The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1890-05-01
THE VERMONT COUSIN.

my part, how he came to have sue
countriiied relations, but since he has,
think he might let them stay up anon
their own Green Mountains, instead
bringing them down to mortify us in Il
city with their awkward ways and mas
twangu'
Thus spoke Miss Julia Action to h,
younger sister Helen, after they had r.
tired to their room one evening, CAlriIl
which the expected arrival of the We
mont cousin had been one theme of col
yrFsation.
tI am sure / have more reason to |
mortified than you have, julia Hele
answered, ''for | have to walk with hI
to and from school, and of course | cal
not conceal from the girls that she is m
cousin, and l know they will all ridicul
her and make all manner of fun of he
Brother Ned stopped there last yea
: when he was travelling through Ne,
England, and he says they all say meow
and 'abaout,' and dew tell, and | al
sure | shall sink if she talks so before tn
girls"
well, think no one haseso muc
reason to dread her coming as l have,
answered Julia, "for what do you thin
Herbert Ferguson will say when he see
that we have such Yankeefied set 0
relations; he has such horror of evITy
thing unrefined. / should not wonder
he should desert me altogether, after sh
comes to the house, rather than b
brought into contact with anything s.
vulgar. He has been more than usuall
attentive too, lately, and mamma says h
is the greatest catch in town"
"Well, now, have heard that Herber
Ferguson cares only for intellect; tina
he cares nothing for looks in compari
SON.
81 can tell you, you are mistaken, Mis-
Helen; if he has no regard for looks, al
you say, you ought to know what Ii,
said to me lately; but no matter, | won
tell you, only wish father wasn't so oh
stinate, and mamma is quite as mucl
veXed about it as we are; why, even til,
servants will laugh at her, know
Thomas is so excessively genteel."
'Well, well, it can't be helped. Faith
er feels under such obligations to Lucy''
father; the brothers all agreed that father
should be sent to college, and the Others
remained at home and worked on the
farm and provided the means for his
education, and now he thinks he ought
to assist him in return. But one thing
would suggest, Miss julie, and this is
that you have your party over before SHE
comes; of course she will not go out, as
she only school girl, but know father
will insist upon having her in the room
if we have company at home"
''Well thought of, Helen: let's see,
am engaged every night this week tC
come; | certainly cannot get an evening
until the latter part of next week; oh,
am afraid she will come before that time
it will just spoil all my pleasure, and
expect so much.n
The invitations for Miss .Julia's party
were all sent out, and the extensive prep
| arations were proceeding most swim
mingly, when the very day before that
on which the party is to be given stage
laden with trunks drew up before the
door of Mr.. Actions elegant mansion.
From this, in the first place, alighted a
stout, sun burned young farmer, who
was Immediately followed by a slender
girl of sixteen years of age; this latter
being none other than the much dreaded
Vermont cousin.
'Well, if this isn't a little too much!''
exclaimed Miss Julia, who had been
drawn to the window by the hustle;
there is clOd-hopper of a man cousin,
too; this is rather more than we bar
gained for; | declare she continued
half crying with vexation, ''if that man
stays will pretend am sick, and coun-
termand the invitations to my party"
Cousin Arthur Holmes proved to be a
very different youth, and one dinner at
the Actions was all he could stand. He
was on his way to Yale college, his uncle
having proposed the plan of taking the
education of Arthur under his care.
As said before, Arthur was not at
ease among his fine relations, who with
the exception of his uncle, took no pains
to make him feel so, and therefore, to
Miss Julia's relief, he took his departure
that same evening for New Haven.
Cousin Lucy-but am afraid you will
set her down as ugly, if | simply de-
scribe her features and she is such a
favorite of mine that could wish her to
make favorable impression upon my
readers from the first
Now | cannot deny that Lucy had
bright auburn hair; Julia called it red,
but Julia was not always good natured,
and her complexion was one of those ex-
ceedingly fair ones that freckle easy;
but she had pair of the loveliest, deep
blue eyes, and the sweetest smile and
the most brilliant teeth, and when she
spoke or smiled there was charm about
her whole face which made you forget
hair and freckles and you only looked
upon it as face to love.
As she was, she had come, and now
she must appear at the party and be in
troduced as the cousin of the Misses Ac-
ton. 1t was mortifying-it was dis
tressing-but there was no help for it
now. >
The evening of the party proved clear
and bright, and as it was well known
that the entertainment at the Actions
would be one of the most brilliant of the
season, none of the invited who could get
there remained absent. By ten o'clock
the brilliantly lighted rooms were well
filled. Cousin Lucy, simply attired in
white cambric, 0or she had rejected the
ornaments and other embellishments with
which her cousins, for their own sakes,
would have adorned herr, sat alone in one
corner of the sofa. She was introduced
to very few; she did not look in the
least neglected, however, but sat in an
unaffected enjoyment of the new and
brilliant scene. {
An hour after the other guests were all
assembled, sauntered in leisurely as if
for call, with his hat under his arm and
his slight little cane in his hand, an ex-
quisite. of the first water, rejoicing in the
euphonious name of Mr.. Meridith Fitz-
Henry, This is one of those brilliant
youths whose whole time during his day,
which begins, perhaps, at two O'clock, is
spent lounging in saloons, studying the
fashions, saunterihg up and down Broad
way, and staring at the ladies, or driving
on the fashionable thoroughfares; and
in the evening dressing for public enter
tainments, and attending them. He aims
at being "The glass of fashion, and the
mould of form" and has no higher aim
in life than to be studied and copied as
the perfection Of dress. He fancies him
self Beau Brummel as to manners, a
Count D'Orsay in point of beauty and
grace. He may be handsome-we cannot
tell-for the immense amount of hair
about his face renders it impossible to
distinguish any features except pair of
great round light eyes, and sharp and
very eifeminate nose. Occasionally he
condescends to smile, and then his white
teeth gleam through the masts of hair
surrounding the lower part of his face
like lightning from dark cloud.
Mr.. Meredith Fitz-Henry, unfortunate
ly, sets up for a wit, andhis silly speeches
are laughed at and repeated by sillier
young ladies, till he is really deluded in
to the belief that they are worth repiti-
ton. t.-
On entering Mr.. Actons parlor, Mr..
Meredith Fitz-Henry, with his glass fixed
in his eye, stared about him with great
nonchalence and impudence till at length
his attention was attracted by the Yer
mont cousin, sitting SO quietly in her
corner, utterly unconscious of his obser-
vatiOn.
"Ahl what vision of loveliness and
grace is that see before me?" exclaimed
IL IL AIinn L n,.,., NNiltnr n ........ ..........