The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1877-03-16

Sylvanus Cobb, Jun. Thus severally
occupied, none Of the members Of the
family had found time to discover that
Kitty's heart was broken. IL was known,
in vague sort of way, that the young
lady had quarreled with her lover, and
that Jack Burroughs had not visited the
house for a month; but then young ladies
were always quarreling with their lovers,
and no doubt Jack would turn mp again
in good time. Taking this sensible view
Of the matter, Uncle Randolph continued
his discussions, Miss Martha her scrub
bing, Aunt Charity her knitting, and
Tom Turner his regular doses of peppery
literature. And it is to be added that
even Kitty herself, Influenced, no doubt,
by the course of those about her, fol-
lowed very closely in the accustomed
grooves of life, and ate her three meals a
day with tolerable relish Yet she had
fully made up her mind to die.
Like all well-conducted heroines who
drown themselves, Kitty determined to
leave behind her touching little letter,
wherein forgiveness should be extended
to all her enemies, and an appeal made
to her friends not to mourn her loss.
81 win write that letter now" thought
she to herself, pouring the water into the
tea-kettle.
And thereupon, as a proper prelimi-
nary to all epistOlary effort, Kitty brought
out the dictionary, a sheet of paper, and
lead-pencil, and sat down to bid the
world final farewell. The date was left
blank, to be inserted when the sun should
thaw the ice in the river. The'early win
ter twilight was deepening into darkness,
and the kettle was singing on the stove,
when Kitty finished her letter. One or
two of the hard words in which her heart
rooted grieffound utterance were searched
out in the dictionary for this suicidal
young lady would have deemed it shock
ing indeed to have left behind her so
momentous document with any slips of
orthography Thus Webster treasured
her doubling mind as to melancholy"
and determined the order of vowels in
''relief." And it was while Kitty was
vet picturing to herself the effect which
this pathetic letter would produce upon
those who loved her-in which category
Mr.. Jack Burroughs was not included
that the sound of Uncle Randolph voice
broke in upon her reveries. With a
blush and start, Kitty thrust the sheet
of paper into the dictionary and closed
the volume.
He is a scoundrel and a thief" she
heard her uncle say, as he drew near the
door. "You can't tell me anything about
the Marshalls; I've known the whole race
of 'em for twenty years. Old Silas Mar
shall went from Windsor to Hartford, and
sold soap and candles, and, during the
Jackson campaign-"
Precisely what the late Silas Marshall
did during the jackson campaign was
not told at that moment, for the door
opening cut short the thread of the con-
versation. Uncle Randolph walked into
the kitchen, while behind him, self-conf-
dent and smiling, walked Mr.. Jack Bur
roughs. Trembling all over, Kitty rose
up from her seat and thanked the twilight
which hid her face.
"Where's your aunt Martha ?" in
quired Uncle Randolph. "Jack has
come over to eat supper with us. Why
don't you light upl"
Here's match" said Jack, and he
held out his hand.
A" Aunt Martha is mp stairs" answered
Kitty, addressing herself to her uncle,
and paying no heed to Mr.. Burroughs
profered match. "Tll go and call her.
And with this the young lady beat hasty
retreat.
"That Josiah Marshall is a scoundrel
and thief" resumed Uncle Randolph,
as he took down the kerosene lamp from
the mantel-piece. "I'd like TO kick him,
and the whole tribe of Marshalls along
with himW
Its a pretty numerous tribe" OBJ
served Jack, good-humpfedly. Let me
help you to put on that chimney"
While Jack was adirNsting the lamp,
Miss Martha, who never, found time to
dress up, as she expressed it, until late
in the afternoon, entered the room. Miss
Martha was a capital housekeeper. More
over, she was what the New Englander
calls "smart and the Englishman
"clever." And she was what all the
world, in divers tongues and dialects,
calls " eccentric" Perhaps one of her
most noticeable eccentricities was that of
mixing the names of the members of her
own household Tom Turner was called
" Randolph" quite as often as he was
''TOm," and Kitty answered promptly,
when addressed as Nancy" albeit the
only Nancy in the family had married a
I AoaCh YNtAn DCAoACf toAA Muo AANAA3 III"
in Oregon. Jack Burroughs had long
before grown familiar with this pecul-
iRrity, so that when Miss Martha, upon
entering the kitchen, said, 4" Is that You,
William 2" Jack responded, cheenly,
cit is"
''Well, I'm proper glad to see You, F"
exclaimed Miss Martha. cit seems an
age since you've been inside the house
Take off your great-coat, and come into
the sitting and get warm. How's
Lydia and the folks ?"
Jack gave a satisfactory account of the
health Of the Burroughs family, and
Miss Martha then withdrew to look after
the supper
Meantime Kitty, who had rushed 10
her own room, with face flushed, hands
trembling, and bosom heaving, had
donned her best black alpaca, and
oombed out the braids of nut-brown
hair, which was hers by growth and not
by purchase Not that abe did this in
honor of Jack Burroughs. BY no means.
She would have done it for anybody
anybody who was going to stay 10 sup
per. And sbe tired hard to convince
I n. L. r r n