The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1880-04-14
A STRANGE ROMANCE.

''How happens it, Tom, that you
never married." asked Harry Stanhopt
of his friend, Tom Meredith, as the
two sauntered along Broadway one fine
| spring morning.
"Because | could never find any wo-
man who would have me, l suppose.
answered Tom, laughingly.
''No use to tell me that, old fellow,
reioined Harry Girls are not so fool
ish as to decline good-looking man
like you, with plenty of money; yet
here you are, nearly thirty years old,
and no more prospect Of settling than
YOU had ten years ago. Now if it were
| me, why, the case Is very different. y
doctor just struggling into practice is
scarcely considered eligible by the
matchmaking mammas, TO say nothing
of their worldly-wise daughters, but
they are ready and eager to smile upon
YOU, and YOU might as well make your
choice"
"Thank YOU" answered Tom, still
laughing, ''when find a young lady
who can come up to my grandmother 5
standard of domestic virtues, | will
invite her to become Mrs. Thomas Me
redith."
.'And what was your grandmother
peculiar doctrine on the subject y asked
Harry,
Il presume she had more than one, -
said Tom, "but this she particularly i'm
pressed upon my mind: Always look
at Voman's dish-towels, she would
remark with much soleminity. No
matter how well she plays the piano or
! sings, or how many languages she can
speak, never marry unless YOU see that
she uses soft, dry towels, and plenty of
them, when she wipes her dishes Be
sure that a girl who uses soiled or wet
dish-towels does not know enough to be
the wife of an honest man."
Harry laughed at this definition Of
house-wifely knowledge, but presently
hesaid, in Il serious tone:
e'There is considerable truth in the
old lady's ideas after all, but | don't
quite understand how, in these days,
you can apply the test. Most young
ladies that we know have perhaps never
seen a dish-towel Now | think of it,
l promised to introduce you to my
couins. There are three of them, all
bright, pretty girls, though | think it
doubtful whether they would fulfill
your grandmother's requirements as a
wife. Still you may find them pleasant
acquaintance, and if you like we will
90 there now
agreed" responded Tom, and the
two friends soon found themselves in
the parlor of Mrs. Renshaw, Harry
aunt.
The young ladies were all at home,
snd as Harry had said. were bright,
pretty girls. Ida, the eldest, was tall,
queenly brunette, whose magnificent
dark eyes and abundant raven tresses
seemed to compel universal admiration,
though she had a powerful rival in
| Adele, the second daughter, whose del
icate blonde beauty showed to fresh adj
vantage beside her more brilliant sister.
| The two were acknowledged bellies in
their own circles, and few who knew
them ever paused to give a second
glance at their younger sister, little
Violet As shy and shrinking as her
floral namesake, she avoided the gay
assemblages in which her sisters loved
to shine, and passed her time pleasantly
and peacefully with her books, her
music and her flowers. She was not
present when Harry and his friend en-
tered, but when her COUSIN, with whom
she seemed a great tavorite, asked eX-
pressly for her, Miss Adele desired the
servant to call her Tom, who was con-
versing with Ida, did not notice her
entrance Ill Ill aroused by Harry's voice
saying:
MIR. Meredith, let me introduce to
you my cousin, Miss Violet Renshaw.
And turning quickly, he was sur
| pnsed at the sight of the tiny creature
so unlike her elder sisters. There was
nothing magnificent, and little that
conld be strictly termed beautiful, in
the almost childish figure, but there
was something indescribably winning in
the clear, gray eyes, and in the rich
chestnut curls that clustered about the
broad, low brow.
Tom had little time for observation,
| however, as Ida and Adele claimed all
his attention, while Harry monopolized
Violet in a frank, brotherly way, quite
unlike his more formal and ceremOnious
manner with the elder sisters
''Well, what do you think of my
three cousins ?" was Harry's natural
question, when he and Tom were once
more in the street.
Il can only express my admiration
by saying that l wish it were possible to
| divide myself into three separate and
distinct individuals, that | might offer
each of the fair enslavers hand and
heart" replied Tom, with much solem-
nity
''What, without even waiting to dis
cover whether their dish-towels are In
proper order ?" retorted his friend.
Tom laughed
81 have a presentiment that | shall
forget my reverend grandmother adj
vice until it is too late, when the i'm
portant event of meeting my fate shall
arrive"
''And then remember it for the rest
of your life, suppose" observed Har.
ry; ''the principle of marrying in haste
and repenting at leisure Well, / hope
my fair cousins will not he the cause OF
such a catastrophe but | must leave
you here, as L have patient in this
house" And he hastily ran up the
| steps.
Left to himself, Tom sauntered slowly
along, thinking Of the young ladies
whom he had just seen. 1t must be
confessed that little Violet occupied but
very small portion of his thoughts
which were filed with Ida and Adele.
ssBut / doubt if either of them ever
saw a dish-towel," was his concluding
reflection, as he reached his boarding
house.