The true northerner., 1882-12-15
An UNDERGRADUATES AUNT.

Mn UNUCnUnHUUHICS y HONIs
Frederick Washington belonged to a
small college, and in doing so conferred
upon it one of the few distinctions it
could boast-namely, that of possessing
the very bashfulest man in the whole
university.
But his college did not confer upon
him any special adulation on that ac-
count, proBab from a prudent fear of
rubbing the bloom off his modesty;
they allowed him 20 blush unsepn-
which was the condition in which he
preferred to blush.
He felt himself oppressed by pauci-
ty of IDEAS and a d fliculty in knowing
which way to look in the presence Of
his fellow men, which made him never
SO happy as when he had fastened his
outer door and secured himself from all
possib lity of intrusion, though it was
almost an unnecessary precaution, for
nobody ever thought of coming to see
FlushingtOn.
In appearance lie was man OF mid
die height, with a long scraggy neck
and a large head, W ich gave him the
air of being much shorter than he real
ly was; he had little, weak eyes, nose
and mouth of no parti u ar shape, and
verv smooth hair OF no definite color.
He had timil, deprecating air, which
seemed due to the con, ,ciousnes tin VI he
was an unitteresting anomaly, and he
certainly was as impervious to the ordi-
nary influence of his surroundings as
any undergraduate well cou be. He
lived colorless, aimleSs life in his lit
tie rooms under the roof, reading every
morn ng from 8 till 2, with supersti-
tiousy mechanical regularity, though
veri often his books completely failed
brain. which was not q particularly
powerful organ.
If the afternoon was fine, he gener-
ally sought out his one friend, who was
a few degrees less shy than himself, and
they went q monosyllabic walk to-
ge'her; or, If it was vet, he read the
papers at the Union, and, in
the evenings aft r hall, he studied
general literlt re"-a graceful term
for povels--or labori usly spelled ou'
sonata upon his piano, habit which
Fortunately for Flushington he had
no gyp, or his life M ght have been
male positive burden to him, and
with his bedmaker he was rather
favorite as "a gentleman what gave no
'Grouble' that when he OBJ
served his sherry unaccountably sink
ing, Ii o the water in lock when the
'sAices are up, Flushington was too
.delicat to refer to the phenomenon.
He was sitting one afternoon, over
his modest lunch of bread and butter,
lpotted meat and lemonade, when all at
once he heard sound of unusual voices
and strange flutter of dresses coming
mp the winding stone staircase outside,
and was instantly seized with cold
dread.
There was no particular reason for
being alarmed, although there were
certainly ladies mount e the steps
probably they we're friends OF the man
opposite, who was always having his
people up. But still Washington had
Chat odd presnntiment which nervous
people have sometimes that something
unple SAINT is on its way to them, and
he half rose from his chair to shut his
ouer oak.
It was too lata. The dresses were
rustiing now in his very passage-the'e
was pause, o few faint, smothered
laughs, and little feminine coughs
then two taps at the door.
"Come in," cried Flushi2gton, family;
he wished he had been reading any
ching but the worl; by NJ. Zola, which
was propped up in front of him. 1t is
your mild man who frequently has a
tx1te for seeing the less repu able side
of life in this secondhand way, and
Flushington would toll manfuliy
through the voluminous pages, hunt
ing up every third word in the diction-
ary. with sense of injury when, as was
often the case, it was of en- to I've
found. Still here was a sort of intel
Iectual orgie about it which had strong
fascinations for him, while he knew
enough Of the language TO be aware
when the incidents approached the inn
proper, though he was not always able
TO see quite clearly in what this impro-
priety con sisted.
The door opened, and his heart
seemed to stop and all the blood rushed
violently TO his head, rs large lady
came sweeping in, her face ripping with
a broad smile of affection.
She Mortified Elushinoton, who knew
nobody with the asst claim TO I'm lie al
him 80 expansively "a that; he drank
Lemonade b. conce his confusion.
"You don't know me, my dear Fred ?
she said easily. "Of course not-how
should you2 rm-for goodness sake,
my dear boy, don't look so terribly
frightenedl I'm your aunt-your auni
Amelia, come over from Australian