The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1883-09-15

Cecilia, we must here observe. was
quite gray; but she wore afrontlet of dark
| curls and a little black silk skull-cap.
fitted close to her head, which kept all
neat and tight under the turban.
She had not far to go; nevertheless,
she thought it would be as well to set
off at once, for fear of accidents, even
though she fingered on the way to fill
up the time, for every moment the dam
ger augmented; so she called to Susan
to bring her cloak, and her calash, and
her overalls, and being well packed ND
by the admiring Sue, who declared that
the turban was, without exception, the
beautifulest thing she ever saw she
started, determined, however, not to
take the direct way, but to make lit
tie circuit by back street, lest, by ill
luck, she should fall foul of the enemy.
Susan" said she, pausing as she
was stepping off the Threshold eff any,
body calls you'll say have been gone
to Mrs. Hanaway's some time; and,
Susan, just put pin in this calash to
keep it back; it falls over my eyes so
that l can't see." And Susan pinned
fold in the calash, and away went the
triumphant Miss Cecilia. She did not
wish to be guilty of the vulgarity of
arriving first at the party, so She ling
cred about till it wanted a quarter to
eight, and then she knocked at Mrs.
Hanaway's door, which smart foot
man Immediately opened, and, with
the alertness for which so many of his
order are remarkable, proceeded to
disengage the lady from her external
coverings-the cloak, the overalls, the
calash; and then, without giving her
time to breathe, he rushed up the stairs,
calling out, Miss Cecilia Smith,
while the butler, who stood at the
drawing-room door, threw it open,
reiterating, ''Miss Smith," and in she
went But, oh, reader, little do you
think, and little did she think, where
the turban was that she immagined to
be upon her head, and under the sup
pos I'd shadow of which she walked into
the room with so much dignity and
complacence. 1t was below in the hall,
lying on the floor, fast in the calash, to
which Susan, ill-starred wench. had.
pinned it; and the footman in his cruel
haste had dragged them both off to-
gether.
With only some under-trappings on
her Uranium. and altogether uncon-
scious of her calamity, smiling and
bowling, Miss Cecilia advanced toward
her host and hostess, who received her
in the most gracious manner,
thinking, certainly, that her taste in
head-dress was peculiar, and that she
was about the most extraordinary figure
they had ever beheld, but supposing
that such was the fashion she chose to
adopt-the less astonished or inclined
to suspect the truth, from having heard
good deal of the eccentricities of the
two spinsters of B. But to the
rest of the company the appearance
she made was ineXplicable; they had
been accustomed to see her addressed
and oddly-dressed, but such flight as
this they were not prepared for. Some
whispered that she had gone mad;
others suspected that it must be acct
dent-that somehow or other she had
forfotten to put on her head-dress but
even if it were so the joke was an ex-
cellent one, and nobody cared enough
for her to sacrifice their amusement by
setting her right. So Miss Cecilia,
blessed in her delusion, triumphant and
happy, took her place at the whist
table, arfxiously selecting a position
which gave her full view of the door,
in order that she might have the hides
scribable satisfaction of seeing the ex-
preston of Miss Charlotte's countenance
when she entered the room--that is, if
she came; the probability was that
modification would keep her away.
But no such thing-Miss Charlotte
had too much spirit to be beaten out of
the field in that manner. She had
waited in patience for her turban, be-
cause Miss Gibbs had told her that,
having many things to send out, it
might be late before she got it; but
when half-past six arrived she became
impatient, and dispatched her maid to
fetch it. The maid returned with miss
Gibbs respects, and the girl was still
out with the things; she would be sure
to call at Miss Charlotte's before she
came back" At half-past seven there
was another message to say that the
turban had not arrived. By this time
the girl had done her errands. and Miss
Gibbs, on questioning her, discovered
the truth. But it was too late-the
mischief was irreparable-Susan aver
ring the truth, that her mistress had
gone to Mrs. Hanaway's party some
time with the turban on her head.
We will not attempt to paint Miss
Charlott's feelings; that would be q vain
endeavor Rage took possession of her
soul; her attire was already complete,
all but the head-dress, for which she
was waiting. She selected the best tur-
ban she had, threw on her cloak and
calash, and in a condition of mind bor
dering upon frenzy, she rushed forth,
determined, be the consequences what
they might, to claim her turban and ex
pose Miss Cecilia's dishonorable con-
duct before the whole company.
By the time she arrived at Mrs. Hama
ways door, owing to the delays that
had interviewed, it was nearly half
past eight; the company had all
arrived, and, while the butler and
footmen were carrying up the. re-
freshments, one of the female servants
of the establishment had come into the
hall, and was endeavoring to introduce
some sort of order and classification
among the mass of external coverings
that had been hastily thrown off by the
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