Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1885-06-20
Cousin Tom.
sMary. | am astonishedp

Mary, l am astonishedp
OF course, the grave, elder
sister was aStonished. In truth
and in fact, she lived in a
chronic state OF establishment, for
Mary Thorne was always doing
something to astonish her friends
and relat res.
Miss Ruth could scarcely credit
the evidence of her own senses, in
the hazy glow of the August morn
ing, when she came out of the shad-
owS OF the little south porch and
discovered that yonder moving OBJ.
iect, half way up among the
branches of the huge old pear tree,
WAS not a spray of leaves nor a
cluster ofsun checked pears, swing
ing in the blue empyrean, but Miss
Mary Thorne, comfortably perched
in the crook of the old pear tree,
her cnrls all flecked with the sifted
rays of sunshine that came down
through the shifting canopy of
leaves, and a book in her hand.
i don't care!' said the little dam
sci, laughing saucy defiance. It's
the incest place in tile world up
here. Wouldn't yon like to come
mp here, Rutlys It's easily done.
just put your foot on that knot,
and then
Ruth, who was thirty, and weigh.
ed IL hundred and sixty pounds,
bristled up with amazement.
MARY Thorne! are You crazy2
Come down, this lnstant!n
Indeed, | Shan't!' said naughty
Mary, tossing the silky shower of
curls away from her forehead, and
glancing down with eyes that shono
and sparllled like two blue jewels.
'But we are all going
Yes, | understand; you are all
going in triumphal procession to
the depot to render an ovation
to the great Prof. La Place, the
wiscst, Sagest and gmndest Of man
kind, to whom the Thorne family
have the unutterable honor of be-
ING second cousins, and to escort
him solemnly to months soiourn
at Thorne Hall. Oh, dear!' ejaca-
lated Mary, Il wish ] could run
away somewhere and hide. hate
this paragon of prim precision. |
shan't marry him if lie asks, and l
mean to behave so badly that be
won't dream Of it. No l am not
going with you. I hate the close
barouche, and it's too warm to ride
on horseback. shall stay at llome.'
And Mary settled herself so
snusIy with one tiny, slippcred
foot swinging down, and her pretty
head close to a nest of blue-speck-
| d birds eggs, that Ruth gave it
up, with a sigh of despair.
Wv ell, then, have it your own
way, you incorriglble romp. l wish
you weren't too big to shut up in a
dark closet. or have your ears well
boxed
lit is pity, isn't it? said Mary,
demnrely.
"Of course it is Mary! If Cousin
Tom Bradley comes this morning,
be sure to explain to him why we
are absent-and behave like a
yourg lady, mind!'
All right!' said Mary. danntleSS-
ly. Il always liked Tom. We
used to have grand romps togeth.
erp
She sat there in the old pear
tree prettier than any hamadryad
that ever might have haunted the
messy old veteran of the garden,
her cheeks touched with sunshine
and carmine, her dimpled lips
apart, now reading a line or two
from the book in herlap, now look
ing up, rapt in girlish reverie, into
the blue sky, as it sparkled down
through ever-moving leaves and
now breaking into a soft little war
BILE of song, to which the very rob-
ms themselves put their heads to
one side to listen.
The carriage had driven away
long since. She had watched it be-
You'd the curve of the winding
road: the dark mantle Of shadow
was slowly following the creeping
sun-glow across the velvet lawn
below, aud the clock in the ola
church spire among the far-off
woods had chimed out eleven.
And still Mary Thorne sat there
in these forkeu branches OF the
old pear tree.
Suddenly thare foated into he1
leafy sanctum a pungcnt, aromatic
odor, which made her lean curious
ly forward, shading her eyes With
one hand, the better to penetrate
the green foliage below.
Not the late monthly roses, mol
the amethyst borders Of heliotrope
nor the spicy geraniums-none Of
these blossoms distilled that pecul
lar swell.
NIy PATIENCE said little Mary
'it'S cigar
A cigar 1t was, and the owner
thereol'-she could see just a white
!