The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1888-02-10


press who ruled over them by right of
her great mental and physical beauty.
She was as gentle and lOvable by
nature as she was perfect to the eye,
and no young woman of twenty sum-
mers had ever prOuder, a more loyal
court of admirers of her own sex than
she. For a.maiden of her own partic-
ular coterie to whisper to companion
that which might be in any way con-
strued as mean or malicious meant
certain Punishment for that indiscreet
maiden until such time as she should
have learned to respect the will of that
indisputable nineteenth century social
battering-ram. the majority.
Miss Creighton would not have been
human if she had not been little vain
of the homage that she had long ago
learned to regard as her due. But it
never appeared on the surface; and
the sight of her, as she stood amidst a
thrOng of her friends, was enough to
create in one the impression that her
admirers were tasteful in their selec-
ton of an idol. She was the darkest
of brunettes, with jet black hair and a
delicate oval face that lit up gloriously
under the spur of any sudden excite
ment or emotion. Her great beauty
lay in her cycs-dark, deep eyes, that
flashed forth spirit, resentment or ten
derness at the will Of their owner. She
was tall, as all brunettes should be,
and had a pretty way when talking of
drawing her exquisitely nodded figure
to its full height and looking down
upon her auditors with an air of affec-
tionate authority.
The strnngest part of Miss Marion 5
nature was that the infinite sweetness
of temper she displayed towards her
young lady friends had no counterpart
in her manner of deporting herself to-
wards the other sex. 1t stood to rea-
son, of course, that she should be idol
lied by all the young men of the neigh
bOrhood who were not sensible enough
TO perceive that she was beyond their
reach. They simply adored her. and
made no secret of their alteration
either; but she had no patience with
them. The first time an admirer spoke
TO her Of his regard for her she laughed
thin; the second time she scolded him;
anu if he persisted after that she would
walk five miles out of her way to avoid
him. Naturally enough, however, there
was an exception to this rule-what
rule of wOman's life was ever with
out an exception?-and that exception
was Philip Barton.
Philip was a young man of ive-and-
twenty, broad shouldered and athletic
and handsome enough to make an nc
M
tive girl. Besides, he was fairly well
of, as such things 60; being the son of
Lawyer Barton. a clever old attorney
who had amassed a snug competence
by the hard labor of nearly sixty years,
and who had no thought in the world
hat did not center in his boy Phil.
But even to Philip was Marion inclined
at times to be capricious and torment
ing. Perhaps it was because she was
SO sure Of him; perhaps it was only
the woman in her that babe her tor
ment that which found it's only happi-
ness in her presence; ~perhaps-bui
who could ever speculate with accuracy
on wOman's motives? TWAS enough
that she treated him cruelty and dis
dainfully much too often for his peac,
of mind-so much so that poor Phil
who had been dancing attendance OF
her for three years, as his enviOu:
rivals expressed it, was far from GER
tain to-day as to whether or not Ia
was justified in considering himselt
any better off than the rest of them.
His kind old father, who knew the
desire of his boys heart and eneour-
aged him in it, frequently spurred hin
ON when his energies dropped and hi
ambition tagged. "Be a man. m,
bOy" he was wont to exclaim, para
doxically. "A woman who is won 70
the asking is not worth having; YOU
bird viii be all the fairer when YOU hav,
shared her for having given We such
brave chase.
IL was with al adiuration of this de
scriptiOn ringing in his ears that PhiliI
found himself dressed one evening fo
birthday party at the house of on,
of Marion's friends Insensibly anC
by what means he was never afterward
able to discern. the conviction grey
upon him that that night was to decid
his fate one way or the other. Ii di,
not render him any the less careful
with his toilet, however. and when h
descended the stairway and confroute,
his father. the old gentleman pate,
him affectionately on the back an
told him he was Young mule for hay