The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1880-02-14
A GENTEEL COMEDY.

A GENTEEL COMEDY.
1t was a warm and sunny afternoon,
early in a certain September, that the sub
ject of this memoir, with admiration in
his eyes and alteration in his heart, sat
upon the deck OF an outward-bound ocean
steamer, watching a group Of three per-
sons who stood near the port railing. The
group consisted Of a young girl, an elderly
gentleman, evidently her father, and a
bushy.bearded, low.browed younger man,
whose attentions to the young lady, and
his generally idiotic behavior, declared
him to be her lover. In five minutes /
had learned TO hate him with all the feroc-
ity OF which my nature was capable.
The girl-how shall 1 describe her-her
deep, brown, lustrous eyes, her soft, rip
ping hair, her white teeth, her pearly
tints, her red, ripe, sensuous lips, her
clear, sweet exhilerating laugh? Before
we had reached the Narrows, I had be-
come fascinated in a manner that / cannot
describe. We had not passed Sandy Hook
before / knew that, though l had not ex-
changed a word with her, I was madly,
hopelessly, i~rresponsibly in love.
/ was then a steady.going bachelor oil
thirty.two, not much given to romance or
10 undue admiration OF the gentler sex.
In fact, I had rather prided myself upon
my callosity in that respect. Love, ! had
argued, was q plant OF slow growth, re-
qniring to be well watered and carefully
n%urtured, and when full grown was not
half so vigorous an affair as poets and sen.
timental novelists would have US believe.
As for love at first sight, it was an i'm
possibility. II l ever fell in love, l would
do so calmly and deliberately, and after
the most mature consideration. Such
were the theories with which | had set
foot upon that Hateful steamer, and now,
beiorelI had lost sight ofmy native shores,
1 had bundled them all together and
pitched them overheard without hesitation
or regret.
The lady seemed by intuition to know
that my steadfast gaze was fixed upon her,
for she suddenly turned her head and
bent her brown eyes upon mine. For one
brief second 1 looked into her beautiful
LIQUID depths. Then she turned quickly
away, and q vivid blush mantled her
cheek, as though she had almost read my
thoughts, 1 felt my blood leap and my
heart beat faster.
It was not the last time that her eyes
met mine, for, as I sat there, again and
again she glanced at me, and once eyed
me for several seconds %curiously, until my
veins seemed filed with winean my very
soul all aglow. :,
"Cost what It will, l will speak to her"
I thought; andI had not long to wait ior
an opportunity, for scarcely had l formed
the resolution before her handkerchief,
which had lain idly in her lap, was caught
by a sudden puff OF wind, and blown
straight towards me. With a spring /
caught it as II was flying over the star
board rail. +,
"oh, thank you'll" she said, as I returned
1t to her. j,
That was all, but it was enough. l had
touched her hand; she had spoken to me;
she had even smiled upon me, and !
walked away with a happiness in my heart
that made me,feel as II treading on air.
Anew delight awaited me when l tound
that evening her seat at the table was TO
be next to mine. The elderly father sat
upon her right and 1 upon her left, but,
somewhat to my surprise, the low.browed
young gentleman was several seats remov'
ed, and occupied a place nearly opposite
mine, whence he glowered at me in the
most truculent manner. She fioated into
the dining-saloon in acloudydress OF dark
and diaphanous material, through which
the perfect contour OF her arms and the
marble loveliness Of her shoulders were
well, though modestly, displayed.
Nv attention that evening were chiefly
confined to passing the salt and the but
fer. but the next morning my opportu.
nifty arrived. An easterly wind had set In
during the night, and the ship was toler'
ably steady, but neither OF the two gen
tlemen l have mentioned made his ap
pearance at the breakfast table, and, II
TACT, the elder remained invisible until We
were within three days OF Queenstown
THE young lady, however, was in he
place, and ate with an appetite that sci
se~a.sickness at defiance. q,
"You are accustomed 10 ocean travel
lingP" I ventured to remark, in my mos
insinuating tones:
"0h, no, sir. This is the first time W
have ever been across"
"Indeedl And you are not afraid 0
s~ea.sickness?"
~ have not been i'll yet, but poo
Colonel Kilgore, l hear is quite sick thii
morning"
!, "Colonel Kilgore?"
eyes, the gentleman who sits oppo
|; site you, whom you saw with me yester
! day.h
dahl He is an old friend of yoursH"
ooh. no. indeed" she replied, with
r,tle Ianeh. ave only met on the steam
. sr' He helped us about our baggage, ant
el' A - ~ p.;It26 o,n,,,