Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1877-01-05

cousin only In name, lounged by the
window in velvet smoking Jacket
his head enveIoped in the curH,c
wreaths he blew from his cigar. on5
his furtlve glanceS bent upon N.
Two pretty faces so close tooetbor
and so full of girliSh eagerness anf
interest.
There was a very charmino hr.
play of youthful galiantry and co
quetry going on between these three
but not one Of the wise heads in the
house could determine which wa,
Georges favorite, or what his chance
would be with either. Grace tho't
she knew, and perhaps she did.
Modest little Grace, plain though
she felt herself TO he, and countrifed
and old-taShiOned in her wavs. felt
also, that she, in her simple pink
gingham, or brown delaine. as the
case might he, was pleasanter Ia
dashing Georges eyes than adelaide
with all her brunette beantv, en-
hanced though II was by creamy
rashmpres and Jewel tinted Silks;
and that gave her courage to ask
George with = shy smile, if he would
hang his stocking on the morrow.
The hanging of the stockings be-
fore the broad kitchen fireplace was
Christmas Eve ceremony that had
never been omitted in the old man.
sion since the eldest son, now pros
perous man of fifty had toddled across
the hearth for rattle and cornucopia
of candy on the first Christmas of
his life, but George and Adelaide
and Grace, the oldest of this third
generation, were getting a little past
that kind of thing now; not hut that
grandpapa and grandmamma conde-
Sceuded to head the line.
George laughed his sunny laugh
and glowed all over with delight.
The question meant that Grace had
remembered him in making her
Christmas purchases.
81 should" he said throwing back
his curly head in lazy, boyish fash
ion of his own, and half closing his
dancing blue eyes, 81 should if I
thought Santa Claus would bring
me anything"
Never fear George, I think you
are a good boy" said Grace coquet-
Iishly. 81 guess it wont be rod"
"Or mitten," put in Adelaide,
and then blushed furiously; for she
was>young enough to make incOnse-
quent speeches, and not old enough
to know how to mend them.
Wouldn't be any oose of one
mitten," piped small Frankie from
his high chair, where he sat devOur-
ing the scrapings of jelly-dish.
" WOrs than useless" said
George, for some occult reason IN
great glee, and tossing the child
high above his head in a flying
sweep.
" What would 90 do wiz one nit
teIf?" persisted frankie, with baby
pertinacitY, as soon as he could get
breath.
&" Wen see when / get it."
Aud off waTEe17 t5fietdfrge, the child
on his shoulder, with an air that
said very plainly he was not afraid
of receiving such a present.
Adelaide escorted Grace around
the city for SHOPPING purposes.
Here Adelaide was quite at home,
but Grace's slender purse and rural
notions soon found her quite out of
her depth. She had bought the
goods for next years dresses, all the
necessary things her mother had
her not to forget, costly
ackgammon board for grandpa, a
toy vlocipede for frankie, a bonbon
box or two, and several yards Of
wide blue ribbon to finish her book
marks with and she had only two
dollars left and no present for COus-
in George. Much to her consterna-
tion, just a bite" at a fashionable
restaurant finished this small sum,
and Grace left the establishment
sadder and wiser girl, with exactly
ninety-sIx cents in her pocket-b book.
They might have lunched on home
made apple pie and cheese at grand
pas, but Grace conscious of her own
deficiencies in purse and polish, was
all the more jealous of her social du-
ties, and so insisted on the bite
and ordered it at random-thiua-
she had heard were good, mere tri-
fies, easily demolished, but dear
enough to her.
The upsn5U5tt-&as ups1n55t that George must
60 without his present, and shies- i.!.ad
actually promised him one. Al
though she would not have spoken
of it openly, she knew that he had
her.
Not so much as a pincuShion or
book could she find for him. Moth
ing, absolutely nOthing-could be
had for less than a dollar.
The Christmas eve was a grand
gala time, and there was fun and
uproarious laughter that would have
produced headache and faul' finding
any other day of he year, until the
hand of the tall clock pointed warn
ingly to midnight, hut through il all
Grace was troubled With an uneasy
sensation, for her unfulfilled prom
ise haunted her. Something had
come between George and his coun-
try cousin. The old folks were sure
that Adelaide was Georges favorite,
and Grace, though she carried her
self 5ravply, was very wretched.
1t could not he that George would
resent her neglect Of him. That
would be unlike him, indeed; but
certainly the GOODNESS dated from
Christmas morning when he disem-
bowcled monstroSity of a white
sock, and stopped short IN the midst
Of his hilarious fun and walked out
Of the room with face as red as a
pippin.
From that moment grandfather's
delight over his backgammon board
and frankie over his velocipede
were alike indifferent to her: So were
the milder praises bestowed upon
her Maltese cross in bead-work aud
carved Bristol hoard book-markS.
80 were her own treasures, not tX-
cepting the blue aud gold Temysou