Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1878-09-27
,ldly. opapa. l WIN leave you to

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interruption of an acquaintanceship
that had promised to prove interesting
cut me up more than / can we'll ex-
press. / tried to cast the whole matter
out of my mind. could not. In every
quiet moment would find myself run
ming over the unfortunate occurrence,
and trying TO account for it. Had she
known him beforeP Was she in love
with him? The idea first made me turn
hot then cold. But mol impossible!
Not the most extravagant fancy could
make these two images, of Eleanor
Hartley and of our simple little new
conner, stand side by side. Looked at
from another point of view. the thing
was equally absurd. A score of men
admired Eleanor Hartley stalwart
fellows, the pick of our community, for
none other would have ventured to lift
their eyes so high-men oad-chested
and deep-voiced, and well-versed in
every kind of world lore. Was it not
preposterous to imagine that this pull
ing boy could be her choice? How then
was l to explain her displeasureP L
did explain IL. IL would be hard for
you to guess how. But at certain times,
you know, our thoughts are peculiarly
obedient to impulses communicated to
them by will with which our desires
have tampered. | said to myself that
Eleanor Hartley was disappointed in
me. Yes, this was the meaning of it
all. That should have Joined in in
flicting annoyance on helpless fellow
creature vexed her. And really, when
| looked back calmly, the whole thing
began to wear an ugly aspect. Well,
it was annoying. But time plays havoc
with impressions. Eleanor would be
sorry, doubtless, for her hastiness. /
could easily put the matter in differ
ent light. All would be well.
Meanwhile | returned to my own
quarters, where, as / presently found,
events of an exciting character were
under discussion. Miss Hartley, l was
told, had come to pay visit to her
married sister, who lived in our settle
ment. AS we were not cheered by the
presence of any unmarried ladies, this
was of course an occurrence of the
first magnitude. But further, large
dinner was to be given at our club, to
which all the ladies and our newcomer
were invited. He had been persuaded
that the dinner was given in his honor,
and was to be beguiled into making a
speech, from which much fun was ex-
pected. l threw cold water on this
scheme. / was afraid, you see, that
Miss Hartley would see in it another ma
licious trick and be further incensed
against me. But once ball of such
sort is set rolling, it requires hand of
peculiar force to stop it. Mine was
not able for the feat, and my friends
arranged their plan of action without
me. After all, think, i was not sor-
ry that he should make a fool of him.
self publicly before Miss Eleanor. Ii
would be sure to destroy any sentiment
al liking she might have had for him,
so held my peace, and the eyentful
day came on.
How nervous | was that evening! /
remember l was obliged to call in the
assistance of one of my friends to ad-
Just my necktie, and he was obliging
enough to tell me that looked as vel
low as "a guinea A comfortable assur-
ance truly, when had wished to look
my very best, for l had not seen Miss
Hartley since my unlucky story, and !
wanted to make my peace with her.
But when, with an apology on my lips,
drew near the sofa where she was
sitting, l found, to my infinite relief,
that no apology was necessary. She
was as friendly in her manner as ever.
She was exquisitely dressed that even
ing in-well, can't exactly say what
some dead white material, that fell
in delicious folds about her stately fig
ure. That girl could always dress her
self to perfection. She looked superb.
Beyond a doubt, she was the queen of
our party; certainly we all felt as proud
of her as if each one of us had been
her father or brother. She did not
speak to our newcomer, and this re-
lieved me. But ut the dinner-table /
felt little more uneasy She and he
sat at opposite corners of the table. 1t
seemed to me that she was quietly
watching him, from time to time, and
at such moments there was in her face
a wonderful light of happiness and
pride. | understood it all presently.
The long dinner passed; dessert wa
on the table; the usual tOasts had been
given and responded to. Then my
friend rose, and in few serious words
which, as some of us knew, yelled q
real irony, proposed the health of the
youngest man at the table, our dis
tinguished guest. whose arrival had
been so long anticipated and so eagerly
hailed.
All drank the toast, and there follow
ed an awful pause. Every eye, Eleanor
HartlaviS amnnu tho nuDr hay ,uao EvaI
on our newcomer. He rose to his feet,
and ventured to glance at her. All
was explained.
o, woman, what strange being
you are! Soft and yet triumphant was
the beautiful face of our queen. She
was bending little forward; her eyes
glistened; you would have said that she
was listening to some exquisite melody.
About him, too, there was change.
was excited, and of course what saw
and heard was colored by my mood,
but | could have declared that the
young mans form had expanded, and
that an indescribable dignity had crept
into his gestures. He stood upright,
his voice was clear and unfaltering; he
did not shrink from, he rather courted,
the multitude of glances that were bent
on him. AS for speech-sir, i have
knocked about pretty much, as you
know, and now and then at dinners and
elsewhere | have knocked up against
men, but l have never
heard speech to match this one. In
substance it was review of the time
he had spent in the settlement. To
hear him one might have believed that
he had seen through our practical jests
from the first, and while seeming to be
their victim, had been quietly amusing
himself at our expense. Its manner,
the delicate irony, the wit, the forcible
piquancy, / should be glad indeed to
but of such an effort | am
Here was turning of the
tablesP My friends were bewildered;
those not in our secret applauded vocif-
erously. / alone knew who it was had
planned this triumph; and l was not
surprised when, a few days later. it was
abroad that Eleanor Hartley
a nd pttss natu- ANN a,. xUa,.a ann,ar,aI 90 10