Weekly Chillicothe crisis. (Chillicothe, Livingston Co., Mo.) 1878-19??, 1878-10-24
lHtsefAaag.
T ERRIBLE INTRUDER

hAhl'N NOhlllNl H.
a " alone in the house-Maude
IlH'pr n.pd l--and did not altogether
. IKE t,. p tion in which we were placed.
I Wu ,2 daylight lasted, and there
,.m.I s1 much life about the farm, it
seemed pleasant to have the house to
urs .u be able to wander together
/ ,uoago b. quaint old rooms and to talk
. 'l.r 'cts very dear TO both of us,
,. dread of being Overshadowcd
i b., tuc lJmuon female cousins and the rows
ttring youths who had come to spend Il
month of thcshoOti beneath our roof. For
/ Tor Il time We rcycled in our comparative
solitude, and pitied the female cousins, the
eager sportsmen, poor papa, and the rest
OF the household, who had been beguled
into accepting IN invitation to Mrs Rat
tletrap's picnic ut the Scrubs, Il piece of
moorand some eight miles distant from
our house. We were all expected, but my
old schoolicllow, Maudc, pleaded head
ache. and | was not sorry to have an cx-
cusc for staying at home with our guest
We had met but seldom since we had left
the prim school at Taunton; and although
Maudc had already been with Us week,
what with the noisy clattrr ofoui friends,
the croquet Journeys, the lawn dances, and
the other pleasant ways IN which our ev-
cnings were spent we had hitherto had
no opportunity Of lnduglng in those mu-
tual condolences 50 dear to women who are
! the blisstul state known us "engaged."
There was Il particularly tender bond of
sympathy between rs, inasmuch as | was
in hi-weekly correspondence with her
brother John, to whom signed myself
yours aticctionatCly, whilst her betroth-
ed was Harry Somers, who had been Wis
tor to our house from his childhood Ere
they drove away in the afternoon the 9TH
cr girls twitted lis rather severely for not
joining them, and it seemed general
opinion that Maude'S headache was moth
ing more than sham. But the gentle
men sald little; in my opinion their hearts
would have been gladdcned had all the
party abstained from attending the pic.
ME, their inclinatiOns tending toward the
Stubble in "Fiye-acre-feld' and the ada
cent tumlp patch, where fine covey had
sought shelter the night before. But as
the girls were resolved upon going, the
males, Of course We're obliged to act as
escort. By-and-by papa was induced to
join them, and thus it was Maude and | !
were left alone
So engrossing was the subject of our
conversation that we were surprised when
the housemaid brought in the tea, and
dropping a courtesy, asked If Sarah, the
cook, might 90 with her down to the vii. |
lage, until ten o'clock, to take in the tes-
tiyities with which Farmer Ashcombe was
celebrating his harvest home 1t then oc-
Cured to my memory that the servants
had asked me for this holiday fortnight
previously, and that | had given half
acquiescent response. In the hurry of my |
domestic duties, and the excitement occa-
stoned by house full of company, had,
however forgotten the circumstance until |
now.
"Wherc is Benz" inquired, referring
to one of the carriers who inhabited snug
little cottage on the farm, and was conse-
quently required to place himself at our
service when wanted
The domestic dropped another courtesy,
and announced that the individual al
ludod to had gone to Wells with a load
of barley, and would not be back until
late.
"And the boy smith,
Please, ~, master told him might go
when 'ad fed the poultry and fastened
EN- up for the night, and n as been gone
this quarter of an hour"
81 hope he made sure the turkeys and
geese were all right, for papa saw fox
cross the meadow this morning.
''Oh, yes, m, is Il careful lad is Smith,
and he's got 'em all right 'enow. I'll be
bound, responded the maid.
| hesitated moment as 10 whether it
was altogether safe to be thus left; out
as had given u half promise to the girls,
and knew it would be a sad disappoint-
ment to them not to 60 so | dismissed
my apprehensions, and told them they
might leave the tea-things and be off at
once.
Noticing that after time Maude be-
came less conversational, | inquired the
reason; but receiving naught but eva
sive answers, | questioned her more
closely,
"You are not afraid, are you dear?"
al shall be only cOnfessing tine truth
Mhch teh Spu oiiio was very soiiy W
hear you give your consent to the SER
wants leaving us. Suppose any person
has been watching the house, and was
to seize the opportunity Of committing
my dear Maude," responded" moth
ing Of the sort ever happens in these
parte. Living, as we do, some distance
from any town, we know all the persons
resident within radius Of, say four
miles"
"But how about tramps? Are they not
dreadful people, sis?
"Perhaps, Maude, even they are more