Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1880-09-01
did not mean to doubt or be impolite;

; did not mean to doubt or be impolit,
they only meant surprise.
"The curate," said Hetty, in a con
posed but plainly contemptuous viii,
per. 1t was q stage whisper.
."Old Major Sterne," said Miss Geo
gle promptly.
Perhaps Henry Simms," suggeste
! Katie, with some sympathy. Then turn
ing to her father she said, with a COZ
scious blush, " It is very strange, papa
but | too had proposal last night
"And so had I!' exclaimed Georgi
and Hetty i'll a breath.
''Eh % said papa, pushing up his spee
tacles. He was fat and pudgy, wit
sandy hair and flabby nose. He was
powerful man, too, and one unpleasant
to come to open quarrel with. Proposal
III the Browning family were few and ia
between in fact curiositics-an s.
much luck, as the girls described, f;,llin!
into one day overpowered him.
Zone at time; my breath is not wha
1t used to be, !" he said, addressing Katie
(lf he had said breadth, it would hay,
been ebually true, as his mother if sh,
was to be believed-always declared Ii,
W was sale a Lean 1 baby "M"y1 ask the name
MIR. Snooks,'' said she, with down
cast eyes and timid smile. She tool
up the corner of cherry colored bow
that adorned her gown, and fell to admir-
ing it, through what she fondly thought
was bashfulncss.
''Impossible!' exclaimed George an
grily.
"What disgraccful untruth!' CRIED
Hetty: ''Mr. Shocks proposed to me
last night, and accepted him."
"What is it you say? 0, I am going
out OF my mind; my senses are deserving
me, - said George, putting her hands to
her head with a dramatic gesture. cor
is it dream that he asked me to marry
him, and that I too said 'yes?'"
81 seldom visit the Clouds" said Lily.
with short but bitter laugh. "And /
certainly know he made me q noble offer
of his hand and heart; both which treas
ures / declincd.''
Where?" demanded the other three,
as though with one mouth.
g In the laurel avenue!"
At this they all groaned aloud.
"Perfdious monster!" sail Hetty
from her heart.
cam [ to understand" began Mr..
Brownrg, with suppressed but evident
fury, that this-this- rlnmitig
scoundrel asked you all to marry him
last night?'
If we speak the truth, ycs," replied
the girls dismally.
He was drunk" said papa savagely.
g [ can't believe it," said Katie, who
was dissolved in tears-in fact. "Jike
Niobe, all tears by this time. 'sNotll-
ing could be nicer than the way he did it.
His language was perfect, and so thor
oughly from the-heart.'
He addressed me in most honora,
BILE, upright and Christian fashion, said
Hetty. 81 am sure he meant every
word he said"
She WAS thinking uneasily of that kiss
IN the moonlight. Could any one have
seen her? Was OLD Major Sterne any
where about at that moment?
81 certainly considered his manner
strange, not a bit like what one reads.
said George honestly; "but thought
Of the title and the property, and said
yes Directly
I thong int him the very greatest muff
L ever spoke to- broke in Miss Lily,
with decision. 81 refused him without
moments hesitation, and told him to
go home. I'm sure it was well did.
daresay if he had stayed here much
longer, he would have proposed tomam-
ma next, and afterwards to the upper
housemaid. I agree with you, papa, the
champagne was too much for him.
I'll think he is fond of me-" said
Katie, in low and trembling tone. Her
fingers are not playing with the cherry
colored bow now, but her eyelids have
borrowed largely of it's tint.
Don't be a goose, Katie" said the
youngest Miss Browning, kindly but
scornfully; "you don't suppose any of
us would marry him now, after the way
he has behaved. Do have some little
pride"
Perhaps he is mad said Hetty
vaguely. Just at this moment, as slave
to her wounded vanity, she would have
been glad to believe him so.
"No, my DEAR" declared Lily; "he
has no brains worth turning"
"He said something, papa, about call
ing to-day at o'clock, - said Kate very
family.
"Thcn I shall sit here till four" re.
turned Mr. Browning, in an awful tone.
81 shall SIT here until five; and then I
shall go out and find that young man
and give him such ahorse- whipping as [
warrant you he never got before IN all
his life."
Don't be too hard on him papa"
said Katie weakly
81 shan't my dear, but my whip will,
said papa grimly.
So he waited until five; he waited till
halt-past five, and then he tool. up a
certain heavy gold-knobbed whip that
lay stretched on the table as though in
readiness, and sailed forth in search of
Shocks rooms. And he found them,
and Shocks, too-in bed, suffering from
a severe catarrh, caught, [ presume, in
the laurel avenue.
And no man knows what he did to
Shocks. But at least he gave him an
increased desire for his bed. because for
a fortnight afterwards he never stirred
out of it.
When Mr.. Wilding Ihea1d of this I re-
greet to saw he gave way to noisy mirth
in the privacy of his chambers; and was
actually caught by his washerwoman-
who peeped through the keyhole-per-
forming wild dance in the middle of
the floor
Patent Flour.
Almost everybody knows of patent
flour, but not everyone understands
what it is. Stripped of technicaities,