The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1880-06-04
HUGH,s CHOICE.
From the Evening Telegram.
BY ETHELIND RAY.

BY EIdELlND hAI
From the Evening Telegram.
Hugh Mckay had made up his mind
to get married He was thirty years
old, and considered himself no longer too
young to invest in partner for life, pro-
vided he could find one that exactly
suited his fastidious fancy.
He summed up list of the personal
attractions which he deemed indispensa-
BILE to the future Mrs. Hugh, thusly:
She must be tall and stately, with the air
and carriage of a queen; she must have
calm, serene, blue eyes, high, intel
lectual brow, straight nose, small mouth,
and luxuriant hair of pale gold tint;
and she must not have a dimple in her
chin, THAT was sign of weakness) nor
wear her hair banged, ;" nor her hat on
one side-nothing, in short, must she do
or wear that would attract the attention
or admiration of "street loungers."
She must be quiet, modest, ladylike,
never indulging in slang, and always re-
serving her warmest smiles for him, and
her coolest ones for all others of the
masculine persuasion"
But after flushing his list, he suddenly
realized, with a blank feeling in his
heart, that the next thing to do was to
''find her." and he soon discovered that
this was q more difficult task than he had
at first imagined.
In vain, he haunted the theaters, balls,
churches-every place, in fact, which
might be the resort of the fair, pure
flower he was so longing to pluck from
the parent stem, and transplant to his
own tender care.
For long time he was unsuccessful,
but, at last, that tickle dame, Fortune,
kindly befriended him, and caused him
to be introduced to Miss Josephine Page,
who, he Immediately decided, was ''just
the girl for himr'
She was just tall enough, plump
enough, stately enough-oh! she really
could not have suited him better if she
had been 'smade to ORDER" and he has
tened to cultivate her acquaintance,
showering bouquets and presents and
sundry attentions upon her, until the
poor girls head was almost turned.
Well, two or three months passed
away, and one morning he called at the
home of Miss Josephine, with the inten-
tion of offering to marry her, for it never
once occurred to him that she, or any
one else, would refuse him.
He crossed the veranda, stepped
the low, French window into
Eawing-room and finding no one
Il, threw himself lazily into an easy
lair, to await the entrance of his
PllulciRea.
AS he did so, his eye fell on a folded
slip of paper lying on the carpet, and
picking it up, he found that it was tele-
gram, and read as follows:
"win be home Thursday.
Charlotte Deanel All! That was
Josephine's step-sister; he had often
heard Josie speak of her as a very wild,
. unmanageable sort of girl.
once, ssI do hope you will not be shocked
at Charley when she comes home. You
can't imagine how she grieves poor
mamma and me with her slang and care
She's real pretty, to be sure, and her
father thinks the world of her, but
mamma and really feel quite ashamed
of herr'
And SO Charlotte, Tor Charley, as she
insisted upon being called) was coming,
or, perhaps, had come, for this was
Thursday, thought Mr.. Mckay, loung-
ing back in his chair.
just then some one entered the adjoin-
ing room, singing "Baby Mine" in the
loudest, clearest and sweetest OF voices.
Then some one else entered, and jose
pulu0 low, even fOlCo odlO, OAniAOy,
it is not lady-like to sing so loudly!" 'sIs
that SOP" exclaimed a clear, merry voice
in reply. "Well, Josie, what is ladylike?
I can't sing, can't whistle, I can't wear
my hat on one side, or anything else with
your consent Must I paste my hair
down fat, and discard bangs and hoops
and all such denominations? If so, I'll die
at oncep'
"Detestabler' muttered Hugh, under
his mustache. ga regular girl of the
periodl'
But his soliloquy was at that moment
interrupted by the entrance OF the
young lady.
There she stood before him-slender,
slight, graceful! A white hat with an
immense, blue-lined brim was placed
FIRMLY on one side of her head: her black
hair puffed and frizzed and curled in the
latest fashion; her parasol under her
arm, her gloves tucked in her belt and
her dark eyes flashing with a sort of
''make-fun-of-eyerything" expression.
When her eyes fell upon him. she
stopped still, stared at him moment;
then pulling her hat over little more to
one side, called cut in distinct voice.
ssMy goodness, Josie, here's mAnr'
Josephine came in quietly, and gave
Hugh her hand in her slow, graceful
way: then introduced her cousin, Char
ley Deane.
Charley gave him her hand with care
less nod. then seated herself at a distance,
and proceeded to draw on her gloves.
Hugh carried on easy conversation with
Josephine, but his eyes never once wan