The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1880-05-04

e-sF-t4t
II When 4 Hrst ssaxssd II lie It was In
ltAe very small estahIishmeux Of 1ls.
Bruslss sta&ioneE lt VISA not sey -
Imnnsrativs situations ba4 cid Nr. BEu6ls
Iwas q kind old man, Mra Brusle Q nloe,
talkstive old lady, and Dolly Brusle ofien
came into the shop cad stood behind the
lcouuter beside me. Dear LITTLE Dolly
she had brown eyss and . dinple o. her
chin. and she sang Ike apfihna donnA.,
Old M. Rrusle and my fssher had bean
| ffiends and wa not . servant only, bat
. privileged friend o. vel, and I'll the ex-
cnse / needed for staying every night
twas given in the words: = want 70 hear
the singing Well, any one might have
wanted to hear it for that matter--not
merely boy who was IN love
i Things went on in this way for three
wears, when one afternoon old Mr Brusle,
admitting the drawers Of his desk with
bang, said: It's no use, Tom, may -
well give in. I'm not making penny
and / shall break up the business. The
old woman and can manage ON what We
have with only one child and ] can rest
and stop fidgeting. ] suppose Dolly can
teach little, too, and she can have some
finery in that way. But the old shop il .
raookury, and I've known il . good while.
So that was the end of that .Arcadian
time.
The stock and fixtures were sold out
and the shop was altered into parior /;
and wrote to my uncle in London, who
had promised to take me into his business
if 1 wished it, and he telegraphed: Come
next week" a4 efA
And then one day l asked Dolly to
walk down into the meadows and see if
the blackberries were ripe We took two
little baskets and the berries were hang
ing plump and large and purple black !;
but before we picked one drew her to
quiet place under a great chestnut and put
my arm about her waist and said:
Dolly, you know just how feel to
you, don't you? You know love you.o
She nestled up to me little closer and
/ took both her tiny hands In mine.-
6 Will you wait for me little while,
Dolly?" / said. "Will you think that /
am doing my best all the time to bring
the day nearer when can ask your father
to give you to me ?"
Eyes, Tom, I'll wait"
And then we picked the blackberies,
and went home again through the
meadows. ff NE&
"We'n not speak of it yet, Tom " said
Dolly. AT home, l mean; they think
me such a child yet. Idon't want TO
break the charm. In time they'll guess
that Pm a woman and they Ike you,
Tom."
The evening passed swiftly. arose TO go.
"God bless you y said the old man.
Ipressed my lips to Dolly's forehead.
In that moment of parting the old folks
thought it only natural And then was
gone. My trunk had been at the
station for hours. / heard the whistle of
the train; saw the red glare of the
monsters eye; heard the snort and the
tramp. He was ready for me and the city
and its whirl awaited me- For while /
was bewildered in the city, then very
busy, then flushed with the prospect of
being rapidly advanced and of being able
to ask Dolly to be my wife sooner than /
expected.
wrote her joyous letters She wrote
pleasant ones back TO me- We did not
make them open love letters, but both un-
derstood the love at the bottom of them.
And so the months glided BY. For the
first half year l had mo holiday. Then .
grudgingly given week was granted me
and visited my friends and had glori-
GUS time. Dolly was lovlier than ever.
She walked over to the station with me
when / left, leaning on my arm. The
train had not come in yet-the one for
London, but the other had set down some
passengers from the city. One, stout
gentleman of IS, dressed In fine style,
having given his portmanteau to porter,
advanced to Dolly.
How do you do, Miss Brusle ?s said
he. She held out her hand shyly.
How do you do, Mr.. Holly Tom,
this is Mr.. Holly. Mr.. Holly, Mr.. Hearn"
He bowed so did L But the fellow
had such an air with him that hated
him. How did she know him? / had
never seen him before
"Who is he ?" asked ], In q whisper, as
the porter called Mr. Holly back for di-
rections.
He has something to do with the ope-
IA, think" said Dolly.
Then came the shrek of the whistle at
the station. On Numbered the train.
"All in for London!n yelled voice.
Good-by Tom" said Dolly. ''-
"Good-by," said I, but stared at Mr..
Holly.
"You'll be left, Tom" said Dolly.
hurried away. found . scat.
thrust my head out of the window. Dolly
was walking away on Mr.. Holly's arm,
and his head was very close to hers-very.
made fool of myself the next day. /
wrote Dolly an indignant letter. She
wrote me . spirited answer. ~
|, demanded an explanation as to how
she came to know Holly in the next letter !;
and before any answer came to this, old
Mrs Brusle walked into our place with
her shopping bag In her hand one morning.
81 want you to take me to some nice
shop, Tom" she said, if you can spare an
hour or so. 81 am going TO bay black
I silk for Dolly and she told me 70 tell ron
all abont it, as you seemed to be upset.
1 asked the permission necessary and
called cab Once within L the old lady
began. @ af & iias as
She told you to ten me 7 y l said
Oh, yes, !" said the old lady.
My heart was on ere, my blOcd Was