Mexico weekly ledger., 1877-03-08
A FAIRY TOOTH.

"Pretty little woman that yonder, in
the crimson silk and myrtle leaves.
No, not exactly pretty, now that l look
at her again, but what my small
nieces would Call cunning Don't you
think SOP"
"Ethink her both pretty and cum
ning,nn :. answered Robert Douglass, s'and
have thought so ever since l first met
her, which was exactly one year and
tllresdsys ago., A O'Clock this very after
noon.n .
"She's a friend of yours, them"
"I hope so. She's my wife"
For a moment George Earle was
slightly discounted; then turning to
his old comrade and grasping him
heartily by the hand, he said,
"Let mt congratulate you, my dear
fellow. Have just arrived from the
other end of the world, l haven't had
time to hear the news. / know you
intended neutrality-suspicious. bit of in
formation fioated as far as Japan-and
I expected to meet you and your ftncee
here at your cousins this evening; but
somehow it never struck me that 0
were married. nor that that young
lady"
WA the fancee," laughed Doug
lass. "She does look rather youthful,
but in reality she is two-and-twenty; so.
you see, there's only ten years differ
ence in our ages, after ALL"
"But l thought-in fact, Warren
wrote me a little over a year ago." said
Earle, with some hesitation, /" that you
we're engaged to Constance Howard"
"AlmOst, but not quite, thank Heav-
en-! for she was Constance only in
name, and threw me over for a French
Count, who turned out to be a French
nobody. However, my heart withstood
strain and only cracked-it didn't
,sDreak; and at this present moment l
feel that instead of owing her d grudge,
/ owe her a good turn, which 1 shall
pay with interest if ever l get the OPP
portunity; for it was through her in
directly, and a tooth directly, that I
became acquainted with the little
woman in crimson silk and myrtle
leaves"
ga too$h?"
eyes, sir, q tooth. But l see you'd
like to hear all about it, and as | am
good natured to a fault, and don't care
about dancirg, I'll consent to CRAFTY
your curiosity, although after promis-
ing me in the days of our boyhood to
be groomsman, you weren't to be
found when [ had that position to offer
you. Are you engaged for any of the
dancespn
'"The fourth from this-a waltz, re-
piled his friend.
"Well meanwhile Well go to the
smoking-room and have a cigar, and
I'll narrate. But don't expect much o.
a story, or you'll be disappointed,
though / do think it was about the odd
est way of forming an acquaintance l
ever heard Of, and ten to n you'll
think so too"
To the smoking room they repaired,
and as soon as the blue smoke was cir
cling above their heads, Douglass be-
gan:
some afternoon, just one year and
three days ago, which, you will per-
ceive, by remembering that this is st
Valentines Day, 1877, must nave been
the afternoon of February IL, 1876, |
was hurrying along the street a. fast as
the snow and ice would let me- we'd
lad q heavy fall of nov the preceding
night-toward the residence of Mis-
Constance Howard, and had arrived
within a few doors of the house, when
1 saw a small, plainly dressed young
woman cautiously descending the steps,
and then as cautiously, with eyes bent
on the ground, advancing in my direc-
ton. She wore nc vail, and as she
drew neal to me l studied her face with
pleasure. 1t was such a bright, brown,
honest, innocent face.
"Well, sir, l was looking so earnest
ly ut This bright, brown, innocent face,
and not minding my steps at all, that
never saw a large lump of ice directly
in my pathway, and tumbled over it in
the most awkward manner, was pre-
cipitated into the very arms of the
small woman, my tall hat-I've worn
soft ones ever since-striking her full
in the face and then bouncing off into
the street. L regained my ~perpendicu
lar in time to hear a half-distressed,
half-sharp little voice exclaim, sOh, my
tooth!' and see q pair of peculiar gray
eyes raised reproachfully to my face, as |
a pair of woolen-gloved hands went up !
to q pair of charming crimson lips. Be-