The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1882-07-27

ohA uhIOllcu from 1OlQS OF linen buab
smelt of lavender, the fair, frail relic of
Mrs. Captain Simon Ludkins' wedding
state. 1t was fine embroidered null,
the undoubted product Of Indian looms.
'tIt is lovely" / said, "and so well
kept that it will be just the thing for
4 you. Will you try it on? We can tell
then just what it needs"
Miss Lyddy proceeded to disrobe her
self and put on the spider-net gown.
As she did SO, the changes in fashion 5
| mandates became only too evident. it
4 had no waist TO speak of, and just lit
I tie ace-trimme1 puff for sleeves. Miss
/ Lyddy was evidently surprised. She
had not thought of this. / knew well
what the troubled look upon her face
meant, and pitied her maiden sensi-
bilities. Could it be possible that her
grandmother Mrs. Captain Simon Lud-
/ kins had ever worn such gown as this?
/ She said not word that could indicate
/ the depth of her modification, but her
face was astudy for an artist.
| There must be sleeves" she muir
INJURED, after few moments of silent
and embarrassed contemplation.
yes" / replied, cheerfully as my
/ constrained gravity would allow. land
/ you might have a fichu and hounce
on the bottom"
She looked down. She had not be-
| fore realized that the skirt of the ven
Grated relic lacked full quarter of a
yard of touching the floor.
However could theyr' she eiacu-
lated in an undertone. But she quick
/ ly recovered herself and looked up to
me cheerfully over her spectacles.
g How ingenious you aren' she said,
with an air of sweet relief. 81 knew you
would help me out.
We went out together and bought the
requisite null that day, but when we
came to put it beside the generated
relic of Mrs. Captain Ludkins it was
evident that time had so enriched the
color of the latter that the two were MOST
unfortunately unlike.
s We can lay it out on the grass, 1
said; a. these June dews are Just the
thing for it, and as it will be evening
nobody will in the least notice.
! Again Miss Liddy smiled gratefully.
and declared that my suggestion should
be carried out in the most faithful man
ner.
The Rev. Nehemiah Applebloom- "a
/ lovely name, don't you think so?' said
] Miss Lyddy, and she blushed and
\ smiled like q schoolgirl in her teens -
! had but a short furlough, and the mar
{
so the relic was put out to bleach forth
with. 1t had already been upon the grass
three days and nights, and been relig-
iously watered by Miss Lyddy at morn
and noon and dewy eve, and the next
day it was to be taken up early and
put into the dressmaker's hands for the
necessary alterations, when the dread
full event occurred with which this mar
rative opens.
" Glory" I said, edo you keep watch
for Miss Lyddy when she returns. Say
nothing about what has happened un-
less she misses the gown from the grass.
In that case tell her that thought it
was bleached enough and took it up
to dry, and you don't know where /
have put it. l am going out now, but
if she asks where, tell her you don't
know"
Glory was faithful, and had besides
the natural craft of her race, and L
knew that she could be trusted. AS
for me, | swiftly donned my bonnet and
set out to find Major Hawthorne. It
was a bright June evening, and my
walk through the meadow and the
grove that skirted Hawthorndeau
would have been a delightful one if l
had borne a mind more at ease. The
Major was a gentleman by birth, but he
had lived out his fifty bachelor years in
a CAV and careless way that had seemed
to set the gentler part of creation at de-
fiance. In the lifetime of his parents
Hawthorndeau had been a beautiful es-
tate. 1t still retained many marks of
wealthy and cultivated ownership, but
it was sadly run down, as the home of
a bachelor is apt to be. The grove,
which had once been the pride of the
r,lao1 Sf hrY1 oh apH
the sere leaves of many summers
gBwth rustled under my feet as
walked through it. At one point, COM
ing suddenly around a thick clump of
undergrowth | heard a chorus of tiny
snorts and the scampering of number
less hoofs, and / knew that | had invad-
ed a haunt of the Majors last agricult-
ural freak, the very brood of Berkshire
pigs that were the source of all my Dor
rowed woes. Away they scampered,
their shouts well raised in the air, and
each with a curl in its tail that seemed
too ornamental to be wholly the prod
uct of nature and to justify the village
rumor that the Majors own man put
those tails in curl papers every night.
They had the air of spoiled child
rem, every one, and were evidently the
Majors pets. But that didn't matter;
they had ruined Miss Lyddy' wedding
gown, to say nothing of q dozen other
argravating exploits which do not be-
long to this story, and | was determined
to have satisfaction out of their owner.
| found the Major sitting on his
piazza with an after-d dinner look upon
his handsome, good-humored face. He
rose to greet me with an air of old
school politeness, dashed with a faint
wonder that l, a woman, should have
had the hardihood to approach a place
so little frequented by women.
Good evening, Miss Grace. am
happy to see you In what can l have
the honor to serve you?'
He had read my face and knew that
had come on mission.
" Major Hawthorne" / said, paying
no attention to his offer of a chair, - l
have come on a very painful errand."
- Sit down. madam, - said the Major,
politely. - cannot possibly permit a
lady to stand on my piazza. l ought,
perhaps, to ask you to walk in, but it is
rather stuay indoors this evening"
No l said, g win sit here, if
you please" To tell the truth. indoors,
as seen through the window, had not
the most inviting look, and l was glad
to compromise.
"Yo1 have, no doubt, heard -
plunging in nledidS res that Miss
Lydia Ludkins is about to be married"
Married! Miss Lydia! No! Hadn't
heard n word of it. said the Major, in
genuine amazement. "WhO is the fort
innate man, prayP"
1.-The Rev. Nehemiah Applebloom, a
missionary to the Micronesian Islands,
who has come home to recruit his health