Ashtabula weekly telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1880-1886, 1880-06-04

lane, In perplcxity. Brother Hal, do
you know you are talking incoherentlyf
] can't seem 10 follow you. Are We
talking about house or a wOmanP"
!" Both,n answered Henry Maclane,
with n smile.
"What was the woman likep'' asked
Mrs. Maclane.
"Light wavy hair, not q bit fluffy nor
plastered stinly, but Just falling over her
forehead In pretty ripping waves and
coiled in a knot at the back, clear ewes
that demand tho truth and tell the truth,
a good nose, an expressive mouth, deli
cate hands, and a shapely fgure-that's
the woman" answered Henry Maclane,
enthusiastically.
Mrs. Maclane laughed at the minute
description, and inquired, "What did
she wearp"
The reply was prompt: "a black
dress-for, you see, her mother died last
year-some pretty clinging lace at her
throat, more Of the same at her wrists,
and bunch of violets in her belt"
You can give better inventory Of
the woman and her garments than you
can Of the house, " said Mrs Maclane.
i" Never mind; III try it again." re.
piled the brother-in-law, cheerfully.
WhenPn asked Mrs Maclane.
" promised to look at the house by
gas-Gght," " answered Henry Maclane.
" "To-night's gas-light2" asked the
woman, wonderingly.
"Of course" was the decided reply.
Demonstration is the thief of time.
1t is my duty TO cry Stop theft"
In the mean time, think I'll man.
age to look at the house myself" said
Mrs. Maclane. "What is the name OF
the lady ] am to ask forP''
"Mrs. Ellis,n was the reply.
"I never knew any one by the name, -
commented Mrs. Maclane.
Nor 1, " said her brother-in-law.
Mrs. Maclane looked puzzled. She
had been thinking Hal must have met
some old friends.
At the supper table that night she
turned to her brother-in-law with the
query, "Hal, what possessed you to tell
Mrs. Ellis we wanted the house Just as
you found il? Yop know we have more
furniture than we can stow away COM
fortably."
"She didn't understand me,' replied
Henry Maclane. "Women are dread
fully dull of comprehension"
"And men are incoherent and equivo-
cal, p" retorted Mrs. Maclane. "For in
stance, you told me you had never heard
of Mrs. Ellis. She told me you were an
old friend"
"She wasn't an Ellis when L knew
her, replied Henry Maclane. "She
was Sue Monroe"
"I did not see the sister," added Mrs.
Maclane. "She had gone for walk.
will decide about the house to night. -
The next morning at the breakfast
table came note to Joshua Maclane
from the house agent, saying that Mrs.
Ellis had withdrawn the house from the
market.
"How provokingl exclaimed Mrs.
Maclane. ave had decided to take it.
just think, Brother Hail." she said, as
her brother-in-law entered the break
fast-room, "that lovely house with
which you and fell in love is withdrawn
from the markell"
"AhPn he said, in an interested way.
"Any reason givenP"
"NOt a word" answered Mrs.
Maclane. al think folks ought to know
their own minds better than to put a
house in the market one day and with
draw it the next"
"Perhaps there has been change OF
base" suggested Henry Maclane.
'You were going to look at it by gas
light" said Mrs. Maclane. "How did
it impress youP"
"Very pleasantly" was the smiling
reply.
"Brother Hail." said Mrs. Maclane,
bending searching gaze on her broth
er-in-law, "tell us all about it. Ot
course you went to look at more than
the house by gas-hght. Do you know
why this house is withdrawn from the
marketp"
"The lady has concluded to occupy
it," replied Henry Maclane.
"Does not the house belong to Mr..
EllisP" was the next query.
"No,' he replied. at belonged to
the Monroe estate, and fell to the sis
ter's share"
"Hal," said Mrs. Maclane, gravely,
"our neighbor yesterday suggested
Miss Anderson as a desirable alliance
for you"
"Tell our neighbor 1 am like the
hOuse-withdrawn from the Market u
was the smiling answer.
" Just tell me this, Hail." said Mrs.
Maclane, in coaxing way; "did the
fair-haired woman you met when you
went house-hunting ever wear the haxen
curl and the pale blue ribbonP You see
1 am putting two and two together"
"Your fingers are units of the
same denomination, and you can add
them,n was the frank answer. "The
stay lock belongs to that fair head"
"And it all came about from my
sending you to look after a house, -
mused Mrs. Maclane.
" Yes. The results we unconsciously
attain often exceed in greatness the in
tent we consciously pursue" was the
philosophic reply. "Seeking for a
house for you, in no enviable frame of
mind, l have found a wife for myself,
and my frame of mind is ''---he paused
and turned to his brother. /" Joshua,
perhaps you can get at it if you go back
to the day when you fell in love with
Bess, and add fifteen years of separa-
ton and loneliness to it, and then sud
denly find out you have belonged to
each other all through the past, and
mutually vow to belong to each other
all through the future. 1t makes a very
neat sum of happiness, Joshua" he
said, with radiant smile Harper's
Bdzar.