Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1880-11-20
course the first to raise her voice.

Il had proposal last night, papa
r, and / have come to tell you abOu
to it." said she, in tone replete witt
" triumph.
1t was so sweet to the mind O
n youth to outdo its elders. But tol
#. this occasion only" the elders re
5. fused to be outdone. They eacl
ID and all betrayed a smile of inward
t. satisfaction, and they gave way t.
l. speech.
er "Nop' they said in breath
I: They did not mean to doubt or be
e impolite; they only meant surprise
;, 1.-The curate," said Hetty In q
e composed but plainly contemptuous
whisper. 1t was a stage whisper.
t sOId Major Sterne,n said Miss
v George promptly.
/ Perhaps Henry Simms," sug-
e gested Katie, with some sympathy.
Y Then turning to her father she said,
r with conscious blush, "It is very
strange, papa, but too had pro-
!, posal last night"
: And SO had i 20 exclaimed
George and Hetty in a breath.
I "Eh 2" said papa, pushing up his
} spectacles. He was fat and pudgy,
I. with sandy hair and habby nose.
He was a powerful man, too, and
one unpleasant to come TO open
} quarrel with. Proposals in the
: Browning family were few and far
between--in fact, curiosities-a
so much luck as the girls described
!; falling into one day overpowered
him.
zone at time; my breath is not
what it used to be-" he said, ad-
dressing Katie. Of he had said
breadth, it would have been equally
true, as his mOther-if she was to
be believed always declared he
was a lean baby.) MAY ask the
name of your lover ?"
"Mr. Snooks," said she with
dowpcast eyes and a timid smile.
She took up the corner of a cherry
colored bow that adorned her gown,
and fell to admiring it, through
which she fondly thought she ex-
hibited great bashfulness.
''Impossihler' exclaimed George |
angriIy.
"What a disgraceful untruth!" !"
cried Hetty rudely. mr. Snooks
proposed to me, last night, and / |
accepted him."
"What is it you say? Oh, L am
going out of my mind; my senses
are deserting me-" said Georgie,
putting her hands to her head with |
a dramatic gesture. "Or is it a
dream that he asked me to marry
him, and that | too said 'yes'?"
81 seldom visit the Clouds" said
Lilly, with short but bitter laugh.
"And / certainly know he made me
a noble offer of his hand and heart
both which treasures / declined"
"Where 2" demanded the other
three, as though with one mouth.
"In the laurel avenue"
At this they all groaned aloud.
'sPerfidious monster !" said Hetty
from her heart.
"Am / to understand" began Mr..
Browning, with suppressed but evil
dent fury, ''that -this-unmIti-
gated scoundrel asked you all to
marry him last night?''
''If we speak the truth, yes" re-
piled the girls dismally.
"He was drunk" said papa, saw
agely.
81 can't believe it," said Katie,
who was dissolved ia tears lin fact,
like Niobe, all tears'-by this time.
Nothing could be nicer than the
50 perfect, and so thoroughly from
the-heart."
"He addressed me in a most hon
orable, upright and Christian fash
iOn," said Hetty. 81 am sure he
meant every word he said"
She was thinking uneasiIy of that
kiss in the moonlight. Could any
one have seen her? Was old Major
Sterne anywhere about at the mo-
ment? 1
81 certainly considered his man 9
ner strange, not bit like what one
reads" sail Georgie, honestly, "but I
thought of the title and the prop !
erty, and / said yes directly" !
II thought him the very greatest !
muff ever spoke to-" broke in Miss
Lilly with decision. / refused him
without a moments hesitation, and I
told him to go home. Pm sure it 4
was well l did. | daresay if he had q
stayed here much longer he would l
have proposed to mamma next, and Il
to the upper housemaid. a
l agree with you papa the cham +
pagne was too much for him." v
CT think he is fond of me-" c
said Katie, in low and trembling
tone. Her fingers are not playing II
with the cherry -cOlored bow now, s
but her eyelids have borrowed L
largely of its tint. p
"Don't be "A goose, Katie" said
the youngest Miss Browning, kindly, Y
but scornfully; "you don't suppose L
any of us would marry him now, r
after the way he has behaved? 4? Do g
have some little pride" t
"Perhaps he is mad" said Hetty, t
Just at this moment, as a C
salve to her wounded vanity, she v
would have been glad to believe fl
him so. n
"No, my dear" declared Lilly. 1
calmly, ''he has no brains worth "A
t
''He said something to papa about u
calling to-day at 4 O'clock" said Il
Katie, very family.
"Then | Shall sit here till f." re-
turned Mr.. Browning in an awful
tone. 81 shall sit here until ) {; and
hen | shall get up and go out and Il
find that young man, and give him b.
such horse as | warrant (,
you he never got before in all his fC
ife." "
"Don't be too hard on him, papa" N
Kate, weakly. gl
~ shan't, my dear, but my whip D.
WILL" said papa, grimly. Il
SO he waited until 5; he waited st
Until half-past five; and then he Ii
ook up a certain heavy gold D,
lnobbed whip that lay stretched on st
he table as though in readiness, al
md sailed forth in search of SnOoks' m
'Ooms. And he found them, and in
Snooks, too--in bed, suffering from G
severe catarrh, caught, presume, al
n the laurel avenue. bl
And no man knows what he did III
o Snooks. But at least he gave r.
him an increased desire for his bed, IL
for a fortnight afterward he If
never stirred out of it. as
When Mr.. Wilding heard of all II
his, j regret TO say he gave way to pl
loisy mirth in the privacy OF his 50
and was actually caught ii
" his washerwOman, who peeped te
through the keyhole, performing a al
Wild dance in the middle of the m
lCNnr