Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1881-10-21
A SHORT VISIT.

A SHORT VISIT.
I What j. said Mrs. Haven, almost in
! a shrek.
tits true" said her husband.
: They're coming to visit us-every one
OF EN- ! My Sister Zuleima, because
The Saratoga hotels are too intolerably
not for endurance; Cousin Herbert
haller, because he is an aesthetic, and
wants to study nature from level
hitherto untrodden Mrs. johnson,
because the children don't recuperatc
after the whooping-cough Aunt Sadie,
ION account of difficulty with her land
X s<1y on the subject of poodle dogs and
= ncle. jerks, because he never has
Nwife is like r.
"Dear mel family gasped Mary
Haven, looking around her pretty sit
ting-room, draped in pink chintz.
fragrant with fresh flowers, and decora,
ted with gilt bird-cages, water color
sketches and Kensington embroidery ;
what am to do ?"
"Do ?" repeated her husband, who
was intent on clipping off the end OF
his cigar so that it should "draw" salts
iactorily. "There is but one thing to
do-let 'em come"
"All at once ?"
eyes, all at once"
"And with only one girl, and the
thermometer at ninety in the shade, and
the painters in possession ofthe second
story !" Historically cried the lady.
Couldn't be better combination OF
circumstances, my DEAR" said Mr..
Haven.
81 don't believe these people care a
straw sICut s6(i1 G me-" said Mrs.
Haven, ready to burst into tears.
Neither do /, said her husband.
tits only on account of their con-
venience, the hot weather and the high
prices at the hotels" added Mrs. Haven.
Hugh. I've great mind to commit
suicider'
Don't do that, my dearp said Mr..
- .,a4..-sZ 81 can suggest better plan.
IJ Just thinking, do you know"
'Of tele graphing to the city for
new force of servants, a box of provi-
sions from Minardi's, and half dozen
cots, with hair mattresses and bedding
to match?" eagerly interrupted the
lady.
Nothing of the sort !" said Mr.
Haven, serenely eying the distant land
scape through the amethyst rays of
cigar smoke. "Of-moving."
"Moving, Hugh"
"To the little cottage by the lake.
Mr.. Haven explained. "Only for a
few days, merely on account of the re-
pairs at the house. Paint upsets my
digestion, and the sound of carpen-
tel's hammer sets my teeth on edge,
Besides, Hodge, the contractor, can
work deal faster if we're ell cut OF tho
way"
"But, Hugh, the cottage is nothing
on earth but camp1ng-out place, with
board floors, and not particle of plaster
or paint about it," demonstrated Mary.
"What OF that, my love?" said the
| imperturbable husband. ''Our friends
don't come, as | take it to admire fresco
and gliding, but to enjoy our society.
"They'll think we live there always,
said Mrs. Haven, with corrugated brow
"That is precisely what l wish them
to think, my dear"
.ss ss:sism stss MEs- Ny msaSsBs asGSR
1-think- -T-begin-to," said she
with an amused light beginning to
sparkle into her eyes. Eyes, dear
perhaps it would be good plan t.
meve-iust while the repairs are il
progress"
! And she hurried up stairs, to pack I
few necessaries at once.
The cottage by Wiscomac Lake wa
! not an imposing edifice. There wa
4 plenty of room in it, such as it was bu
n the floors were Of rude pine boards, tn
windows were undraped, and the furni
ture was such as was adapted merely t.
the wants of camping parties who wer
prepared to trough it" after the mos
J primitive fashion; and when Mrs
Zuleima Montagu Prout drove up to tn
door. in wagon heayily-laden wit
trunks, she stared, through her gol
eyeglasses, in most ridiculous manner
at the porch of shingles, supported b
cedar posts mantled in their nativebarl
, the shutterless windows, and the uI
painted wood settees on the grass.
This isn't ''The Solitudesp' sal
she. "Drive on, man You have mad
mistake !"
.sThis 'ere's where Lawyer Haven
folks live," said the man, leisurel
chewing straw. Guess it's enoug
of a solitude to suit anybody"
! 81 thought it was picturesque co
tage," said Mrs. Montagu Prout,
accents of the keenest disappointment
But at this minnie Mrs. Haven he
: f01 fx,f
II think you must he my husIoars Il
sister Zuleima," said she, graciousi
s'Do come IMP"
"But where are my trunks to go
8 said the. fashionable widow, who hi
dazzled the eyes of the Saratoga wor
with her numerous changes OF toll
: during the past fortnight. :,
"You can put them in the shed
the back of the barn" said Mrs, Have
graciously. 81 don't think they "
quite go up the stairway"
Mr.. Haller arrived later in the day
long-haired, sallow-complexioned you
man, in a violet velveteen suit, follow
} by a countryman carrying his porta
easel, color cases, travelling library
writing-desk. He knocked loudly
the door of the cottage with the "
= knob OF his cane.
q "Can you tell me where Mr.. Ha
A livesg" said he.
"This is the place" said the host
"This |" echoed Mr.. Haller.
tcVo,, o~a Co11sin Harbert / supDo