Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1877-11-23
Charles kiss.

lealOus-tempered men in all Eng
land; and, as the way in which 1
cured him of his folly was very sim
pie, will relate the means pursued
by me, for the sake of other vic
tins to the absurd mania, be tbev
male or female.
My parents died while I was
quite an infant, leaving me to the
care of my maternal grandmother
who did her best to spoil me, and
was most successful IN her treat
ment. The first eighteen years of
my life were passed with few trials
or troubles. My grandmother and
lived in cottage at Brixton, the
prettiest little specimen of suburban
architecture imaginable, the only
drawback to which was a large
stone pOrtlco. Granny was very
proud of this unsightly thing; ha-
ted 1t, not on account of its inap-
proPrlateness, but simply because it
intercepted my view of the garden
gate, so that from our sitting.room
window we could not catch a
glimpse of visitor.
Although my grandmother was
rather old, she was full of life and
fond of making young people hap
DIV that never felt dull in her So
ciety, and made her the confident Of
all nv little adventures, and size en-
tered into them with ali the zest of
girl.
One day the even tenor of our
lives was disturbed by the arrival
of an.invitation from my aunt, who
lived at Scarborough, asking me to
spend some weeks with her. At
first 1 refused to accept it, for this,
my only near relative, was almost
stranger to me.
"You will go my dear Eva, to
oblige me-" said Granny, coaxingly;
81 want to have the cottage thor
oughly done up inside and out, and
this will be an excellent opportuni-
ty."
l went, spent three months very
delightfully."- at Scarborough, and re-
turned home, leaving my heart in
the safe keeping of Claude Ander-
son, l loved him very dearly; but a
certain fear which | felt for him
prevented that perfect love which
would have made me quite happy.
During the month we we're enga-
ged before l left the North, scarce
" day passed without one or
more little "snarls" taking place be-
tween US. l know the word | have
used is vulgar one, but no other
will answer my purpose, seeing that
Claude and l did not positively
quarrel.
There were a great many nice
young men and lads in and out of
nv aunt's house all day long; for
she was most kind and hospitable,
beside being the mother of six very
pretty daughters. These male BIZ
peds were constant sources of jeal-
ousy on the part of Claude, who in
other respects was sensible, clever,
and might say almost perfect.
l was usually full of health and
spirits, also (he himself told me)
very pretty and charming; so A
brought me bouquet of roses, B a
box of preserved fruits, G pug
buppy; in fact, the whole alphabet,
assisted by my six female cousins,
conspired with me to tease poor
Jealous Clande, until positively be-
! iieve he felt glad when he put me
into the train and sent me back to
London with a guard-ring on my fin
ger and a doubling, aching heart.
Of course, when l reached home,
all my doubts and fears were conf
ded to dear Granny's sympathizing
ears. She listened to my tale Of
love and woe; then said:
"He must be cured of this folly
before you become his wife, my dar-
ling"
A week after my return home
came letter from Claude, telling
me that he had received a very lu-
crative Government appointment in
London, and was now in a position
to ask for Granny's consent to our
early marriage.
He came, and made himself SO
agreeable-there were no "letter:
of the alphabet" to tease him
that Granny thought | had exag'
gerated his weakness; but she was
soon convinced of her error.
One afternoon Claude came as
usual; business had gone wrong
with him, and he was rather cross.
Grandmother went upstairs for hel
afternoon nap, and Claude began tC
read aloud to me-a most unfOrtu
nate proceeding on his part, for il
happenned that was obliged to list
en- for the street dOor-bell, anC
wished to conceal the fact from my
companion.
l never did care much for poetry
but that day / quite sbhorred 1t
In the midst of sentimental piece
which Claude was reading mos
beautifully, ''ting, ting" went the
bell; up / jumped, and with a NUT
tered sExcuse me- left the room
The same interruption happened
AGAIN. and a third time. | becam,
SO nervous that | left the sitting
room door open, and this was th'
unlucky speech which met the ear
of my offended companion:
"Don't Charlie dearl Leave m'
alone, sir, will not allow you t.
KISS me, although l am very fond o
YOU"
Here followed a scuffie and som'
suppressed laughter.
When returned to the sitting
room. Claude stood looking the very
nicture of indignation.
"Prav may l ask you who Char
lie dear isP Probably only
how " said he, satirically.
'sNo, he is not a boy" l an
swered, with a careless laugh-h
"only boy" was sneering allu
sion to lad of sixteen of whor
) Clande had once been jealous, an
to whom | had justly applied tn
|, term.
"Then l must insist upon know
ING what man dared to attempt u