The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1877-09-29
HOW cAME TO MARRY

$50 you want to know, Mena, now
Isuch rattle e-brained creature as l came
to get husband so dignitied, so every
Thing. In short, near perfection, and so
tdifferent from myseliH Not much of
story; 80 you needn't put on that self
satisfied look, and settle yourself back
so costly in your great armchair. al
WAYS feel like sticking needles into peo-
Iule's backs when l see the particular
look on their faces that yours wears this
very minute. Do stopP'
And before l could move, up few the
little witch and shook me till my teeth
chattered.
"There, WiIhelmina Martini" as she
gave me final settlement, "Pve shaken
that out of you; and now you look COM
Portable, and leel soV'
| And with lace flushed, and curls fly
ling, down sat Mrs. Frederick Bond, to
give me an account of her courJship and
marriage.
"You know, Mena, how was dragged
about from pillar to post every summer,
making living dust-heup Of myself,
converting my throat and lungs into
receptacle for all stray cinders and
smoke OF cars, and at the journeys end
lstowed away in some narrow hole
called room; and then the torture OF
dressing, and company, and flirting, and
leating. ., it was dreadful! 10 be sure,
the bathing was hlce. l enjoyed New
mort Tor that-the only thing in all our
summers touring that l really and
IueartiIy epjoye4. How hard Aunt Ma
son did Try to make me a belle!
and didn't l astonish her one fine
morning in June by telling her l was
going to Clayton Hills instead of the
usual route. i had the plan all made,
and was engaged then 10 teach the dis
ltrict school Tor 50 per week. No wonder
YOU stare; only don't look so much like
a grasshopper with those long arms
boxing out mat way. You didn't know
what ELtie Forester was about that
summer, did you? Well, it was all my
own notion. l thought 1t would be so
nice TO teach the young 1dea,' and all
that, you know. But, dear me, Mena,
theory and practice are two different
lLhinys; and while the schOol-housG
Hooked so romantic 1ve hunured miles
distant, and the children were SO sW eet
and cherublc, an! the spelling bOok
possessed attractions l never had dis
cerned in my younger days, the romance
laded out, and lett me in decided mai.
, ter-of-tact mood before the door Of the
little red shanty, and the rows of snubby
children in blue checked aprons
and bare feet. However,
4
more by saying l braVed it out and
taught my five months, and was made a
better glrl with that contact with the
worldly those walks III the solemn
woods among the grand old pines; by
but mercy, Mena! you needn't think Pm
going to be sentimental, Tor Pm not. l
had a nice boarding place with widow
and uer two little girls. was glad there
was no possibility Ot my having any one
to fllrt with. l was afraid L could not
reslst the temptation If l had, anu L was
I sternation when one morning at the
breakfast table l met Mir. Bond. He
= had come up to see his Aunt Mary.
What under the sun he wanted to see her
! for can't tell; for he hadn't honored
ner roof with his presence beneath 1t
Tor seven years; but there he was,
eating berries and cream as coolly as il
he owned The whole farm. Such dig
+ nifty! | was aWed by his bow, and felt
J like breathing iceberg when he ad-
ldressed me. Then reaction took
place; and action and reaction being
: equal in opposite directions'-as oul
natural philosophy used TO tell us
laughed in his face at remark he made
concerning the state Of The weather
u Sucn an astonished look as at frs
spread over his countenancel ending
4 with an amused look deep down in his
eve. and a slight quiver under the dark
Imustacne. l thought there was fun il
9 MN, | wasn't mistaken, either; but tol
: weeks | labored to get of the trigldity
: and dig down to where the warmth and
!, love of froliclay. In vain were my at
y tempts. Dignity forever seemed hit
: motto; and wearied out, fell to hoping
e something would happen to HIM, tC
t startle him out of that everlasting state
of Droprlety. L was in despair
V wished a rattlesnake would chase him
/ that he'd slip down in the aWlu
. mud they have in those regions, aud ge
1 lup covered with the yellow mixture
8 that he would burn his mouth with the
u hot coffee and drop the cup-making =;
I splurge in tAat way; anything, SO that
< could see him unbend; Tor hadn't h'
II come in and criticised my scuOOl, ant
found me puzzling my brains over hare
=, lexample in fractions? Hadn't l actual,
II been obliged to ask his help in one 0
those hard things in the back of th
= arithmetic, and hadn't my very bes
spelnng-class disgraced themselves ant
> me by tneIr atroclUus numbering Of the
= native tongue? There was a beautilu
= stream running through the village, an(
a in the center oil the river liLtle island
mot much larger than g0od-sizet
~ ulUlDg-DldLSS Win OuC luCSlul W1llOP
droup .ng its long branches 10 The water
1t was perfect little arbor, and my ia
l. yorite resort. A boat fastened to th
e shore was the only means OF Conveyance
t 10 the island.
II lone night was walking by the river
;, thinking of VIII Hale, my oldest boy
l. who had been raising particular Cain
that day-not a very refined comparison
: but expresses the idea perfectly, so
: please excuse it, dear. couldn't de
Q eide whether to give HIM asound thrash
J ing, to expel hIm from school, or to tr.
u once more the effect of moral suasion.
"Sinful nature and patience tried II
the utmost leaned decidedly to thu
iformer, while reason and telloW-teel
ling Tor the boy defended his case ably
= AsIwas sitting in judgment upon the
s case, and about to pronounce sentence
' | was startled to see my boat grandly
sailing down the stream, and looking ul
9 beheld Mr.. Bond on the island, leaning
J torlorn against the willow, and gazing
Z anxiously alter it.
8 "'Good' thought l; now you are in {
= scrape.'
"At the same time, seeing me, he ex
y claimed: Can you tell me now can &c
' off this conlounded placer
J Il laughed. l threw myself dowr
! !, upon the grass when could stand NJ
/