The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1881-02-12

Rogers this had all the charm of novelty.
At first he laughed at the ''child," but
before that three days visit was ended
he was as mady, as foolishly, in love as
she was. | have always thought, in
spite of the difference in their ages that
the FREELY had the stronger nature of
the two. and that Harry Rogers, utterly
unable to resist its powers over him,
sought escape by flight. He was an hon
orabe man, and knew himself to be no
fair match for that young girl, and, to
his credit be it said, he did leave Wash
ington: but the moth might as well try
to avoid the flame. lie was away from
the city ten days. and report said those
days were passed in a drunken debauch.
| only know that he returned, handsomer
than ever. and with the fixed purpose of
winning Margret Sinclair.
His promises of reform, that were Cos
pei truths in her ears, had no weight with
! her parents, and for the first time the
FREELY met opposition. 1t made her
!
cept when in the presence of her lover
Then she was too happy to be gay. She
| lived and moved in him. conscious of but
the one fact that he was with her. Her
| father tried to extract promise that
she would not meet Harry Rogers. She
only said, Papa, could not keep it if
made it, and to her mothers expostu-
lations and entreaties she replied piteous-
ly, " Mamma, tell me how to help it,
Happily, young women are so much
better disciplined nowadays, it is not
likely my story can do them either good
or harm; but if any have read so far, l
must beg = charitable Judgment for my
poor little FREELY. She was weak: she
was foolish: she was imprudent She
might better have staked her happiness
on a reed swaying in the blast than on
the promises of man who for years had
been the victim of intemperancc: but
she was not the first, and, even in this
wise age Of the world. she may not be
the last, to exclaim. Mamma, tell me
how to help it There are natures that
have no calculation in them: once i'm
PEELED, they rush to destruction as to
happiness-with the same eagerness. 1t
is not nature to covet. nor is it a nature
to despSe. II always carries power with
it. We--you and may be too reason
able to indulge i'll purely unselfish senti-
ment. and from our proscenium boxes of
calculation and sound sense can afford to
laugh, or may be weep, over those folies
we occasionally see enacted. 1t may
chance even, some touch pierces deeper
than common, and we are reminded we
too have hearts, if we do choose to ignore
them.
Harry Rogers, before his turn came,
had laughed at many another victim,
and so why may it not happen that you,
and you, and you. may be sacrificed some
of these fine days. Do you thinl, you
have got beyond it, OF that you are not
worthy Of it?
At last large ball brought this par
ticular love affair to crisis. 1t was at
this ball Margret wore the angel
sleeves"
Only one dance, when he went to his
rooms and wrote the words and music
of the " Angel-sleeve Waltz" which we
hummed, sang, and danced for weeks
afterward. The refrain,
"Those angel sleeves those angel sleeves,
I'll follow still where er they lead
Those angel Sleeves etc, etc:
and one verse | now recall. which we
thought quite equal to anythingi in Byron:
eff to heaven I'd chance 20 go,
Or if TO darker shades below,
One glimpse of those dear angel sleeves
Will make me all the joys toreSo,
Or all the pains as little know
These angel sleeves" etc, etc.
That ball decided the heads of the re-
spective families to put an eilectual stop
to the whole affair by having Harry Rog-
ers sent to distant station. Their intlu-
ence being great, the ''order.' in official
parlance. was peremptory, and admitted
of no delay. Harry Rogers was seen no
more in Washington.
Margret Sinclair abandoned herself to
her grief as to her love. Poor child that
she was, she did not know how to conceal
or control it, and the older, wiser heads,
being quite certain such folly would soon
exhaust itself, let nature for once have its
own way. She refused to be comforted,
and when she went out again to the Mas
tens it was only because it was easier to
90 than to resist The Commodore said
it brought the tears to his old eyes to see
the child SO woc-begone, but - daughter
| Caroline says she will soon be as gay as
ever. and Caroline is sensible girl. At
first there was no rousing Margret: if she
| got up, she did not want to lie down; if
she lay down, she did not want to get up.
| Life for her seemed to have stopped. and
she looked more like a shade than 4 hui
man being, like something that had
strayed into an atmosphere not condi-
toned to it; so necessary is happiness to
some few of Gods creatures. The ma
jority go through life accepting some
substitute, and are content The only
trouble is, they insist upon their capacity
to Judge as to what ought to constitute
happiness for others.
Margret Sinclair was persuaded, one
day-no one knew how or by whom-to
take walk, and came back so radiant,
so like herself that Caroline and Mrs
Masten decided she should walk every
day. Exercise and fresh air would soon
make her forget ''poor dear Harry
Soon afterward they heard her singing
like bird for very joy, and without more
ado, and no questioning, concluded, in
their own comprehensive way. that adj
mitted not doubt, that Cousin Harry
made good escape. They did everything
they could to make her forget Harry Rog-
ers, but when most successful were most
disappointed, and left her to wander at
her own sweet will. 1t was her will to
wander alone daily, and to remain out for
hours.
If any of Margret Sinclair's school girl
set had been there, they would have
known the FREELY peter; but there is
nothing more unaccountablc than the
ignorance older girls have about younger
ones. To the average young lady in
| q, 4