The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1877-06-11
ONE AUNT TOO MARY.


twelve sistersl
AS am closely occupied by business,
and have very imperfectly developed
social nature, it is not very strange that
know ouIy some dozen or two Of my
nearest kith and kin.
Indeed, l have two brothers whom l
have never seen, and three sisters wnOm
l hardly know by sight! Perhaps l am
more acquitted with my grandmother,
on my mothers side, than with halt OF
my other relatives, Tor | often visited
the old lady, when was school-boy,
and have met her occasionally since,
which is more than l can say OF many OF
the others. SO much for my family.
1t was on dark, dreary, dull, damp,
dirty, dismal day in November, that L
lett my office to 20 home to dinner, IA
about 4 O'Clock, and walked up Broad
way, specializing on the possibility OF
collecting some money from a slippery
debtor.
AS l meditated thus, l naturally al
lowed my eyes to rest upon the pave
ment at short distance ahead, and
thought but little aboutWhat | saw with
the external organs of vision. AS l
neared Canal street, however, some
Thing which came within the range OF
my sight attracted little more alten-
tion than had bestowed upon the hag-
stones.
The obJect-or rather, .objects-whlch
aWoke me from my financial revere,
were two small brown CATERS, long, nar-
row, close-titting, high-heeled, and
daintIly handled-il one may use the ex-
pressIon-by their wearer. Above their
tops were plainly visible a pair OF slim
and elegantly-turned ankles, encased III
smo 10Th fl Cting white stockings, making
| altogether about as nice "runnlng-
gear'' as ever carried pretty woman
up Broadway.
| Mentally blessing the wet weather
which had led TO the exhibition OF such
charms, l allowed myself to take an OBJ
serVation on the figure that surmounted
the ankles and CATERS, and 70 make
various conjectures as TO what sort OF
a face she might have-for her back was
| towards me.
The figure was little, light, airy one,
with slim walst-all in black-Nith a
little Grape bonnet, like a rose, just
stuck on the back Of the head, allowing
IA glimpse of the soft brown hair, too
| protuse and wavy 10 be confined III such
| a tiny heau-dress.
| A light mantle of black lace, falling
below the waist, gave flowing outline
TO this Jaunly liCtle iguse, but was not
Opaque enough to conceal the slender
| form, in its black velvet basque, with
the two cunning little buttons behind
and the TWO cunning little pockets at
the sides,
But-Lhunder! If 60 on at this rate
you Will think l am Il nan-milliner, or al
least dry-goods clerk-wnich l swear
l am not.
l followed on behind the girl in black
for block or two, admirlng the pert,
piquant swing of her draperies and the
prIok "tap-tap, tal-tap," OF the LITTLE
gaiter heels, and now aud then enueaV-
oring to pass her, SO that l could see
the race, which, l felt sure, must, OF u
necessity, be in keeping with the form.
The density of the crowd. however, pre-
vented me from catching up with her
until | got to BrOome street, when a
smart shower came on, and l found my
umbrella exceedingly convenient.
| The young lady stopped under an
awning, and l saw her cast an i'm pl oring
glance at the sky, which was covered
with a smooth, unbroken, lead color, in.
dicative OF a long ram. The omnibuses
were all iull to oVeihowing, and not u
carriage was to be seen. AS ap
proacned l had a good chance to see the
lace | mad speculaJed about. 1t was q
l
small mouth, and expressive browl
eyes. Not beautiful lace-lar from q
divine" or GLORIOUS" lace-not even
as Aldrich hasit:
ga star-sweet face, with clouds OF hair;"
but just good, sensible, jolly little lace
quite refreshing TO look at, to think OF
W write about, or, perhaps, TO kiss
once.
7 nff ,,rri l.,
the odd glance OF recognition that 81
often flashes back anu forth between
strangers who rather like each others
faces, noticed 'tnat the young lady's
vail mad parted company with the little
bonnet, and was lying on the pavement
dangerously near the galter heels Oh
one side, and a puddle GU the other.
With that native gallantry that has al.
ways distinguished me-Lnat is, in TACT
u family trait stepped back, pickeC
up the vail, ana presented it with a.
cnoice bow and smile as l could mus
ter.
At the same moment the rain in
creased to fearful shower, and l coulC
do no less than offer TO hail an omuibu.
for the lady, although l knew perfectly
we'll that there wouldn't De VacanI
seat in one for some lime TO come.
| ~ uuuh SOu3 OIL 5dlu IuG uymDQ, =
want Madison-aVenue and Forty
second-street stage, but PIN afraid .
can not ind room III one"
l watched the next three that passed
but they were luli, and had an uufortu
nate business man or two hanging ou
, of the door, getting very Wet, and try
: ing to imagine that he was having
dimes worth OF locomoion.
The rain slackened, and | began to fee
: interested; tor we had, in the meantime
quite a conversation, and although il
was about nothing but the weather,
liked my little companions vo.ce, ant
her style OF speaking. Therefore, said
in polite, and, l tiatter myself, highl,
respectable manner, that if she would
: delgn to accept share of my umbrella
| should be delighted, etc. Which Ctfer
after some little hesitation, she accept
ed, and off we started together.
The further we walked, and the more
talk we had, the better | liked her, 81
that by the time we arrived at Twenty
fourth street discovered that she wa.
, refined, educated, good-natured, kind
ly girl, with no nonsense about her. LII
/ brief, liked her pretty we'll.
f Three days after this 1 entered Mis-,
I Paulina Iphigenie Carlington's boudoi
|