The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1880-07-02

out being seen Dy ner' II Il ike ner
looks I'll introduce myself, If not I'll
come home, bid farewell to the fortune
and settle down to bachelordom and
HYou forgot that your cousin Uriah
comes to-day and may be offended if you
are not here" urged the widow.
"Mother," returned Arthur, mock
earnestly, if anything could drive me
away from this comfortable home with
more speed than my curiosity to see
Miss Fairfax it would be the knowledge
that that dry old book-worn, Cousin
Uriah, was coming here to bore me with
his learning and his praises of that blue
stocking, his idol Araminta, for whose
hand he is too bashful topropose. He's
nice young fellow, but, oh, such n
bore. That decides me; L go at eleven
o'clock"
And in the smoking train that left
Opoliston at eleven o'clock bound for
Metroville sat DIR. Arthur Delaney puff
ing cigar gravely.
Father" said Miss Fairfax, while
presiding over a cunning little breakfast
table in cosy little dining-room in the
most comfortable little house in the little
city of Metroville, ''my mind is made up
L cannot take the money! cannot
marry man Mt the order of another even
if that other does offer me one hundred
thousand dollars to do So"
"Well, my dear Fidelia, returned Mr..
Fairfax, 81 do not feel competent to adj
wise you further than bid you follow the
dictates of your ownheart. Still, my love,
! / 10
your dear mother were alive she would
tell you in moment what to do must
say, though, Fidelia, that one hundred
thousand dollars is"
Yes, pa, know, one hundred thous-
fsnd dollars is q great deal of money, but
even that sum cannot tempt me to marry
man L do not love-have never seen in
fact. Was a girl ever placed in such q
humiiating position? / wish the eccen-
trio old Mr.. Tobias Queerby had been
content to keep his eccentricity to him.
self. The idea! If the friendship that
existed between you and Mr.. Delaney
and him gave him the right to dispose Of
the hands and hearts of his friends chill
dren."
"But you needn't marry him, you
know, my DEAR" said Mr.. Fairfax. "If
1 had not been so unfortunate the past
few years L would say at once give up this
fortune; but L cannot leave you much,
my love, and L know what a comforting
thing money is. 3"
a" But L can't marry him, pa"
"Well, Mr.. Greenland Kent, the
attorney, says the condition is not legal
"But oh, pa, Mr.. Queerby relied on
my honor not to take the money without
accepting the condition, and my honor
makes the condition binding if the law
does not" said Miss Fairfax, decidedly.
True, my DEAR" replied the gentle
man, ''yet this L must say, Fidelia, l
have often heard your poor mother speak
of Mr.. Delaney, and always in terms Of
the highest praise, and, you know that
as general rule sons are like their
fathers. L have no douDt he is most
estimable young man.
81 have no doubt he is, pa. dare say
that he can interlard his conversation
with yards of Latin that he don't half un-
derstand, can write sonnets and triolets
in lady's album, can tell the best time
of all the oarsmen and race horses, can
play polo, can tell what kind of coat
ought to be worn on each day of the
week, can say very clevah, bal Jove, as
If he were a thorough man of the world,
can tell what new play is going to be a
success, can flirt with everybody and VOW
all the girls are breaking their poor
hearts for him, can tell college yarns all
night and laugh loudest at his own wit,
in short, prove himself an honor to society
and Harvard College. 1 can see him now
talking to his pal there are no more class
mates; pals and college slang murdered
them long ago. and saying: ooh, bal
Jupitah, old fellow, it's dooced bore, ye
know, but the poor little girl will break
her heart if L don't marry her, and / sup
pose L will have to, bal Jove, yaas, while
all the time he hates me like poison"
"Now, now, now, Lealie, my love'
cried Mr.. Fairfax, 'this is not right, :"
yet he could not refrain from laughing
''You are unjust, unkind-you should
not speak so of one you have never
seen. "Oh, papa!" exclaimed Fidelia,
suddenly clasping her hands and shak-
ing her black curls, merrily.
'What, my dear!' asked the father.
81 have an idea. The lawyers letter
SAYS Mr.. Fairfax lives in Opoliston
Now, Rena Lester lives there, and she's
my schoolmate and she's been begging
me to call on her There's train leaves
at eleven and I'll go to-day. I'll con-
trive to see Mr.. Arthur Delaney with
out being seen, and I'll judge by his
looks whether I'll ask him to be intro
duced. If 1 don't like him I'll throw the
fortune to the hospitals and become an
old maid, and make tea forever for my
dear, stupid, loving, darling pa. So make
haste, pa, 1 must prepare for my Jour
ney."
'But you are not going to-day, my
DEAR" complained Mr.. Fairfax, "you
forget that your cousin Araminta is com
ing to-day to stop with us, and she might
be offended if you were not here to re-
ceive her.
Spa, if anything could drive me from
the house it would be the thought that L
would have to listen to the dissertations
of the learned Araminta and hear her
praises of that modest, unassuming
Uriah, whoever he is. Araminta is a
good enough body, pa, but she doen
weary me so. That decides me. l go
to-day"