The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1878-02-22

ing. bu years bfing 70 me, II not phil
osophy, a comfortable sense OF the com,
ical in regard 70 all early illusions and
dis-illusions
The ome Of opening and reading
the first love letter Is a thrilling. an au-
gust point of time In which All the
spring tides Of passionate Young life
seem 10 meet in a swift, dizzying whirl
~ emotion. III from the right man,
what triumphant joyl II from a sniior
one a not smile on. what sweet pain.
But YOU know all about il, dear.
wa very young when | received my
first love letter-indeed, not perma-
nently cut OF short frocks and the bread
~and-butter age.
Having lived the greater portion Of
my life in the country, the companion Of
my brothers. | was a desperate romp
and GYPSY, dclighting 70 roam the fields
and h woods. preierring the fishing
rod 10 the needle, and even the stable
70 the parlor. As yet, a fine horse was
the rival Of all mankind In my Dung af-
f~ections. Still | had read Scott, Edge
worth, Hemans and l.. +. H., with an
occasional stealthy dip into Byron. and
had my W foolish little romantic
dreams Of my hero, my fairy prince.
who was TO come in Loves good time.
used to dream OF him, as | sat like
little Ellie, among the alders, with my
feet in the brook, or as ! rode along in
the woods. thought little Of his pedi-
gree, but resolved that he must have
apatrician Greek profile, dark blue eyes,
and black curling hair, coming down on
his lofty brow in a Byron peak.
made no Of houses or lands in
Loves Arcadia; but my nero must pos
sess a fine horse. The :. steed OF steeds''
was a sine qua non.
Our removal from country TO town
was an absolute sorrow to me. with my
nature-loying heart, and wild, free hab-
is. | hated the busy monotony, the
thronged loneliness, the duh whirl Of
city lie. could only console myself
with occasional flights back into my old
rural haunts. From the longest, rough
est tramps | returned refreshed. pre-
pared to endure what | could not cure.
"canle out =" ~prematurely and tenn
porarily when was scarcely fifteen, on
the occasion Of a large wedding party.
wore a long dress and white kid gloves
for the first time. My hair was curled.
ON, the torture of a night and the hide
business Of a day in curled papers, |
wore natural flowers and carried a huge
bouquet.
Distressingly dihident, not to saw
awkward. / early in the evening retired
to a deep window seat, where | remain
ed watching the merry groups OF we'd
ding guests, and listening to their easy
chatter, with childish wonder and de-
light.
Among the gayest Of the gay was a
certain fair young lady whom had
known for some time as my double.
Not that she was in the least like me.
She was q blonde-very much blonde
while ! was a very brunette. She was
distinguished for sumptuousness OF at
tire; and dress was not then, any more
than i i now, my besetting sin, or pc
culiar virtue, whichever you incline to
esteem IL. But, oddly enough, this fair
lady bore my name precisely, surname
and baptismal. used to think the cir
cumstance annoyed her, almost as I
though ! had stolen the fashion Of her
bonnet, or the pattern Of her J
costly embroidered shawl. Aside from
the name there was little in common |
between a., certainly no love. At this \
party she quite outshOne the bride. I
il curious to watch her :
Her hghtncss and brightness did shine with I
such splendor- !
which was all very proper, she being a
rich tallow chambers daughter.
But not long did watch my double. :
for, my dear, at this very party I saw
him-my ideal hero-my fairy prince. !
From all that goodly company I singled !,
him out at a glance. There were the .
dark blue eyes, there was the Greek
the black curly hair, the Byron !
peak and all. :
Imagine the emotions Of your friend
when to her secluded w~indow-seat this !,
very young gentleman was brought and !
presented As Mr.. John Trevalyan.r :
4 Il wasn't just Trevalyan, 1t was quite
= respectable a name. The John I'll !.
by. Y
Well, he stood by me and talked 10 =
for a bright, wondrous half hour. 7
as though I had been a full ?
grown belle and /, under the spell Of ,
lis pleasant flattery, fell in with the lit !
lie make-belief, and chatted away, quite "
y ease, and said some things that were !
not 50 bad. Yet, when / spoke, =
: seemed to M il was some one else !,
in a second double. NY very I
'oice had an unfamiliar sound. \,
MIR. Trevalyan talked Of poetry, art, y
music, and flowers, in a low, sweet, be- "
particular way, after the man
Ter a his kind. He said, Of all the fine e
irts, his enthusiasm was decidedly for II
sculpture, $50 cold, 80 pure, 20 exalt- y
"f.' and he begged 10 know ii + shared ~
rsthetic preference. / suppose. il 81
htd been properly trained, or a year -
A two older, ! might have answered: Z