Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1878-11-01
APPLES OF DIsCoRD.
BY HELEN l.uoUEER.

"WheW! Tobacco smoke, Clara. Ny
curtains are completely saturated" and
Aunt Alice Amesbury shook out her
immaculate window drapery with many
expressions of disgust.
at is just imagination, aunty," re-
turned her pretty niece, glancing up
from her embroidery" Mr.. Paul Seldom
| ALWAYS smokes on the balcony"
eyes, consequently the odious smoke
is waited by the window drafts directly
into the parlor. For my part 1 deeply
regret ever having taken gentlemen
boarders, they are. such upsetting Great
ures and make such world of work"
''It was your own proposition, aunty.
If you will recollect was in favor of
taking only ladies. But you said they
were never satisfied, were meddiesome,
and did not pay as well as gentlemen. "
'All very true" answered Aunt Alice,
with little pink creeping into her
faded cheeks, "but, Clara, 1 did not
suspect you capable of getting up q
Irritation with one Of the gentlemen"
Having been beaten in the argument
she, womanlike shifted the subject in
hand into an entirely different channel,
dropping the old grievance for new, as
if the much abused curtains were after
all only a secondary consideration.
Filtration, Aunt Alice| exclaimed
Clara, in wide eyed innocence, though
the very next moment they were veiled
in modest confusion, while the tell tale
color frightened the pretty face.
II do not know what else you call it,
Clara. Paul Seldom has become your
almost shadow. If you practice, he is
leaning over the piano-if you sit read
ing or sewing he is certain to be at your
feet or very near. You cannot even step
into the garden to gather few flowers
but he is instantly there keeping you to
waste time by the hour"
NOW, aunty, you are not your dear,
old, kind self, but Just bit cross and
unjust" exclaimed her niece, with tears
in her blue eyes, and springing up she
threw her arms about her aunt, (wllo
was very energetically busting and
arranging the pretty little parlor,) there
by considerably mussing the crispness of
the morning wrapper, which like herself
was precise and immaculate upon most
occasions.
Though an unmarried maiden of mid
die age, Miss Alice Amesbury was not
in the least like the traditional spinster,
soured and disagreeable. On the con-
trary she was gentle, kind and always
sweet tempered, and had thus retained
very much of her youthful bloom and
prettiness. She owned lovely home
in one of the suburban villages that
surround New York, and with her
orphaned niece as sole companion, lived
in calm independence until the hard
times reduced the income from the Rail
Road bonds she depended upon for sup
port. Then, as a last resort, she had
opened her quiet house to couple of
gentlemen boarders-a rich bachelor, cid
and equity, who always kept his own
room, and young nephew who was his
devoted attendant and general business
agent, and the cause of much anxiety to
the watchful Miss AmesbuTy.
''There, there, Clara, you are wrink-
ling my dress. Sit down, child, and
listen to what have to say. Paul Seldom
is exactly what his uncle was at his age,
vain, selfish and exacting."
"Oh Aunt Alice, how can you know
anything Of what his uncle was at his
age%
''The moment those Seldons set their
feet in my house, recognized the elder
as an old friend of my youth-one now
congratulate myself as having escaped
linking my fate with"
"Were you actually engaged to that
old bear Of a fellow, aunty%
"Yes," she sighed, with misty eyes,
''it was the one rose dream of my youth.
There was much of folly and sentiment
upon my part, Jealousy and suspicion
and unkindness upon his. And-well,
Clara, I cannot dwell upon that portion
of my life. But let me warn you, Will
never ccuntenance any engagement
between yourself and one of the family.
They are selfsh, naughty and Overbear-
ing"
Have you any idea the uncle, Charles
Seldom, recognized you? questioned
Clara, ignoring the last remark of her
aunt.
Ifeared so at first, but, ahl time has
changed me so much-so many years
have passed, that it is quite impossible"
The name of Amesbury, aunty, is an
uncommon one and should think he
would recognize you by that"
HE may never have heard it since
coming here. Mr.. Paul seemed to find
some difficulty in Tecollecting it, calling
me 'Ainsley,' and almost everything else
that sounded like it. Then you know,
you only address me as Aunt Alice and
I requested him to call me Miss Alice
when he endeaYored to get my name
correctly"
ffWhat a cute woman you are, aunty.
WomaI's wit foreverl And as the gentle
man never sees you or hears your name
spoken. of course there is no danger of
his recognizing you"
It is said that woman can never keep
a love secret, and it was quite certain
pretty Miss Clara was rendered unhappy
by the possession Of one, and upon the
first occasion she and the fascinating
Paul Seldom were alone She forced him
to share it with her.