Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1877-11-30
TOM.

81 suppose 1 must cali. Eleven
O'Clock. The old gentleman said
was not to stand upon ceremony, SO
III run down to-day. 1t is dismaIly
lonesome here, and somebody said
the Lawlor girls were the bellies Of
the place. Who was it told me
that Julia Lawlor was the belle OF
Rushtowu, and that Delly was the
incest little thing in the world? I'll
90 down and prove the asser.
tio1.'
za All this in eoliloquy, as if Mr..
Thomas Bardell donned his dainti.
tiest walking dress, drew on p his
lavender kids, put on his glossiest
silk hat over his crop of curling
hair, and surveying his handsome,
faultlessly-attired self in the long
mirror, sailed forth. -.c7-s
: -Rushtown was a collection < Of
county seats, a mile from a popu-
lous borough, and. the Bardell Pl.cd
was one of the most stately of tlil
many superb houses of which it was
composed. Thomas Bsrdell, my
hero, was the nephew of the late
owner of the Bardell Place, and on
the death of that gentleman had in-
herited his entire property, greatly
to his own amazement, Mr.. julius
Bardell, deceased, having quarreled
with every relation he had in the
world, and announced his intention
of leaving every dollar to a chari
ty. - T 81 L
That be did not, but relenting
made will in his Dephew's favor,
brought Mr.. Thomas Bardell from
college in Germany, where he was
finishing his education, to Rush
town.
He was twenty-four, an orphan,
handsome and talented, and lad
some private fortune before his ,un-
cle's death. That he was un-
spoiled, modest, and one who held
allswomen as little lower than the
angels may be attributed to the
fact that he had a mother who was
a true Christian lady, who loved
him, and whose death, when he hal
just attained manhood, was the
heaviest sorrow of his life.
Rushtown was an unexplored
country to my hero, but DR.. Law
lor beng the only physician in the
place, his residence was easily
found.
The hall door stood open, the
parlor door was also stretched invi-
tingly wide, and after vainly wait
ing for the ring to be answered,
Mr.. BardeIl stepped inside the. YES,
thule.
A voice high above his head, and
in the parlor, called:
"TOm is that you?" -.,s.
The speaker, Dolly Lawlor,
whose name, be it here recorded,
was Mabel, but who had been
called Dolly from her cradle, being
at the topof high step-ladder,
scrubbing tie paint over "a French
window, heard a voice say:
SIT is Tom, certainly"
"Hand me my soap, that's good
fellow" said Dolly, from the lofty
perch where she was seated, facing
the back windows; "you know l am
afraid TO look down or turn around
on the ladder, l am SO sure to get
giddy."
"Where is the soap?" came in a
voice mufied by laughing.
"Close down by the ladder, where
it has just dropped. Don't dare 20
laugh at me, sir, for l am in T.
depths of afiiction. Papa has irvi-
ted the heir to- that splendid Ear,
dell Place to drop in without cere.
mOny. Did you ever, and we jusl
in the middle of spring cleanings
So | left Jane to finish up stairs, and
came down myself to make the par.
lor decent. There goes my brush
Hand it up; that's a dear"
The brush was handed up, Dolly
not daring to take her eyes from a
level, already feeling her head SPIN.
ming with giddiness.
SWe can't be grand, of course,
and the house will look mean
enough after Bsrdell Place. but we
can be Clean" she continued, scrub
b;ng vigorously at the paint. "And
you know, Tom is sure to fall in
love with Julia, and it is such a
splendid chance for her, poor dear.
She has gone over now to Mrs.
Simpsons to finish her blue muslin,
and she can't help clean, because il
will spoil her hands, and they are Sc
pretty. Julia is lovely in blue, be.
cause her skin is so fair, if her hail