Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1884-05-23
4 sslfrt stury.
AUNT HANNAH'S HEARING

| think it was Carlyle who said
Against stupidity the gods are power
less
Nv husband is an Englishman, sol,
ID, practical, with = stock Of common
sense that is inexhaustible, aud fer
vent belief in the cspablllty OF 4 very
stupid little wife.
am a Yankee girl, and fond of do
nestle life. That suits Caspar, and
r,e have rs COSY 5 little hone as any
&'. Who plssess onis = - S.sil
tency But ] NAV rs we'll al,
J.. tt am very am mbliiou.. and va.
only too anxious about getting on in
the world IN a financial way-in fact,
wanted 10 b- rich.
Caspar and had lirtle encounters
Of wit occasionIy, about what | called
the English aud he the Yankee, ot
our habits and peculiaritles, but rs he
had left London when mere boy, HE
coc.nev dialect was not very pronoun'
ced, At least, not more than mine was
IN the other direction. for If he said
beg pawdon. when be fell over "a cat
| SAID Il guess, u dozrn times a day
instead of the i presume So. of Brl,
tain, and We managed TO average our
virtues and defects IN manner sitls
factory to both.
One morning Caspar referred TO u
letter he Was reading and sand
'Lottie my arht Hannah is coming
to visit US forgot to tell YOU, and
she will be here to-day.
How provoking. | answered.
Fate saved me from ill,nature. Gas
par supposed referred to the fact oI
his not telling me sooner.
Yes. it quite slipped my mind, but
| will order a Joint at the butcher S
and YOU can make pudding or tart
and do try TO amuse the old lady. fol
she is very low spirited. She writes
that she lost her hearing in the South,
and is much detected over it,
Deaf, Good gracious, this was
worse than all, Then remembered
that Aunt Hannah was very rich
What was to prevent her leaving us
all her money-or better yet, setting
Caspar up in business with portion
Of il at once? | had never seen any
Of Caspars relatives. who had only re.
Gently come 10 the | nlted States, and
determined to show her what Il
treasure Of IA wife he had. would be
ears for her, and she would learn to
depend on me, and what more natural
than that she would make him her
heir, and leave me legacy. | would
invest it in diamonds-no, | would
buy stncks-or loan it at a large per.
ceDtage.
The clock striking ten reused me
Caspar was gone. The maid only
kept one-was finishing the mornings
work, and | hurried up stairs and
made careful toilet-a subdued
morning negligee, neat and tasteful
and not too eXtravagant. Then
sat down and began to dispose over
again of my prospective fortune.
The sound of the stage coach stop
ping at the door recalled NE from my
castle in Spain, and | flew to the steps
and spread my hands out in welcome
as a small, dark, spite'ul-looklng ol,
lady, with wrinkled face and "a fralt
front. got cautiously out and stood OF
the pavement.
dearest aunt. | shrieked in higl
falls, ito voice, 4 am delighted to see
you. Caspar could not be here, bu
he left his love and welcome for you.
The driver of the coach locke d at m'
curiously, as if he thought | was talk
ing TO some one in the next township
One or two of the neighbors raise,
their windows and looked out to SCI
what the disturbance was, but my new
relative did not appear to hear M
even at that awful altitude. She wa
looking after her boxes and bundles
and merely frowned in answer to m
stentorian welcome.