Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1878-03-14

| hut whatever mild dissipation that town
| afforded she shared in. Her iather was
| well to do. aud Tina was ALWAYS nicely
dressed. She had good taste, and affected
soft clinging fabrics. sometimes of delicate
| tints but never ueutrals. The instinct OF
| a woman of her sort Is apt to be correct In
| such matters. and she felt that drabs and
| grays and duh browns did not suit her;
warm vet light rose. turquoise blue. apple
| green-a tint unknown to those abomina-
BILE aniline colors that have so cruelly su-
| perseded the old artistic dyes all these.
| relieved against feecy white. or sometimes
| a whole attire of softest lilac, made her
| look like "a gentle flower" as one youth
ful adorer declared In the burning words
| of a valentine. Nor did she show less fair,
when winter came, In robes of deepest
crimson, emerald green. or geutian blue;
| purple and yellow were not for her. but
! she looked her ioveliest in a hat Of black
velvet with tossing punes. under which
/ her fairness Of skin and glittering hair
shone Respondent. Theoretically It may
| be singular. but practically. IL Ia most
| common, that a woman of Clementinas
! clinging. signing. helpless. beautiful type.
| should he attractive beyond all others to
the opposite sex but even In nature was
there ever a wild bind-weed that did not
| find hundred supports on which TO hang
! aud trail its sculptured leaves aud profuse
| dawu-tiuted chalceI Clementine abounded
| in lovers: the college in Canterbury at
| forded dozens of enamored boys to write
| poetry about her In the local paper. send
| her bouquets. take her out TO concerts, to
| boating parties. to picnics. and even to
evening meetings. though this latter diver
| sion was more affected by the dry-goods
clerks four OF whom she counted among
| her victims.
! But with all this II must be owned. tn
/ Clementne's credit. she did not become
! vain or arrogant; her head WAS too much
| In the clouds for these things to turn IL.
| She had long resolved that love alone
should impeI her 10 marry; reason was a
cold aud sordid guide. and perish the
| thought of money. II takes years and
! pain and the pangs Of poverty 10 teach
woman Of this sort that money Is at least
! good thing TO have in the house. and no
/ more To- he despi-ed than any other means
! of comfort and health. Tina never paused
| To consider how hopeless and helpless she
J would be without her fathers liberal hand
and goodly purse. aud being to a certain
/ extent vitality right and honest IN her the.
I ory, she carried il To stern heights. and
I made II dominant In her dreams. Intending
with all her simple soul TO marry only the
1 man she should love suddenly and uumi--
takably. and hoping almost 10 prayer that
4 the coming god might be some impecuui-
| ous poet. or a great politician. poor be-
l cause of his incorrupibie honesty, Poor
! lIna, rs il poets and politicians both were
not the most undesirable OF their sex As
husbands, or A. II she were fitted To I'LL
/ the heart or light the hearth OF any poor
4 man-she. who knew no more how 10 broil
steas. boil potato, or make loaf Of
bread. than 10 calculate the orbit OF a com
| ct or square the circle
/ But. the time went on. Tina found TO
her own disgust. that she did not tail in
love with anybody. Not Que youth from
the siud.ous crowd nor ona from behind
\ any counter really stirred her sleeping
/ heart: she wanted dreadfully to fall In
! love, but there seemed always 10 be some
obstacle on the edge OF thar pleasant prec-
/ ipcc. Onc youth smoked; she could not
abide that. Another wore plaid vest
ugh, Still another had red hair and weak
| eyes OF course he was in-uiicrable. But
time would fail ne to recount the tailings
! OF these young men. Few OF them arrived
so FAR as to offer themselves. for A. soon
a, the object" perceived they were really,
: 10 use their own phrase, "spooney." about
] her, she was nlled with unconceRlabie dis
/ gust for the poor creatures. and, with the
| charming frankness of a dreaming girl.
| took no pains whatever to conceal IL. Men
are not always blind. even in love, and
| the percepiive share of Tiua's lovers slid
/ back quietly into their own places. \ few
| OF the obtuser sort went "on To glory or
the grave" and were received with open
astonishment. and rejected with equally
| open Indifference. Sometimes she shed a
few tears when young man became very
wretched. and tore his hair a little, or
hinted darkly a, suicide; som etimes she
| reproached herself in her secret heart for
blighting so many young and ardent na-
| tures; but, on the whole, she was tolera-
BILE comfortable about IL, a. she ought To
have been, for even the most detected
| sdorer never drowned himself or plunged
! into reckless dissipation on her account
and some were actually known in after
years to speak of her as that pretty little
goose used to know in Canterbury" Men
are so pe.fidious
IL was Clementine's custom every year
TO make visit To her grandfather Hyde in
| Coventry. She generally chose the season
of college vacation In summer 10 DO this
| duty, as Canterbury was really dull then.
aud Coventry a pleasant a. coald be.
Grandfather Hyde's great old fshioned
house was spotlcss and specklcsS all the
year. but 1t might be cold In winter; in
| July and August IL was cool aud sweet and
airy. Aunt Nabby. Squire Hyde's sister,
| was a mighty housekeeper; and when you
| had eaten her bread and butter and cottage
| cheese and sponge-cake. you might laugh
at Soyer and Ude AID Blot. and smile with
scorn at the rapier-skewered shadow of
| Vatel. who died for want of turbot. He
would have died for envy had he tasted
| Aunt Nabby's chicken pot pie. To make
| the dainty bits of fowl so savory. the gravy
| so rich and ticklesome to he palate. the
crust SO light. SO golden brown, so ilaky
| and unsodden, all in the homely circum-
| ference of an iron pot, this required genius.
| Nobody in Coventry could make such pot
| pie. Clementine did not want to; well
| As she liked to eat il, no cumulative fury
| was hindled 10 her breast. She enjoyed
| her food unusually at grandpa's but she
laid il 70 the air of the hills; and thus dis
gusted Aunt Nabby, for she was prouder of
her cooking than poet of his rhymes. and
and knew very well that Coventry was
scarce two hundred feet higher above sea.
level than Canterbury itself, though the
latter lay in Q rich alluvial valley, and Cow
entry on a sandy plain. But, withal, Aunt
Nabby loved the pretty pale girl in her own
| curt and abrupt fashion. She ted her with
all sorts Of dainty cakes, and let her lie in
| bed mornings as long as she liked. though
with much grumbling and growing below
| stairs about the degeneracy OF modern
| women.
Coventry was a very old town. Its
| single wide street had on either side large
| ld-fashioned houses that had descended
| from generation to generations and being
| built when labor and timber were cheap
and builders honest, the goody beams en-
dured well, aud the hereditary owners took
a certain pride in keeping them in repair.
There were old people in most OF them
now. The youthful focks were scattered
to other pastures-the girls married alb road
the young men pursuing their own ends in
the distant West or the great cities. Yet
| every year the children. some,of them, re-
turned to the nest. The windows OF dark
spare rooms were opened wide to sun and
air, the parlor revived its hospitalities, the
chickens and kittens fled from before the
faces of troopipg and screaming children;
grandsires aud grandames kindled up new
life in their domains, lit fresh lamps. aired
countless stores of linen, wrangled with
butchers and grocers. in order to prepare