| were disposed of.
Mr.. Smith was duly introduced to al
| the other members of the family, and il
he noticed the flutterings and bushes ant
charming embarrassment displayed by
some of the young ladies, and guessed
the cause, he had, at all events, the mod
esty and good manners to 4" bear his honors
meekly."
Except the set on the slope in the cor
ner croquet came to a standstill. On pre-.
tense of arranging how to bring the new
conner into the game the question really
was who should appropriate him. In
vain he pleaded little knowledge and less
skill, natural enough in one who had
been so long abroad; offers of tuition
were made on all sides and he was soon
| the center of a perfect rainbow of gay and
gorgeous garments. The handsome twins
| in pale pink dresses, made exactly alike,
one looking like the reflection of the
other in a mirror, gazed upon him with
dark, admiring eyes. Miss Heathcote,
in the brilliant blue, which she knew
contrasted so well with her golden tress-
es, was foremost with offers of advice and
assistance, enforced by glances from eyes
of the brightest sapphire; while the lovely
Leightons, all robed in white, like so
many fair brides, were close at hand
biding their time, which soon came by
the skillful generalship of their mamma,
who, playfully assuming some authority
as mistress of the house, decided that, as
Caroline was playing two balls" he
should fill up the vacant place in that
set for the present. The others were
obliged, however unwillingly, to submit,
but without, as may be believed, losing
sight of their object on account of this
temporary check.
OF course, from the family circle, the
poor cousins in washed-out piques were
excluded by the family in their actions.
They continued, however, to amuse them
selves as well as the nature of the ground
to which they were exiled would allow
did not quarrel more than is usual at
croquet; had even merry little Jokes
among themselves when the balls ratified
away in the direction of the lake, and
showed great activity and pretty ankles in
ankles and pleasant smiles when displayed
by girls who were so badly dressed, were
known to be miserably poor and to in
habit some vulgar suburb of London
Girls, it was even whispered, who gave
lessons in music when they could get pu-
pills, rather than be too much beholden to
their kind uncle, who certainly, had he
known it, would have prevented their SUBJ
hitting to such drudgery. One of them
was even suspected-oh, horror!-of be-
ing engaged to some man who was an
usher, or tutor, or clerk of some kind-or
at all events to some one who, like Hora-
ito, had nothing but his good spirits to
feed and clothe him." Could anything
be more utterly deurayed
In the meantime the groups on the lawn
were very gay and animated. The set that
possessed the heir were of course in the
highest spirits, while the others, looking
forward to his joining them later, watched
all that went on, envious, yet hopeful. He
conducted himself discreetly, taking all
the homage as his due, and returning it
in compliments and polite attentions. He
certainly did not distinguish himself in
the game; but what of that?-croquet
was, for the time, q mere pretense of loi-
tering about, and giving each fair candi-
date an opportunity of displaying her pet
airs and graces.
Thus far, then, he had no chance of
showing any preferences and exciting
jealous and angry feelings, and the guests
in general agreed that never had a nicer
party been given at the house, and never
had the young ladies of the family been
In the midst &Y all this excitement an
incident occurred which pointedly exhib-
tied the modern idea of hospitality, in the
different welcome accorded to fortunes
favOrites and those less honOred with her
smiles. A second time servant came
out to tell Mrs. Leighton that gentleman
had arrived and was waiting in the libra
ry, having walked up from the station.
Mrs. Leighton exchanged few words
w igan
returning shortly with a quiet looking
young man, whose appearance was not
improved by the dust of the high-road,
which covered his unpretending costume.
Various signals were made among the
ladies as she came out and passed among
the different groups and slightly saying
that she found this gentleman was crO-
quet- player, and the Sc: on the bank was
less full, she led him at once TO the party
of the poor cousins, and there left him TO
make his way as b. st he could. What bet
and, after all, it was not such a bad fate
either. Those amiable girls, feeling for
the slight he had suffered, Immediately
did all they could to make up to him for it.
One of the ladies of the party having COM
planned of fatigue, they decided on begin
ming a new game, with The stranger to re-
place her, while she repOsed and neither
sister showed that she thought herself de-
graded by being for an hour the partner
of lawyers clerk, and a very dusty one
into the bargain. He apologized for his
deshabille, saying he was not aware there
was a party; and the ladies were shortly
rewarded for their condescension, if con-
descensiOn it was, for not only it appeared
that the newcomer was a first rate play
er, soon turning the scale of victory on
his side, but better still, on hearing his