Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1886-04-06
rLANcHErrEs PREscRIPrloN.

PLANCHBTTEs PRESCRIPTION.
Other people have diiIern, SMILES for
ob.,inacy. bu, in our family We always
.aid, "a, obstinate as Aunt Eliza" Let
an idea, no matter how prepo,,erou'.
once get = good foo,.hold in my aun''
brain, and there va. an snd Of the mat
ter: argument. sn,ra,y. opposition. nd.
ieule-eaeh one made a worse failure
than the other. We, my Aun, Eliza was
the kindes,. bes,-iempered soul living.
IL VAS she 20 whom every one always
ran in case Of sudden trouble or sickness
The sigh, Of her oomsly and ample per-
soa, and handsome. fresh.,in,ed face. the
eheerfalne,. Of which her widows cap
.Oitened and disnihsd. ba, eOrld no,
shadow, wn better than medicine TO the
patient. The poor blessed her in dor'
en- languages. And the departing clergy
man regularly commended her TO bis sue
ees.or asa pillar Of the temple. Aun,
Eliza being thus obstinate aud loveable.
We, her own kindred. took care no, TO
run our head, sgsins, her whim'. There.
fore. five yea- ago. when she h'hed a
bell,ei PlAnehe,,e out OF some rubbish
Ia the gArre,. and took TO consulting the
little wheeled monsters senwl.. We
merely looked on in respectful neutrality.
whsn she and her circle Of wonder.work.
srs made The scrawls into communications
from her late husband, my Uncle Eldred.
we discussed Aun, Eliras new freak
dabiou.ly among ourselves. but in her
presence We were .ilent. We even tired
to keep Basil Ferris quiet. because he
was in love with Aun, EliIas only child.
Lyde, and VIC wished him well. he being
a capital fellow. Of good family. who had
Inherited one Of the largest foanaries on
the Ohio River.
"Give her her head. Basil, and she'll
come ou, all right" oounselled my "a.
,her. who came from Kentucky, and car.
ried bis sondness for horses into bis met
Aphor.
alt. jus, because she. 30 lonesome
and misses brother Eldred." my mother
pleaded.
Tim and I. both youngsters then,
though, Plsnehe,ie greA, fun, aud TO our
own proper shame, be !, spoken. were
no, above getting Uncle Eldred TO advise
birthday treats and eireuses with reckless
liberaliiy.
Ba, Basil would no, be checked. lie
derided Planehe,,e openly. told Aun,
Eliza tha, she Was being swindled. and
called L nele Eldred's messages "twaddle." !"
Tha, pa, the eap-sheaf on bis iniqui,ies.
An in.al, to herself. my aun, said. she
nigh, have pardoned, but one to her dead
husband-ne,er She informed Basil
thA, the engsgemsn, was over. and told
Lyde ,ha, II she married ,ha, ".aerile-
giou. yocng man. she Aunt Eliza would
die Of . broken heart. and move ou, Of
town aud never see her again. Lyde
was a simmer and younger copy Of her
mother wi,hou, the obs,inaey; therefore
the swee,es, girl in the world. She WAS
devoted TO her mother. and she besoughi
Fern. to be patient. lie Was pa,ien, q,
first. bu, As time wen, by relentlessly.
and the day that was to have been his
wedding day drew near, without the leas,
abatement OF my aun.'s rancor. he began
10 feel the bitterness Of bis fate. Then
something happened awful enough to
scare away even lovers impotence. IL
happened in this wise: We live in lit
tie Ohio town in the iron country; the
town hardly more than . cluster Of foun-
deries and their dependencies, the tolorn
cabins CT the Negroes and their operatives,
the pretty cottages Of the better class OF
workmen. the manufaeturers' villas and
square. spacious, piazza.surrounded
houses built in the southern fashion. and
the shops which supply such a pOpalace.
All day the sky is 'mirched by the heavy
black smoke. all night Il is painted by
flames that pour ou, Of the huge Chin
neys. The place is 80 far south that the
summer fingers long and flowers thrive
In the dingy air. My aunt, who has
travelled, used to say that there are no
lovlier roses in Florence than ours. o!
al our roses the most beautiful grew IN
Pirate Hsines's garden.
Pirate Haines was 90 called on accoun,
Of q grim legend current in the town,
which was rendered the more credible BY
his morose temper and mysterious wealth.
He lived al alone In big ugly brick
house on high bank overlooking the
rver. The piazza. which was ~ large
a. . ships deck. Was decorated In . gro
,esque and sinister manner by two car.
ronsdes. A Negro man and bis vii.
lived In . cottage on the grounds, and
served the pirate, and there was savage
dog to guard the garden. Why the pi.
rate cared for roses can't say, but there
was . wonderful quantity Of them. Ger.
tainly Il Was not to give pleasure to hi'
towns. people. since be had bought va.
can, field lying between his garden and
the Streets field traversed by foot.
path from time immemorial-and hs
guarded foo,-path and field with his dog
Now my aunt had . peculiar fondnss'
for roses, and she had heard Of certain
new varsity possesssd By the pirate, and