Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1893-09-27
IS MIGHT HAVE BEEN EN-
PECTED.
by CLARA SIDNEY WILLIAMSON.


four, Adelaide was nineteen, and wa
twenty-one We lived together anC
did practical, light housekeeping, only
am afrnid we were not always prac
teal, and certainly the housekeeping
WAS exceedingly light.
John was an extremely bright, in
deed, may say that he was bril-
liant young man, occupying tlatterinG
position on prominent New iorl
daily newspaper. He was as hand
some us an Adonis and as lovablc
was the beauty, and on her was Law
ished all the luxury of our incomes, tha
is Johns and mine. For l too, con
tributed no little to the family purse
in writing various articles for leading
magazines. Indeed l had even ven
tured to write Il book, which had ap
peared and been received very we'll
We were as Bohemian Us it was pos
sible for respectable people to be; We
had a suite Of rsoms in an apartment
house, consisting of four rooms one OF
which was 4 parlor, library, study and
dining-room combined, two bedroom.
and kitchen. This latter we seldom
used, for it was so easy to send out for
our meals and great deal more salts
factory.
As John and l wrote, and Adelaide
played the violin, and sang very sweet
ly, and We were all young and full OF
life, naturally our little circle attracted
q great many young people, and rarely
an evening passed that six or eight
young men and women did not spend
two or three hours with us. We had
delightful times, enjoying ourselves in
our happy Bohemian fashion. What
did we care if sometimes Adelaide for
got to dust the beautiful bust OF Mozart.
which was her special pride and de-
hgh2 And if the men smoked and
made our curtains look a little dingy
somewhat sooner than necessary, did
We care? No indeed, not wei All
sorts and conditions of honest and
bright young men and women came
into our circle. Young lawyers, doc
tors, editors, and rich young men of no
ambition whatever, who simply came
TO enjoy the perfect whole" as they
expressed themselves. Young women
who wrote largely for society papers,
who sang in well paid choirs, and who
arranged various designs for the fancy
New Year, Christmas, birthday and
wedding cards, and not a few artists of
no mean ability, of both sexes, were
among our friends.
As l said before, Adelaide was the
beauty, and we were all young, so why
was it surprising that Love and Ro-
nance entered our happy little home? l
was not in the least astOnished, though
! confess | felt little regret at first,
when l saw how things were going. But
my sister was so pretty, and dressed so
artistically and becomingly, and sang
60 sweetly, it Was little wonder indeed,
that she should be asked for in mar
riage.
The man who was to rob us Of our
lovely Adelaide was ii splendid fellow,
and great favorite of ours. lie was
young lawyer, ambitious, proud az
Lucifer. OF course, he was poor, but
we loved him all the better for his pow
erty, so We were thoroughly contented
with the matter.
Now John, do be dignified, and
don't act as if you were so pleased that
he wants to marry Adelaide, when he
asks you for her." l said one evening,
TO my dear brother, in private. We
knew that he was going to ask for her,
and we determined that there should be
no lack of dignity about the cere-
mOny.
Don't worry little she-bear" (My
name, Ursula, means she-bear, and
John occasionally called me by the OBJ
noxious name when | chose to be dicta-
torial.) Don't worry, | shall be as
dignified and cold as a stone. ! shall
stand perfectly erect and say in my
harshest tones: Sir do you think you
have sufficient to support and maintain
by beautiful sister in the same lu1ur-
ious manner to which she has always
been accustomcdY " l simply roared
with laughter and John kindly Joined
in my mirth. OF course there was no
dignity about the affair at all, and on
the whole suppose it was just as well.
About this time as might have been
expected, our bank account began to
grow quite slender, and l had to write
vigorously for the papers. l fairly
ground out the stories, and finally be
ing at Il loss FOR inspiration took up
Adelaide's love story az a basis, and
wrote three tales upon it. In the first,
l made every thing to turn out hap
PLY; in the second | allowed Adelaide
to reject her fiance, and in the third |
allowed Fred the privilege of breaking
Adelaide's heart.
Dear me, Ursula, you frighten
me, l shall begin to fear We shall
not marry each other after al" !" my
pretty sister exclaimed.
"Never fear, dear one, all is well, and
you shall have the prettiest trousseau
that ever gladdened the heart of
maiden yet. Why little one, you shall
have a Redfernr'-I finished trium-
phantly.
"Ah you dear sweet sisterr replied
Adelaide, 'you and John have spoiled
me utterly, you are so good to me, you
make me selfish. And when shall you
marry, Ursula?' she asked suddenly.
II, Oh suppose never, John and l
will solace each other; though of course,
if he were to marry, should perhaps
seek TO beguile some man. But no,
l wouldn't no; l am too independ-
ent for anything of that kind, l can
amply support myself. | should never
live with John, for / know a brothers.
sister is very unwclcome factor in
household. | might take up abode
with you, Adelaide, if your Fred would
not object, am sure you would want
me. The reason l could better live