Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1886-01-01


MICS and spreads & and all the Boz
wllder:ng delights Of q young girl IN q
college town. There were visits
to- Boston, that wonderful CEN
ter Of SeVeryth thing attractive to the
New England mind there was the Aiu-I
scum; there were the shops, with ev-i
|erything to tempt the eye, and the
concerts to charm the ear. Oh, lit was
'just lovely!" rs she said; and Mat
tie had never dreamed Of such q good
time in her lie. But the visit came to
an end at last, and Matte returned
home, with q sad consciousness that
the bright vision was over, and the
old life was to begin again just where
it left off. e5 ''2 q .5...,. 4.
Tom Sherwood had a slight tender
ness toward the little COUNTRY girl who
had given him such obvious admira-
ton, and when she told him that she
would like to show him her country
home, he felt that he should
be quite willing to accept the invita-
ton, though I may add here that this
is not q love story, and there was no
love in the case. s-. T.
But after all Matte did not begin
at home just where she left off. We
never do this; and the Matte who
| went back was not just the same Mat
tie who went away. Her mother
feared that she would be more discon-
I tented than ever, and less suited to.
the homely details .of everyday
life. Whether this was so Or
not, her horizon had widened,
| and she had more things to
think about. Contentment does nc t
really depend SO much upon the cir
cumstances in which we are placed, as
upon what we are in our own selves;
| and Matte had the new pleasure Of
/ living over the visit in her imagination,
and in recounting her triulnphs to her
| friends.
She talked very fast ofwhat she had
seen and heard, and what II said,"
and che saiG;" and the name of Tom
Sherwood, who was not a lover at all,
became quite prominent in her list of
| admirers. It was always pleasure
to Matte to talk about herself, and
| her companions often said Of her that
her talk had q great many large rs in
| it.
But one day dreadful surprise
came upon her. Her father came
driving up the hill, with q letter for
Mattie,-a manly but unknown chirog-
raphy.
"For me! Oh, what? Who can it
| be from?" (Mattie's grammar was not
| always quite correctly and a. quick
glance at the foot Of the brief page re-
vealed the name OF Tom Sherwood.
This was the letter:
| "WAvERLEY. AUG. Is IS.
DEAR Miss READ,-I have come up to
| these delightful green hills to visit my cous-
| in, Miss Maria Smith. I find that am
! only a few miles from your beautiful home,
which you so often described to me- and
as I find that Maria knows you we'll and
| Silva family in your village. and wishes
much to see them, have persuaded her to
! 60 tomorrow me to Stirling when
| shall give myself the pleasure Of accepting
| your kind invitation to call upon you at
your home. As [ have come to this lecis-
! ion suddenly and expect to return to Cam
| bridge on Monday, I cannot wait for a re-
! ply to my note, but trust l may be so for
| tunate as to find you at home, and happy
| to See us.
Every sincerely yours,
'THOs. e. SHERWOOD"
Poor Matte! What should she do:
How could she let him see the, old
farmhouse, with it's rag carpets and
,yellow-painted floors and braided
rugs; and granpa and Aunt Melissa,
and all the rest of it; and especially
the unkempt, untidy, utterly unpre-
sentable maid -of-all-work, who was, as
she thought, almost an idiot, yet who
must be considered "as good as the
rest" and eat with the family at the
table, and Hiram, the hired man, COM
ing in from his work in his shirt
sleeves, and dripping with prespira-
| ton? He must have q seat at the
table, too! Oh no, the could not; she
would not; she should die with morti-
fication.
/ In this dilemma she thought of Mrs.
Silva, the mother of one of her young
friends, q woman of raregraciousness,
in whom the maternal instinct was so
strong that she seemed like every
body's mother, and resolved to con-
fiae in her. She could not bring her
self to confess to her own mother that
she WAS ashamed of her and her
home; -.
To this kind and wise friend she went,
disclosing her affection, and begged
that she might call herself q boarder
for the time in her house, and receive
the visit there.
"Your house is so sweet and nice
and cool, and you and the girls know
how to do everything, and make every
thing so pretty! Ii my home was like
this, and my mother just like you, ]
would never feel bit ashamed Of it. -
| But this proposal was kindly but
firmly negatived. Mrs. Silva's upright
soul could not stoop to discrimination.
mo, my dear, | cannot allow you
to do that. If your young friend does
not care enough fer you to bear seeing
you in your real home, and with your
own family, his, is not the friendship
which you wish to RETAIN"
Here Matte burst into sobs Of I'M
comfortable emotion, and the sad re-
frain,-
"What shall I do?'' burst ever and
anon from her qulvering lips. cob,
dear, | wish had never seen anybody
outside, of this town! ! wish l had
never been born here--or any where
| else!' LID. J......- : -
! At last the brilliant idea struck her
that she might forestall the visit by
! going over to Waverley, and meet him
there quite by accident, and pretend
to be very much surprised, and never
to have received his letter., Yes, that
would do nicely; but she had nobody
to take her over. Father was using
the horse, and ne never would spare
Hiram to Observation-Disclosures her
sobs and tears began afresh.
Her distress. which was real, and by
this time communicated to the whole
family, 50 wrought upon the sympa-