American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1879-11-22
OUR BOARDER.

When Miss Dehone came to our house
to stay, it was well understood that if we
were to her liking, she was to remain
with US for the rest of her days. And as
we thought that the payment of her
board would be quite an item in our lit
tie housekeeping, we were resolved that.
of course, we would be to her liking.
Moreover, Miss Dehone was a Distant
indeed, a very distant-connection
mammals great-aunt's second cousin by
marriage, OF something of that sort
And distant as that was, we were the
nearest and only connections she had in
the world, so that am ashamed to ac-
knowledge that we were so poor as to be
obliged to encourage mercenary
thought in the matter-so that we might
possibly come in for something by her
will, if she decided not to leave all and
every thing to the Society for the Pre-
vention of Cruelty to Cats, as she had
once formally declared her intention to
be.
Sarah did not look on the innovation
favorably. Sarah was our beauty of
beauties-I wish you could have seen
her in those days-dark and tall and
straight as an Arab, with such carna-
ton on her olive cheek, and such blue
black hair, and eyes like midnight and
stars, just as different from Emma as
dark from dawn; for EN- was all fair
and rosy and dimpled and yellow-haired,
while Kate was gray-eyed, black-lashed,
and pale. As for me, 1 was always
little dud; but was mighty useful.
Well, Sarah said she had rather 90
without every thing forever than intro
duce a stranger-and such stranger
among us, and EN- seconded her. En-
didn't say it, but she was pretty sure it
would interfere with her beaux to have
an old lady always sitting round, with
her blanket-shawls and foot-stoves and
big tabby-cats on each side of her, to be
waited on every minute or two, or else
to give you a heartless appearance; and
it was well known that Miss Dehone
had the greatest contempt for the young
men of to-day, who had deteriorated so
sadly since her time. But Kate and
persuaded mamma on our side, and that
made majority, and Miss Dehone
came. And she Uas an old woman,
with blanket-shawls, and foot-stoves,
and rubber bags of hot water, and ter
rible attacks of collie, and lap-dog,and
parrot, and pair of canaries, and a
family of Persian cats; and for the rest,
the most inquisitive little body, with her
sharp black eyes peering from all her
wraps and caps and strings and things
like mouse from bundle of rags.
And, to Sarah's CONSERVATION, she sin
gled her out for the royal favor at once.
You have the Dehone eye, my love-"
she said, with a series of queer little
mods; al looked just like you at your
age" And Sarah said afterward, with
asperity, that if she was going to look
just like her at her age, she wished she
might die now!
"Just think how horrid it will be
when Arnold comes,'' said Sarah to me-
"There she is perched with her pets in
the corner, and there she always will
be, with those dreadful eyes of hers, too
Dehone eyes, indeed! And she will be
asking all sorts of hateful questions
she'll be asking him his intentions, for
all know
Asking Arnold Parnell his intentions,
Sarah guessed that mamma had been on
the point of it any time this twelve
month; for mamma held her husbands
girls to be serious responsibility, and
here had Arnold been, as she would
have said if she had put it into words,
in the way of Sarah's making an eligible
settlement all this year and more. Mann
ma is cheeky-I beg her dem d
naughty pardon, she calls it her habit of
self-respeet-but,so somehow, like ''gr;lnd-
fathers Clock she always stopped
" short -" of asking Arnold any qucs-