The Centre reporter. [volume] (Centre Hall, Pa.) 1871-1940, 1877-03-01
A SLEIGH BELLE.

AA@AANAANA Ah%1NAA NAt4kAA tA4A>A4E7l llCIfkA'
up 60 Harold Browns door. and at tina
moment ishe was the soul OF punctilality
ont came Harold Browns only sister,
little woman wrapped in Shawls IN,
wells and wOrsted things from heal {.
foot
Come along, sis, he shouts: am
then, without waiting for her " to CONE
along. he jumps from the sleigh. reache;
the top OF the stoop in three strides-he':
q tall, broad shouliered. dark skinned
blue eyed young fellow-catches her III
IN his arms us though she were only 1
bundle, and IN the twinking of an ey,
she ls snugly slowed away among the
buffalo robes.
Crack goes the whip. "GlanE. Ned =
cries Harold Ned tosses his head
and paws the ground an instant to get the
sleigh bells ringing properly, and of they
GO.
g Are yuu warm p asks Harold of the
bundle ct his side
Almost smothered," answers the
bundle, IN an inlistinct voice with a slight
hsp
That's right, my darling, saws the
brother, who alores his pretty young
sister-the only one left him of four.
should tear my hair in Wild despair
II You caught cold. Mind you don't. for
II you but sneeze once, be it the tiniest
sneeZe that ever was. home Won 60.
Never fear, Har, reioins the obedi-
ent small woman. promise, upon
my word and honor, not to sneeze. III
choke first All here we are. she con-
tlnues, rs they turn into Fifth avenue
and take their place a. the end Of line
OF sleighs, big and little. the largest of
which stands Unoccupied before the hand
some and brilliantly lighted house Of
Albert Lee, merchant and millionaire
" Yes, and here are all the rest, =" saws
Harold, adding, with a slight infection
of scorn, : excepting the Lee people.
Cf course its the Princess Alberta who is
keeping Us all waiting forgetting, in
the most manhke manner, that he had
only that moment arrived himself. "She
never was ready when she was a little
glrl, and l suppose she hasn't reformed
Ill that particular, now she's big one. 4"
Big !! repeats the voice from the
muthers, why, she isn't bit nrger
than I am "
" Wen, she's a year older. anyhow,
and ought - know better. replies Har-
old; " but haven't the sliehtest doubt
sae's stopping to tiirt with some one, or
two, or hall a dozen Of her numerous ad-
mIrers, utterly regardless Of the fact that
that is, y0u-to say nothing Of forty
or fifty others, more or less intimate
friends, are freezing outside Dan Van
Rensselaer, is buttoning on her gloves.
or VIII West is fastening the straps Of
her ove-shoes, or some confounded non
sense or other. Cora, it's my opinion
that girl fiirted IN her cradle, made faces
at her old loves, and smiled on the new.
Alberta !--and she won't let any one
soften it TO Bsrta, he went on, ap-
parently warming with his subject
" what q ridiculous name for such n mite
for mite she is, and mite she viii con-
tlnue to be, for all her scornful looks and
naughty ways -
"Oh, Harold :" ezclaims the yelled
voice, with as much Indignation as is
possible under the circumstances. How
unjust you are She's not naughty
she's not scornful-she's lovely She
came to me herself yesterday afternoon
and happen to know all the others
hal written invitations-aud begged we
would JOIN her sleighing party. It's to
be real old fashioned affair, she said
and want my real old fashioned friends
TO come. >"
Extremely condescending, interpo-
lates Harold.
And as for her name, she had nothing
TO say about that, as you, If you have one
gram OF common sense, must be aware
no more than You did about yours.
And she'd rather be called BERTHE, a
great deal; only her papa insists upon
Alberta, and consequently, like a good
daughter, she insists upon alberta too.
he wanted boy when she was born, 10
be called Albert that's mis- own name,
you know and when a girl came instead,
he said no girl should interfere with his
plans, and he named her Alberta, which
is almost the same thing. And it's Just
as well he did, for he never had another
child, girl or boy"
" Pity the boy hadn't come, " grumbles
Harold.
g For shame, brother - exclaims the
little woman, partly unfolding the veil
that hides her dimpled chin and rosy
mouth, that she may speak with greater
effect How can you wish that there
was great stupid young man instead of
that dear sweet girl ? for she is dear
sweet girl, though you, | can't for the
life of me see why-neither can Fred
choose to be angry with her. +"
81 didn't wish for a great stupid
young man in her place, explains Har-
old, with a short laugh That he
would necessarily have been great and
stupid only feminine logic can prove; its
beyond me. But if ALBERT had come
first, and Alberta, by some other name.
second, she wouldn't have been an only
child, as she is now, petted and indulged
in every whim and fancy, until she imag-
ines herself queen and all the world
her slaves.
:" You said a princess O few moments
ago, says Cora, demurely.
"And perhaps she wouldn't be smiling
on that grinning idiot, Dan Van Rens-
selaer-they say she's going to marry
him, his fortune equaling her own, and
his great-great-great-great-grandfather
having been one of the very first Dutch
men that landed on these shores-and
turning away from the fellow she has
known from her infancy, and who has
Whoa, Ned, keep still / Why the deuce