Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1880-11-10

stones. The sexton told me that it
was their particular desire, in order to
make the church-yard look respecta-
BILE; and they left behind them just
sufficient money to pay the under
takers bills and to erect four grave
stones. I saw these ladies twice. and
that at an interval of thirty years. /
made one more attempt to see them,
| and I was more grieved than [ could
have anticipated when the neighbors
showed me their newly-closed graves.
But no one long pities the dead,
and I was, after while, glad
that they had not been long separated.
I saw these ladies twice, I said and the
| first time that [ saw them the only
doubt was which of the four would be
first married. / should have fallen in
love with one of them myself do not
! know which-but [ understood that
they were all four more or less engaged.
They were all pretty, they were all sensi-
BILE, they were all good-humored, and
they knew the world, for they had all
read Rollins "Ancient History" They
not only had admirers, but two of them
even then had serious suitors The
whole village of Littleton and many
villages in the neighborhood rang with
the praise of the accomplished and
agreeable daughters of the rector nor
were the young ladies dependent for
| their hopes of husbands merely ON their
good qualities they had the reputation
of wealth. which reputation, am con-
strained to say, was rather bubble.
The rectory of Littleton was said to be
worth 81 900 year-but it never pro-
duced more than s6OO. And the worthy
rector was said to be worth 100000 or
e12,OOO Bless him ! he ought to be
worth that and great deal more, but
| he never possessed SO much the utmost
! of his private fortune was 81 500 in the
8 per cents.
It is enough to designate the ladies
| by their Christian names. Their good
| father used to boast that his daughters
had really Christian names. The eldest
was Mary. the second Martha, the third
Anna and the Youngest Elizabeth. The
eldest was, when [ first knew them,
| actually engaged to young gentleman
who had Just taken wrangler's degree
at Cambridge, and had gained a prize
for Greek epigram. Such an effort Of
genius seemed next to miraculous al
Littleton, for the people of the village
never gain prizes for Greek epigrams.
The farmers who had heard of his sue
cess used to stare at him for prodigy,
and almost wondered that he should
walk on two legs, and eat mutton, and
say Chow do you do?" like the rest
of the world. And everybody said
he was such nice man. He never
skipped irreverently over the river, as
some young men of his age would do,
/ but always went over the bridge. 1t
was edifying to see how gracefully he
| handed the young ladies over the said
bridge, Mary always the last, though
she was the eldest. The young Squire
of the parish was generally considered
as the suitor of the second. The
third had many admirers she
was what is called a snowy young
woman, having a little of the theatrical
in her STYLE She was eloquent, lively
and attitudinizing. She had most
beautiful voice, and her good papa used
to say: "My dear Anna, the sound of
your voice is very delightful, and it
does me good to hear you sing to your
own harpsichord, but I wish I could
hear you sing at church"
Poor man; he did not consider that
there was no possibility of hearing any
! other voice while that of the parish
clerk was dinging in his ears. Eliza
beth, the youngest, was decidedly the
prettiest of the four sentimentality was
her forte, or, more properly speaking,
her foible. She sighed much herself,
and was the cause of signing to others.
[ little thought when [ first saw them
that beheld nest of predestined old
maids but it was so, and the next time
| that [ saw them they were all living
together, spinsters How [ was occu-
pied the next thirty years would be
tedious to relate, therefore I pass over
! that period and come again to Littleton
Time is like mischievous urchin that
! plays sad tricks In our absence, and so
disarranges things and persons, too, that
when we come back again we hardly
know where to find them. When I made
my second visit to Littleton, the good
old rector had been several years in his
grave; and, when [ asked after his
daughters, I was told that they were
living, and were together, and that they
occupied the white cottage. [ was rath-
er pleased to hear that they were single,
though was surprised at the lnfOrma-
ton. [ knew that [ should be well re-
ceived; that [ should not find all their
old affections aIienated by new ties.
knew that I should not have to encounter
the naughty and interrogatory eyes of
husbands; that should not be under
the necessity Of accommodating myself
to new manners. I had, indeed, some
difficulty in making myself known, and
still more difficulty i'll distinguishing the
ladies, the one from the other, and con-
Meeting their present with their past ap-
pearance for Annals attitudinizing days
we're over, and Elizabeth had ceased to
sigh. But, whep the recognition had
taken place, we were exceedingly glad
to see each other, and we all talked to-
gether about everybody and everything
at once.
My call at the white cottage was at
the latter end of August. The weather
was fine, but there had recently been
much rain, and there were some very