The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1879-02-07

hind them took my engagement ring from
my finger and flung it upon the ground, and
| actually--I'm ashamed to tell it, but did
made my hand into fist and shook it at
my promised husband. What would
mamma, the dear, meek darling-I don't
get my temper from her--have said if she
had seen me2
AS for Anthony, he wasn't the least bit
frightened, but caught the fist, and shut it
up IN his strong right hand like something
in box.
al hate you'll" l cried. "Nobody ever
treated me so before"
"But how many have yOW treated so ?" he
asked, with smile; and l couldn't help
| thinking how handsome he looked in the
silver moonlight.
| Everybody has always done whatever
wanted them to do" went on, stamping
my foot.
sand consequently spoiled you," said he.
| "What did you love me for, if I'm not
n vt nice 2"
because knew the moment I saw you,
you wee thing, you were my fate. thought
you were nice then, and wanted to take you
in my arms the moment you smiled at me-"
| "Aud now ?"
| anu HDW L tilnN YOU tempered,
selfish, willful, unreasonable little girl"
| "Indeed !" and | wrenched my hand
away, but not before he had kissed it with
the most provoking GOODNESS. "Then We'll
part, unless you change your opinion i'm
mediately, and promise necer to speak TO
Meta Brooke again."
II shall make no such silly promise,
Barbara" Good gracious the idea of his
| calling me Barbara 81 have promised to
drive her to the depot tomorrow"
You return to the city together2 p
1--WE return by the same train, as we have
done dozen times before"
Co." said I, almost beside myself with
rage. II never want to see you again"
Are you sure, Barbara he asked
quite sure2 think you had better wait
for day or two before you Danish me-
If by the day after o-morrow-your birth
day--you still hate me, send me word to
that effect, and will, the moment your
note is read, accept q position offered me
this morning, and start for home beyond
the sea. Goodnight, Miss Darling"
"Good night, Mr.. Ditto"
And he strobe away up the road, and l
picked up my ring and stole into the house,
and cried as though my heart would break.
1t was so cruel of him to be unkind to a
poor little thing like me.
The next morning, as | sat on the front
porch darning the children's stockings
dear me it seems to me every time stock
ing darning time comes around that there
never could be another family with so many
legs as ours Anthony drove past with
Meta Brooke at his side.
l hid behind the stocking basket until
they were out Of sight, and then flew to
my desk and wrote as bitter note as
woman twice my size could have written,
and | sent it to the village post office that
very evening by our little servant maid.
Our little servant-maid is pretty little
maid, with large honest gray eyes, small
red mouth, bright chestnut hair, a pleasant
smile, neat, plump figure, and remarka.
bly, cheerful disposition. And clever little
maid she is, too can wash and iron, cook
and do a hundred other things; but she
possesses one taste which interferes sadly
with the performance other domestic duties
the most insatiate hunger for literature,
which she gratifies whenever she finds an
opportunity, in season or out of season,
morn, noon, or night
Potatoes and stews are burned, bread.
cakes, and pies baked to cinders, doors left
open all night, breakfast delayed, lunches
forgotten, dinners served too late-all on
account of this love of reading which char
acterizes our little servant-maid
She nearly drowned baby once, while
giving her her bath, by letting the darlng's
head slip under the water, while she de-
voured story in a Harper's Weekly she
had taken from a table near by. She let
my canary escape while she removed his
empty seed cup with one hand and held
Helens Babies in the other, her eyes being
fixed on the book. She spilled the soup
one dinner-time over papa's immaculate
white vest, while trying to peep at the
magazine he was glancing over. She set
| the hot tlatiron on our best tlamask table
| cloth, and left it there to indelibly imprint
it's triangular portrait, while she hastily
read an interesting murder case in the
morning paper.
She could scarcely be got out of bed
mornings, because she was tired and sleepy
from reading the book she distracted from
| the bookcase the night before, and when
she did get up she actually sat before
the dreary- looking stove for half an hour
or 80, intently perusing the various scraps
of newspaper with which she should have
been lighting the fire.
In short, if she had not been the most
devoted, sunny, unselfsh, fond of us-all
little creature, it would have been utterly
impossible for us to have stood the many
mishaps and disasters that sprang from our
servant maids devotion to literature. AS
it was, papa said to her when she drenched
him with soup, "Another occurrence of this
| ,ot,ra opI wan f,p - Anl ,ou,,,,o On 4 q,
her when she nearly drowned the baby,
Really, Eleanor, if anything as dreadful
as this happens again, we must pnrt"
And I said to her when she freed my song
bird, "The very next wrong thing you do
while reading" and | made q significant
pause and looked.
Eyes, miss" said Nellie, meekly, with
the tears in her gray eyes, which didn't
prevent her, as soon as she reached the
kitchen, bursting out with "Why, why,
why didst thou leave me ?" to tune made
up of strange combination of"Old Dan
Tucker" and THE Russian Hymn"
But with the exception of a turkey nice
ly roasted and sent to table retaining its
crop and one or two other superfluous ap-
pendages to turkey when roasted, on &C
count of Red as a Rose is She, and forget
ting to put the yeast in the bread one night
because East Lynne lay beside the bread
bowl, Nellie had got into no trouble for
several months, and had gladly said to me,
the morning Of the very day l sent that
horrid letter, $50, miss, shall be with
you another birthday, after all and isn't
that Monarch Of Minking Lane lovely
read little bit of it when I was busting
the parlor, miss"
Well to 90 back to nnnphtv Barbara.