The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1888-04-18

were WIDOWS IN every stage OF DereaVe-
ment and every stage of mourning; from
the indisputable hue of real grief to the
delicate tint of questionable sorrow. OF
one only shall speak, Mrs. Otis. From
my arrival to my departure Mrs Otis was
constantly on the watch for me to do
queer things. And l did my best to
crafty her desire; | never disappointed
her if could help It'll When | failed to
furnish her with a weekly morsel to roll
under her tongue she was positively Of
Tended, and looked upon it as a personal
affront. Yet in spite Of my genuine
efforts to be useful to her as a moral
wherewith to adorn her many tales Of
feminine idiosyncracies, she never ap-
peared specially grateful to me. In fact,
we were so mutually antagonistic that,
although no open warfare existed be
tween us, it was evident enough that we
were not friends. One of the bright
young girls in the house spoke of Mrs
Otis always as my particular enemy.
But enough of that. She has since mar
ried, and had l longed for revenge ]
couldn't have had sweeter" And Kate
laughed musically.
"Why" we clamored.
"Because she married the man she
didn't want. But no more of her now
You know no one can live in Boston
without becoming tainted with literary
and intellectual ambitions, and l was no
heroic exception to that rule. That
winter Browning was the idol worshiped.
He has ever been my idol, as you
know, and from my enthusiastic study of
his vigorous poetic philosophy of life.
was deemed fit to conduct a Browning
class. We met at the house Of a charm
ing oman who was such a sufferer that
her couch was literally her home. She
lived, in one of the loveiest houses have
ever seen, one of the loveliest lives have
ever been brought in contact with. But
there was this disadvantage, as far as l
was concerned, her home was some eight
miles from the city, and most ide llly re-
mote from the vulgar convenience of a
railroad. Consequently was obliged to
drive over. Ons.yery cold January after
noon was waiting impatiently for the
conveyance that was to take me to W.
l was ready, warmly wrapped IN furs and
prepared to defy the cold, and did not
relish being kept waiting by the livery
man. was just getting in little tenn
per when my pilgrimage to the window
was rewarded by the sight of a sleigh
drawn up before the door. | didn't
recognize the driver; it was not the one
l was accustomed to have, but, of course,
it was my conveyance, so / ran down
stairs and out to the sleigh and got in.
may give the horse his head, for am late
now"
"The driver touched his hat, bent
down and tucked me in snugly, and off
we went. needn't have said anything
about giving that horse his head ;
he took it; he spun along over
the crust like a Russian steed.
l noticed his superiority to the slow
animal that had dragged me over
the same route a week previous, and so
pleased was with the change that re-
marked it.
" This is better horse than the other
one, said.
81 don't know he said, doubtingly
Some likes the other best
"ImpossiblepI exclaimed, remem ber-
ing the 'other.
az like this one best, though they go
we'll together, so they can't be so very
different, he said, somewhat as if he re-
sented my noticing the difference.
" go well together!' echoed. How
could that be1'
'All the doctors horses are fine
animals, he continued.
'Ahp l said. 1 didn't care to enter
into a discussion with the driver, but
something impelled me to say: "Your
master knows how to select a horse, of
course, being in the business
No one better, Miss. The doctor
never gets taken in in horse trade
Your master is a horse doctorp
said.
"The well-bred, nglish-looking
driver actually turned his head and
looked at me In an instant he had re-
covered himself and answered me:
"'No, Miss, he amt
ellis tone was so aggrieved that was
sorry l had wounded his feelings and
hastened to make amends. l know how
sensitive servants are to any apparent
disrespect to their master, and although
the master in this case was but livery
stable keeper, who was known as doc
tor, didn't want to lower his dignity in
the eyes of his servant, so said:
Veterinary surgeon, l believe horse
doctors are called; it is the same thing. ,
"He made no reply, though he still
looked aggrieved, and we whirled along
in silence.
"Wemet various people whom / knew.
They stared slightly as they bowed TO me,
and even smiled more than was necessary.
"'They think it is my own, l said to
myself, meaning the decidedly swell turn
out
"When we reached Mrs. Stanford
ford's / told the driver to take the horse
TO the stables and be at the door in an
hour. Let me pass over the hour spent
in discussing that fine dramatic poem.
spoiled 10y too much telling: The Ring
and the Book At the end of that hour
my driver was waiting for me, and we
were soon whirling along again toward
the city. When / reached my whilom
home gave the man little "tip, - and
told him to come for me the next week
at the same hour, and to tell the
doctor, his master, that l wanted tine
same horse also. Then | went into the
house, and instead of going 10 my room
| went into the drawing room. was so
full of my enjoyable drive that | wanted
TO talk about il. A group of the ladies
in the house were gathered around the
open fire and joined them. They had
been talking as entered, but as drew
near they ceased speaking. Mrs. Otis