St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1877-03-23

were between thirty and forty of them,
and | was getting rather tired when |
came to the last. had really not look
ed at the addresses of the others. /
could not have told where one of them
was going but this onen-
"Was to Miss Dalton, from your son p
exclaimed Jack.
alt was indeed l replied; 'and /
cannot attempt to describe my feelings.
| believe that | was for some seconds
unconscious the ground seemed gone
from under my feet. Ny own son was
deceiving me; and | could not con-
lecture how far Dorothy was involved.
The one miserable consolation was,
that my own letter remained safe in
NV pocket. | was not committed. l
conclude that my cOuntenance had
changed, for when / rose to go, as L did
Immediately, Mrs. Sims entreated me
to have some brandy, saying she was
sure that the smell of the nasty dips
had upset me; but what could she
do? People must live, and she must
sell what there was demand for
''YOu need not be told with what
different feelings | walked home; the
entire aspect of life was changed for
me. Dorothy was irretrievably lost,
aud hanging over ME was the disagree
able necessity for an explanation with
Charles. AS far as my observation
reached, he had not only shown no
preference for Dorothy, but paid her
less attention than, in my opinion, she
had right to expect from him. 1t an
nOyed me exceedingly to become aware
that | was an utter stranger to my
sons inner life; l thought him more
than usually silent at dinner, but then
[ was constrained and heavy-hearted.
AS soon as theservant was gone, | said {:
Pray, Charles, DO you consider me an
inquisitive man p
"'Certainly not he replied. No man
less so, should say
octave | ever | demanded, shown
any distrust of you, or any disposition
to hamper you by unnecessary exercise
of parental authority p
"He looked amazed, and answered :
No, sir; have always felt, when com
pairing my position with other mems,
that was singularly fortunate in my
father
"'That's well. | have the less diff
Guilty, then, i'll putting question to you
What's the meaning of a letter address
ed by you to Dorothy, which, without
blame being due to anybody, | saw this
morning at CrossfOrd postotfice
Surprise, displeasure, and sort OF
doggedness, were in the cOuntenance
he turned away from me, and some
seconds-they seemed to me minutes
passed before he said: 1T would never
have occurred to me that there was
any thing out of the way in my writing
to her; we have been brought up like
brother and sister,
'But why walk six miles to post yOul
, letter? | should not have thought any
, thing about seeing Il letter from you tC
Dorothy on the table or in the bag
though l should have reminded yer
that you could not correspond with hel
with propriety. You might, of course
have written casual note to her about
book or some arrangement
"'Why inter- he asked, that the let
ter you have seen was not of this char
acterF
"'In the fist place. replied, 'be
, cause you took the trouble to post /
where it was in the highest degree i'm
probable that | should see it (; and last
; ly, from your evasions.'
) "Then there was long pause, and
) thought he was determined not to speak
"'Charles,' | said sternly, DOROTHY
: has been so much among us, that | an
: responsible for whatever, involving he
happiness or misery, is connected will
any of us. AS your father, and in place
5 of her father, demand what relation
exists between you and her which lead
5 to your writing to her clandestinely.
2 | cannot elicit it from you, shall hav'
an immediate explanation with her.
} ''He looked badgered, ill-tempere'
; even, and said hurriedly and surlily:
! wrote to Dorothy to ask her to MARI.
: me some day
2, "'Ask her to marry you y | eXclaim
ed. Il put aside your gross disrespec
in ignoring me in so important a mat
ter, and remind you that you have no
!. taken your degree, that you are who'll
I dependent on me, and that, during m
l lifetime, unless | assist you, you will
in all probability, have nothing bette
! than a country curacy.'
7 "'I suppose it was not unnatural t
e expect that you would help me, sir, a
u you are very fond of Dora
= ''This he said in a tone which soften
ed me little. After all, thought /, h
is very young. pray, what answer d
. you expect from her p inquired. | wa
: relieved to find that she was innocen
u of aught that would have lowered he
. in my eyes. She was lost to me, fO
. ever, whether she accepted Charles q
Il not, but she WAS worthy the place ha
. given her in my heart, and would hav
given her in my house. Without Civ
. ing him time to reply, went on:
have too good an opinion of her to be
7 lieve that she will answer you withou
l consulting her mother
"'I begged her to say nothing to an
One.'
Z "'Then ether rejoined, you al
y more ignorant of the world than l be
y lieved even a reading man could be, G
e you have endeavOred consciously t
- lead her to act as modest girl shOul
;, not. Pray, what reason did you Civ
y y for such request p
''This : that, in the event of her tax
!. ing me, some years must elapse befor
n | could marry: and l should dislik
!. being pointed at as an engaged man a
n :. that time and that if she refused m,
y it was no business of any one else.'
. ''His cool selfishness exasperated m,
| got up and walked about the room
y Good heavens p calculated 'and yo
% are a very young man, and my son.
y "'Of course, did not put it quite S
% broadly as that he observed, ratht
e apOlogetically 'but you expect conf
20 dence, and | am not man of man
IS words. really took pains to write
proper letter, and | think | succeeded
p | always had a notion that | shoul