The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1885-06-13
"COusin Tom"
BY G. w. S,

| 1hdl L eltAl eloIOlilohSo
Of course, the grave, elder sister was
astonished In truth and in fact, sles
| lived in a chronic state of astonish-
ment, for Mary Thorne was always do
ing something to astonish her friends
and relatives.
Miss Ruth could scarcely credit the
evidence of her own senses, in the hazy
glow of the August morning; when she
came out of the shadows of the little
south porch and discovered that yon
der moving objects, half way up among
the branches of the huge old pear tree,
was not spray of leaves nor cluster
of sun-cheeked pears, swinging in the
blue empyrean, but Miss Mary Thorne,
comfortably perched in the crook of
the old pear tree, her curls all fecked
with the sifted rays of sunshine that
came down through the shifting canopy
of leaves, and book in her hand.
4 don't care 7 said the little damsel,
laughing saucy defiance. IT'S the
incest place in the world up here. I
feel like bird, with the leaves futter-
ing against my face and the wind blow
ing SO softly, and l intend to stay here.
Wouldn't you like to come up here,
Ruthy? It's easily done. Just put
your foot on that knot, and then
Ruth, who was thirty, and weighed
hundred and sixty pounds, bristled
up with amazement.
MARY Thorne are you crazy?
Come down, this instant =
Indeed, 1 shan't!' said naughty
Mary, tossing the silky shower of curls
away from her forehead, and glancing
down with eyes that shone and spar
kled like two blue jewels.
But were are all going
'Yes, 1 understand you are all 60
ing in triumphal procession to the depot
to render an ovation to the crest Prof.
La Place, the wisest, sagest and grand
est of mankind, to whom the Thorne
family have the unutterable honor of
being second cousins, and to escort him
solemnly to months sojourn at
Thorne Hall. Oh, dear!' calculated
Mary, Il wish l could run away some
where and hide. / hate this paragon
of prim precision. l shan't marry him
| if he asks, and l mean to behave SO
badly that he won't dream of it. No,
I am not going with you. hate the
close barouche, and it's too warm to
| ride on horseback. shall stay at
home
And Mary settled herself SO snugly
with one tiny, slippered foot swinging
down, and her pretty head close to a
nest of blue-speckled birds eggs, that
Ruth gave it up, with sigh of despair.
well, then, have it your own way,
you incorrigible romp. l wish you
weren't too big to shut up in dark
closet, or have your ears well boxed.
1T is pity, isn't it said Mary,
demurely.
"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 young lady,
mind =
'All right!' said Mary, dauntlessly.
4 always liked Tom. We used to have
SIdnu IOInpS tOSelneT
She sat there in the old pear tree,
prettier than any hamadryad that ever
might have haunted the mossy old vet
eran of the garden, her cheeks touched
with sunshine and carmine, her dimpled
lips apart, now reading line or two
from the book in her lap, now looking
up, rapt in girlish reverie, into the
blue sky, as it sparkled down through
ever-moving leaves and now breaking
into a soft little warble of song, to
which the very robins themselves put
their heads to one side to listen.
! The carriage had driven away long
since. She had watched it beyond the
curve of the winding road; the dark
mantle of shadow was slowly following
the creeping sun-glow across the velvet
lawn below, and the clock in the old
church spire among the far-of woods
had chimed out eleven.
And still Mary Thorne sat there in
those forked branches of the old pear
tree.
Suddenly there foated into her leafy
sanctum a pungent, aromatic odor,
which made her lean curiously forward,
shading her eyes with one hand, the
better to penetrate the green foliage
below.
| Not the late monthly roses, nor the
amethyst borders of heliotrope, nor the
spicy geraniums-none of these bios
SONS distilled that peculiar swell.
my patience, said little Mary, 'it's
cigar
| A cigar it was, and the owner thereof
she could see just white linen coat
and a tall head covered with black,
wavy curls-stood on the porch steps
quietly smoking and indulging in a
heightened view of the garden slopes.
That's Tom Bradley / said Mary to
herself. Now, if he thinks I'm coming
down out of this delicious, cool place
to sit up straight in the hot parlors, he's
mistaken 'Tom,' she called out in a
silver accent of imperative summons,
and then burst into merry laughter at
the evident amazement with which the
stranger gazed round him, vainly trying
to conjecture whence the call had pro-
ceeded. you dear, stupid Cousin
Tom she calculated. Don't stare
off toward the cabbage beds. Look
straight up here. You may come up if
you please; there's plenty of room for
both. You are Cousin Tom, aren't
your she continued, as sudden misgiv-
ings crossed her mind.
'Of course am and you are Mary,
I suppose7'
MARY herself. Up with you, Tom
Catch hold of this branch-there Now
shake hands. You saucy fellow
didn't say you might kiss me!
well, I couldn't help it; and be-
sides, aren't we cousins p said Mr..