The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1879-12-17
A LITTLE FOOL.
HOW ELoIsE MADE HER OWN CHOICE OF A
HUSBAND.

responsibility demand of val. If you
must marry and make fool of yourself,
why not marry Colonel Powell ?"
Because do not like Colonel Pow
ell, and because Like some one else,
Aunt Ethel"
Il never heard of such thing. Do
you know what you are saying, miss
Such talk, can tell YOU, is highly i'm
proper; and as for not liking Colonel
Powell, that is nonsense. Colonel
Powell has everything necessary to win
woman's appreciation very old family,
very fine manners, elegant residence,
servants, carriages, money, and mem
Der of Congress besides. Don't you
know that you would spend the winters
in Washington ?"
@''I declare it does not tempt me a
bit"
'And don't believe that he is a day
more than fifty"
''He is seventy-fve, if he is an hour,
and he hobbies and coughs, and is alto
gether dreadful. [ never, never, never
will marry him."
MAY | ask who, then, is to have the
honor of becoming my nephew ?" And
Miss Ethel sat stif1y down, and began
to carefully re-arrange the pink satin
bows on her white morning dress.
Eloise sat down opposite her, and fin
gered nerVously the rose-buds and ivy
leaves that trimmed her garden hat
The two women were strangely alike,
only one face was forty years old, white,
and proud and the other was only
twenty, flushing and paling, and an
swering every feeling of the heart
For some moments Eloise did not
speak, and Miss Ethel Bruce did not
urge her. She sat patiently looking in
her niece's face, until that young lady,
finding courage in her desperation, said
with bland defiance, 1.-The gentleman
who is to have that honor, dear Aunt,
is Mr.. Harry TOrrens"
Impossible You would not do such
a foolish thing? ?"
"Oh yes, l would"
''Do you know who he is ?"
"He is-Harry"
Ridiculous Do you know who his
father is p
"No, | don't want to know him par
ticularly. Do you know him, Aunt
Ethel%
"No. / dare say it would be very
improper for ME to know such person.
When we first met him last summer in
the North, / don't remember that he
ever named his family"
"Nor ["
"That looks very bad, Eloise. If
man has respectable relations, of course
he talks about them"
81 don't see that it makes any great
difference to me. / do not intend to
marry Hsrry's relations. / do not care
much about them, anyway. Once he
told me that his mother was dead, and
| said mine was too; and of course we
felt sorry for each other, and all that
But l am afraid am little jealous
about Harry; l would just as lief be the
only person in the world who had any
right to love him as not"
'You make me feel hopeless about
you. Pray, what do you intend to live
upon ?"
Harry has two thousand dollars
year"
1.-TWO thousand dollars a year! What
a magnificent income !"
"Dont make fun of us, Aunt l
cannot allow that indeed | cannot.
We love each other, and shall be very
happy"
Torrens is employed ?"
''In West q Green's law office"
81 thought he lived in New York.
What brought him here ?"
''Hov should / know" said Eloise,
blushing, and involuntarily dropping
her voice.
Her aunt watched her curiously, and
shook her head for answer. "Where
have you seen him-for l hope you have
not dared to bring him within the pre-
cincts Of Bruce Place ?"
"He has never touched a paling of it.
| met him at Aunt Kezia's; and | am
sure she would have let Cousin Lizzie
marry him very willingly. She thinks
a great deal of Harry"
Lizzie Bruce is different. She has
five little sisters, and my brother Jake
always spends twenty out of an income
of nineteen. You have expectations
or at least had. / always intended, if
you remained unmarried, to leave you
the Bruce Place"
"Dear Aunt, thank you for the in
tention: but / would rather have Har-
ry. / have little bit of money of my
own, have not ?"
"About four thousand dollars; Just
enough to buy your wedding things and
marry you deeently. For, though you
are going to make such fool of your
self, shall not show the white feather
about it. | must pretend to be happy
when | am wretched, and receive con-
CALCULATIONS that will choke me; but
such trials are part and parcel of a
woman's lot; dare say l shall get
creditably through them"
Miss Ethel rose with a proud air,
bat pitifully sad face, and attempted
to leave the room, but Eloise, with
gentle force and many tender kisses,
made her sit down again"
"Auntie," she said, coaxingly, ''you
have asked me good many questions,
and / have answered them truly; now
/ am going to ask you some, and / know
you viii be fair with me about them.
First, were you ever in lover
Half smiling and half signing, Miss
Ethel sat thinking over the bold ques-
ton. At length she answered. slowly ;
Yes, Eloise once loved as do not
think you have the power to love. It
was twenty-five years ago
.fWiH you tell me about it 7"
81 cannot. sYes-I will try: per-
haps it may show you what waste of
life Is.
She then left the room, but soon re-
tarned with little tortise-shell box In
her hand. Il opened with spring,
and showed few yellow letters, a
bunch Of withered violets and the half q
plain gold ring. She lifted the latter
and said
This Is part Of his dead mothers
wedding ring; we broke it In two and
swore solemnly over il TO be faithful to
the promises NE had made to each other.
Then he sailed aWay from me. never
heard from him again. For two years
N sEn~Sad n1F fhn arrnrsspn ~ hS1s,o IA.