Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-10-13

a door from our back yard into your
garden, and we will have a key made
for it at once, unless you have one you
can lend u.s."
And now my poor wife knew what
n had done, for, of course, it was out
OF the question for an invalid like Mrs.
Shute to walk all the way round by the
lane to the proper entrance, and yet, if
she had a key and could come and 90
when she liked, all my pleasure in the
garden would be gone. "You won't
go when my husband is at work?" she
said in desperation to Mrs. Shute, and
then trusted to her delicacy. What q
poor, weak thing to trust to!
They got the key-they used it. Mrs.
Shute, who was not strong enough to
go around to the proper entrance, me-
andered for miles along our gravel
paths and lawn. / could always trace
her presence, for she pluckcd every
flower she fancied, and flung it as
quickly away, and I saw my slaugh-
tered innocents lying bruised and with
cred in the sun, and could have slain
her in turn. Mrs. Shute might be the
creature of impression, but the flowers
were the creatures of impression, too,
and bore the marks of her ridiculous
high-heeled shoes as she crushed them
down in her indifference and passed on.
For some little time she respected nv
feelings and never entered the garden
when l was at work. Soon, however,
she came when she chose and fire.
quently l, hard at work in my gray
flannel shirt, would see a sylph-liIe
form arrayed in spotless white glide
toward me, which planted a camp-stool
within a yard of me, and seemed de-
termined to enter into a prolonged con-
versation. If 1 moved away Mrs. Shute
was certain to follow me. It was best
to try not to mind her being there, and
let her sit admiring her pretty feet and
open-worked stockings, and utter weak
little remarks.
She was always affable. 81 see, Mr..
Peveril, you are quite al bout des
doigts with all your fowers!w said she
one day, most kindly.
Him." 1 replied. eyes, I like
flowers"
$50 do I! I worship them! even
admire a lot of great ugly ferns we !,
the creature of impression speak of the
lovely rare ferns which l had sacrificed
to the tenants who were to help me pay
my rent.
"Don't you like ferns?" I said, half
inclined to make an effort to get them
back again.
"Well, yes, in the woods; but I like
Pelar-r-rgoniums in gardens; nothing
looks better. If I had plenty of money
I'd just put hundreds of them in front
of our house. What a thing money is,
Mr.. Perevil! and there are actually
some people who are SO crowded with
it that they don't know what to do with
it but make an ostentation of it,"
II am very sure 1 should know what
to do with mine, if 1 had a little more"
was my thought-for l was forced to
endure this lady's company for want of
a miserable forty pounds a year.
She perhaps found me unusually dull,
for she said she would 'sstroll about a
bit," and hastily knotting up a
''guinea switch of hair" which was
rolling down her back, she went away.
Presently she returned with the Gros-
venor book which I was looking for
ward to the treat of reading when my
work was done. She had obtained It
by thrusting her arm at the open win
dow, and removing it from the table
where it was lying awaiting my return.
She and her husband, too, were ex-
tremely fond of possessing themselves
Of whatever they happened to want.
She borrowed a book in this nefarious
way. He came in a panic-his wife
was i'll; would we let him have half a
dozen bottles of old port? Or he was
suddenly seized with admiration of one
of our water-colors. We had three
good ones, but he was not satisfied with
anything less than our Turner, and
asked if we would allow him to take it
to the Cottage for an hour OF two, and
place it on an easel nea his wife's
sofa-it would help to while away the
weary hours, and she was the
Rather than hear him say she was
the creature of impression I fastened
away to get the picture for him. His
wife did not care for pictures; why did
he borrow them for her? She did not
care for books, either. She was entirely
uneducated; and though possibly a Will
mot of Taunton, she certainly was not
a lady. She wished to be pleasant,
though, and was very fond of sympa-
thizing with me whenever she happened
to observe certain small green insects
which she called "nasty afrites" on my
roses. Had she been reading ''The
Persian and Turkish Tales" l wished
an ill-disposed afrite would carry her
off-but nothing ever did carry her away
from my side but the sight OF the gar
dener going toward the kitchen garden.
Then she said in a moment; "Dear Mr..
Peveril, Edward and 1 are so fond Of
fresh vegetation, may 1 go and ask that
man to cut off some little trile for the
Cottage?" and 1, rejoicing at this mo
mentary good fortune, always said:
"Oh, pray do" And she went anG
commanded him to bear to her abode
cauliiowers and peas, lettuces, %apricots,
or whatsoever else was agreeable to the
palate of a creature of impression. Fol
my part, 1 should not have cared whai
went to the Cottage SO long a nothing
came from ito sit by my side, Imean
But my wife said too much went! They
had new-laid eggs, milk, cream, and
more butter than we could well spare,
and they did not pay as they got it, but
LOT tho ocnOunt rim on