Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1881-10-07
IAN OLD NUISANCE.

are none of mine. Only, thinking over
three or four equally appropriate titles, I
chose the one I use as being the oldest,
and always had fancy for odd things.
And now for my story.
On what my aunt (by marriage) and her
family founded their claims to aristocracy
I never could discover. My uncle had
been merchant, it is true, and one of
considerable prominence in his day, had
been told, and so had been his father be-
fore him, and his fathers father before
that. That his business in his most pros
porous time was intimately connected with
China is impressed upon my mind Il be-
came an inmate OF his house when was
about six years of age, in consequence Of
the death of both my parents within a
week of each other, leaving me with no
means of support, and no other relatively
by the fact that every first of June saw
bright new mattings laid on our floors, to
remain there until cool weather came
again, and that our mantels and whatnots
were decorated with many pretty, dainty
| IuVlO pOACOiolA Cupoa Uuiu CSS DuCllO-
rarities in those days, bnt in these plenty
aud cheap enough.
Now, according to all I have learned on
the subject, real Simon Pure aristocrats
look down upon trade even on the grand
est scale, and never have anything to do
with it further than once in while mar
rying one of their sons or daughters who
have come into possession of millions
enough to Offset the honor.
However, our family Ct venture to in
clud myself, none Of my cousins being
within hearing) assumed all the airs of the
'blue bloods" of the old country.
Eleanor, our second, wore look of deep
indignation for several days after manly
clever, good-looking fellow, the brother of
one of her old school-mates, with a con-
siderable income, but who was junior part
ner of firm keeping a retail store on
Sixth avenue, proposed for her band.
''The presumption of the mani" she ex-
claimed, raising her arched eyebrows in
establishment and curling her full red up
per lip in scorn; "to imagine for moment
that because honored him with my com.
pany to the opera two or three times, l
would marry him! If his business had
been wholesale, it would have been bad
enough; but fancy person who sells pins
and needles by the paper and lace by the
yard! Never! I would die frst.'
Minerva, our fourth, was equally horror
stricken at the effrontery of a young book
keeper whom her brother Laurence had in
troduced into the family circle--a rare
thing for one of her brothers to do, for,
like all other men, as far as my limited
experience goes, they scarcely ever thought
their companions to be good enough to be
the companions of their sisters-when he
ventuIed to express his admiration for her.
The young man soon after succeeded to
very handsome property, and became
great sWell--''a perfect too-too," as 1 be-
lieve the fashionable way of expressing it
now is-a kind of being after Minerva's
own heart; but she was never invited to
ride behind his fast horses, and what was
much worse, never again asked to take the
head of his table.
And in like manner the graceful and en-
good natured proprietor Of the extensive
iron works (''wholesale and retail'') on the
next block, the young artist, who has since
risen to wealth and fame, and sundry 9TH
ers, all falling short of the aristocratic
standard set up by our family. were snub-
bed by my lady cousins, aided by their
brothers and not wholly unassisted by
their mother. l never had had, at the
time this story commences, being then in
my eighteenth year. chance to snub any
one; for, lacking the personal attractions
of my relatives, as we'll as their sshigh-
toned" natures-truth to tell, having de-
cidedly democratic tendencies-I was kept |
in the background on all occasion.
Let it be remarked in passing that Flea
nor eventually married, when rather an
old girl, a widower. in the milk business
very wholesale, however-the father of |
four children. At the same time Minerva
a few years younger, deigned to become |
the wife of an elderly bachelor, something
or other in shoe mandatory. But they
held their heads as high as ever, and de-
clared they had sacrificed themselves for
the family, uncle having failed for the
second e-through no fault of his own,
dear old mana few months before the |
double wedding.
That their sacrifice" was for the good
of the family don't deny; but there still
were left at home to be taken care of af-
ter their departure three old maids, young
one, and two helpless young men, who,
having been brought up to do nothing, did |
it to perfection.