Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-01-27
zllornina zleno srrlaIo.
9 H a Il L i r =
BY MRS. OPHEL1A NIsBEr REID.
a NOVEL.

"Ah! Charlie! Charlie, little laggard,
Come in! Come IMP
"Of course I'll come in, sir. Tll come
IN If it's the last act of my life"
"Ga! ha. ] scent the battle from afar.
Tell me about it, Mignone."
mot a word till l lind my auntie.
Where is shef"
cat the window. Let us go and find
her"
"Goodr
Fhe girl puts one white hand on the old
mans arm and pulls him away, right
fast, too, for, In her eagerness to open her
budget, she fOrgets his ''three SCORE" and
their progress amounts almost TO a little
run. But what of that? The sight of her
always makes him younger, and she in
tends he shall illustrate It.
"Ah! I've tried you,' she says, as they
mount to the porch. Forgive me! !
shall weep if you don't"
He only pats her head with an Oldman's
fOnduess, and leaves her i'm triumph.
"Mother, here she is, the truaut! Here
she is. brimtul of talk, and you and l must
do the listening
The same smiling look greets the girl
here that she had met in the gate.
"GOu needn't say a word, Charlie dear;
not q word, not a word. | know who is at
She bottom of il ALL"
Bottom. indeed Bottom, Yes, L say
bOtt0mI' eXclaims Charlie, with a look Of
supreme contempt for the idea. You
mean the t0p-the very tOpt Is my grand
mother Beltham woman TO occupy any
less place than the t0ps The top Of all
our affairs, of father. of mamma, Of the
house. / verify believe the top of all mum
dane affairs. She is prime minister, chief,
head centre. queen, mistress mother-ln-
Iawi'
Aunt Mary laughed aloud, but the doc
tor grayely asked:
GLOW has She been especially executive
to-day. dcarT'
To-day! Well, in every possible way.
1t began at sunrise. / rang for cold
water IN my room. She ordered warm. |
ordered one dress. She ordered another,
etc, etc, etc. Then, at breakfast, l
found my precious uncle Albert, whom L
hate"
'My darling.7
"Uncle, dc let me have my say so. l
shall feel so much less wicked when I'm
done. Yes, | DO hate him! You don't
know him. You can't conceive of him.
lie is a hypOcrite. There! / have said
NJ! Is there any harm in hating that?
Well, I have been crossed, baked,
thwarted, irrtated, until | am convinced
either that am past redemption or there's
something radically wrong with my rela-
tlyes. You see some girls, some happy,
fortunate girls have no friends, no kins-
men, They haven't got ANYBODY to take
distresses in this life having a great many
people to take an interest in one is the
most affective If could only sing with
truth
b. y am noobdy' darling, and nobody careth
for me,
] should be ready to dance with delight.
But OH! TO be so loved, SO watched, so
tended! To have such lot of kinsfOlk
AL taking an interest in me. bv the dav
Inv ~ I il erb to
deprive me of my senses. Some day
when / am snugly settled in an asylum
for the insane, people VIII say: Poor.
befriended girl! how sad how sadp l
wish 1 were a HettentOt. a little bare
footed savage, free to burn my little naked
toes in the sun, or supply dinner for a
crocodile, If pleased, with never a hand
some grandmamma, and with no dear I'M
Gle Albert to speak Of
"Im afraid you are talking too fast, my
darling"
mo, auntie, feel that l cannot talk
fast enough to do the subject any sort of
Justice. To die Of want, of starvation. of
sorrow, of epidemic, of ennui, must be
each and all uncomfortable, but to die of
kInstOlk is far the harder fate. l cannot
run away like herOines in novels do, for
such is my exceptional luck that | should
inevitably run right into the arms of an
atiectionate relative, l know. l believe l
city, and grandmother in every second
story. / often think OF my epitaph when
am resting under monumental marble:
Here Lies a girl not always bad,
The trouble was she surely had
Not ills nor botheTs like another
But relentless, stern grandmother:
Besides q bunch of kinsmen rare,
And that's the reason she lies here.
The reason she was such a sinner
Too many took an interest in her.
All this nonsense had been spoken as
fast as the words could flow from the
girls pretty mouth, yet with a perfectly
gOOd-natured, laughing face, for it was
only too evident that she had entirely re-
covered her spirits and only wanted 4 lit
tie fun. Her face, little flushed with her
quick walk, was a fair picture Of youth
and beauty, and her sprightly air was to
these two so enwrapped with her irresisti-
bly, funny. Mrs. Fearne had long ago hid
den her face in her handkerchief to laugh.
but the doctor, unable to take his eyes OFF
the fair face, was making his best effort to
look serious and disappearing.
Charlie, Charlie, what an unruly MEM
Der your tongue is. All. Have | not
cautioned YOU before about handling seri-
GUS even solemn things so lightly? Still
they are hard on you, very hard. They
sting YOU, and you cry out in YOUR own
funny fashion. STRANGE strange that
YOU could not have been given into our
=.
You would have had abundant love. but
such discipline! We would long ago have
corrected every fault, and yet have dealt
gently though firmly. Poor Charlie! poor
Charlie!' and the old man looked at
the blooming girl much as if she were a
suffering infant.
She only laughed little low laugh at
the ''disciplineH she should have gotten
here where her Will had been a happy
household law for years.
''Never mind, uncle Henry. I'm by no
means victim yet. love to come here
and tell my grievances, because. you see.
I've no one else to speak to. When PYe
been having a tield-day with grandmother
can't recover my spirits until I've told it
all to you two. Now, l am all right again,
and as blithe as a robin"
''HOw does your mamma feel today:
asked her aunt.
Charlie looked very grave, and did not
answer for a little while. At last she
said:
mamma is as well, auntie, as she
could be nursing so constantly. Oh. il l
tell you two something very sad, it is be-
cause it burdens me, and 1 am perplexed
abOnt it"
What is it, dear child?'
'Ah. uncle Henry, it Will distress
YOU too. 1t has distressed you often be-
fore"
is it about your papa, child?'
Yes. sir. just before l left | went to
mammals room to see her little and ask
about my father particularly. As soon as
she saw me at the door, she drew me in
and burst into tears. / asked her why
she seemed so overcome, and she said:
Charlie, your father is going TO die. and
Entered according to act of Congress in the
year 1854 by J. II. Estill, in the Otice Of the
Librarian Of Congress- at Washington,