The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1883-12-23
young Mr.. Gordon"

young MI GOrlon VIII % nSEo hoAh
weak, PanSy.n
Miss Moliie Henderson, Familiarity known
as "Pansy"-prcsumably because she did not
In any respect resemble that flower OF
thoughts being Of an exceedingly vtvacious
temperament, and addicted In the earlier
days Of her existence TO top-spinning, marble
playing, and other amusements popularity
supposed 70 BE- the exclusive property OF
boys-looked up in a very placid manner as
her father made this announcement, and
answered IL fully and effectively by an eI-
pressive shrug Of her pretty shoulders and
a very decided Pouting of her small mouth.
Then she placed the book which had been
engaging her attention on the sofa by her
side, caused her small feet TO swiftly describe
u semi-circls, and when the fash Of brown
hose and pr~ettily-turned ankle was over she
had assumed a sitting posture, her previous
attitude having been one Of comfortable but
rather undignihed redundancy. She then
placed her elbows or her kness, regarded her
father complacently, and said;
els the Arapahoe coming, tooF'
Mr.. Hendersonis manner changed at NICE.
YES" he replied, Mr.. Gordon will accom-
pany his son; and 1 want you, Margaret, to
treat him with every respect-in fact, / shall
expect you to do So"
Tho figure on the sofa saw that a mistake
had besn made early In the campaign. When
her father addressed her az " Margaret" it
msant serious d!splsasurs on his part 1t
also meant that he must be p~lscated at once,
for Mr.. Henderson was one Of that rather
numerous class Of mon in whose minds q real
or fancied injury continues 10 magnify with
each succeeding instant until it finally wraps
their whole existence In ar artificial but none
the lass effective gloom. Aiollie was well 40
quninted with the disease, and on equally inti-
mate terms with the remedy. Consequently she
at INC bounded from tho sofa, flung her arms
around the p~aternal neck, squeezing that
useful portion Of mans anatomy until q
fracture of the cervicul vertebra seemed
imminent, bestowing at the same time upon
her sire a large number Of kisses, these boins
~punctuated with ejaculatory and highly
incoherent remarks to tho effect that the
object Of this tidal-wavo Of oscillation was
the dearest, darlingest old papa in the world,
so he was. and that the o~ratrix, on the con-
trary, was a naughty, wicked girl, who
didn't deserve to havo such a sweet, lovely
papa, who was always doing everything in
the world for her. And then, having fin
ished this Wild nuttor Of disjointed English.
Miss Mollie nestled closely in her fathers
arms and INDUCED in that never-failing pan
acea for all the woes to which female flesh Is
perpetual heir-a good cry.
ats all right, Pansy, darling" said Mr..
0IAASAISAt hSiOAAhb bohbJ ~ mass u
brown hair that lay upon his breast, tho re-
mninder of the head to which 1t belonged
having bsen thrust violently under his left
arm in an apparently wild endeavor to dis
cover by burrowing any stray suspender or
other article Of gents furnishing goods that
might be concealed there. 81 was a little
hard on you, perhaps, but you know Mr..
Gordon is a lifelong friend Of mine, and l
don't like TO have you allude to him in u
c~areless or TESTING manner"
Tho face was slowly withdrawn from be
meath the paternal arm and looked up at Mr..
Henderson 1t was not exactly a pretty
face. there being a tip-tiitcd nose somewhere
about tho middle of it. and the features were
not at all regular or classic. But the big
brown eyes and their long lashes would have
attracted attention from any one not a pro-
feSRonal cynic or mlsanthrope, and when
these, looking up appealingly, called to their
aid a dropping mouth, white, regular teeth,
and lips that seemed quivering with the
agony Of great mental suffering, the imme-
diate and complete capitalization of whoever
constituted the opposing force was a matter
Of course.
And here a little explanation Is necessary.
From the days Of her infancy, when, her
mother having died, she was relegatcd to the
caTS Of R maiden aunt whose spinsterhood, in
view of the fact that Mr.. Henderson had
loved his wife very dearly, and did not at all
desire 10 replace with another helpmeet, APP
poured to DO a special dispensation in favor
Of the motherless little girl, Mollie had been
treated by her father TO remarks concerning
Mr.. John Gordon, who, she was informed,
had gone to the far west several years previ-
ously, and been left u widower with one child,
a boy about five years older than Mollie. One
of tho first facts impressed upon the child's
mind was that Mr.. Gordon lived in Idaho.
Subsequently in her ~infantile perusal OF tho
newspapers-which at the age of ten she
read regularly, and with great fidelity to de-
tal-she CLEANED the information that Idaho
WINS the home of the Arapahoe Indians, and
at once identified Mr.. Gordon with the noble
cons OF the forest, and pictured him to her
self al a ferocious person OF carInine hue
(having seen Indians alluded to in the public
prints as red mem carrying constantly with
him a large supply of tomahawks and other
destructive cutlery, wbils there dangled at his
belt a long string OF particularly CORY scalps.
When, with increasing years, came the
knowledge that her fathers friend was not an
Indian, Mollio stuck heroically to the name,
and persistently alluded " him as ''the
Arapahoe.n
1t had always been a fancy Of Mr.. Hcndsr-
TOMS that he should like TO soc his daughter
married to tho son of his old friend, and he
uhQ nOL luued 70 u1enllOn the LaCL 10 MOlllo
when that young lady reached the age at
which the feminine mind is supposed TO take
more or less interest in such matters. But
Miss Mollie only shifted the air disdaIntully
through her "~Tetrousse" nose, and replied that
she hoped papa would succeed In getting rid
Of her TO some aborigine, throwing out at the
nme time dark hints TO the effect that in case
the chld of tho praires should suddenly be-
som deceased, she had no doubt Mr.. Barrum
would part with one Of his wild men from
Borneo, in order that all hopes OF u suitable
alliance for her might not be frustrated. AT
the close of one OF these outbursts, she would
generally weep copiously, which action al
ways reduced Mr.. Henderson to a state OF
ssrvile humility, and insured Miss Mollle i'm
munity from further ~allusion 10 matrImony
for at least a month.
But now tho young man who had lifted In
Snch q will-otthe-wisp fashion before her
mental vision for 60 many years was coming
to Now York The trip was 10 DO made,
his father had written Mr.. Henderson, for
the double purpose OF giving 1.-THE boy (he
was 9) a chance to SEQ the sights Of a great
city and affording the other gentleman an
opportunity of revisiting the scenes OF his
youth, which, as Mr.. Henderson informed
Mollie parenthetically while reading the let
ter to her, were about four miles Jack of New
London, Conn, and nct 80 far as he was
aware, Of a particularly inspiring character.
Now, Pansy, darling said Mr.. Hender-
son when tho letterrsading was finished, ~
don't wan you to marry young Gordon or
any one else unless you do so entirely Of your
own accord. But 1 do want you to treat
L. III