The true northerner., 1882-09-15
A RED MITTEN.

1t was the afternoon of clear, sharp
January day of 1861, and the company
numbered fully 200; there were men
and women, boys and girls flying and
circling. about, in masses, singly, by
dozens and by twos and threes, over the
frozen surface of the beautiful Silver
lake in Rockdale, q suburb of the flour
ishing city of B. New England is
dotted with these small bodies of water,
and it is astounding to recount what q
surprising number bear the name of
Silver. And so on Silver lake this good
ly company was disporting itself with
all the gayety and zest the keen, brac-
ing air and exhilarating sport combined
to produce.
Among the crowd were many lads
and lasses who imagined they were fond
of skating, and came to Silver lake for
no other reason. 1t was singular, too,
to note how much more gracefully the
outward roll" backward or forward,
can be accomplished by joining hands
or being linked together by walking
stick. These sticks in some instances
proved no non-conductors to the SYM
nets at either end.
The positive and negative conditions
were fully realized in the case of brawny
John Horton and rosy-cheeked Abbie
Latham, the daughter of the Squire.
She, with her plump, comely figure and
fresh handsome face, lit up by pair Of
laughing blue eyes, could have led awk-
ward John, on or off skates, anywhere,
with an apron string or a thread for
conductor. Not so with John. He
could lead her nowhere; and the more
the girl could balk and tantalize him,
the more she seemed to enjoy the skat-
ing and his company. Many a ludi-
crous figure he cut, and many an awk-
ward fall he endured by her sudden and
maccountable turns and shiftings. and
her mirSh and glee were at the highest
at JOIN repeated failures to follow her
difficult and tortuous windings. John
was overgrown and massive, his twenty
years of existence not having yet served
to properly knit together and round out
the proportions of his frame. She was
1.-the and quick, and as graceful as she
was skillful in the use of skates.
Apart from the throng this afternoon
John espied little red mitten lying on
the ice where it had been dropped by
some one of the numerous children.
Miss Abbie saw it, too, and as John, by
one OF his graceful movements, essayed
to stoop and capture the article she re-
fused to release his hand; but, just as
he bent forward, she gave n wicked pull,
and John, unbalanced, was sent sprawl
ing rod or two beyond. A peal of sill
very laughter was her sympathetic COM
ment, as with graceful curve she
turned and caught the tiny thing in her
hand.
John blushed vt his awl1wardneSs, and
held out his hand to receive the mitten.
But the captor only held it before
hin. and gently moved away.
Won't YOU give it to me?" he asked.
81 will find the owner"
Il cIs find the owner more easily than
you / can't trust you; you would fall
and crush the poor thing III trying to
deli7er it." And she saucily laughed
again.
You made me fall" said John in
grieved tone. "You are always doing
these things. If 1 skated more and
studied less I'd soon be as much an
adept as your friend Joe Staples, whom
you are always praising"
"You? Ha, ha, ha! As graceful as
Joe Staples" ard the hilarity of the
young maiden made John Horizons
sluggish blood course through his veins
till his face was as red as the scarlet
kerchief that encircled his neck.
All the rest of that afternoon John
was gloomy and silent. He moved
around mechanically, or rather automat-
ically, and his companion concluded to
serve no more tricks upon him.
The sport finished the two wended
their way to the house of Mr.. Latham,
Johns fair companion failing to rally
him into anything like conversation.
He answered her only in monosyllables,
and seemed morose and preoccupied.
AS he was about to take his leave,
John said seriously and little sarcns-
tically, "Abbie, I'm going back to col
lege tomorrow, and 1 hope you will
enjoy the rest of the skating season in
companionship more graceful than
mine"
Il hope L SHALL" replied she in the
same tone. "You must feel bad about
something; perhaps it's the mitten; you
had better take it, no. not now-I won't
give it up. If ] ever think enough of
you to surrender it, I'll send it to you
by express"
And then she smiled on John, with
rare sweetness, but John had seen that
smile before, and felt she was only
mocking him. So with n solemn good
night he buttoned his coat close to his
chin and, with hands resolutely thrust in
to his pockets, turned homeward, re-
solved to waste no more time with skat-
ing girls, who judged young men by the
dexterity they exhibited in handling
their heels.