Middletown transcript., 1882-02-24

know" she cried, with her rosy smile
and breaking dimples. =" And 1 am
going to be just too"
"Utter," said Joe.
She looked at him in a moment OF
doubt.
IF you are making fun of me, Joe,
you can't-you can't"
Expect to be considered Early
English
"Oh p cried Rosa. "You, Joe 1t
is too-it is too
"Un-utter-able," +" said Joe, stalking
off just before Rosa began to cry. Rosa
always was baby.
"We are all going into Boston this
afternoon to Matinee" said Emeline,
who had, to tell the truth, struggled in
resisting an inclination to turn her 1
into a q, but who had come out victo-
rious, and now looked on her sister
Rosalys and the two Rivases as a per-
petual entertainment, as she told Joe,
in urging him to have patience for she
was sure the machinery was not strong
enough to hold the curtain up much
longer. What do you think ~ she
added, walking back with Joe. " Aunt
Eunice had been reading it up in the
English papers, and she says she is de-
termined to see the new play PerseUer-
ance-no, that isn't the word. 1t isn't
ProcrdstinUtion either. Oh, Patience
yes. They give it to-day, and she has
had the tickets bought they are at
Charlie's Office, where we rendezvous,
and we can all be at home in time for
tea. And rely on you, Joe, to help
me out, for I shouldn't be a bit sur
prised to see Aunt Eunice on the
stage"
"Pulling Saphir's hair, or tearing off
Grosvenor's lily. Yes, I've seen Pa
tience, as well as tried it's perfect
work."
And, accordingly, as merry a crew
as the twenty love-sick maidens them
selves were at the doors Of the museum,
where Patience had begun its career,
that warm Autumn afternoon, Joe,
grave and supporting Aunt Eunice,
who looked like a queen about to do
justice on an heir apparent, but Eme-
line, and Charles, and John, and
Marion, and Hal, and 1, and the rest,
all but Mr.. Rivas, full of quivering ex-
citement over the suppressed fun of
seeing Rosalys and Gladys and their
painting chap put to the burlesque.
[ don't remember that l ever saw
anything more ludicrous than Aunt
Eunice in the first scene Of the love-
sick maidens. She evidently had not
the faintest idea of burlesque or satire !;
she had supposed she was going to
melodrama, or one of the light come
dies of her youth, hardly having been
in theatre for twenty years. But
those dreary damozels " why don't
they put their clothes on properly ?"
she was muttering "and sew up their
sleeves 2 LoYe-Sick maidens! Shame
less hussies Talking in that fashion.
To-day he is not well p And 1
shouldn't think he would be after eat
ing butter with a tablespoon ~ But
when Mr.. Bunthorne made his appear
ance, my aunt began to writhe in her
seat when he read his verses, she un-
tied her hat, and threw the strings back
violently; not a smile disturbed the
majestic contempt on her countenance,
and with the last words Of the song,
" Why, what most particularly pure
young man this pure young man must
be ~ she turned to me with a gasp,
and said, "Tell me, tell me, am 1
going crazy ? Or is the place really full
Of people who have come here to listen
to this abominable fool 2' Vigorous
nudges on all the angels she represented,
however, brought Aunt Eunice to the
recollection of herself, and she smoth-
cred her wrath tempol arily, only to
have it blaze up again at the " Willow
waly o. of Grosvenor asking Patience
to marry him when he had seen her but
three minutes, as she hoarsely whis-
pered. What Aunt Eunice would have
said if she had waited to hear the duet
of Reginald and Lady Jane, "Sing
Boob to you-pooh, pooh to you ?
and that's what shall say" whether
she would have found anything de-
lighting and amusing in the attitude
and play of the three handsome young
dragons gotten up regardless of ex-
pense in the Botticellian style, "per-
ceptively intense. and consummately
utter" 1 don't know. For when the
lovely sunfower scene of the travesty
came, and Grosvenor dawned on us
again in his beauty, followed by his
twenty maidens with their archaic
mandolins, and Tyres, and zithers in
hand, lovely little shapes out of Fra
Angelico's pictures, waveriDg, and
bowling, and bending, and turning, and
falling in rhythmical circle about him,
like so many etherealized sunflowers,
each yearning with her face toward the
god, Aunt Eunice rose in her might,
her bonnet falling into her hand.
" Come along" she said aloud-"come
along with me, every one of you. 1
won't sit here another minute, and see
people gaping at fools that behave ex-
actly as our Rosalie does with that
extraordinary fool of Rivas ~ They
might have heard her all across the
theatre. 1 don't know whether they
did or not For, if you will believe it,
we dared do nothing else than obey
her; we couldn't sit still after that,
and we couldn't let Aunt Eunice go
off alone in that infuriated state, and,
one and all, we rose and went after
her, Emeline, and Charles, and John,