The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1886-03-03
A SPRIG OF LIVEFoREVER.


together, Winnie Lake andI. 1t was large,
old-fashioned place, with wide borders of
box along the hower-beds, and big bushes
of strawberry shrub, and lilac, and laurel,
and oleander. There were rose trees of all
sorts, and honeysuckle vines, and tall
punches of phlox, and larkspur, and every
now and then we came to q little fleshy-
leaved green plant of which did not know
the name. / had always lived in the city
and had been in my fathers counting-house
all my youth, and was only familiar with
dollhouse flowers such as one buys for q
bouquet, and with the window boxes where
had never seen plant like that.
What do you call this, Mrs. Emm ct ?"
asked of Winnie's great Amt Hulda.
That" said Aunt Hulda-" that-why,
hats iyeforever. Hain't you ever seen
iyeforever? l keep ii for the young folks.
There's hardly day they don't some of EN-
come over aud say: Give me bit of live
forever Aunt Hulda, and don't tellanybody'
He! he hel They always say DONE tell
anybody and never do"
But, why ?" Iasked sAre they ashamed
of liking liveforeyer ?n
"Ohl 'tisnt that" said Aunt Hulda.
| why, don't you know it's to find out about
their beaux? You take and cut q good long
piece like this and Aunt Hulda used her
shears, hanging at her side by cord, en- the
stem of the hveforeyer-" and you name it
after young man; or I'll show you better
than that. You take two pieces Jest the
some length and freshness here shs cut
another" and you name 'em, and you take
'em up into your bedroom and fasten 'om
with pins to your door-post SO they'll stand
up the way they grow and then you name
'em. Right-hand post, say, William
Smith : left-hand, Samuel Jones land there
you leave 'em. Well, liyeforever is a very
curious thing sometimes it will last that
way for months aud months, aud, moreover,
it will grow--no root or anything, it will
grow. Other times it will die, straight of,
or maybe live and not grow bit And
what the girls think is this If William
Smith lives, and Samuel Jones dies, why,
William loves and Samuel don't. If Samuel
grows fast, and William grows slow, Sam
uels love is the strongest. If both grow
even, why, take your choice. Both love
alike. They name 'em after real folks, you
know; and I've seen liveforever that grow
on a pin straight up to the top of the door
frame, and that was named Ezekie, Straw
bridge, and they IRE married very happy
couple"
And Aunt Hulda finished by binding up
the pieces of liveforeyer with the bunch of
flowers she was making for Winnie, and
putting in q spray of old man.
g like green in posy," she said. " It
seems to improve the colors."
We talked good deal about this super
stition and about others, and Aunt Hulda
told us of ghost she once saw down by the
spring the night before the wash was stolen
from the back garden and we went in and
had tea, and then we all got into the big
wagon and were taken to the depot. en-
joyed it all, forI sat near Winnie Lake, who
had asked us all to go on this excursion.
Sitting near Winnie Lake seemed to be
the pleasantest thing I could do in those
days, for she was the idol of my heart-the
brightest, most winsome thing, though n
true coquette. could never guess whether
she really cared about me or not; but that,
as we all know, only makes man fonder of
girl. She had certainly been very kind to
me all that day, and she was kinder still that
evening, and brought her guitar into the
arbor and sang to me alone, the prettiest,
sweetest little love songs.
We were visiting at DIR. Lakes, and he
was most hospitable host. Every day
something new was thought of for our en-
tertainment. Those who liked it, fshed,
others botanized or climbed the hills, or
went on geological excursions with specimen
boxes and little hammers, and one could
even shoot if careful not to let Mrs. Lake
see the gun; for not being quite sure from
which portion of a gun the bullet proceeded,
she was equally terror-stricken whether it
was pointed at any one or not, and had no
confidence in its inability to "go off when
unloaded. She saw that we were very COM
Portable, however and treated us all as
though we were her own boys, and we werc
careful not to annoy her. We generally let
the guns down from our windows by cord,
and went round into the kitchen garden to
get them under pretence of taking walk,
and returned them to their places in the
same way. did not desire to shoot, how
ever, as long as Winnie was kind TO me,
and allowed me to bangle after her as much
as pleased; but "a change came DER the
spirit of my Dream" very shortly. A rival
appeared on the scene-a red-haired fellow
of the name of Sparks. He was hideous in
my eyes, but Winnie spoke of him as a
Every handsome man." He was pert and
aippant; what Jack Brush, who used good
deal of slang, called ''smart Alick," when
we were alone together, and Winnie asked
me If | did not think him very brilliantf'
He used to sit and entertain the ladies' by
che hour, and Mrs. Lake nearly laughed
herself into Mysteries over his unmeaning
witticisms Finally he took to singing duets
with Winnie. Horribly he sang-out Of
tune and out of tfme--but she declared he
had " charming voice." and it was "de-
hghtful to sing with him."
- - - >Hf,S Va ASc1utJ uifo tuc iSCuSty
said Jack, who was, fear, slightly smitten
also, though he had been engaged for five
years to girl Of culture in Boston, whose
father would not allow them to marry until
he had something hung in the academy.
Jack-I forgot to SAYS an artist EN-
chantment or something. Can't she see
what donkey he is ? All out of drawing,
too. Nine heads high, and you could put
his mouth into his eye; whereas you ought
always to be.able to put an eye into mouth !"
These smiles were drawn, you understand,
from precepts in art. I'D like to see him
try that sort of thing on Minerva" Minerva
was the young lady of culture to whom he
was engaged. "She'd settle him.
By this time the fellow had been there
;wo weeks. I was pledged for months
visit, and 1t did not seem civil to go home,
but all hope was over. felt sure Winnie
did not care for me, and intended to get my
father to send me out to China to conduct