Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1878-12-11
MRS. BLAND.

Ii. Ii
place OH the Sound, which [ believed
then [ had almost discovered. There
was modest, countritied hotel, at
which food and mosquitoes could be
had at a minimum cost. With two
weeks holiday and a very limited
amount of money to devote to my
pleasures, after due consideration, I
had selected Ripping Beach for my
fairing. AS a third clerk in a bank,
nv vacations were few and far between,
and / had determined to make the
most of the occasion. When Mr.. How
land. the assistant teller. whose duty it
was to pay the employees their salaries,
had given me my check, he had cas-
ually asked me where [ was going, and
| had expatiated on the charms Of Rip
ping Beach, and its being one Of the
lost places on Long Island.
Visitors at the Beach House were,
though goodish people, not congeinial
/ was Indifferent, however, to society.
Boatmen and fishermen were my boon
companions. | had been week at
RipplingBeach when I became acquaint-
ed with Mrs. Bland. This lady was a
late arrival. How I came to talk with
Mrs. Bland can hardly tell. I rather
think that, hearing the lady express q
desire to see city paper, had handed
her the Times and IN this way some
commonplace conversation had COM
menced A certain pleasant way the
woman had, a fairly we'll bred manner,
disinclination to indulge in tittle-tattle
with the rest of the boarders, made her
society rather agreeable than otherwise.
Mrs. Bland was diminntive, had
graceful figure and dressed with quiet
taste. Though Mrs. Agnes Bland was
fully thirty, she impressed me with a
certain cnildishness of expression. in
which vague description [ hope [ am
not paraphrasing Mr.. Bret Harte. The
lady's eyes were pale blue, without a
fixity Of expression. No one would
attempt to stare Mrs. Bland out of
countenance. 1t would have been, APP
parently, too easy a thing to do. With
out having evasive eyes, they seemed
subdued and the least bit furtive An
immense volume of fair, blonde hair,
which she wore in one big braid, added
essentially to her charms. For any trace
Of tixity of purpose in Mrs. BANDS reg
ularly oval face, the only indication OF
it was slight wrinkling of the forehead
between the eyes. Such burrows had,
however, no permanence. You might
see such little WinrOWs on q child's face
when some passing matter had for a
brief moment engaged its scattered
wits. Conversationally Mrs. Bland was
fairly amusing. Educated she was not;
but having a good amount of intuitive
perception, her remarks were clear and
we'll defined. 1t was the day after |
had given her the paper, when | said to
Mrs. Bland:
Has your budget failed to reach
you? 1t is one of the annOyances of an
out-of-the-way place. Mails are dila
tory, or come in patches.
"What do you know about my
mails? said Mrs. Bland, the little
wrinkles roughening her forehead.
"Why, Mrs. Bland" said, eff you
do not have many letters, at least you
have a famous collection of newspapers
coming to you every day-at least a
Dozen"
How do you know that?
The only groceryman in the little
town, who sells me fish-hooks, is also
postmaster. I go there early in the
morning, before the mail is sent to the
hotel. The grocer generally runs the
mail before me into a bushel basket
prior to handing me my occasional cor
respondence. see Mrs. Agnes Bland
on ever so many journals. Have the
honor of addressing a lady correspon-
dent-a literary woman?
Nonsense! what an ideal Ny hus-
band sends the papers to me. It is
delicate attention on his part. In read
ing them time passes away during his
absence"
Then there is Mr.. Bland, said to my
self.
Il expect NJ. Bland will be here in
few days. | hope you will like him.
he is a great fisherman. Now, notice
you carry a fshing-pole to the water
side every morning, and bring back
nothing. My husband has sent his fish
ing tackle down, SO if you want hooks
or lines | can spare you some. You
come here every season. do you not?"
''No; this is the first time in my life.
Good morning, Mrs. Bland, and thanks
for your offer"
"Good morning, sir; but excuse me
moment. Would yOn kindly look at
this bill of mine which the hotel clerk
has sent me? [ am an idiot about &C
counts. Here are some items which [
have no doubt are correct, with express
charges on some trunks and things paid
for by the Office, and the string of fig
ures puzzles me. Then the bandwrit-
ing is SO bad. Would you, now, just
make the addition for me? Oh, [ amt
afraid of your looking at the bill. There
are no sherry cobblers on the account.
and one doesn't trust muslin dresses to
seaside washerwomen."
Mrs. Bland had hanging from her
neck delicate chain, and among nu-
merous rafting appendages there was
a dainty gold pencil. With as pretty
dimpled white hand as [ ever saw, she
bent over and offered me the pencil.
The calculation was so simple that [
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