The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1877-09-14

AnAt - utA kttt if'tuAs - WVtlsth
to fix my attention must be with
out fault" l said, firmly. "She
must be as beautiful as she doubt
less was in the beginning, as intelligent
as--as--let me see! as Lady Jane Grey,
as musical rs Jenny Lind, as beautiful
Is Cleopatra, a. benevolent as Florence
ngale-as-as-"
" Rich as Kreesus!" vcntured Mrs.
Bracegirdle.
"No,- said, laughing, ~ don't care
fig for money. | want beauty and
goodness, loneliness Of face and SYM
metry Of form; but" and here | spoke
with positiveness and decision" but,
above all, she must have little foot
Mrs. Bracegirdle slyly withdrew her
plump foot (No. So out Of sight within
the mysterious periphery Of her black
silk.
80 pretty FOOT"
g Two of them, Mrs. Bracegirdle. A
Venus herself II she had big foot! 1t
Is impossible but that perfectly beau
tiful woman will have small and pretty
feet. am willing to choose a wife by
her foot, for accept, in this case, the
aphorism that sall's well that ends
we'll. ="
Mrs. Bracegirdle, after taking half
minute To think upon it, was vastly
pleased with this quotation used in such
relation. and laughed heartily.
= Well, well, doctor, YOU are droll
gentleman. to be sure, lou have such
a pleasant temper, you'd make any
woman happy, But there's the bell!
Good morning, doctor"
g Good morning, Mrs. Bracegirdle,
said and as she closed the door l adj
ded, sNb roce, = Ii thought l could
make any woman happy 1 would try
and find some one among the sex TO
make me happy. But this marrying
i is lottery. A man might as safely
draw from wheel into which all the
pretty and virtuous women's names in
New York were written on slips Of pa
per. had been poured. as draw from
them met by chance at party. at
church or in the street. II il i my des-
tiny TO be married, the right pair Of
pretty feet win by-and-by catch my eve
tripping along and challenge me-
Thus soliloquizing, took my seat by
my window in huge leathern arm
chair, and drawing match across the
sole Of my boot lighted ) cigar and
gave myself up 10 reflection and in
spection of the passers-by.
. Mrs. Bracegirdle is right | ejacu-
lated at the end of ten minutes . she
is undoubtedly quite right. I ought to
take wife. But whose wife shall
take? as young Sheridan asked his ia
Their"
As the clouds of azure smoke curled
above my head conjured up, peeping
ont Of each curl, the faces of some dog
en- fair girls had known or still knew.
As their features blended with the
wreaths and passed in retrospection be-
fore my eyes, | deliberately rejected
each, passing judgment upon them as
they assembled and melted into thin air
beneath the ceiling Of my room. One
had nose too blunt; another retrouse
so far as to turn up: third was too
tall, fourth had too large a foot, q
fifth had bad teeth; a sixth laughed too
much; a seventh talked too loud, an
eighth had big knuckles; ninth had
mustache; a tenth--a sweet girl
couldn't bear the smell of assafGtida,
and Of course was out Of the question
for doctors wife; an eleventh had a
bad breadth; and the twelfth wore spec
tacles--my abomination in a young
girl.
These feminine faces all ascend
ed above my head, and disap-
peared slowly into thin air
evaporated with the smoke which
had reproduced them. Yet somehow
sweet face seemed to linger in the blue
cloud that curled from nv cigar. Her
blue eyes, her pleasant smile, her grace
full head and shoulders, her exquisite
hands and Incompatible feet-all were
once more visible TO me as had before
seen them, and almost fallen in love with
their possessor. But alas she was my
cousin, and had been informed by Fan
ny's Puritan mother that it was mortal
sin TO marry cousins, for the Bible said
so. SO let this sweet face also melt
away toward the ceiling Gan ascending
angeD, and sighed, half resolving to
turn Roman Catholic that might get
"dispensati0n" from the Pope ssto mar
nv cousins" But her mother and the
Bible, how could 60 against both? So
saw the features Of my fair and merry
cousin fade away with sorrow
" Not one Of these will do said,
shaking my head and also shaking the
ashes of my cigar. | then carclessly
glanced out u my window preparatory
70 reviewing another dozen Of marrying
acquaintance. AT that instant a lovely
girl was going by on the opposite side
~ the street. | recognized her at once
rs a mysterious and graceful girl who
had 20 often passed my window. had
never seen her face, a. it was concealed.
How. then, did know she IL loyelyP
you ask. Because her feet were the
most captivating little members my crit
zeal eyes ever rested upon. such feet
could only belong to a lovely body---a
lovely body, TO match in symmetry the
fauItless feet, must be crowned by SUI
perb and lovely head and face. From