The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1881-05-27

THE LOVE LETTER.

Sam and Tom have been duarreling.
Dear me, what torrents those children
RreP'
"No; they are both at school. Guess
again, mamma"
"Well, then, 1 dare say that odious
Mrs. Sharp has been limiting that l wear
false hair. False hair, indeedl then,
why"
mo such thing" interrupted Fanny;
ten times worseP'
Ten times worsel" cried Mrs. Harper,
turning pale. ooh Fanny, tell me.
"Well, said Fanny, sobbing, "Julia
Sorners is engaged"
" Engaged? Well wonder what peo-
pie will come to next"
eyes, really engaged If there was
girl in whom / thought | could place
perfect confidence, it was Julia Somers.
Only a month ago she joined our anti
matrimonial society. Oh, mamma, how
can girls be so foolish! Poor Julial"
"Why, what can you mean, Fanny?"
asked lady who happened to be present.
els it possible that Julia is about to
marry man unworthy of her? Who is
the dreadful creature to whom she is
engaged"
" His name is George something
Thornton, / believe"
&C. lis he incorporates"
Mercy, mol How could you think of
such thing? His morals are good
enough.
Perhaps he is an ignoramus, then,
Or"
Ono, no. no; he is a very fine young
man. as rich as Cresus, very sensible,
and so handsomel Half the girls in town
are doing for him"
Indeed! Then why is Julia SO much
to be pitied?"
''Why, because she is to be married"
said Fanny, impatiently (she had turned
an old maids corner.
II confess cannot see the great hard
ship, after all, " suggested Mrs. Harper.
"Bdt there's the dinner bell"
Fanny declared, however, that she had
no appetite for dinner, so to her own
room she went to write long letter to
Julia, in which she pointed out the
trials of married life, and warned her
against the fatal step. What did Mrs.
Somers do with this letter? She read it
TO George, and George twisted it into
twenty lamp-lighters, and the twenty
iamp-lighters were in requisition on a
certain evening of the next week, when
Julia ceased to be Julia Somers
Months passed away and Fanny, at
Julias earnest desire, came to spend a
few days with the youthful bride. The
bright color and the playful smile still
dwelt upon her cheek and lip as of yore,
and Fanny might have forgotten that
this was not the Julia Somers of her
early love had not the apparition of
mans hat and coat in the hall recalled
her to her senses.
''Well, " thought Fanny, "I'm deter
mined to have as little to do with her
husband as possible. Not word will
speak except when he asks question,
for | am determined to hate him with
all my heart"
To hate George Thornton-the man
who adored her Julia, who was so hand
some, so sensible, so brimful of love and
kindness for every living thing! Rash
resolve! In the space of one hour Fanny
had opened out her heart to theinauence
OF his thousand-and-one good qualities,
and he understood her. The week
passed pleasantly, and Fanny went home
and wrote verses.
1t was very odd, she thought, and my
reader, you must think as she did that
certain persons of the masculine gender
were constantly interfering with her
private reflections. IF she walked she
feared meeting some among the num-
Der; if she remained az home she was
sure they would be there to torment her;
if she read, the hero of the novelist or
historian would take the shape of the
Mr.. Thompsons, the Mr.. Smiths and
the Mr.. Jones of her acquaintance; if
she visited, what if Mr.. So-and.so
should be there? Poor Fanny
The years Of the Life of Fanny Harper
were many. Her younger brothers and
sisters wondered that she had never had
an offer, and Fanny herself wondered,
and reloiced-at least she said so. One
morning Mrs. Harper and her five
daughters were seated together in the
parlor, when aviolent ring was heard at
the door. 1t was not time for papa's re-
turn, but that was not papa's ring, they
were all sure. Great, therefore, was their
surprise when Mr.. Harper, putting and
painting, rolled into the room, bearing
high above his head letter with q great
masculine seal.
"a letter from a gentleman, as / know
by the flourish he has made on that great
NJ, cried Kate, standing on tip-toe and
trying to read the address written on the
letter.
"A love letter, did you say?" cried
ooh, its for me them" said Fanny,
decidedly.
"For me, you mean," cried Lucy,
who bore the only pretty face of the
family.
'1sn't it for meP" asked Ann, as she re.
membered that Mr.. Gustavus Thorp had
walked home with her the last time she
was caught In shower.
The matter was speedily settled, how
ever, by Kate, who had contrived to gain
possession of the letter, and was reading
Miss Francis Harper" in no gentle
voice.
"Give it to me directly, and don't tease
me so, Kate, " cried Fanny.
'Wait minute till I've found out who
it's from" said Kate, peeping under the
seal. "Let me -Thom-Thomasl
There, do take it.
Ny dear reader did you ever write, re-
ceive or read love letter?
mot I, thank fortune" growls the
cross old bachelor.
Nor /, " signs poor Aunt Nabby.
"That's q secret, whispers pretty Ell
len.
Well, then to you who know nothing d
such matters, an explanation or even a
sight of Fanny's letter would be unin-
telligible; and as for you who have al
ready dozens of your own, you can, of
course, feel little curiosity respecting
this one. Besides, what right have I to
read you Fanny's secret?