The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1880-01-22

udu uOue Gue1, anu wore Gne SdHl
kind of dresses; and felt, | believe
very much the same. Life had never
progressed into second chapter will
her, and she felt no need of a secont
chapter. She did little commissions
for everybody, and carried little mes
sages, and played croquet, and wen
out to tea, and performed her LITTLE
pieces on the piano with undiminished
and undiminishing satisfaction. She
was as kind, as sweet, and as innocent
as any girl need be; and, in short, sht
was a girl-but of forty-fve. The
reader may think this is a sneer; but
nobody ever thought Of sneering al
Miss Sophy; that malign amusement
found no encouragement in her sim.
plicity. You smiled at her, perhaps
then blushed for yourself, abashed al
your own heartlessness in finding any,
thing absurd in creature so guileless
and true. She had no particular role
of her own in the family except to be
kind to everybody, and to do what
everybody wished, as far as merely
mortal sister could. If there was one
thing that she thought especially her
duty and privilege, it was to look af-
ter the faith and morals of the other
brother, who occasionally formed part
of the household. He was a barrister
an old bachelor like the rest, who had
chambers in town and came when he
pleased to Brothers-and-Sisters. He
spent the Sundays there, and Miss
Sophy took him to church. She would
have made him say the collect if she
could; and, indeed, always questioned
him about his opinions, and argued
with him on the Sunday afternoons
upon the points on which he was
astray. And when I add that Mr..
Charles was a clever lawyer and man
of the world, and astray upon a great
many points, it will be seen that
Sophy had her hands full. She argued
herself into palpitations and head
aches, but [ fear her arguments were
less potent than her intention. This
energetic effort to keep Charles right
in theology was, so far as any one
knew, the only duty exclusively hers.
These delightful people were only a
small part of the family to which they
belonged. Behind them was a body
guard of married brothers and sisters,
a sort of milky way Of family plenti-
tude, from which arose an army of
nephews and neices who were always
looming about, sure to come down
upon US in force when anything was
going on. There were always men to
be had for dance, and actors for the
atricals ON application to the Stam-
fords. ''Tell me how many you want,
and give me two or three days notice"
Mrs. St. Clair would say, and then
Sophy would write the letters, and
after while the air of Dinglefeld
would be thick with nephews. There
was room for an untold number Of
them in the old, many-chimneyed
house. When it was the time for
garden parties, or when there was a
bazaar for some charity, it was the
turn of the nieces, who came like the
with a skimming of wings,
and a chirping and chattering of
pleasant voices. It was astonishing
how soon we got to know them all,
Sophia Humphreys
from Sophy Thistlethwaite, and both
from Sophy Stamford number one,
called Soft, or Henry's Sophy, to dis
tinguish her from Sophia Stamford
two, who was called Fla, or
Williams Sophy. Sophy was the pet
name of the race; the mothers name
from whom they all sprang.
And it would be difficult to give any
stranger an idea of the addition they
were to our limited society at Dingle-
field. Go when you would the genial
house was always open, a pleasant
party always to be found on the lawn
in summer, by the drawing-room fire
in winter. They had their anxieties
and sorrows like other people, no
doubt; but not so many as other peo-
pie, for the time was over for personal
pangs and trouble; and when one
nephew out of twenty goes a little
wrong, or one niece (also out of twen-
ty) makes bad marriage, the pang is
not so keen or so lasting as when it is
a son or a daughter who is broken
down. And this was the worst that
could now befall the house. 1t was a
house made for the comfort and sue
cor of every aching heart or troubled
mind within its range. There was
nothing they would not do for their
neighbors and friends; how much
more for their relations. General
George lent his kindly ear, a little,
just little, hard of hearing (but no,
not hard of anything, the word is un-
worthy to be used in his connecticut,
to every request. He would do his
best to place your son, or invest your
money; or order early salmon or tur-
bot for you when you were going to
have dinner la,ty. | should not
have liked to ask Mr. Charles SIAM
ford to order my fish, but | have no
doubt he too would have done it, had
he been asked; and as for the sisters,
they would, as the poor people said,
put their hand to anything.
One day Sophy came into my cot
tage with an air of some excitement
to tell me that George had sent a tel
egram, and was bringing down large
party of his fellow-directors to dinner.
Twill you come, dear Mrs. Musgrave?
Fancy! how shall we ever entertain
these twelve business gentlemen?"
said Sophhy, in a futter. IF only
some of the girls had been here! Not
that the girls would have cared for
these old creatures. But the worst is
that Ursula herself is away. She
went up to town this morning to see
her great friend Mrs. Biddulph. And
though she will be back for dinner,
all the responsibility will be upon
Frances and me. [ must run away
.,...z IL: N, o,,,o,nt 10 Inn,or tho crn1.-