Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1879-10-31
NR. ORAANNO GHERKENSPARrI.

HR ORL1 NDO GHERh EN'S PiRTl
Tall, thin, straight and angular was Miss
Philomeh Gherken medium height rather
stout. oad-shoudered, and curvilinear was
her brother, or, more properly speaking, her
half-brothtr, Orlando. 4 sharp nose and
chin, small gray eyes, scattered sandy hair,
sallow complexion, and lipless mouth had
Philomela; Orlando rejoiced in merry blue
eyes, a large smile handsome, aquiline nose,
abundant dark curly hair, and ruddy cheeks.
Philomela spoke in a high, shrill voice. not
! agreeable at any time, which, when she was
angry-twce a day on an averRge-pierced
the ear like the notes of a fife Orlando's re-
marks came from his chest, and reminded
you Of the deep blssoon
When Philomela laughed-about once II
wcck-shc tee-heed when Orlando laughed
AS often rs possible he haw. hRwed Phil
omca looked after all the odds and ends of
the household, although her brothers income
was an excellent one, and made Use of them :;
Orlando, had he dared would hnve given
them to the poor. Philomola hated compa-
ny, with the exception of two or three old
cronies after her own heart, and dislked mu-
sic: Orlando delighted in the one, and was
passiOnately fond of the other. Orlando
filed the vases and pitchers with flowers +;
Philomca pouucod on them as soon as the
first leaf faded. and threw them away. Or
lando loved children Philomela called them
and meant ii too "horrid little uuisances "
Orlando was strongly inclined to be neigh
bor!y Philoucla rrpellcd all neighborly ad-
yances with chilling cooluess. Orlando
thought the young girl who lived in the house
on the other street, the garden of which join
ed his own, very pretty and jolly-made you
feel as though there was a delightful invgor-
ating breeze about, upon which ioated strains
of dance and martial music Miss Gherken
said she was dark as a mulatto' (she was sew
eral shades lighter than cgtt an ldt), had
eyes like cat (light brown, with glints of
gold, wore pounds of false hair (only the
smallest swtch) ''sang like a man "a splen-
did alto), and was fast" And she closed
the blinds of the window-out of which, con-
coaled by the curtain, Orlando was watching
the breezy young woman play tag with
some little visitors with a slam that came
very near being wooden-what Tom Hood
said
GLOW a man of your years" Che was thirty,
twenty years younger than his lf-sister)
''can like to look at such a tomboy can't
imagine For my part, l think her not only
fast, but insane"
If hers be insanity" communed Orlando
with himself, lit is insanity of an extremely
refreshing nature, and forms an agreeable
contrast to the marked sanity of sister Philo-
mela.'
And he continued to watch Miss Thomasi-
ma Somerset with undated pleasure, thanking
her in his heart for making the only really
bright picture in life spent partly in the
dull monotony of cOunting-roOm, and part
ly under roof where Miss Philomela Cher
ken reigned supreme. And that he might
gaze upon this picture as often and as long as
possible, from late he became very early
riser, because Tom" as her brothers called
her, always came bounding into the garden
the big watchdog rushing to meet her-with
the first rays of the sun. And yet he was
often late to breakfast, One morning
the toast and the coffee were actual
ly cold. That was the morning Tom" had
been hurting stones at mark-throwing her
arm and wrist out with swing-and doing it
very well, too. In the evenings he smoked
his cigar on the back porch, and listened
with unconcealed pleasure, in spite of his sis
ters glowering, to the pretty brunette's skill
full playing on the piano, with an occasional
dash at the banjo, which she managed with
equal skill, and to which she often sang-ne-
gro melodies.
Actually negro melodies :" exclaimed Phil
omela, when they first forced themselves up
on her ear.
"And why not ?" asked her brother. 'Nils-
son sang them"
Then Nilsson ought to have been ashamed
of herself, said the lady.
And often parties were given in the house
in the other street, and Miss ThomasinA
could be seen darting about, apparently the
life of the whole assemblage, or dancing with
wonderful ease and grace with sundry we'll
dressed young men. "Popinjays!" was the
term Mr.. Gherken applied to these young
men, especially when the dance happened to
be a waltz although why popinjays he alone
knew. And merry laughter, and gay music,
and sounds of clinking plates and glasses
would float across to the home of the Cher
kens.
And Orlando began to wish more heartily
than ever that his maiden sister did not feel
it her duty to reside in his house and take
such devoted care of him, and to doubt that
his dying mother, as Philomela declared, ev-
er requested her to do So; for his mother
had been the autpodes of Miss Gherken, and
he had been getting along very nicely with
Mary, his widowed sister, until Philomela ar
rived, and Mary. sweet-tempered as she was,
unable to bear her tyranny, departed.
Great heavens! if l could only summon
strength of mind enough to request her to
seek another home Her incomes nearly as