Ashtabula weekly telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1880-1886, 1880-03-19

| phnnU was on the lookout for a wife;
and with the prompt decision Of q mer-
camille man, he elected Polly Patten
/ for that position on two days ac-
quaintance. A firm believer IN the
faith that "faint heart never won fair
lady" and "nothing venture, nothing
have" he offered himself at the end OF
the week, and quite undiscouraged by
| POlly's dismayed "no," sat resOlutely
down and traced his parallels, resolved
to gain by siege what he had failed to
win at coup by assault. This compli-
cation set the seal TO Polly's discon-
/ tents.
"For Just imagine what state Of
| things it Makes" she told her conf
dante Sue. There they sit-the three
sets Of ninnies s--one in the parlor, one
in the dining-room, one in the 'den,
from which poor papa is turned out bag
and baggage; and there is that abomi-
nable o! o. (never did man have such
suitable initials) looming like doom or
thunderstorm all day long, deter
mined to get me by myself, and 'culti-
vate my acquaintance How can he
make me care for him, he says, if he
never has the chance TO see me aloneP
As If l wanted to see him or care for
him either! 1t is the most embarrass-
| ing, abominable condition of affairs.
| seriously mediate running away to
teach school-or something. Home is
growing unbearable."
"Why do you dislike Mr.. Oliphant
so muchp He seems to me very pleas
| amt
"Suel When he leases the life out
of mel declare she is blushing. Are
you turning traitor, toOP
"Not in the least-I don't know
what you mean, that is. What l
wanted to tell you was that we're go
ing to have a young man of our own,
also. My brother Jack is coming home
next week.
Chow coherent! 1 declare, Sue,
you make me suspect something
Jack? He's the one who's been so
long in Germany. Well, / hope you'll
enjoy him. but pray keep him to your
selves. I've had enough of young
men, Johns especially. l never want
to see one again as long as l live-I
think. Gracious! there's that tiresome
o. o. strolling up and down in hopes
of catching me as l come out. / de-
clare it is uncomfortable. Good-by, Sue
I'm going home by the back door, if
you don't mind" And catching up
her bonnet, Polly vanished, while
Susan Gilmore, with guilty look in
her eyes, and pair of red, red cheeks,
tied hers on, and, issuing sedately from
the front door, encountered Mr.. Oil
phant, and presently, under his escort,
walked up the street. After all, >" she
thought to herself, "if Polly can't like
him, and doesn't want him, why nOtP'
Why not, indeedP 1t was unanswer-
able.
Another fortnight passed. Cousin
Fanny and her fGnce went away, but
o. o. still fingered Polly gave an ex-
olamation of despairing disgust when
she learned his intentions; but, after
all, he did not prove the nuisance she
had feared. He had other friends in
town by this time, other engagements,
and did not haunt the Pattens' house
every day, and all day long, as at first.
Polly heard of him often at the Gil
mores'. She saw little of Sue in those
days; Sue was occupied with her
brother, Just returned after his long
absence. Mindful of Polly's interdict,
perhaps, she was in no haste to present
him to her friend--a fact which Polly
was disposed to resent, when, a full
week after his arrival, she was at last
brought face to face with him. She
liked John Gilmore at once. He was
quite different from the other Johns,
and not at all formidable, Polly thought
tall and spare, quiet in speech and
shy in manner, wearing spectacles, too,
but altogether very "niceh. What a
myriad of diverse meanings may be
included in that word, beloved of girls,
''nicen!
In John Gilmore's case it meant that
he did not talk nonsense to Polly, and
yet that he seemed to like the non.
sense she talked; at least he frightened
under it always, and it made him laugh.
He never bored her with sense and
long explanations, but she was never
in his company without finding herself
afterward thinking about things which
he had said, and looking up little
points of information suggested by his
talk. He was so kind-hearted, too
always so kind He didn't sneer al
her diatribes against love and lovers
and he seemed to understand and be 8
little sorry for her, left out in the cold
solitary in the midst of the sisterly cir.
Gle once so one in interest and so close
ly united. Here was genuine friend
at last, she reflected "a friend of hel
own; and comforted thereby for hel
losses. she grew little more tolerant
of the happiness of other people; anc
even when, u little later, a great wave
of surprises and sudden changes broke
over the home and all in it, still the
tolerance continued.
For, first, John Norman had part
nership offered him in South America
, and he and Eunice had to be got ready
: at two months notice to sail to theil
: new home. And while Polly was toll
: ing over the hurried preparation, whicl
, was all that time made possible, SusaI
| Gilmore, her one special friend, calleC
{ one morning, and, with a burst OF emo
! tiOn quite unwOnted in the staid Sue
confded the fact that she was en-
gaged--engaged to o. o., who was thu
loveliest, dearest man that ever was
} though Polly had been so unkind as no
to find it out--a fact she (Sue) wa
, very glad of ROU-and they were to bu
l married in six weeks, and sail TO
, China directly afterward. And woull
: her dearest Polly forgive her, am
= promise to love o. o. all she possibl
, could, Just for her sakeP
) "You, tOOP' was all POlly's reply
But she put her arms round Sues neck
with a tear and a sob, and all wa
. smooth between them. Sue, who ha
| dreaded the interview, was amazed a
Pollv's forbearance. A change ha
r evidently come over the spirit of he
- dream. Trials, we are told, have