The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1880-04-22
surprise. will run right down to her

his accompanying me. At first he dc
INJURED on the score of its being three
days earlier than the time appointed by
Aunt Abigail, but On my assuring him
that this would make no difference, he
seemed to think 1 ought to know my
aunt and her ways better than he did
and finally agreed to my proposition ;
so we started off the next morning.
1t was balmy April day when we set
out, but, with the fcklcness character
istic Of that month, the weather had
changed by the time we reached our
destination, and we got of at the station
in a cold, drizzly rain, which both liter
ally and fguratively threw damper
over u.s. Aunt Abigail was in the habit
of sending her comfortable carriage for
visitors expected on the train, but, nat
urally, she did not have it awaiting for
us Oh this OCCASION had to reconnoi-
tire for vehicle to carry us to Cedar
wood, but met with only indifferent sue
cess, finding nothing but an open farm
wagon, in which we jolted along slowly
and roughly for five miles, the rain
steadily increasing all the time, SO that
by the time we reached Cedarwood we
were fairly enduring cataracts, mot all
in our eye, either.
CATER standing long time at the
door it was at length opened, slowly,
cautiously and reluctantly by Aunt
Abigails housekeeper. is that YOU,
Mr.. Alfred ? she asked, with disheart-
ening tone and countenance. We
didn't know you were coming to-day
"'I didn't know it myself till last
night replied I. "But where is my
auntY
"Your aunt returned from spending
the Winter in town only yesterday, and
is very much engaged. She is in the
dining room, but you cannot see her
yet
"But l was still resolved, in my will
fulness and headstrong folly, to give
Aunt Abigail pleasant surprise, SO l
pushed past the housekeeper, and carry
ing the professor with ME through dis.
mantlec and disheveled rooms and halls,
fastened into the dining room. What
spectacle met my eyes! Amid rub
bsh and confusion, boxes of china and
silver, rolls of carpet and household
wares Of various kinds, stood figure
at which 1 stared open-eyed, unmouthed,
astonished and aghast. Ye gods WAS
this my queenly, handsome Aunt
Abigail, with the pale rose-tinted cheeks,
the sunny chestnut locks, the smiling
white teeth, the rustling robes Of silk
and satin with the soft lace rutiles, this
gray shadow, this old woman who might
have personated one of the three fates
or the three furies, this faded old
woman, clad in a dingy wrapper, with
gray hair, collapsed, ashy cheeks and
bare gums But my dismay was no
greater than hers, for here she stood,
prophecies unveiled, queen dethroned,
and all this mischief done by the
thoughtless, headstrong folly of boy
who, to add to his ofiense, must needs
bring a witness to the ruthless unwilling
and dethroning 1t was several minutes
before either of us spoke. Indeed, it
was the professor who first broke the
silence with confused stream Of ex-
PLANTATION and apologies. The house
keeper coming in now, my aunt men
toned her to show Us to the parlor,
where we spent several irksone and
wretched hours whilst our rooms were
being prepared, after long disuse in my
absence. We did not see her again
until dinner, when she had been meta
morphosed by the arts Of the toilet, but
both sides had distinct and embarrass-
ing consciousness of the occurrences Of
the morning, and felt that it was i'm
possible for things ever to return to
their former footing. From that
day forward a change came over the
spirit Of her dream. She could never
get over tho -hagrin, modification,
anger and inconvenience entailed On her
by my pleasant surprise In my obser-
vations of human nature l have found,
indeed, that one can forgive sooner than
being placed in mortlfying and ridicu-
lous position. This far outwcighs q
grave wrong or Injustice
"Aunt Abigail treated me, as well as
my friend, with formal politeness, but
our visit was not pleasant one, and we
were heartily glad when Easter was
over. After that l went to CedarwOod
but seldom, and then was careful to OBJ
serve the exact time fixed by my aunt.