The Red Cloud chief., 1884-05-17
JEANIE'S DIPLOMACY.
A Sketch-with 4 Moral.

Everything looked grim. massive and
oHt of humor about the ~hard-featured
Old homestead. Dark Ridge.
The sombcr walls. draped heavily. as
if in mourning. with the dark. writhinw
ivy. were certainly ~orim-looking and
massive enough: and. if they were not,
in their way, out OF humor, il is not in
~:Ee,Dower of architectural physioynomy
TO Express ill-humOr. Ii the crimneSS
of the exterior was aUstnre. the GRIM
ness of the interior WAS moroSe. 4
certain ~ob.urate air of miSanthrOpy
clung to everything. The heavy panels
of the walls, the smoky holdings of the
ceilings. the deep carvings of the mas
.ive- furniture. seemed to the nervous
a,d imaginative little h~ouSekeeper like
so many wrinkles OF enc great implaca-
bic fTOwn
In this lair lived and growled John
Eldr:tch, bachelor and landlord: eccen-
trio. ira>cible, recluSive. Aud john"
his neighbors called him. though he
was o Old: and yet neither had he
ever seemed 10 be Young. In his earli-
est bovhood he had been considered a
'.maist unco' bairnie." His shock hair
did not bristle from the outside of his
Uranium with less regard to coIven-
tional modes thar his shock of quaint
notions bristled Oh the inside of iL. This
fac; and the rather more weighty one
that his manners sat ~ awkwardiy and
lCbselv on him as did his awry garments
gave him no little reputc rs a philoso-
pher. His philosophy was, however.
OF a very stern mold; .'pessimeestic,"
he termed il.
How John ever came into possession
of his universal premi>e-'whatever is
ought not To be- L do not know; bui,
having once adopted the spectral wait,
htgclun~ to it with an heroic obstinacy
quite inspiring
The especial OBJ Get of Johns abhor-
renee Wa the weaker sex. His aniipathy
to anything and everything feminine
was fairly ecStatic.
The feckieSs. bletherin' corbieS,"
he would vociferate. They care for
uaething but daflin and clatierin'. |
wanna hae onything tae do wi them"
Wilma We, John? 'Bide 2 Wee.
,.Auld John was a great rider. He
and his shaggy old road mare, Meg"
were'known far and wide; and great
WAS the merrIment they afforded the
keen-witted peasantry on the line of
their expeditions, which often were en-
tended for days. For their Journeys
Were but n continued obstinate con-
test for the maSterShlp. But If there
wassany doubt As TO who was, de TrctO.
master (morc politely mistreSs) it did
not exist in the minds of Meggy or the
lockers on. Whatever it occurred to
this cratic animal to do she did. in
spite of the railing invectiveS of her
ir:.te but impotent rider. Did a clump
of grass on the hillside offer special en-
;icement-
Whoa. WHARF We gangin' moo, We auld
farran mecre??"
But his mandate was rs futile As his
IRONY. Mer's nose was hillward, and
if John did not fancy being dragged
under the housekeeping branches, his
only successful Stratagem was to Slip
oil in the rcar and await, with as good
Cor Is ILL grace rs possible, the pleas
are of his companion. Did a particu-
Iarlv cozy place by the roadside incline
Meg to rest. the CELEBRITY with which the
.taid philosopher slipped from his sad
zIle and the turbulent enthusiasm with
which he expostulated with his COM
placent partner. as she lay blinking
depreettinglv at her liege lord, oc-
casioned much suppressed laughter
among the un>ympathetic observers.
III.
rjestl;rg IN one of the little glenS
hat creep o#t from the picturesque
a.pc historic valley OF the Tweed was
tbc araint. retired homestead of Glen
Nook.k Glen Nook WAS the peaceful
fo,nc of David Lester. a former mer-
chant of Edinburgh. retired. by i'll
health, and his sister. ''Jeanie leiS-
80 ..Dayie" was a genial, mcdlta-
rive. cfatie hammered nan OF, perhaps.
fortv-tire years. Jeanne was = Very