Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1893-07-29
bell fried tha affect Of the tournriI upon

floor. wonder what Sinfre will say to
her.
1t is more than a week. by the way,
since Sinfire arrived here, So little occurs
| in our monotonous round of life that this
event deserves to be recorded. lam per-
haps the least inhospitable member of our
household, but even |, had | been asked
10 days ago whether it were possible for
us to receive a stranger into the family,
and OF all strangers young lady, should
have answered Nor with promptness
and decision. Mother indeed is a woman
of the world and profoundly versed in all
social etiquette and behavior, but ''soci-
ETY. hospitality and cordiality are one
thing and the perennial kindliness that
makes a guest feel wholly and perma-
nently at home is quite .another thing.
Now, mother has many virtues. She Is
aristocratic, dignifed, courteous. elegant,
high tempered, headstrong and keen wit
ted Nay, she has strong affections, too,
in q way of her own. but fancy her
most partial admirers foremost among
whom is her youngest SOM would hardly
characterize her as a warm hearted
woman.
The perfection of her manners instead
of putting people Mt their ease, as perfect
manners are said TO do, makes them SEN
sible of their own comparative boorish-
ness. The faultless taste of her attire
causes the best dressed woman to seem
t,owdy. This is no fault of my mothers.
] II nf
of the sphere" as the mystic social phi
losophers would term it. There is some
thing about her that prevents her from
uniting with others. She has made this
same criticism ON me, and possibly with
Justice. though | think that in my case
it is rather acquired than innate. Well,
this unassailable mother of mine has en-
countered the exception that proves her
rule. She has met a person who has clio
tied her cordiality. And very genuine,
| downright kind of cordiality it turns out
to be, none the worse for having lain so
long in the secret chamber of her heart.
Yet | should never have imagined that
Sintire was the enehantreSs who would
have the key TO that door. There is, for
all any one can see. absolutely no com
munlry of feeling or experience between
mother and her.
John being at any rate a man is less
remarkable case, but even he outstrips
anticipation. John has always seemed
to me the ideal of an English country
squire. He would be just the man for
= master of foxhounds-a man able and
willing to browbeat everybody, to domi-
neer and be choleric and yet to COM
mand the hearty GOOD will of all, owing
10 their recognition of his unalterable
honesty and childlike kindness of heart.
John did not learn much at school, and
he came to an untimely end in college,
but where | made one friend he made
twenty, and his truest friend was the
one TO whom. at the outset OF their ac-
quaintance, he administered the most
terrible thrashing. John loves eating
and drinking as much as any man, but
he would starve himself for a week
rather than dock his mare OF a peck Of
oats or his dog of biscuit.
JOHN has absurd, undemocratic theo-
ries, and fancies himself the superior Of
every one he meets because he is the heir
of the Mainwarings, but there is one per-
son before whom he hrunbles himself,
and that is the English groom in his sta
bles. John would face dozen footpads
with heart of trust and would probably
get the best of them, but in the presence
of petticoat IAN embroidered one at
least) his big voice sinks to a quayer and
a rumble, and his naughty glance quails
and falls. In view of this latter fact it
would not have been surprising if Sinfire
(who does wear an embroidered one) had
put him to flight, but her distinction con-
sisted in having inspired him with new
spirit, in virtue of which he is rapidly
emerging from barbarism into civiliza-
ton.
Instead of talking with n hostler and
roaring out an oath when his huinor Is
crossed he attempts polite conversation
God bless himD and courteous irony; in
stead of drinking himself crimson after
dinner he limits himself to six glasses
and every one toast; instead OF start
ing off betimes in the morning on lone
ly hunting or horseback expedition he
dawdles anxiously about the veranda IN
a comical anxiety TO secure in not toe
barefaced a manner the monopoly Of
Cousin Sinfre's" companionship. This
would be less remarkable were John or
dinarily susceptible, but can vouch fol
it that every good looking girl within a
radius Of 80 miles has been tried upon
him with the result only of putting hin
to flight. Cousin Sinfire therefore mnst
WELD some spell unknown to the com
mon run of young ladies.
Indeed l am myself not insensible tc
a peculiar quality in her which | car
conceive to be very attractive to many OIL
to most people She is pretty, but it il
not that. She is intelligent, but it is moi
that. And she has high animal spirits
and graceful vivacity, but neither is il
these. No, and doubt if can specify
precisely what it is. Yet | should bt
able to analyze her if anybody can, be
cause toward her, as toward the rest Of
mankind, occupy the position Of an
outsider and dispassionateo observer mere
". Moreover, have motive for max
ing the analysis-that, in my role OF gen
eral caretaker of the family, must de
ternine whether or not she is fit ant
proper person to become Mrs. Mainwar
ing, and thus to relegate mother to tbs
position of dowager, for there is M
doubt that John will marry her If h'
can. and after making all due allowance
for a waywardness of a maiden's fancy
it would not do to build too confidently
on the probability Of her rejecting |
generous hearted, fine locking, infatu
ated young fellow with $50 900 year Il
his fortune. At all events shall max,
it my business to improve my acquaint
ance with her, and the fact that she evi
IDENTIFY regards me as an inoffensiye anC
rather agreeable person renders the exc
eution of my design all the easier.
She came upon us as abruptly and un
expectedly as an asteroid out Of infinit
space. We had finished dinner NOR
than an hour before, and mother and
were sitting on the veranda enjoying tn
evening breeze and fighting off an occa
/, sional mosquito. John. presume. wa
hobnobbing with Tom, the groom, In III
harness room. There was the sound o
carriage wheels far down the drive, an
one of the dogs barked. There was n
moon. and it was too dark to see the car
rage until it was almost al hand The
it turned out to be hack from the vii
lage railway station.
1T must be some person in answer ;
: NV advertisement for maid, exclaime
my mother in an undertone. ''Wha
an extraordinary proceeding, You mus
: tell the people at the livery stable