Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1888-07-27
The Squire'S Counting
BYE. n. COLLINS.

Now, the Squire was no Squire at ALL
The word implies Judge, and the
Squire was not a Judge, at least not in
the legal sense. esquire" was simply q
nickname given in "A sportive moment tt
}. Hillery Crabtree by joking school
fellow, and it had tenaciously clung tt
him as he had advanced in years and
stature
J. llillery, Or the Squire, was, as tC
complexion, brunette, very dark eyes
blue black hair and moustache, about
five feet eight inches in his stockings,
and decidedly blunt in his mlnners, will
a generous opin on of himself. In his
early youth he was the especial charge
OF his three aunt3 and at the same time
their torment. lie was the source OF
never-ending contention betN cen thu
three estimable ladies who could ncve
| agree as TO how he should be trained aud
IN consequence the Squire himself was re
sponsible for most ofhis early training, a
the multitude Of cooks spoi ed he broth
of boy. And we find him at twenty
four with kind Of contempt for women
young women in particular lie wa:
suspicious of them. He was very par
ticular as to his personal appearance
tao turn and single, yet withal had hC
been biting fish, the girls thought he
would have been a good catch.
Fate was laying trap for the wary
and self-satisiied squire. One day h,
called to see one of his aunts in New
York, and to the squire's disgu here
chanced to be young lady calling a
the same time. OF course an introduc
ton followed. The squire would glad
y have fled, but he had important mes
sages to give his aunt Miss Kurtz wa
in no apparent hurry. Then, TO make
matters worse, it began to rain, and o
course Miss Kurtz could not 90 in tn,
rain, and the squree discomfort wa.
greatly augmented when bis aunt took
him to one side and laid down the law
to HIM that he must see Miss Kurtz safely
home. Why the squire should have OBJ
ected to seeing a pretty girl home nc
one knew, but he did, and it must be
said that be was rather gruf as he offer
ed his escort to the young lady.
Now, how such tn NJ could happer
cannot be told; it was very shocking in
deed to the squire, but fact. The next
morning in the dining room the squire
CHANGED to pull out his handkerchief
and what should come out with it but Z
lady's glove, nice, sweet-scented deli
cate affair. The squire was quite over.
come, he was considerably agitated and
when his Cousin Wildly, a very lively
young miss, rounccd upon the tell-tale
glove and demanded an explanation, the
squire growled out something and turned
very red, deliberately took the glove
from her and walked out of the house.
As the squire walked along the street
he felt considerably vexcd Now, of
course, he must go TO return the glove to
Miss Kurtz, but how could he explain its
beng in his pocket. He could not ex-
plain. lie would send it to her by mail.
But, again, he did not know the num-
Der of her hou and he dared not ask
for fear the folks would laugh at him, so
that very evening he called and returned
he glove to its fair owner. He was
tolc ed to acknowledge to him elf on the
way home that he had spent very pleas
ant evening, and was not sure that girls
were as frivolous as he had thought them,
At least not all girls. Miss Kurtz had
given him an invitation to call again and
ne did not know but that he would; she
appeared to be very nice girl, but then,
one must look out for them they are so
tricky
1t was rather amusing t those who
knew the squire and his antipathics, TO
notlce how soon it was necessary for him
70 again call on Miss kurtz, and it was
the occasion for no little chatting bv
Wildly. The squire would look
ashamed, growl, aud hastily get out of
her way, and at the same time every one
noticed that the squire wore a puzzled
ook as though he was thinking deeply
over something. If he made frequent
'alls on Miss kurt he was very careful
hat none of his family should know of
t. You know that it's very hard thing
ior man to a knowledge frankly that
ne IS violating his own precepts. And
It may be said right here that Miss Kurtz
vas very estimab'e young lady and not
without a lively appreciation of the hu-
norOus. She had heard from his sister
hat the squire was a sort Of woman
latcr, and all to herse lie had deter.
mined to subduc H. enemy. The squire
l'd an awful hight with mse1f, but
inaiy asked Miss Kurtz to ac ompany
aim to the theatre. Bya series Of skill
ul questioning he managed to find out
where each of the household were likely
% spend certain evening, and then
ook Miss Kurtz as far away from them
IS he could. Then, imagine his disgust,
when after getting comfortably seated
le discovered his sister and her wretch
'f husband in the box opposite, coolly
mrveying him and his companion
through Their opera glasses. His first
impulse was to get up and leave. but a
econd thought told him that that would
lever do. lie felt as though Miss Kurtz