The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1877-06-21
ONE AUNT TOO \ MANY.

ONE AUNT e TOO \ MANY. ]
don't know anything about my re-
/. lations. s 4 have hosts Of them in all
places / have ever lived or visited; / am
one of eighteen children, my father WAS
one of twenty-five, and my mother had
twelve sisters!
AS I am closely occupied by business,
and have a very imperfectly- developed
social nature, it is not very strange that l
know only some dozen or two Of my near
est kith.and kin.
Indeed, / have two brothers whom |
have never seen, and three sisters whom
I hardly know by sight Perhaps I am
more acquainted withmy grandmother,
on my mothers side, than with half of
my other relatives, for / often visited the
old lady, when I was a school.boy, and
have met her occasionally since, which
is more, than I scan say of many of the
Others. So much for my family. g.
- It was on dark, dreary, dull, damp,
dirty, dismal day in November, that |
left my Office to go home to dinner, at
about 4 o'clock, and walked up Broad
way, specializing on; the possibility of
collecting some money from slippery
debtor. .'s
AS ] meditated thus, / naturally al
lowed my eyes to rest upon the pave
!, ilent at Il short. distance ahead, and
thought but little about what saw with
the external organs of vision. AS l
neared Canal street, however, something
which came within the range of my
sight attracted q little more attention
than Il had bestowed upon the flag
stones.
The objectz.o rather, objects-whi
awoke me from my financial reyerie,
were two small brown CATERS, long, mar
row, close-ftting, high-heeled, and
daintily handled-if one may use the ex-
pression-by their wearer. Above their
tops were plainly visible 8 pair Of slim
and elegantly turned ankles, encaseds in
smooth-ftting white stockings, making
altogether about as nice a ''running-gear'
as ever carried pretty woman up Broad
way.
Mentally blessing the wet weather
which had led to the exhibition of such
charms, I allowed myself to take an OBJ
servation on the figure that surmounted
the ankles and gaiters, and to make va
rious conjectnres as to what sort of q face
she might hsve-for her back was towards
me.
The figure was little, light, airy one,
with slim waist-all in black-With q
little Grape bonnet, like rose, just stuck
on the back of the head, allowing a
glimpse Of the soft brown hair, too pro-
fuse and wayy to be confined IN such o
tiny head-dress.
A light mantle of black lace, falling
below the Taiss, gave q flowing outline
to this jaunty little figure, but was not
opaque enough to conceal the slender
form, in its black velvet basque, with the
two cunning little buttons behind and
the two cunning little pockets at the
sides. sia51l
But-thunder! fl go on at this rate
you will think I am man-milliner, or at
least a dry-goods clerk-Which I swear 1
am not.
II followed on behind the girl in black
for a block or two, admiring the pert,
piquant swing of her draperies and the
brisk atap-tap, tap-tap," of the little
gaiter heels, and now and then endeayor-
ing to pass her, so that I could see the
face, which, I felt sure, must, ola neces-
sity, be in keeping with the form. The
density of the crowd, however, prevented
me from catching up with her until got
to Broome street, when ashower came on,
and I found my umbrella exceedingly
convenient.
The young lady stopped under an avn
ing, and / saw, her cast an implorlng
glance at the sky, which was covered
with smooth, unbroken, lead-color, in
dicatiye of a long rain. The omnibuses
we're all full to oYerfowing, and not q
carriage was to be seen. As I approached
I had a good chance to see the face | had
speculated about. It was regular oval
face, with straight. nose, small mouth,
and expressive brown eyes. Not beau
tiful face-far from "divineo or "glo-
riousn face-not even, as Aldrich has
it:
GA star-sweet face, with clouds of hair"
but Just a good, sensible, jolly little face,
quite refreshing to look at, to think OF,
to write about, or, perhaps, to kiss,
once.
Just as I passed, after exchanging the
odd glance of recognition that SO often
flashes back and, forth between strangers
who rather like each others faces, I no.
ticed that the young lady's vail had
parted company with the little bonnet,
and was lying on the pavement, danger
ously near the gaiter heels on one side,
and puddle on the other.
s With that native gallantry that has al
ways distinguished me-that is, in fact,
family trait stepped back, picked
ND the vail, and presented it with as
choice a bow and smile as / could mus.
ter.
Atthe same moment the rain increased
to a fearful shower, and I could do no
less than offer to hail an omnibus for the
lady, although I knew perfectly well that
there wouldn't beiaiyacant seat in one for
some time to come. -
aThank you, sir" said the nymph, 81
want a Madison avenue and Forty-sec-
ond.street stage, but I'm afraid cannot
find room in one" !,
I watched the next three that passed
but they were full, and had an unfortu-
nate business man OF two hanging out, OF
the door, getting very wet, and trying to
imagine that he was having q dimes
worth of locomotion. , !,
The rain slackened, and I began to feel
interested I; .forswe had, in the meantime,
quite a conversation and although it was
about nothing but the weather, I liked
my little companions voice, and her
style of speaking. Therefore, l said, In
a polite, and, I aatter myself highly re-.
spectacle manner, that if she would
deign to accept share Of my umbrella,
I should be delighted, etc. Which offer
after some little hesitation, she accepted,
and off we started together.
The further we walked, and the more
talk we had, the better I liked her, so
that by the time we arrived at Twenty
,a& sta 1Ud q