Little Falls transcript., 1886-07-02

&4uR Iudll, WIlOSo nose Was TAGl6T req
and whose eyes were not honest, can
did eyes by any means. He was dress
ed very habbily; to say the least, and
had whispered to Mrs. Noakes in the
hall, s"Eake notice ofthis coat; it car
rles out the character, d esn't it? !
look like q seedy old man who has had
i'll luck, don't II" And he nudged Mr..
Noakes with one elbow and Mrs
Noakes with the other, while they
mentally agreed that he certainly did
look the character most thoroughly.
On the whole, it was a rather pleas
ant evening, and Arabella and Obadiah
got on finely. He promised to take
tea at her house in a few days and
saw her home at 10 o'clock.
The rest of the connections, not
having read Obadiah s letter, were not
delighted at his return. They saw
him shabbier than ever, and they
were very careful to keep him, at ads.
tance. III. ~. Z - ~
Mrs. Noakes often smiled to herself
to think what a difference that letter
would have made IN their conduct if
they had known it; but she wisely held
her tongue and left fair field to Ara
bella. In a little while. to her Joy and
the great surprise OF Mr.. Noakes,
Obadiah Corner actually proposed to
little Miss Mutfit and was accepted by
her.
"Such splendid thing" said Mrs.
Noakes. "Such wonderful thing for
Arabella, and it shall all come out
now"
Thereupon Mrs. Noakes went calling
among the relatives, showing Obadi:
abs letter everywhere, and creating
great excitement" H.
And what can he see in little Miss
Muffit?" said one mother of many
daughters. "And though I say it,
who, perhaps, should not-there's my
Marguerite-such a beauty"
"But Marguerite was ve:y rude tc
Cousin Obadiah" said Mrs. Noakes.
''The idea OF an old man like that
marrying-with relatives he could
leave everything to!"
"But men don't leave everything to
relatives who insult them," said Mrs.
Noakes.
Besides Obadiah is not very old
not old at all. It's just splendid fo1
Arabella, and she was the only one
who was civil to him, you know"
Then she went away. leaving his
connections generally envious of Miss
Multi and angry with herself also, as
one who had been wiser in her genera.
ton than they.
And Miss Mudit, so happy that she
began to grow plump, was making ur
pearl-colored silk dress, and had
sent some pearls that had been left tc
her by her grandfather to the jewelers.
to be reset, and sat one evening build.
ing some middle age castles in the air,
with her feet on the fender of the crate,
when the bell rang and her elderly low
er was shown in.
There was no light in the room but
that OF the fire; and as she would have
lit the drop.lamp, he stopped her.
81 want to talk a little" he said.
"and | like talking in a half-light. Ar
abella, I've q question to ask, and
want you to answer me truly. Iwant
you to promise solemnly that you'll
tell me the truth"
81 WILL" said little Miss Mufit faint
ly. "Whatever the question is, I'll
tell the truth, Obadiah"
"Well, then," said Obadiad, "did
you see the letter wrote to Cousin
Noakes?"
The blood rushed to Miss Mufit's
face in the darkness.
OIL, Yes, l saw it," she said.
II know no one else did," said
Obadiah. "But you-she showed it
to you? Well, l Intended she should.
wrote it to beseen. never thought
Cousin Noakes coulu keep q secret.
Arabella l am q poor man and q
rascal: have met with nothing but
failure. You are rich in comparison.
You ve a home and twelve hundred a
year. My letter was only trap. I
wanted every one to see it, and hoped
to settle comfortably down among my
friends with the reputation of being a
rich bachelor with a fortune to leave
behind him. You only saw the letter.
You only were civil, and offered N.Y.
self to you, meaning to impose on you
until we were safely married. l cared
for you very little then, Arabella!
wanted a home, that was ALL"
"Oh!" cried little Miss Muffit, as il
something had stung her.
"I}ut since them" said Obadiah,
looking miserably into the fire, "since
then pve found how good you were
how nice, how sweet. I've come to
love you, Arabella, and to feel that
lmusn't play trick on you. 1t was
natural that you should like the
thoughts OF a rich husband-and then
we were GREAT friends as boy and girl.
/ don't blame you, and I can't cheat
you. think it will break my miser-
able old heart. Butgood-by. good-by.
I've come to say good-by and beg your
pardon, my dear. They'll say you
had a lucky escape. So you have.
Pm going"
He arose, but little Miss Mufit
arose too.
"Obadiah," she said, II never
thought the money. Obadiah, don't t
think that OF me. Anddo you care for
me now?"
The only thing in the world love-"
said he.
Then she held out her trembling
hand.
"Stay, Obadiah" said she.
And he caught her hand and kissed
it, and in the darkness she heard him
sob.
So they were married after ali, and
Obadiah has turned out better than
could have been expected, and only
Mrs. Noakes knows Of that bridal-eve
confession, and she. you may be sure,
keeps the secret. g..