Ellsworth American., 1877-08-02

/ he 0asheu. anu tuert tue uuiortuntte gth-
tleman and | stood looking at each other,
! and at first thought nobody In the world
! was ever so much embarrassed as |. | dis
| covered that he was still more confused.
! lie was such dainty, dapper pers"n-
! he looked about seven and foriy-that you
! cou d have told at a glance he was bach
clor. Disturbed as was, knew that one
| OF US must speak. and as he did not though
| he opened his mouth several times, and |
/ thought he was about to say something,
aud grew more embarrassed because he
! failed TO do so-therefore | said:
| II beg your pardon, sir. i could not
think of troubling you. IL you would kind
ly direct me the way | must take TO get to
Pine Hill am going, - he interrupted,
| can show you. Pray let me-let me carry
/ your wraps and satchcl. and-and things"
| had very fcw-ouly my shawl, my
! waterproof, my umbrella. my satchel, and
INV luncheon basket-he tried to take them
| ALL but he made such bad work OF it, drop
| ping one article as fast as he attempted to
take another-he STOPPING and l STOPPING
| to pick up the articles. and twice knocking
our heads together that by the time con-
| scented to let him carry the satcaei and
basket. we were both as red as possible,
aud so confused that really do not believe
either of us could have told our names IL
! ANYBODY has asked them suddenly.
We walked puite n distance through the
| busy part Of The town: turning into broad,
/ open streets lined on either side with pretty
old fashioned residences. and passed on
! quite into the suburbs. At last we reached
a large, rambling mansion, standing on
/ little emineuce; not far back from the
street, but with the grounds so thickly
| shadowed by pine trees that one could only
/ catch glimp>es OF the roofs and gables;
Z a 81. a
height covered with a dense pine grove.
This is Pine ilill," said the gentleman,
suddenly.
Who shall | tell my-Mrs. Lothrop
| wishe, to See herr" he added, nervously.
so there was Mrs. Lothrop-the
mother no doubt of this gentleman who
| had engaged my services; that was not
| pleasant hesring; speaking a. governess.
! accu stoned To the charge OF children. |
must be permitted to say that grandmoth-
er. are usually Il disturbing element ia
grow ing family.
| II am Mis- Howell-Nss Mary Howell"
! | said "ihe govrrness Mr. Lnthrup en-
4 gagged, through Mcssrs. Wakeiy. Tor his
/ children
| "Goyerness- hlldrcn :" the bashful man
I groaued. then secmrd utterly dazeI by his
/ own words. lie turned round and round
| like u top for some seconds! | should be
/ sorry Ia have any person suppos" M capa-
/ hlc OF eXasgeration, but think | am not
| ovcr.staiing the maucr
| Then he suddenly opened door and
motioned me 10 pass | did. and found my
( self in large ro0m-quite dark To me-
/ coming IN from the sunlight, because the
/ curtains were drawn.
/ "Annabella," called nv eccentric con-
/ ducior. "Annabena," There was no ans
wer; third time-and now hi voice was
almost 4 shriek-he cried despariugly,
/ "Annabella,"
In the dmness | saw a female figure
start up on a sofa and this figure exclaimed
| in angry accents:
! Good Lord !. the house on fire.
That is Mrs. Loihrop." moancd the
/ bashlul man. turning 10 me. Then he
| danced toward the sofa and qulvered
! 'Annabclia, here i Miss Howell. aud am
! afraid there = some mistake. She say
she-chi en-goyerness-l-
Children-goyerness! :" doomed the
/ other voice-and II sounded like an alarm
{ bell In my ears. Miss Howell-John
Moulton. you are mad-you were always
cracked-but now you are mad-raying
The unfortunate gentleman spun round
three times with greater velocity, and
| then absolutely ran out OF the room-ran
out aud shut the door-and then | was
alone with that base-voiced lady, | could
see her plainly now 4 tall. gauat woman,
who had once evidently been a great beau
ty OF a naughty, imperious sort; was hand
some still, though she looked In poor
health, and was far past middle age, and
! had cap ribbons OF a more vivid nue. than
could think ftting and-I do not wish 10
be censorious-but If | ever saw rouge in
| my life. saw il 10 the hollows OF that eld-
! erly lady'. cheeks
There she sat and glared at me; | can
employ no other word; glared at me with
her great black eyes, and felt a. If | had
the nightmare. Then she waved her hand.
Now what In the name OF goodness
does all this mean she cried.
Madame" | said. as firmly as could
speak. Il am the person engaged by Nr.
! Lothrop as governess for his two children
| stopped, for heard her mutter: 80.
John Mouton was not so mad as | thought
! then the woman must be, Somebody / :
mad. know!"
\ speech, which any unpredjndceI per
son will admit was not an encouraging
one for me 10 hear. under the circam-
stances. Theh she added. in a tone meant
for my ears-"ln the first place there is
no Mr.. Lothrop in this house-nor any
where else that know of. short of heaven
at least hope he has gone there-though
can tel him one thing. his dissenting,
CalvinistIc ideas of the place wouldn't suit
me-but that is not TO the point, There
are no children-as how should there be,
unless John Moulton Is profligate under
all his meekness-so there can be no gov
erness-unless he wants one-Im sure
don't"
By this time | was so completely un-
nerved that stammered: ''Oh, | don't
know what 1t means. | am Miss Howell
seat from Messrs. Wakely-I have made
long !ourney-I-'
Well. am sure cannot tell how such a
thing could have happened, have always
had a horror OF scenes. bat found myself
sobbing. Then tried to sit down. and
the chair seemed to slip away; heard the
old LADY cry out; then / knew nothing
more. | had tainted. When | came to my
self was lying on sofa: the curtains
had been drawn aside; the windows were
open; the old lady was standing near me ;
an elderly servant woman was holding
hartshorn to my nose. and that very ex-
traordinarv Mr.. MOultOn was waving an
anti-massacar about three feet above my
head. do not know why. and don't think
he did
Ipushed away the bottle of hartshorn
and sat up.
.'She is all right nown cried the old
ing. you buzz like q crazy hornet. Mar
tina. give her some brandy and water. a
good deal of brandy and very little water !.
Miss Howell. don't you try to speak yet or
I'll shake you! John. go out Of the room
or I'll throw my slippers at you! Martha
you've spilled the brandy on my worsted
work, The house is worse than a mad
house, and I'll burn 1t up in three minutes
If you don't all come back to your senses,
II you've any to come tor
After little. | found myself again alone
with that formidable elderly parsonage. I
was still a good deal shaken and fright
ened but had at least recovered suffic-
lent self-control to be quiet; able to listen.
to speak, and feel shocked at having been
betrayed into such weakness, as | had
shown. though could realize my situation,
understand that there had been some
strange mistake, and that II had twenty