Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1885-12-12
A TWILIGHT EPISODE.
Boston Herald

England STOCK well placed IN life. l
was the pet of a doting widowed
mother, whose great ambition it was to
see her only child take conspicuous
honors along the pathway of life. l
have endured all the torturing trepida-
ton and anxiety which comes to the
heart OF a youth in looking forward to
those frightful examinations which
bring terror to the heart of the con.
scientious student, who trembles at the
thought of shaking his fond mothers
faith in the brilliant talents of her
offspring. l have held the stroke oar
of a Harvard boat when / felt that the
eye OF America was upon me, and the
futtering of the red ribbons on the
shore were squirting mo to my speedy
utmost. | have made my maiden speech
to a stolid and imperturbable jury,
when my future career seemed to hang
on their confused and cloudy judg-
ment.
Yet, at %, n experience was lack
lng-l had never been absolutely and
madly in love. That is, | had never
been positively overwhelmed with IA
grande passion and l had begun to
fear that the delicious ecstacy would
never be mine, when one hot Saturday
afternoon in August | packed up my
portmanteau for a run down to the
Shoals. Arriving there by the late
afternoon boat, there was nothing for
me to do but to appeal to that superb
being behind a Rhine stone breastpin
known as the hotel clerk for the best
room he could give me, thence to re-
pair to the dining-room, satisfy my
sharprset appetite, and then join the un
known crowd on the piazza. took one
OF those comfortable arm-chairs which
are so plentifully supplied, and under
took to refresh myself with the exhila-
rating ocean breeze. | watched the
swell of the sea as the white caps began
to crest the waves, and / deserted the
coasting craft staining well off shore.
The twilight was slowly deepening into
darkness, and the few faiut stars were
growing brighter while | continued to
mediate and to en- oy the serene and
peaceful iniluence of the place. The
calm of my re6ections was pleasantly
varied by the sound of u lady's we'll
bred, low-pitched voice. She was re-
peating to a gentleman by her side
those pretty lines Of Aldrich's:
break,
All night to hear its plunging or the
shore,
In this sea dream such draughts Of life 1
take,
l can not ask for more.
"For me the clouds, the ships sail by for
me,
Fer mo the petulant sea gull takes it,
flight,
An! mine the tender moonrise on the sea
And hollow 20 of riobtD
After this was spoken in a clear, deli
cately accented tone, there was a slight
pause, and then the gentleman SAID:
Those are very pretty lines, my dear,
and they never seemed to me so full OF
meaning as now-after all the hot
strife for money, place and power.
How much of the beauty of life is com
mon to every mortal. The rich man.:
millions can not monopolize the ocean
nor the sunset" THAT is true. nv
dear uncle" replied the lady; ''but, for
all that, the very poor have little time
to contemplate the beauties of nature.
and the very pressure for daily breai
cuts Off a large class from the en- ,oy-
ments which seem common to all
What a very sensible young girl she
is | said to myself-for young / knew
she was by that unmistakable tone Of
voice. l wonder if l can not manage to
wedge into the conversation without APP
pearing to be positively ill-bred; ut [
must bide my time, for it is a very deli
cate matter to engineer oneself into tho
good graces of a total stranger. Hap
ply, in the course of a few moments.
tbs gentleman who was addressed as
uncle" signified a wish to move his
chair into a more sheltered nook OF the
piazza, and the lady was about to CON-
ply with his whim by dragging her chair
up to the appointed place. | quickly
arose and begged her to allow me to lift
her chair, for which she very sweetly
thanked me, and made it not impossible
for me to sit down in her company.
ventured some question regarding
the range of the thermometer as
compared with that on the main
land, which evidently struck the
old gentleman as a very appro-
pirate subject of talk. He claimed
that the thermometer ranged 10 degrees
lower than that in town, and added
that, even in case of its mounting to
the nineties, the influence OF the
atmosphere was such that high temper
allure caused me of the discomforts of
the land heat.
soon found that my new acquaint-
ance was one of those memorable zealots
or the subject of the shoals who gen
orally register themselves as residents
of ~Eoston-one of whom told me that
''for thirty eight years he had never
failed to spend the summer at the
shoals, with the one unfortunate ex-
oeption of a year when he was in
Europe" In spite of the allure
ments of the sea and sky, however.
the uncle of my fair unknown turned
n willing ear to the solicitation of a
friend, who begged him to join a party
at a game of whist. The courteous
uncle said: Il would gladly .;oin you if
my niece will consent to be left out
hereto find what pleasure she may i'll
gazing perhaps at the new star which,
she says, is TO nj in the constellation of
Andromeda." '.Oh, don t trouble your
self about me, my dear uncle" ex-
claimed the girl; go and enjoy your
whist, while l enjoy my astronomical
taste, and gaze on Cassiopoeia's chair
and the constellation of Andromenda
and think of the love with which she in
spired the heroic Perseus." l took
pleasure in listening to this little banter
go ng on between uncle and niece, and
was not grieved to see the uncle yield
to the seductions of a game Of whist.
When he had departed l was quite
conscious of the unconventional situa
ton in which we were thrown-but
a Getting not to perceive it, l quickly
ventured to continue the thread of the
young lady's talk by saying: Il sup
pose this new so-called star will prove
to be a comet, and thus the disturbance
to the time honored reckonings OF the
astronomer win be satisfactorily recon
ciled, as the acknowledged erratic be-
havior of comets will account for the
phenomenon thought | would take
this lofty tight OF discourse in the hope
of commencing myself to the fair I'M
known as at least a thoughtful reader.