River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1877-08-02
Johns First Party.

| There was fire on the broad hearth,
and that, with the tallow candles on the
mantle-pieee, made quite an illumination
/ in the room, and enabled the boys, who
| were mostly on one side Of the room, to see
| the girls, who were on the other quite
| plainly. How sweet and demure the
| girls looked TO be sure, Every boy was
| thinking if his hair was slick, and feeling
| the full embarrassment Of his entrance
into fashionable life. 1t was queer that
these children, who were so free every
where else. should be so constrained now,
and not know what to do with them
selves. The shooting Of spark out
upon the carpet was great relief, and
| was accompanied by deal of scramb-
ling to throw it back into the fire, and
caused much giggling. 1t was only
gradually that the formality was at ali
broken, and the young people got togeth-
er and found their tongues.
John at length found himself with
Cynthia Rudd, to his great delight and
considerable embarrassment, for Cynthia,
who was older than John, never looked
so pretty. To his surprise he had moth
ing to say to her. They had always
found plenty to talk about before, but
now nothing that he could think of
| seemed worth say ing at a party.
ut lisa pleasant evening"" said John.
1T is quite SO" replied Cynthia.
did you come in cutter!~ asked
John, anxiously.
mo; walked on the crust, and it was
perfectly lovely walking" said Cynthia,
in burst of confidence.
WAS it Slippery continued John.
Not very
John hoped it would be slippery,
when he walked home with Cynthia,
as he determined to do, but he did not
dare to say so. and the conversation ran
aground agair. John thought about his
dog and his sled, and his yoke Of steers,
but he didnI see any way to bring them
into conversation. Had she read the
''Swiss Family Robinson37 Only a little
ways John said it was splendid, and he
would lend ii 10 her, for which she thank
ed him, and said, with such sweet ex-
preston, she would be so glad to have it
from him. That was encouraging.
And then John asked Cynthia if she
had seen Sally Hawkes. since the husking
at their house, when Sally found so many
red ears; and didn't she think she was
real pretty girl.
"Yes, she was right pretty" and Gym
thia guessed that Sally knew it pretty
we'll. But did John like the color of her
eyes!
No; John didn't like the color of her
eyes exactly.
Her mouth would be well enough if
she didn't laugh so much and show her
teeth
John said her mouth was her worst fea-
ture.
con no." said Cynthia warmly; cher
mouth is better than her nose"
John didn't know but it was better
than her nose, and he should like her
looks better if her hair wasn't so dread
full black.
But Cynthia, who could afford TO be
generous now. said she liked black hair,
and she wished hers was dark. Where
upon John protested that he liked light
hair-auburn hair-of all things And
Cynthia said that Sally was a dear, good,
good yirl, and she didn't believe one
word of the story that she only really
found one ear, at the husking that night
and hid that, and kept pulling it out as if
it were a new one.
And so the conversation, once started,
went ON as briskly as could be about the
paring-bee and the spellingschool, and
the new singing-master who was coming,
and how Jack Thompson had gone 10
Northampton to be clerk in a store,and
how Elvira Reddington, in the geography
class at school, was asked what was the
capital of Massachusetts,, and had ans
wered Northampton, and all the school
laughed. John enjoyed the conversation
amazingly, and he half wished that he
and Cynthia were The whole of the party.