Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1877-04-26

VI W LII uAllSs ulS UlOsS DION SJNhAGN
But not that 1t was fair.
He stranger to me, us to him,
We never met before;
Yet would fAn brave mick!e pain
To see the lad once more.
But why-tlis was, and is, God knows,
III lind among His angel 'throng
An angel like that 10y:
AN OLD LOVE IN A NEW YEAR.
''Bcastly climate" calculated Mr.. Al
exandcr Lotus, as he buttoned his last
glove, one foot on the sleigh-runner.
In the sleigh sat Ernest Lotus. his
nephew, handsome, alert, point-devicc in
costume. from the new-uot too new-hat
to the flower in his button-hole, as became
Il young man on q round of New Year )
calls. He laughed as he caught at the
word. and the odd-twisted look of dissat-
isfaction cast by his uncle at the winter
sky. blue and sparkling enough just then
to suit any but a returned China merchant.
Mr.. LOTUS was not English, but long res
idcnce in the British atmosphere Of Hong
Kong had taught him to swear at the eli
mate and use the national adjective as
one to the manner-born.
"Beasty." cried Ernest. why, Tn
Gle Alick. what would you have! Cold:
To be sure; what else should it be on New
Years day: I call it tip-top weather for
the season. Why. last year the mercury
stood at ten above all day. with wind
like Il razor. Jim Hemingway and
started with list of 100 calls to make,
and by the time we got to the thirty-sec
ond we were so clean beat out that we
gave IN. and stayed on in the Eustiscs'
rooms till after dark. Sixteen other fel-
lows did the same thing. 1t was like
party. Our driver was stiff when we came
out. We had to dose him with brandy,
and rub him. and make him jump about,
or he would have fallen asleep On our
hands You might have called that day
heastly if you liked. but this
"Ugh." was all Uncle Alexis reply.
He tucked the robes comfortably round
his legs. and then said, Where first, Ern-
est. my boy"
Lets see Here's the list" producing
Il formidable document. Its made out
by streets. Green, Gray, Abcrncthy,
Win>low - Sixty-seventh street, driver,
No. II. These are all your acquaintance,
uAN AthC SttfSNt NY f'uA%1AS NAiAo AOA
the afternoon and evening"
SO to Green's and Gray's. and on
through the list they went, meeting ev-
crywhcre the same unmeaning, wou!d-be
cordial reception, the same set society
smiles. the same salad, champagne and
trivialities in the way of conversation.
Even the servant in the white gloves SEEM
ed the same as he opened door after door.
For the rooms, they struck Mr.. Lotus as
produced by machinery from common
model, costly. inexpensive, unhomelike
He was too recently returned to have be-
come used to the universally of handsome
commonplace things, and, not having
much small-talk at command (convcrsa-
ton does rot flourish in the tea-gardens
of British China), he diverted himself by
studying the objects about him. Where
did all those huge bronzes come from!
and those monstrous pier-glasscs? Why
must all the carpets suggest the same gen
cral pattern! And was it necessary to
have fine sets Of shades and curtains to
each window? Surely sunshine in an
American winter could not be so entirely
a disadvantage as to require these pains to
shut it out. He made these observations
through an eye-glass perched astride his
nose in what Miss Maude Jcnnison after
ward called "a fascinating way, so foreign
and queer, you know" There was ten
dency among the young ladies of Erncst's
circle to admire his uncle. Unclcs from
India are proverbially rich and interest
ing, on the stage and Off it. and an uncle
from China, with ascertained good looks
and fortune, should hardly be less so.
Nov for the Brixhams," said Ernest,
as they bowed themselves out of Mrs.
Jcnnisons drawing-room. ''You are look
ed for there, Uncle Alick Miss Brix-
ham was very impressive, and made me
swear to bring you" He laughed as he
spoke, detecting tingc of red stealing
over his uncle's manly cheek bone. But
why not ? Youths may laugh. but if a
man OF forty three may not offer the trib-
ute of blush when a pretty girl pays
him compliment, middle-age is even a
more distressful state than has been re-
ported.
The Brixham's house was one of the
largest and finest in the city. Mr. Lotus,
as it CHANGED, had not entered it before,
and he was struck with its space and air
of superb luxury. Miss Brixham was ar
tistic, to use word almost too hackneyed
for repetition, and the rooms were crowd
ed with pictures and bric-o-byuc of her Sc
lection. Porcelain idols grinned from the
mantle-pieces; Venetian mirrors repeated
your face in detail from their glittcring
facets; jars and pots of every nationality
filed the corners; ivory carvings, cloison-
mes, Scvres, Limoges, illuminated missals,
precious bits of this and that filled the
tables; and everywhere, on the walls the
shelves, the slabs, were plates, plates.
plates. There was all the rich confusion
and something the confusion of museum
in the apartment; and M. Loftus-who
had not Learned Ciina,' in the modern
sense Of the word, and hated 6ric-a-1rac-
after stumbling over an Egyptian water
cooler and a musical foot STOOL, and bump
ing his head on Palsy plaque, was glad
to sink into sofa corner at safe distance
from all curiosities, and listen to his host
css, who looked unusually handsome that
day, and who, as usual, found pleanty to
say to the quiet Mr.. LOTUS.
Gertrude Brixilam, in spite of some cx-
travaggancies and exagerations, was SUI
perlor girl. She had genuine leaning
toward the best things. Circumstances
and education kept her away from them,
but the impulse and the struggle, which
were fruitless of real result, had the power
which impulse and struggle must always
carry with them. She was wider minded
than the girls about her, read more, and
thought more freshly. It was this which
made her attractive to Alick LOTUS, who
had reached the age when more than good
Waiting and pretty face is desirable
even IN the partner Of an evening. He
had asked himself once or twice WHY he
shouldn't fall in love with Miss Brixiam?
This afternoon the question rose again in
his mind, and with more emphasis. He
was able to marry, and desired home.
Why should not this handsome, capable
girl make him happy2 It was not Just
the thing he had pictured when he was
young, but then things were altered. The
peaceful, old fashioned home in his mind