Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1884-05-23

Sc. JOHNS EVE.
] From Temple Bar.

4 Ray IT But who am to describe her
Aonr Patty be vine enuR to be o
laady born!" was The oftspoken thought
of her father and mother the one UNI
der gardener the other ex- laundry maid
at the Great House. .t5 NJ 81
And, sure enough, Patty, according
to the wiseacres, had for sometime been
In a fair way to have her head turned
10Y SO many admirers.
A nod and o chuck under the chin
from the young squire" and a WAL,
+ she beant moot" from John Brown
the grizzled old earth stopper, as he
saw her whisk ecross the court yard,
were perhaps the highest and lowest
sgraduations Of admiration directly ex-
pressed. But even "The Squire" him
self had been heard to say to envy La
ady;" "Egad, Jane, that Holden girl is
.devilish pretty" And every farmer and
farmers boy, whip and groom, keeper
and poaeher, within ten miles Of the
Great House, was worshipping, or had
wershipped to his cost, at the shrine of
Venus Sylyestris. -.
However, Patty was "going along"
eighteen, and her little henrt seemed as
sound IS bell; her cheek was round
and downy as q, peach; her blue eyes
glanced clear and honest through the
dark lashes, and her whole demeanor
'defed the most curious Of gossips to say
she had thought other than to attend
upon her young mistress.
But innocent as she looked-inno-
cent as she really was-Patty, like most
Of the rest of womenkind, Rugged to
her own heart her little secret; and
though scarce ten words had passed be-
tween them, she knew full well as he at
the time orr story opens, Christmas,
", that William Halfacre Of Ever
gaey, Gypsy Will" as they used to call
him, was her accepted lover.
Simple enough, and in this wise, had
Il come about.
One day in the August previous,
North Hants had challenged South
Hnnts to meet on the cricket field out
glide Of the garden gates of the Great
House and Southampton and Lynhurst,
Portsmouth and Winchester had mus
tered against Bramshil and Basing-
stroke, the Vine and High Clere, to
Try 4heir respective worths. No day
was II then, as now, of white han-
nels and straw hats, fancy club rib
hons, and silk waist handkerchiefs, of
four balls an over, and hghtningp paced
4sund~arn bowling, done by gen.
Memanlike professional cricketers,
who mike Gheir cool hundred, and
lounge into the marquee for cigarette
and clarek cup. No. In black tweed
brosdcloth and white duck trousers,
while frilled linen shirts, and tall black
hats, did our heroes OF the close Of the
ast century meet to "do each other to
DEATH with slow and fast underhand
bowling. and what need of marquee
Was there on that field where each
mighty linden of the avenue on one
side, or massive oak along the church
path, along the other side of the lawn,
was in itself tent tor regiment
What need of claret cup when the "old
4 October" foamed in the Great House
silver tankards under holly bower pre-
sided over by the brewer thereof-the
old family butler?
And among the heroes Of the twill
lows" gathered round the group Of
Qhlsters gravely discussing in
ahe centre Of the field the merits of the
wn'kets---how many runs it should be in
to the ditch, how many over, &c., &C.
atood Gypsy Will, the fastest bowler and
hardest hitter in North Hants.
A second son Of the fayorite old ten
amt, the Squire had few years before
given him start on nfoorland farm
much too plodding life for VIII, who
sson exchanged it Tor an underkeeper-
ship; whereat the numberless affrays
with poaehers kept excitement alive and
"Play" was OF last called; and North
end South Hants bowled and batted,
Ean and folded, and when occasion
,,oame for il, ate and drank as if life de-
Sendedt on il. The rector kept the
score, and cheered each good hit to the
echo: and the old Squire made his pad
groom Lift him out Of his low phaeton,
standing under the lime trees, and de-
poait him in . big arm chair, with his
equity foot on cushion, little near or
the play, and even forgot to curse HIM
,SAx-a olarnsy fool, so exciting was the
game. $685.. @'s.Stl,
at last the winning hit Was made by
Gypsy Wal. But the day was not over
yet, IS ere the last cheers for the con-
,1xerers and conquered had died away,
-e.iiddle and clarionet struck up eoun-
4Ry dance, in which it was somehow fat
ed that Martha Holden and Will Hal
here shoald "cross hands and down the
s,iddleS "a presage Of what should fol-
NV. .= Ill.,: - t... 4
Suffice it for the present, that as Pat
~ walked back to the house with him
On hour sitter, as the drowsy shard-b bee
lie took the place Of the bees in the lin
dsns overhead, and she stole look into
Wills face and thought of his manliness
and beauty. she loved him once and for
all, and he looked down on her and
Eeved in return. z,s,. s,,.. s.. al
But the ,lime-treel leaves began to turn
and flicker down on the lawn, the brack-
\ ON bronzed under the sun, the last red
! hAather BLOSSOM turned purple, mauve,
d and therbrown, the puppies came home
from walk, and cub hunting began =
end still no sign from William.
NJ November and the opening meet d
che season brought its houseful Of
guests Its breakfast table set in the
great hall, gay with pink, green and
black coats, " bite breeches and boots
1 dangling on the stone floor the hounds
frolicldng round the huntsnen on the
lawn, save only one, old "Harbinger,
the sauire.s pet, that was snoozing al
the old man sasnees insid e- and brought
for Patty its heller SHELTER run with hel
4 young mistress along the grass ride *
b get before the rush OF horsemen to tht
old summer house, where. encased il
sturdy Syelveteen, gun on arm and re-
e trSavarsaf HAL Estnnd f4vnsx VIII 5Sz4 Il 565