Ellsworth American., 1877-08-02

she interrupted. have no doubt you are
a sensible woman, | can be on occasion,
so now the first thing to dol to t'y and
understand the matter"
.'Ies-that-"
..wait! We will be formal, and legal,
and the rest of it, said she, aud l could
see she had much ado not to laugh, ana
that gave me courage. did her justice
enough to know tina. she was trying to be
serious for fear of distressing me though
the ludcrous side of the business had
struck her strongly. "Just give your
version OF the story, where you were
coming, why you came, and all about it.
| related the circumstances as clearly
and As briefly as possible. | will say tor
her that she was good-natured, when she
perceived that ia my nervous state. the
keen glance OF her black eyes disturbed
me, she pretended to be busy folding up
some fancy-work that lay on the sofa be-
side her. just nodding now and again TO
show that she was listening and under
stood
Now 1t i my turn" she said, when
finished my explanations. II had sent 10
Wakely, and oh, wont | give it to them
well for their stupidity. don't talk to me
about fires and mistakes, they have no
business to indulge in either the idiots :.
suppose my face betrayed the dlscom-
posure which her sudden violence (she had
begun speaking quietly and burst out like
tornado In less than a minute) caused
me. for he added in her soft, pleasant
voice:
II needn't frighteu you to death though
for their misdeeds. Well. the case is this.
had been i'll. ordered quiet, and so came
here, to my brothers place-thc kindest,
best. most bashful creature Il mean my
brother, not the place. that ever breathed.
lie is dreadfully afraid of the. and no won
der. for am dragon. and persecute him
in the most awful way, being henpecked by
a wife would be nothing In comparison.
| tried. as well a. could, to say some
thing polite. Il seemed decent, bat she
stopped me
Yes, do! But no matter, that has no
concern with our affair. Well. nv niece
could not come, or would not, 80 wrote
tn Wakelv TO send me a young lady as
companion, to read me French novels, and
50 on. ! would have told them | should
like an actress. a fast girl. but was afraid
Of shocking them-as | see ! have YOU.
Well, There has been An outragcou,
bIuuder, ynu are here, you would be mis-
cradle with me, should tease you 70
death But all that we can talk about lat
cr. AZ present you are tiredi YOU mus,
rest. Go ant lie down, aud don't get up
TIL dinupr-ttme, we dine At seven.
She rang the bell, aud before | could
say ANYTHING. the maid who had attended
rne during my iainting ht, came into the
room. and was out OF it, up stairs, iu
comfortable chamber, in my bed. and
though had thought | should never sleep
again. | was so exhausted by these uu-
looked for adventures, that in ten minutes
| was sound asleep, and never woke till
4 f,.
trunk was there, and she told me | had
lust time 10 dress for dinner.
arranged my hair. hope it is not silly
TO take this opportunity OF telling yon that
though | am nearly four aud forty, have
s,ill great quantity. son. dark brown,
with 4 natural wave through il, and | put
en- my best dress. dark Sin. trim med
with some haLd-ome old lare that belonged
to my grandmother. and | went down
stairs
Il wae dusk but the lamps were hot
lighted In the hall, Or In the drawing-r1om,
which entered. stood waiting, not
certain where % 20. when heard Mrs.
Lothrops voice in the room beyond
Don't be a goose, john" il said II
shall not allow the elderly swan To suffer
for what Is no fault Of hers. She would
not want to stop. and | should not want
her, but she must stay here until she gets
place"
passed quickly down the apartment.
and moved chair 10 passing 10 make a
noise. which would give token OF nv APP
proach; then heard Mrs. Lothrop call:
is that you, Miss Howell: come in.
dinner ought to be ready. come in? John,
draw back the curtains-what an old muif
you are, you act rs If you wanted TO run
away" But the draperies were drawn
aside by Mr.. Moulton. and | walked into
the dining room. The servants appeared
with lights-soup was served, and we sat
down at table. Mrs. Lothrop had changed
her dressing gown for Baore becoming at
tire. She welcomed me cordially. though
in very abrupt fashion, and we dned IN
comfort; even Mr. Moulton. in a measure.
putting aside his timldity upon which |
must, admit his siste1ralied hlncruelly But
she was ve:y good TO me, and could not
help liking her In spite OF her odd ways
and her paint for she was painted dread
fully.
Before the meal ended, the servant
brought her a telegram
1T T. from Wakely," she said 10 me. a,
she laid il beside her plate after reading
1t. They had make a mistake. they have
written me, Shall get the letter to.mor-
row afternoon, we need not think more
about the matter until then"
We passed a very pleasant evening. |
can. at least, play the piano. and not in
merely technical fashion. At length Mrs.
Lothrop scolded her brother into singing.
while | accompanied him, and very nicely
he sang.
TO have French novels read aloud to her
was Mrs. LothrOp's delight. and | was
able to crafty her in that respect.
When | made the offer. | could see she
was frightened at the idea of my accent,
but had lived several years in France.
my aunt, BY marriage was Partisan, and
| was able to satisfy madam though |
must say my sense OF decorum was
shocked by the books she gave me to
read, and after | went 10 bed was still
more shocked as | thought about il
shocked 10 lind hp;; much the wicked story
had fascinated me.
The next day Mrs. Lothrop received
letter from the agency people, explaining
how the mischance had happened. A Mr..
Lothrop, In Maryland, had sent to them
for governnes.-a middle aged lady
they had forwarded him the young person
intended for the lady upon whom | had
intruded, through their negligence.
'The matter might be set right" said
eagerly; Iii only involves journey for
me and the young LADY,
"You blessed innocent" cried she.
The man Lothrop has telegraphed to
wakely that he is perfectly satisfied, and
would not have any change made for the
world"
At first could not think why she laugh
ed jim such a very wicked fashion; when |
did understand, turned red and sat silent
i had discovered that Mrs. Lothrop's
free aud easy conversation, and very lib
eral habit of thought. was not little en-
barrassng to quiet old maid like me-
Here you 60" cried she. "blushiug like
fifteen-you are as bad as John Moulton
Bless US. I'll warrant me that my young
woman, whom my namesake has stolen,
would not blush so furiously at every
| trife.''
| 1t might be easy enough for her to in
dulge in badinage, whether proper or i'm
proper. but to me (setting aside ali notions
OF decorum.) it was rather difficult, when
l remembered that was without situa-