The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1889-06-13

Nlo HouSe OH ner lnvlIaClOn and found Mrs.
Clegson an iceberg. But her daughter was
evidently mistress, and her mamma had to
tolerate me. could see, for am expert
enced In such matters, Ada was much i'm
pressed by my looks and manners I mar
rated my London experiences and acquaint-
ancestor the most part truthfully.
glanced at my foreign tours and adventures
wholly untruthfully. On the whole, am
| OF opinion l behaved with much greater
tact than the prejudiced Uncle Jupp would
ever have credited me with. For a first in
tervleW l, as Mr.. Plum assured me when we
came out, made play considerably. And
certainly thought deserved we'll of nv
uncle
The days passed on, and my intimacy at
Violet Villa became great. That pretty
servant, who l could see was as appreciative
as her young mistress of my good looks
pity the pair couldn't exchange faces-wel-
coined me with smile as if 1 were an &C.
credited inmate of the house. Ada was
always glad to see me. Only Mrs Clegson
remained Lnthawed. When I looked at her
l always felt she was likely, if any one, to be
responsible for the affair ''being blundered,' "
as Uncle Jupp once or twice wrote me brief
notes to beware of. Another thing was,
she had some sort Of control, within limits,
~AAON6h i AN'SA SOOAN 4u1tC Ue1l WIdU, over
her daughters marriage. She took care
never to allow a ,ete-a-:etc between me and
Ada; and she had all the letters taken up to
her room in post-bag in tho morning, of
which bag she kept the key, while at all
other hours she always watched for the
postman, 80 that the opportunities of speak
ing my mind were always difficult
Well, thus things went on, when there
arrived on a vista nephew of Mrs. Clegson,
clean-shaven, sallow, hawk eyed man,
who was in some big company as general
manager, and, have no doubt, had "made
his pile" out of the shareholders. ANYHOW
ne had some money, so the old lady liked
him, though believe Ada only treated him
as cousin. He was an ugly dog, with the
worst cut clothes l ever saw, and sharp
brusque, energetic way of moving which
hated. always did admire the Neapolitan
lazzaroni more than any other class. But.
to come to the point, as Mr.. Jupp is always
bothering me to do, old Plum said he
thought my chances would be improved by
Ned Cutely being down at Cowes and ad-
vised me to strike while the iron was 'ot
But was it hot: I had never got so far as
the brink of a proposal and was u very
bad hand at making any formal speech
whatever. Besides, how could fellow do
~ "ASA VhAO gin . A4OVACA always "6OuOu
me like q cat! 1t was all very we'll for old
Jupp to write to me (of course old Plum must
go and interfere) and bully me for ''daw-
ding and adjure me not to make another
blunder, but he hadn't to do the business
I had. went there at all times and always
found Cutely there. tried to get the pretty
maid to give note to Ada, but Mrs. Cleg-
son always came into the hall and the maid
was evidently afraid of her, and 50 hung
about and wondered what was the best
thing to do. Meanwhile it got expensive,
and the hotel bills were diminishing my
money. At last I determined to write
to Ada; had squeezed her hand the
night before, and she had net seemed
affronted-nay, I think she returned
the pressure-so matters seemed ripe for
declaring myself. l resolved to write, and
by the aid of 'letter- wrlter,'' which
gave shilling for in the town, put most
moving and pathetic declaration together
This done, debated how to get it into Ada's
hands; the post was 1mpracticable, the
pretty servant afraid. Just then a happy
thought occurred. There was butchers
boy who rode bay pony in a most furious
manner, whom had frequently met in the
drive, returning from calling for orders
He had always touched his forelock to me
and seemed abnormally sharp; he should
be my messenger. So I waylaid him the
next morning and stopped him; held up
half crown, and explained that somehow
or other-I left the details to him-he was
to slip this note into Miss Ada's hands IN
seen. With joyous grin, as he pocketed
the half crown, he said he'd find some way
to do it so that nobody should see, and of
he rode. went back to my hotel, wrote q
letter to Uncle Jupp, saying how things
were progressing, and then went for a sail,
as wished the day to elapse ere calling to
know my fate. But there be little doubt;
Ada had shown in various tri1ling ways her
preference for me, and, after all, such q
really handsome husband was cheap orna-
ment even at 1000. My thoughts pleas
antly dallied with the future, as Ipictured
life of artistic ease and luxury, and l
triumphed in anticipation over Uncle Jupp
and his brutal personalities. In this mat
ter, at any rate, would prove to him knew
how to bring an affair to q successful con-
clusiOn.
The evening arrived, as lovely summers
evening as ever could be wished for by q
spOOning pair, and l dressed myself most
fascinatingly for Violet Villa. I went up
there very leisurely, and on my way was
joined by Mr.. Plum, who congratulated me
much on the progress had made, and on
my cleverness in outwitting the ''Old
Duchess" as he called her.
;"Your dodge with the butchers boy
proves you amt such q fool as Jupp thinks
you,:' he said generously.
IT am much obliged to you," said dryly.
"Well, you know didn't myself think
you sharp enough to get over Mother Cleg-
sons wariness. She hates the idea of any
Teller who's only got lardy darby ways
and good looking shipper 'anging after
Ady, 'rejoined Mr.. Plum, while.I inwarlly
resolved that, once the prize was secured, I
would eliminate him and all my uncle's
crew from my list of acquaintance.
At length we came in sight Of Violet
Villa. and Plum commenced some Of his
vulgar tacetiz, as comparing me to man in
doAbt whether he was to be s'turned Oh, -
or reprieved, ETC., ETC., At last he conde-
scended to listen to my request (Which was
an additional proof, in his eyes, Of my newly
acquired 'smartness'') that he would decoY
the old lady into the conservatory, by pre-
ceding me, and thus facilitating my momen-
tous interview with Ada.
"A very good notion,' he said, land l
really think this time you. Ancie can't say
but you've scored a success"
Thus conversing we neared the house,
when MIR. Plum went on in front, and en-
tering the gate crossed the lawn, and, with
the familiarity Of an old friend, entered by
the drawing-room window. gave him time
enough to decoy the old girl into the con-.
servatory, and then marched up the drive,
feeling pretty sure Ill was successful 1rane
the bell. No rsspenss. ! rang aeain, ~