Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-09-25

Ofk~SA ~ OSSS -SAS "VS
a respectable gentleman, an artist.
moreover, and. as old MI. Van Worst
had assured her. possessed of a nice
little property aside from the profess
sion he had chosen from pure devotion
to art, who had, moreover, asked for
an introduction, and on some pretext or
other taken to calling twice q week at
least.
To be sure, he was not handsome;
indeed, he was rather o%dd-looking; but
Miss Jenny had arrived ut the age
when the old legend tells us maidens
in despair cry out in their last prayers
to st. GATHERINGS: ooh, give us any,
body" So she accepted the situation.
and began to prink and plume herself
like an elderly robin who has outlived a
cold, mateless spring, but prepares her.
self for later opportunities; she drew
from the sachct-scented drawers of her
bureau certain bits of lace boarded to
yellowness; she skimped the daily milk
to buy remnants of bright or delicate
ribbons, and fashioned for her head
and throat confectioms, as the French
say, of q mildly coquettish nature. to
set off the old black silk she had
sponged and turned, after the counsel
of the old Yorkshire dame to her
tailor concerning the %remodeling of her
petticoat: "Thoo nun bin met, and
thoo mum tap bin met; thoo mum turn
it rangsid afoor. tapsid bottom. insid
oot."N
But the black silk came up nobly to
her acquisitions. and fitting closely to
her still elegant figure. and garnished
abundantly with some w%ell-darned
black lace, altogether gave her a
charming aspect, that might well have
touched Augustus Holloway's heart
had it not been already enslaved totally
by Eugenia.
That lovely young creature had not
the least idea of her conquest. however;
it is true, she was generally in the
room when Mr. Holloway came to call,
always entering sooner or later, be-
cause Aunt Jenny's extreme propriety
forbade her to receive a gentleman
alone, and Miss PhApot was never at
home in the evening: she went to three
church services on Sundays. Wednes-
days and Fridays, and the other four
evenings of the week she spent in sew
ing schools or night classes connected
with DIR. Sings church. Augustus
Holloway met her moro than once
sallying out alone, protected by her
black poke bonnet, her long shabby
cloak, and her c~ountenance from any
possibility of insult, though she
threaded Baxter street itself, or the
slums about her favorite mission school,
but he supposed her to be some seam.
stress or other; it never entered his
head that Aunt Jenny was not Miss
Philpot.
Poor Aunt Jenny! she was trying so
hard to reciprocate Augustus passion,
and such things happened to make the
way hard!
"Isn't he funny-looking, Aunt Jen.
ny?' had been Eugenia's first comment
on their new acquaintance. Her aunt
took a high moral stand with the Cir
at once.
my dear, don't say such a thing.
1t is very unfortunate for the pool
man, but he was made so. and yor
should pity, not smile at him"
Eugenia meekly assented, and
thought how sweet an old dear Aun'
Jenny was; but as Augustus became
better known to her, it seemed to thu
girl that his face grew more dreadful
the rolling of those dark eyes in theil
eccentric orbits had a sort of fascina
ton that drew her gaze; she could not
help it; she became capable even O!
amusing herself during the prim and
lofty conversations which took place
between him and her aunt by guessing
what he might be looking at. Aunt
Jenny had no earthly doubt that his
eyes were fixed upon her, with timid
if oblique tenderness; but to Eugenia
he seemed to be inspecting and criti
cising tho appointments of the rather
dingy parlor, its very old red flock pa
per, carved and hair-cloth-seated ma
hogany furniture, and venerable pier
glass with its furnished and elaborate
gilt frame.
But all tho while those uncertain
eyes were really dcvouring the girlisf
loveliness opposite him, or her painted
counterfeit; for the sole .adornment O.
the room was a %full-length portrait o
Eugenia's mother in her bridal dres:
of differing white satin-a picture b,
one of the best artists of her time. anc
so like the daughter that Holloway
supposed it was Eugen;a's portrait
He was nightly battered by tina
young lady's persistent attention; tina
blessed (if temporary forgetfulness O
our own deformities and shortcoming'
which nature bestows IN US as a sort o
moral anasthetic helped him here; h,
did not pause to remember that he wa
ugly enough to draw the attention of
crowd; he only hoped, not withou
trembling, that he had found favor il
the sight of his goddess. and it was
real basking in the sun-rays to hin
when he found those lovely eyes fixee
upon him hour after hour.
Once, while she was silently specu
lating upon the possibilities OF hi
walking straight in q field of Woo
where the pavement would not guild
his feet, Aunt Jenny sad, in her sharp
est voice:
"Eugenia. don't YOU hear Nj. Hollo
way speak to your"
The girl started, and colored freshly
like a rose when the sudden win
shakes Of. the dew. of dawn. She ha
heard his voice. to be sure but he cer
tainly was cycling the wall O M han
and her aunt on the other, to her idea
She apologized and answered. and tn
enraptured Augustus dreamed of tina
blush, that smile. that lutte sweet voic