The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1877-02-16
omebody else, she said with real solici-

soncpouy eioo, Sho ooiu Will ioesi oo'ioi-
tude:
"Dr. Gibson, You will certainly kill
yourself if you keep on at this rate and
tits my belief that you are overworked,
and you ought to take rest"
"Do appear to be at deaths door2"
he inquired, Strengthening up, and
squaring his shoulders, as if proud of
his proportions. "No, Matty, he con-
tinued solemnly, though with merry
twinkle in the honest eyes, "work, as
Mrs. Bowers frequently remarks, is a
pannaky." Matty understood him and
colored crimson.
At last Tom was pronounced out OF
danger, and now the doctor felt that he
must remove himself and his belongings
from Mrs. Kellicott's house to his own.
Matty, hidden by the honey.suckle-vines
over the piazza, watched him go and
cried a little.
The morning after, Tom and Matty
sat on the piazza he reading, or pre-
tending to read, while she sewed dill
en- tly. Neither uttered word for
more than half an hour.
Presently Matty shook out the muslin
cap she was making, and laid it on her
work-box, put her little silver thimble
aside, and dropped her hands, one over
the other, into her lap. Then she looked
up.
Tom was staring straight at her. She
colored violently, and 80, for that mat
ter, did he.
"Tom," she began, b" don't be angry.
Oh, do forgive mel She paused, try
ing to think how she could tell him
softly but she went on bluntly, 81
want to end our engagement.
$50 do do l." rejoined he, with diff
Guilty suppressing whistle. Then both
burst into hearty laugh.
"You see, Mat" said Tom, when he
could speak, 81 love some one else."
Matty appeared to be taken quite by
surprise at this declaration.
"But couldn't help il, indeed I
couldn't. She is"
"She is young lady whose name is
Kate, and her eyes are the blacklist, and
her cheeks the reddest, and she sings
under the Stars with guitar
niment," ratified Matty all in breath.
It was Toms turn to stare. "Where
did you find all this out ?" he asked.
"My dear little bird, etc. think
I'll go and write to my future cousin :"
and off she ran, glad to escape the ques-
tions which she feared he might pro-
pound.
"But you haven't told me-" he called
after her.
"And never SHALL" she returned,
whisking into her own room.
To- hox hn1I oil ha ho
ciled her mother to Fate's decree, and
written to Miss Kate Spencer, and per-
suaded Tom to write also, and had done
much toward informing the whole vii
lage of her altered prospects.
In due time Tom was married, Matty
officiating as first bridesmaid.
Matty, after the excitement of Toms
wedding, bethought herself what she
should do. There were her summer
dresses to be made up, her music
scholars to attend to, the sewing-circle
and the flowers but these occupied
neither all her time nor thoughts. There
ought to have been DIR. Gibson, too, she
could not help thinking but that gen.
tieman, instead of falling at her feet as
soon as he heard she was free, paid her
no more attention than before. She
waited for him, in growing wonder and
worry, an eternity = two weeks - and
then took measures to bring him to him
to his senses.
She employed only recognized and
ladylike means, however. She began
by flirting little with different gentle
men.
There was Will Ellis. This young
gentleman had offered himself to our
heroine, on an average, four times q
year, ever since she was 15. She had
invariably refused him, decidedly and
emphatically but they were the best
of friends in the world. She now told
him in so many words, that she could
accept all the attention he would offer
her during the next week, taking care
to remember that this singular declara-
tion proceeded not from any special re-
gard for him, but was made in pursu-
ance of some occult design on her part.
Forthwith the pair embarked upon what
seemed to be the stormiest Irritation
Skinnersville ever saw. In the long
morning they drove or rode together I;
they dined at Mrs. Killicott's, and i'm
mediately after sailed forth on some
other excursion. Both were excellent
equestrians, and Matty gloried in gal
Looping over hill and dale, on one of
Wills handsome horses. (Will, blythe
by, was the son of rich man, Then
they drank an early tea on the veranda
and spent the evening at the piano or
in reading. At the hour of 9, Matty
always sent Will home, without parti-
Gle of ceremony or regret at his de-
parture. In short, what appeared to
Skinnersville as serious courtship was,
in reality, pure business matter, and
80 understood between the two parties
to it.
This state of affairs continued for a
week or so, during which time the doc
tor ignored Matty's existence, except as
she was the daughter of his dear friend,
Mrs. Killicott. And all the time the
girl was raging inwardly at her quandaIn
suitor.
"Why don't he ask me at once again 2"
she queried, mentally; "I am sure he
loves, and any one might see that l love
him but can't, and 1 suppose shall
be an old maid"
But the doctor was not TO blame. A
man of the world would have seen