The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1877-09-20
DAMON AND PYTHIAS.
BY MARGARET EYTINGE.

BY MARGARET EYTINGE.
And so my Cousin Charles is really
coming TO pay us visit at last,'' said
Vida Dorrance, lookingup from a letter
she held in her hand as her young and
pretty Aunt Margaret entered the room.
"Yes, and shouldn't wonder if the
steamer honored by the presence of that
extremely aristocratic individual and his
equally aristocratic Pythias were at this
moment entering the finest bay in the
world" answered Aunt Margaret in a
musical voice, the like Of which, alas!
is rarely heard in" the home of the brave
and the land of the free"
ellis Pythias?" repeated Vida, knit
ting her fair brow moment in thought.
"Ohi yes, that's Frank Remington;
somebody told me something about that
romantic friendship; Charles himself,
now / remember, in one of his early let
tiers, and l should like to hear more. Go
on, sweet Peg"
1t was one of the peculiarities of Miss
Vida Dorrance that, while she congrat-
ulated herself on the fact that there was
no recognized duplicates or diminutives
of her own Christian name, she delight
ed in using all the known variations of
b the names belonging to her especial
friends.
Margaret being rich in variations,
afforded her immense satisfaction.
How do you know l can go onP"
asked sweet Peg with a merry little
laugh.
"Why, didn't you spend a whole
month with Damon's mother, last sum-
mer, in her ancestral castle by the sea?
And, of course, Pythias must have been
there part of the time at least. For
even if Damon Derc smit,en, my win
some Margery, with your gold-brown
hair, and soft gray eyes and nightingale
voice-as l strongly suspect he was-he
could not have been so heartless as to
have entirely banished the friend of his
soul.''
"What wise child you are" said
Margery, "and yet what nonsense you
talk. But in this instance you are part
ly right. Pythias CGS at the ancestral
castle during that very pleasant month ;
not part of the time, but all the lime,
and a fine young fellow he is, too,
strongly resembling my nephew (by
courtesy and your cousin (by birth)
Charles Dorrance in locks, but much
more given to chatting and fun than his
one-inch taller chum.
"They are exactly the same age-22
last Christmas day-both fair and rHddy,
with clear, blue eyes, golden mustach es
. a shade lighter than their hair, large
noses, handsome mouths and soft,
drawing voices" = az
"And when did they find out they
were Damon and Pythias, adorable
Aunt MadgePn asked little Vida, as she
rose from her seat and whirlcd around
in an attempt to make a " cheese
which attempt, on account of the tight
ness and scantiness of her skirts, proved
a miscrable failure, and then sank down
at the feet of the " adorable" -~ %
"They suspected it when they first
went TO school together ten years ago
Their suspicious were strengthened
when they entered college side by side
and shared purse and honorS Uncommon
and they were sure of it when Frank
Remington saved Charles Dorrance':
life by breaking his own arm. AZ sigr
fell from above a shop-door as Charles
was standing directly under it, ana
Frank, springing forward at the critical
moment, broke its fall and his right arm
at the same time. And when Charlie.
Dorrance, finding his friend in love with
the lady-five years older than her suit
ors-who had won his own nineteen
vear-old-healt, drew back and said
'Thy happiness before mine, Pythias'-
that is FARMLAND Heaven bless vol
bothi'" s7a
"And did Heaveng" asked Vida
"Carlos never said any thing about !
in his letters" Ha..-...s -
al can't say, my darling. 1 onl,
know that the lady marrieda rich brew
err, old enough to have been her father
some said her grandfather, and Franz
wrote sundry sonnets expressive of in
ense despair, and then apparently for
= rot her"
"And, Margie, dear. which do yoi
like best, Damon or Pythias?"
The pretty aunt blushed. Il ik
them both," she said. r
"But which one tiny bit more thai
the other, my Gretchen?n persistet
Vida
Well think-Mr. Remington.
Then I'm sure, Mr.. Dorrance, anC
I'm glad of it, for it has ALWAYS beer
my fortune to have dark-haired admir-
sTs Cthe midget! She he'd just lef