The Press., 1888-05-24
IN EARLY DAYS.
Those first affections, Those shadowy recollections, Which, be they what they may, Are yet the fountain light of all our day
 --WordsWorth.
TOLD BY THE TWILIGHT,


 Kate said, ''but last winter fairly outdid myself"
 ssWhat did you dog' This in chorus from the group seated around the blazing wood fire.
 1T stole horse, :" she replied, with perfect gravity.
 ''Stole horse!" echoed the chorus; tell us about it, Kate"
 ''Very we'll" she said. "Bring me my knit ting, Jack, will you please9 I hateA to have my tongue my only busy member. Can't and I'll find it myself"
 While Kate is searching for her knitting will you not allow the chorus to be presented to you? We, the chorus, are Kate's guests as her charming old homestead in Sussex. We are not all sopranos and altos by any means; there are an equal number of ex- tremely agreeable tenors and baritones. For Kate, the doer of ''queer things" never dem onstrated her queerness by inviting lot of women to spend October with her in a coun- try house only to leave them to languish be- fore each others eyes.
 Nor did she trust to such men as the town might offer; she imported her own speci- mems, and whosoever received an invitation to ''Morningside" could rely upon the choice ness of the specimens. This had been so in the days when Kate was entirely "fancy free," and lived at "Morningsiden with chaperone as charming as she useless, and now that the grand old place had a mas ter as we'll as 8 mistress the same rule of agreeable pairing off was still adhered to. Which proves, does it not, that Kate was glorious exception to the rule of average young married women, who, being quite content with their own life cavalier, dream not that other maidens may sigh for other companionship than his?
 This was our first October at Morningside since Kate's marriage, and, on the particular evening whereof write, we were seated in semicircle around the blazing logs, Kate in the middle, and Jack, her husband, very near her. When she announced her last escapade a smile might have been seen lowering about his lips, amused at first, then melting grad ually into one of extreme tenderness, which said quite as plainly as words that Kate's story was one of interest to him.
 ''Do you believe in the depravity of inani- mate objects!" Kate inquired when she joined us again.
 "I do. l am willing to swear that l left this knitting on wonder table. found it in the library under chair, where it had de- iberately hidden itself away from me-"
 Ut must be feminine" said Berry, casting 8 reproachful glance at Laura, and therefore bound to be as aggravating as possible"
 II knew very well you would chase it, Kate" said Laura, calmly.
 "Imagine its disappointment if you hadn't, Kate,' said Jack, smiling saucily at Laura
 My dear," said Kate, 'don't you know they never run away except they are morally certain of being chased?'
 Is knitting Theyg' asked Jack, gravely.
 ''No, but women are. You know what mean"-
 But the story" said Laura, who did not fancy the turn the conversation had taken,
 ''Of course, the storyr' we exclaimed to- gether.
 "Well," said Kate, settling herself com fortably in her chair. ''You know I spent winter before last in Boston, and being thoroughly tired of hotel life, and not caring to take house of my own, went to large boarding house. I need not describe it; you know that by some mysterious ruling of the unseen fates a boarding house is nothing more nor less than rallying ground for widows, and mine was no exception to this rule. There were widows in every stage of bereavement and every stage of mourning; from the indisputable hue of real grief to the delicate tint of questionable sorrow Some were natural widows who had really lost real husbands, others of that variety called grass because they spring up everywhere, just as grass does, I suppose. But all called them selves widows. Of one only shall speak, Mrs. Otis. From my arrival to my depart ure Mrs. Otis constantly on the watch for me to do queer things And did my best to gratify her desire; never disap- pointed her, if l could help itl When failed to furnish her with weekly morsel to roll under her tongue she was positively offended, and looked upon it as a personal affront
  to her as a moral wherewith to adorn her many tales of feminine idiosyncrasies, she never appeared specially grateful to me. In fact, we were so mutually antagonistic that, although no open warfare existed between us, it was evident enough that we were not friends One of the bright young girls in the house spoke of mES. Otis always as my par ticular enemy But enough of that. She has since married, and had longed for re- venge couldn't have had sweeter.n 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 ill Boston without becoming tainted with literary and intellectual ambi- tfons, and was no heroic exception to that rule. That winter Browning was the idol worshiped. He has ever been my idol, as you
 
 vigorous poetic philosophy of life I was deemed fit to conduct Browning class. We met at the house of a charming woman who was such sufferer that her couch was liter ally her home She lived in one of the loveli- est houses have ever seen, one of the loveli- est lives have ever been brought in contact with. But there was this disadvantage, SO far as was concerned, her home was some eight miles from the city, and most ideally remote from the vulgar convenience of a railroad. Consequently I was obliged to drive over. One very cold January after noon was waiting impatiently for the con- veyance that was to take me to W was ready, warmly wrapped in furs and pre- pared to defy the cold, and did not relish being kept waiting by the liveryman. was just getting in a little temper when my pill grimage to the window was rewarded by the sight of a sleigh drawn up before the door, l didn't recognize the driver; it was not the one was accustomed to have, but, of course, it was my conveyance, so ran down stairs and out to the sleigh and got in. Drive me to W said, and you may give the horse his head, for am late now.'"
 s'The driver touched his hat, bent dowu 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 Russian steed. I noticed his superiority to the slow animal that had dragged me over the same route week pre- ~vious, and so pleased was I with the change that remarked it. ~ -.ss~-f
 "'This is better horse than the other one: Isaid.
 "'I don't know he said, doubting'y.
 Some likes the other best.'
 "sJmpossiblep axc3airnAd Tesuamharino.