St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1879-08-08
Shut the Door After You.

Shut the Door After You.
Laura sat 10y the window of her room
reading note, nothing but perplexity
and disturbance in her fair face. She
was a noble, intelligent, well-euucated
girl, but utterly unsOphisticated, or, as
her school mates called her with girlish
slang, ''green."
There was no reason for this in hel
social surroundings. She had been
born and brought up in a city, been
sent to mere than one boarding school
and seen much good society in hel
fathers house but her nature was
radically unwOrldly, and could receive
nothing of counteractive kind from
things about her. She was as romantic
as sentimental, as ideal, enthusiastic,
innocent, and gushing AT twenty as Il
girl of ten; believed what people said
to her, had implicit faith in the news
papers, despised mOney-it is to be ac-
knOwledged she never knew the want
| of it-and had entire trust in the honor,
honesty and kindliness of all about her.
Within year of the time we are intro
duced to her she had formed an ac-
Quaintance and what she called friend
ship with young man in Dennis, who
was a law student, and rather an I'M
usual specimen of the class. Mr..
McCraw-for he was of Scotch descent
was poor, pious, and prim to de-
gree. Laura thought him as near a
saint as could be, and considered theiT
intimacy privilege to her. He was
one of those people who talk sort OF
refined and poetic cant that sounds
well, but, like the fruitless fig tree,
feeds no living soul. His modest recre-
alton after hard study consisted chiefly
in long walks, and he delighted in get
ting up parties of his own age to divert
the way. Miles and miles had Laura
Stockton followed his strides over hill
and dale, distancing her less enthusias-
tic comrades, she painting with fatigue,
he cool and gaunt, the sandy hair that
matched his angular head flying in the
breeze, his high cheek bones and prom,
inent nose turned of crude pink in the
keen air of the Dennis hills, and his
great red hands swinging beside hin
like pair of raw pendulums.
Sally Stockton, Laura's little sister
sinfully given to parodies, travestied
the "Battle of Ivry" for Laura's benefit
and made the refrain
Press where ye see my light locks wave, and heal
my loud guffaw,
And be your orifiamme to-day the red hands o
McCraw."
Laura was very angry, but everybody
else laughed. She alone, she thought
understood this lofty spirit, and enjoy.
ed being a disciple of his fine theories
1t was pleasure to her to pound along
after him by the dusty road sides, and
come up in time to hear him say, will
a gesture of command and diqitO mon.
stratum, "That cloud !" or, perhaps
''That COW ~ whereupon Laura fell tc
and admired at it, as old writer's say, il
the infantile innocence of her heart
thinking the thing was to be admired
because Mr.. McCraw said so.
Then they would pause under some
great tree, and when their companions
had gathered about them, this you'll
would draw from his capacious pocket
a small volume of poetry, and torture
Tennyson or declaim Browning will
such tricks of elocutiOn as college haG
taught him, and such lack of perception
as was Unborn with him.
But in all these walks and talks and
readings, though he singled out Laura
as his companion, and turned to hel
for the appreciation he failed always
to obtain from others, she never dream.
ed of any peculiar and personal inter
est on his part more than that com.
munity of spiritual interests which was
once the fair Platonic day dream OF
many girlish soul. Girls in these days
know better, or know more. She had
never had her pulse quickened or hel
visions perturbed by this man. Theo.
retically she admired him; his mind
seemed to her very deep. His selfish
reticence and moody temper were 9
great deal deeper than any mind he had
and his pOmpous self-conceit was but 8
cover for the most Grass and dogmatit
ignorance of any thing more profound
than his law books. Even his professeC
religion was form that did not modu.
late or sweeten his daily life; he KEEP
the commandments because it was re-
spectacle and proper to do so, not be-
cause he loved to obey his Father anC
Lord. Honesty, cleanliness, economy
a certain hard and useful intellect, ant
tolerable self-contrOl were his virtues
but to a person with any sense of hu
MOI he was absurd too often, and hi
rampant cOnceit made him obnoxiOu
TO every one with the least perception
; of character. Luckily for Laura, nei
ther humor nor perception was in he
makeup. But Mr.. McCraw was a ju
dlcious person, and he by no means in
tended to suffer Platonism to take DOS
session of his soul, and blind him to hi
best interests. He fully understood
that marriage with Laura Stockton
would insure him high position in so
ciety and eventual wealth, and hi
| friendship of a year eliminated in :
formal and distinct offer of marriage il
the note which we found Laura readip,
and meditating over.
She was pained, grieved, and disap
pointed she liked Mr.. McCraw much
so long as he was only friend, but no
one tender sentiment pleaded for hin
as a lover. The truth was, though sh,
could not formulate it, that this maj
was not a gentleman in any sense O
the word. Good breeding is a saf;
shield against an unfit marriage, for :
well bred woman is repelled by her in
stincts from a low and vulgar man
And at heart this precise Mr.. McCrav
was both vulgar and low. Laura wa
perplexed, and tried to recall to hersel
| anv undue encOurapement she mich