Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-06-30
AN AUBURN TRESS.

AN AUBURN hLSSs
I fell half-wayin love with her at first
sight, she was so entirely and refresh
ingly different from all the other girls |
had aver met, and l had met quite a
number, having, although sisterless,
seven cousins Of the fairer sex, each of
whom was constantly discovering some
.~'charming' friend or friends to whom
..Cousin Tom" really must be intro
duced. But by only two or three of
these charmers had "Cousin Tom" been
enslaved, and then his chains were of
the lightest, and had broken easily after
a short captivity. And so my five-and-
twentieth birthday found me still heart
whole, and being heart-whole, with no
despotic she to decide for me, wonder
ing where | should spend my summer
vacation. 1t was to be a longer one
than usual. for Uncle John, in whose
publishing house l was employed, had
kindly placed the whole month of Au-
gust at my disposal, in return, as he was
pleased to say, for my close attention
to business since the beginning of the
year. / didn't want to 90 to one of the
fashionable resorts, for L was not (al-
though my cousins had done all they
could toward making me one) q fashion,
able man. And then, a~gain-which was
perhaps a more important reason-I
couldn't afford it.
81 wish l knew of some pleasant farm
house," said l to my office chum, Lon
Fordyce, where there would be no other
boarders taken; where the nearest neigh
Dor lived at least a mile away; where
there were plenty of old trees about;
where a fellow might swing in a ham,
mock from morn till dewy eve if he
chose, and read and smoke and dream
the time away to his hearts content;
and where new. unskimmed milk, fresh
eggs, crisp vegetables, ripe fruit and
tender chickens were realities and not
myths. But where, oh! where can such
Arcadian bliss be found? I've read of
1t in stories and newspaper advertise
ments, but l never knew anybody who
had met it OF anything like tin their
search for summer board and lodging,
l mean. Quite the contrary has been
my w experience; in fact, disgustingly
the contrary"
All the time l had been speaking,
Mouse had been listening a~ttentively
(Mouse was a twelve-year-old boy be-
longing to our department, his real
name being Roderick; but that had been
almost entirely forgotten since Lon and
l rechristened him; and the new title
had been conferred upon him on account
OF his noiseless way of moving around,
his small, bright, dark eyes, and his gen
eral, as we thought, mousy appearance),
and as 1 finishedI turned suddenly upon
him and asked:
"What are you standing there for,
Mouse? Have you nothin to do?"
PLENTY, sir" he answered; "but
was a-thinkin' our folks might take you.
They've got a nice farm, and big trees,
and new chickens, and eggs, and fruit,
and vegetables, and cows milk, and
everything you said you wanted 'cept
an accordion. and l guess they could
get that"
"An a%ccordion!!" repeated I, in great
establishment. ''What in the world do
you mean?"
Accordion bliss" whispered Lon,
and we both burst out laughing; but
Mouse kept his ground, and regarded
me gravely until l began talking again.
'Your folks?" said l, and It struck
me that | had never thought of the quiet
little chap in connection with folks be-
fore. "Why, don't your folks live in
the city?"
mo, sir. They live at Nutwood. l
stay here with Aunt Hannah cause I'm
to be a business man. Tim-he's nine
he's to be a farmer. And there isn't
any house 'cept the Larrups' shanty for
more'n a mile. And I've told 'em how
good you are to me, and I'm most sure
they'd let you come and stay as long as
you wanted to. And there's ducks"
"Do you know, Lon, this sounds very
promising?" said L.
MAY be as deceptive as the adver-
tiscments, for all that" said Lon. '.Not
Intentionally so, of course, but Mouse
being a boy, and the farmhouse the
home OF his Childhood
Nothing easier than for me to find
out all about it," interrupted I. s.I'll
take q run down there tomorrow
(Which happened to be Saturday,
''afternoon. And, Mouse, if you like,
you may 20 with me.n
"Thank you, SIR said Mouse, his
bright eyes sparkling with pleasure;
and then he silently disappeared, while
Lon and | fell to work as though our
very lives depended upon getting a GER
tain amount done in a certain length of
time.
The next afternoon found Mouse and
myself on board of an express train
speeding away to Nutwood. 1t was
after five O'Clock when we arrived at
the small station, for j had not been able
to start as early as / had intended, and
nearly six when we came in sight of a