Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1881-06-14


happy one had fate willed it to be
q match at all. They loved each othe
t TOO well to seek comfort in new lovers
8 Horat1O seemed very steady, an
t Stunned ladies' society and Fanny, al
o ter refusing an English baronet and
8 German baron, declined going into SC
8 ciety any more, and settled down wit
q her mother in little town upon tn
i Continent, where four or five Englis
q families there exchanged whist parties
and there were no young English pee
t pie whatever. There, at thirty, she wa
/. still living, and then it was that ther
came to the place an English travele
. who called upon her. He was a frien,
. of Mr.. Horatio Tibbetts, and had beel
D commissioned to hand her small parcel
and he was TO tell Mr.. Tibbetts how sh
Q looked and was and that he was very
, well, quite bald for his years and un
married. And then the traveller wen
t away.
The gift was dainty work box, wortl
great deal of money, and in the littl
box where the thimble lay was also s
ring. Its motto was "Dinna forget"
, Fanny never showed this gift to he
| mother, but she wore that ring agains
her heart under her dress.
New hope crept into her soul anC
when few years after good-looking
wealthy widower offered his hand with
genuine love in the bargain, she re.
fused without hesitation. Forget? new.
er: He had not forgotten. But more
years passed, ten of them at least, and
the memory of the old family feud still
dwelt in the bosom of the two old peo-
pie. All last, at the age of eighty, Mrs.
Partridge died and Fanny, all alone In
what had always remained strange
land. felt miserably desolate. Youth
had departed-friends were few. 1t had
been her mothers wish to remain in
France; now her heart dictated re-
turn home. The first morning paper
she opened there told her of the death
of Mr.. Tibbetts, aged ninety.
The paper dropped from Fanny's
hand, and she sat quite motionless for
more than twenty minutes. Then she
began to cry very softly, and took the
ring from her pocket and looked at it.
"Dinna forget" she sobbed. II am
sure he has not forgotten"
And she began to wonder what he
looked like now. He must have altered.
Perhaps he was portly, like his father.
| Well, she was rather stout herself. One
could not be slender youth forever !;
| Nhu AO ho0 pAODdOly a 6GlCdh VI RIdy Ill
his dark hair. Nothing could alter his
eyes, however. Or, if he was altogether
altered, she would love him still. Why
not, since it was heart that loved, and
not the flesh and blood?
And she so managed that the news
should reach him in the few days time
that she was there. He had heard it, as
she had meant he should. He had been
all alone and very lonely. He had been
an Obedient son and affectionate one,
and had loved the testy old man dearly
But now he thought it would harm no
one if he should try to realize his youth
full dreams.
He sighed and looked out of the win.
dow; walked to the Fireplace and stood
there unrelenting; frightened up and
began to make one of his old fancy pic.
lures of Fanny at the other side of the
| fire.
"She'll be The older, of course" he
said. '"Thin-perhaps fragile and worn;
pale, too. No matter it's Fanny, and
she'll be beautiful to me,'
And he wrote her letter on the spot,
in which, however, he only told her he
was coming to see her.
An elderly lady was walking in
green lane near Honsey, with two child
rem, andta ppaodla which was her own.
the children her lah6k hy's: She was
very stout lady, with four cnlAand
red face, and no waist whatever.
AS she walked. there came up the
lane weary old gentleman, with a
large green umbrella under his ARM
His nose and chin met. His head was
as smooth as an egg, except just at the
nape of the neck, where six hairs still
nlY1nn ctnnA ooph ciHn
of his face, large, yellow and with frosty
| pinches on them. He had watery blue
eyes, and wart on his forehead. Just
the kind of old man the stout lady
hated.
For his part, he disliked fat women.
IA frizzy old creature" he thought;
and just then poodle and children, all
tied together with blue ribbon, tangled
themselves about his legs and nearly
overset him.
"Come here, my dears don't run
against the gentleman in that way"
said the fat lady in faint voice.
| "People should teach their grand
chilren and their dogs better Manners"
said the old gentleman, testify.
"My grandchildren ?" painted the old
lady "what impudence 1 beg you'll
not kick that dog, sir. Cruelty to ami
mails is forbidden by law thank heaveu!"
"If this dog is mad, as he seems to be,
I will have HIM shot," said the old gen.
tleman.
"Come here, Fido, darling" cried the
elderly lady. "My dears run home to
your ma"
And just then out stepped the land
lady. TO her the old gentleman ad
dressed himself.
"I beg pardon, ma'am. Can you tell
me in which of these houses I can find
lady of the name of Partridge-Miss
Fanny Partridge?"
"Why, this is the house, sir" said
ridge herself"
'Will you hand her this?" said the
old gentleman, looking eagerly around
for Miss Partridge, and never thinking
of the stout lady.
"Here, ma'am," said the landlady,
presenting the card of that individual.
"That, sir, is Miss PARTRIDGE"
The name upon the card was "Hora-
ito Tibbetts." That hideous little old
umbrella, and no hair, HoratiO F?
That overgrown woman, like lob
ster, Fanny?
Neither would believe it but it was
true-as true as age is, and time, and
change, and all the rest of it. They sat
on the horse-hair sofa, in the parlor,
and tried to talk and as they did so,
they discovered that Fanny and Hora'-
ito who loved each other, were both
dead-as if the sobs were over their poor
hearts
Had they married years befo1c, prob
ably they would have been still dear to
each other, still pleasant to look upon
in their affection, but meeting as strang-
ers they repuIsed each other.
"If he should presume on our old af-
fection !" thought Fanny, such a very
disagreeable old man!
4 "If she should expect me to remem-
ber the past, this dreadful mountain of
flesh !" thought Horatio, and then he
told her he was glad to see her looking so
we'll and hoped they would be neighbors.
She thought that unlikely the place
did not agree with her.
Eacl lodged the past, not guessing
how the other was to dodge it also, and