The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1877-03-24

Kitty did not care for this, however.
She was watching out of the corners of
her bright eyes, and with CLEAN of
wicked satisfaction, the forlorn face of
Jack Burroughs; and she accepted Cyrus,
with his plural subjects and singular
verbs, as a necessary adjunct to the in
Fiction of her righteous punishment.
When the hour for going home arrived,
Kitty, bundled in shawls and furs, took
her seat by Jacks side in the cutter, but
said never word.
perhaps you would have preferred
Cyrus Phelps company to mine" re-
marked the young man, when they had
ridden a mile without speaking.
"And no doubt you would be very
much happier if Helen Clapp was sit
ting at your side" rejoined Kitty.
"Glang!" said Jack, touching the
TANKS of his horse with the whip.
That was the first instance on record
where Jack Burroughs had sought to get
over ground rapidly with Kitty Gibson
in the cutter at his side, and the stars
twinkling overhead
When the sleigh drew up in front of
Uncle Randolph's gate, Jack, holding
the reins in one hand, helped Kitty TO
alight His face was very stern and
grave.
Goodnight" said he. And with
gagement, Jack drove off without kiss
ing the red lips which he had right to
kiss.
If the red lips pouted, or possibly
quivered, there was no one present to
see. And if the owner of those red lips,
so cruelty neglected, cried herself to
sleep that night, Jack Burroughs was
profoundly ignorant of the fact.
This, then, was the little seed which
had grown into tree of misery mustard
like in proportion.
On the very next day Kitty had writ
ten note to Jack, beginning {" MIR. Bur
roughs, requesting the immediate return
of her letters and picture, and signed:
" Respectfully yours, Kate Gibson"
When lovers fall into such strait-laced
Iormalities of expression as these, what
is to be expected? Jack sent back the
letters and picture; and from the mo-
ment Of their receipt Kitty began to
mediate upon the simplest and most
agreeable method of suicide. Her co9i-
tations eliminated, as we have seen, in
a final resolve to throw herself into the
Connecticut River-just as soon as the
ice melted.
Had Uncle Randolph been man quick
to detect the exterior evidences of a
ri or Of
ment, he must surely have seen that some
thing was wrong with Kitty. As it was,
however, Uncle Randolph was not quick
to detect anything, except, perhaps,
opinions differing from his own. A man
of political, religious, social, or moral
beliefs antagonistc in any way of
Uncle Randolph was held by the latter
to be rascal Uncle Randolph held
it to be a truth as self-evident as
any of those set forth in the Declaration
of Independence that a man who sup
ported Thisism and not Thatism was
knave And yet Uncle Randolph was
very good man at heart, as was abundant
ly shown by his acts. He talked like
terrible bigot, yet he did all things in
spirit of broad cathoicity. He had de-
nOunced the unfortunate father of Kitty
Gibson as worthless scamp Chiefly be-
cause he was a Thisist), and yet, when
this worthless scamp came to die, he
took Kitty to his own home, and cared
for her as tenderly as though she had
been his child. Besides himself and his
pretty niece, Uncle Randolph's house
hold included his maiden sister Martha,
his aunt, whose memory stretched back
through the mists of eighty years, and
Tom Turner, distant twig of the fam
lily trunk, who never troubled himself to
find out why it was that he came to be
numbered among the family. Uncle
Randolph devoted himself chiefly to pro-
tracted and heated discussions in Hiram
Griswold's store; old Aunt Charity spent
all her time in knitting; Miss Martha
kept her mind fixed upon the household
duties; while Tom Turner's mind, such
as it was, drew nourishment principally
from the fiction. writers. Thus severally
occupied, none of the members of the
family had found time to discover that
Kitty's heart was broken. 1t was known,
in vague sort Of way, that the young
lduy udu qudIIcltu VIII utI IONcT, anu
that Jack Burroughs had not visited the
house for month; but then young ladies
were always quarreling with their lovers,
and no doubt Jack would turn up again
in good time. Taking this sensible view
of the matter, Uncle Randolph continued
his discussions, Miss Martha her scrub
bing, Aunt Charity her knitting and Tom
Turner his regular doses of peppery
literature. And it is to be added that
even Kitty herself, influenced, no doubt,
by the course of those about her, fol
lowed very closely in the accustomed
grooves of life, and ate her three meals
a day with tolerable relish. Yet she had
fully made up her mind to die.
Like all well-conducted heroines who
drown themselves, Kitty determined to
leave behind her touching little letter,
wherein forgiveness should be extended
to ali her enemies, and an appeal made
to her friends not to mourn her loss.
" / will write that letter now" thought
she to herself, pouring the water into the
tea-kettle.
And thereupon, as proper prelimina'
ry to all epistolary effort, Kitty brought
out the dictionary, sheet of paper and
a lead-pencil, and sat down to bid the
| world a final farewell Tho date vvoc