Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1884-05-16
JEANIE'S DIPLOMACY.
a skstob-wlth n Moral.

Everything looked grim. massive and
out of humOr about the rd-featured
old homestead. Dark Ridge.
The sOmbcr walls. drapcd heavily. M
II in mourning. with the dark. writhiny
ivy, were certainly grim looking and
massive enough; and. II they were not.
m their way, out of humor. il is not in
the power OF architectural physiognomy
To express II -humor. II the grimncss
of the exterior was auSterc. the grim
ness OF the interior was morose. A
certain obiurate air Of misanthropy
chung to everything. The heavy panels.
oil the walls. the smoky holdings Of the
ceilings, the deep carvings Of the mas
siye furniture. seemed To the nervous
aud Imaginative little housokcepcr like
so many wrinklcs'of enc great implaca-
bic frown
In this lair fived and growled John
Eldritch, bachelor and landlord; eccen-
trio, irascible. reclusivc. Aud John"
his neighbors called him. though he
was not old; and yet neither had he
ever seemed to be young. ''In his earli-
est bOyhoOd he had been considered n
'1naist unco' bairnic." His shock hair
did not bristle from the outside of his
Uranium with less regard TO coIven-
tiOnal modes than his "shock" of maint
notions bristlcd on the inside of H. This
fact and the rather more weighty one
that his manners sat ~ awkwar,lfv and
loosely on him rs did his awry garments
gave him no little rcpute "a a philoso-
phcr His philosophy was, however.
ct very stern mold; "pcssimeestic,
he termed 10.
How John ever came into possession
OF his universal premisc-''w whatever is
ought not to be- DO not know; but.
having once adopted the spectral wait,
ho clung to IL with an heroic obstinacy
quite inspiring
The especial object Of Johns abbor-
renee was the weaker sex. His anfipathy
TO anything and everything feminine
was fairly ccstatic.
The feckless, blcthcrin' corb:es.r
he would vociferatc. They care for
nacihing but dallin and clatterin'. I
wanna hac onything tae do wi them"
Wilma ye, John| 'Bide n wee.
Auld John was n great rider. He
and his shaggy old road mare. "Me0''
were known far and wide; and great
was the merrimcnt they afforded the
kccn-witted peasantry on the linz of
their expeditions, which often were ex-
tended Tor days. For their JOURNEYS
were but one continued obstinate con
test Tor tho mastership. But IL there
was any doubt as to who was, dc facto.
master (more politely mistress) Il did
not exist In the minds of Meggy or the
lockers on. Whatever It occurred 10
this erratio animal To do she did. in
spite of tho railing invectives of her
irate but impotent rider. Did n clump
OF grass on the hillside offer special en-
ticemont--
Whoal WHARF ye gAngin' moo, ye auld
But his mandate was rs futile as his
irony. Mog's nose was hillward, and
II John did not fancy being dragged
under the l0w-sweeping branches, his
only successful stratagem was To slim
oil in the rear and await, with as good
Cor as ilD grace as possible, the pleas
ure OF his companion. Did a particu-
larry coy place by the roadside incline
Meg to rest, the celebrity with which the
staid philosopher slipped from his sad
Ole and the turbulent enthusiasm with
which no expostulated with his COM
placent partner, as she lay blinking
dePrecatingly mt her liege lord, oc,
casioned much suppressed laughter
among the unsympathetic observers.
II.
Nesting In ono Of the little glens
that creep out from the picturesque
and historic valley Of the Tweed was
the quaint, retired homestead Of Glen
Nook. Glen Nook was the peaceful
home of David Lester, a former MGR
chant Of Edinburgh. retired, by i'll
health, and his sister. "Jeanie" I.eis-
to-. "Davie " was n genial. medita-
tive, gentle-mannered man of. perhaps,
forty-fivo years. Jeanne was very
small. very bright-witted. very placid,
very winning maid OF some thirty sum-
mers. IL seemed always to have been
summer with her.
AZ Glen Nook John and Meggy were
neither infrequent nor unwelcomo visit
ors. To the mild-tempered Davie there
seemed something quito refreshing In
the aimloss buster aud acerbity Of his
friend.
And JoanioP Yes; she liked him.
His treatment OF her. indeed. was dc.
signed to be lofty and ungracious re
serve, tilted. he thought, to Impress her
duly with tho ardor OF his misanthropy.
IL was not till many years afterward
that he learned how vigilant those
quiet eyes were; how they had watched
him when ho sat nc meals. smuggling
the bits OF bread into his sleeve, and
when atterward he sauntsred, with a
grotesque air Of unconcern. behind the
barn, how quickly thcy caught the
k.ndiing (tho moistoning. she thought)
OF the eyes. AZ he heard the oxpectant
cries OF tho little nest Of motherless
robins he had come 10 feed; and when
he sat ono day on the hank Of q brook.
trying to quiet the sobs OF a very dirty
and very ragged little urchin, whose
loot torn BY a thorn. he had washed
and wrapped In his handkerchief. he
was startled oy the breaking OF a twig.
he thought Il only some frightened
hare The step was very light, Indeed.