The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1882-07-26
A RED AiITTEN.

|.
1t was the afternoon of 4 clear
sharp, January day of 1861, and the
company numbered. fully two hun
dred: there were men, women, boys
and girls, flying and circling about
in masses, singly, by dozens and by
twos and threes, over the frozen sur
face of the beautiful Silver lake, a
suburb of the hourishing city OF b.
New England is dotted with these
small bodies of water, and it is as
founding to recount what a surpns-
ing number bear the name of Silver.
/ And so, on Silver lake, this goOdly
company was disporting itself with
all the gaiety and Zest the keen, brac-
ing air and exhilarating sport com
bined 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 could be ac-
complished by Joining hands, or be-
ing linked together by walking
stick. These sticks proved, in many
instances. no non-conductors to the
sympathetic thrill that pervaded the
magnets at either end.
The positive and negative condi
tons were fully realized in the case
of brawny John Horton and rosy
checked Abbie Latham, the daugh-
ter of the Squire. She, with her
plump, comely figure. and fresh,
handsome face, lit up by pair of
laughing blue eyes, could have led
awkward John, on or off skates,
anywhere, with an apron string or
thread for a 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 skating and his COM
panv. Many a ludicrous figure he
cut, and many an awkward fall he
endured by her sudden and unac-
countable turns and shiftings, and
her mirth and glee were at the high
est at Johns repeated failures to fol-
low her difficult and tortuous wind
ings. John was overgrown and
massive, his twenty years OF exist
ence not having vet served to prop
erly 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 after
noon, John espied a little red mitten
lying on the ice, where it had been
dropped by some one of the numer- |
Gus children. Miss Abbie saw it, |
too, and as John by one of his grace |
ful movements, essayed to stoop and |
capture the article, she refused to re-
lease his hand: but just as he bent |
forward she gave a wicked pull, and !
John, unbalanced, was sent sprawl I
ing rod or two beyond. A peal of I
silvery laughter was her sympathet- (
ic comment, as with a graceful curve
she turned and caught the tiny thing
in her hand.
John blushed ut his awkwardness, (
and held out his hand TO receive the (
mitten.
But the captor only held it before /
him and gently moved away.
Wont you give it to ne?" he
asked. Il will find the owner"
Il can find the owner more easily
than you. | can't trust you; you
would fall and crush the poor thing
in trying to deliver it. And she
saucilv laughed again.
You made me fall, said John,
in a grieved tone. "You are always
doing these thing. If skated more
and studied less I'd soon be as much
Of an adept as your friend, Joe Sta
pies, whom you are always prais-
ing"
You? Ha, ha, hal As graceful
as Joe Staples?" And 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 en-
circled his neck.
All the rest of the afternoon John
was gloomy and silent. He moved
around mechanically, or rather. au-
.omatically, and his companion con-
GUIDED to serve no more tricks upon
hin.
The sport finished, the two wend-
ID their way to the house of Mr..
latham, Johns fair companion fail I,
ng to rally him into anything like
He answered her only /.
n monosyllables and seemed morose
md preoccupied.
As he was about To take his leave. ,
|ohn said, seriously, and little sar- ,
'astically, "Abbie, I'm going back TO {
ollege tomorrow, and | hope you
will enjoy the rest of the skating in |
more graceful than :
nine.n j
Il hope i Ishall," replied she in the
anne tone. 'You must feel bad {
bout something; perhaps its the |
nitten; you had better take it-no, {
ot now, | won't give it up. If | 6
yer think enough Of you to surren- t
er it, III send it to YOU by express. ,
And then she smiled on John. 8
18th rare sweetness. but John had G
eon that smile before and felt that | r