The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1877-09-29
HER OWN PILOT.

But on this great stage the world, there are
many exits and entrances; and II all the men
and women were not in some sense players,
very pretty audiences might be gathered Tor
the private and often unconscious theatrlcals
at even such quiet little town as Swampscott,
1t is not Long Branch or Newport to be sure,
nor even Nahant-if you take Nahanler.s
opinion of it, But more beautiful drives 1t Is
not easy to find then the ocean road to lynn
and bevond or out to quaint old Marblehcad
where fire has so recently devasted what
time and storm and the march of so-callcd I'M
proyement had spared. The rocky bluffs are
crowned with dark forests where one may lie
IN fine moss mattressed rocks and restless splr-
its of the pines sing their GoIan melodies to
ghe accompaniment of the tar-soundlng sea,
amidst a solitude as dense as when the Indian
cbieftains brought their families hither to cure
Ssh and play at vacation. There are three fine
beaches for bathing, and the shorc-line Is bro
ken and diversified by rocks, trees ana lawns.
The summer houses are handsome ana yet
homelike, and the small fishing fleet and cot
tages add to the picturesqueness OF the scene
To the left the open sea stretches away 10 me
horizon, while the cncircling harbor and dis
nnt lighthouses complete Il picture which
makes the barren stretches Of beach, scattered
along our coast, with great human hives OF no.
tells, seem like huge burlesquc upon pleasure
resorts.
Well, down TO SwampscOt, one sultry July
day, came pretty Grace Chandler, her poor
head tired with months of "schoolma'ming"
Her good aunt always saves cosy little room
with Il sea-view window latticed with creeping
vines for "Grace." Entertaining angels un-
awares the dear old soul declared, was well
enough in its way but she preferred to be sure
OF her angel; and so she laid claim to the
frirl NVln mot thp disaster To her
fathers fortunes by seeking place-shc didn't
call it accepting IA situation'-in the public
schools. The high school lads who had shed
their roundabouts, and come to that delicious
IL torlncnting age when boys just begin to leel
there is IA difference in girls, declared that the
ancient madcns and crusty old fogics OF the
school committee kept Grace i'll the primary
departments out Of pure spite to them. But
those of us who have come to forty years
could tell by one look at the subject OF the lad s
admiration that unless "objcct teaching" in
that most intricate Of all studies-woman's ma
ture-wcre the purpose of the school, Miss
Gracc's place certainly was not in the upper
grade
OF course | am not going to try and tell you
how the young woman looked. What the wise
DE Mastre said about pctures-that the best
part OF them is that which dcfies description
Is even more true Of women. She was twenty /;
slender, but normally heathful-with one Of
those 1.-THE, delicate outlined, trim figures that
reconcile one to the pull.backs," and convince
the most skeptical bcholder that some women
are superior to the dreadful test of n bathing
salt What more need be said, except that
Grace had the easy, gliding step that tells of
the gymnasium; that she could sit horse, pull
an oar, or shoot an arrow like "A girl in the lat
ut English novel and that she had one Of
those faces and compilations, otter seen in the
New England towns, limiting plainly of DIR.
Holmes doublcsash plate glass projection in
winter and outdoor life and luxury in sum
ncr for four or five generations back. She had
urge clear, steady eyes" grey rs glass" old
Chaucer described the type for all Time illum-
mated Il face that at once piqued interest, and
excited admiration a Discerning man would
As soon think of being silly or rude to his own
mother, or disrespectful to the mothcrin-law
be hopes to wln as of trying any nonsense with
the owner of that face, whose calm eyes take
his measure Us swiftly and as accurately as Il
fashionable woman will inventory the ward
robe Of her rival. Grace was not phenomenal,
but typical high-type of girl She never
read Emerson, nor prctendcdto dotc on poets Il
1DUplet Of whose verses she could not quote.
She spelled her culture with an r, and didn't
gratc about it at that. The things that she
needed to use she knew thoroughly, but didn't
omit 10 pack away great many useful odds
and ends of information, and pretty accom-
piisfnnents of various sorts, for fear of being
called superficial" She read the books that
she liked, just as she ate food that agreed with
her, and could play game Of whist without
chattering, game of croquet without losing
her temper, darn a stocking without verbal
ar mental complaint at the nature of the
work and in general could do girls work in
he way Il sensible mother had trained her.
Now, Of course there would he no sufficient
excuse for bringing forward at SwampscOtt
- in summer when the days are long" such IA
paragon ola girl as Grace Chandler, unless the
inevitable Young Man were forthcoming also
Ills name was JOhn-prOsaic John Wheeler
There was nothing remarkable about john
theTe rarely is about any young men except the
yaledictorians at college, and they are cont
monty not heard of afterwards. He was man
iy fresh, pure-hearted, clean-handcd, bright
sitlcd young fellow of twcnty-three, year out
lf college. The fairy godmoiher who smiled
above his cradle endowned him with good prin-
eiple, good taste, and good temper; legacy
that kings son might covet-if he knew
enough. Ii secured for him good habits, good
breeding and amiablity toward himself and
others, which, with tact and industry, consti-
tltc good makeshii, for genius and fortune
Need time be spent in telling how the mag
NJ anu hASlai tdihc ugtlHcTf fTOAlmlly ulu
the business-he who can discuss the mystic
law Of attraction and end no wiser than when
he began. The branches are not long, nor the
ncks numerous, at Swampscott on the sea
and the two young people soon manifest a sur
Drising similarity Of taste and manners as 10
hours of walking, lCunging. boating and bath
ing. II was charming TO see the sweet uncon
scfousneSs with which the maiden would stroll
along the smooth sand, drawing funny carca-
lures with the point Of her paraso or search.
ing intently for sea moses she did not in the
least want, OF gazing in abstraction far Out
40 sea" all the while seeing from under the
corner Of her jaunty chin-hst another equally
1imfcss wanderer coming funnily enough from
the opposite direction. RI
Atfirs, the greetings were hypocriticalIy for
nal and matter-offact-