Lyon County times. [volume] (Silver City, Nev.) 1874-1907, 1893-09-09

y
hat II is Just as much my duty to pre-
ribe for parplexing circumstances as
or physical disorders 1t is true they do
lot think it necessary to accept my pre-
,riptiOns unless with some such formula
$ We'll. that is the concl lsion had ar
.ived at myself" But they would not
believe their ears if were to turn the
tables upon them and consult tAeln as to
what had better do.
Mother bore down upon me the other
day in her line of battle ship manner
She is indeed an impressive and redoubt-
able old lady My earliest recollections
of her are as a tall and slender person
dressed generally in white. and with a
cool, polished, rather sarcastic manner
She was not cool when she got angry,
however. How her cheeks would redden
and her eyes flash, and what sharp things
would issue from her sharp cut hpsl
These outbursts used to frighten me
thoroughly. and yet often deliberately
provoked them because they convinced
me that my mother was human being
after all How imperious and impetuous
she was, John is her own son But she
was less generous in inparting her bralns
to her irStborn-he never had half her
mental resources. She used to read many
abs,r1se ana improving books III the old
DAYS. and she coul talk politics or phi
losophy or religion with anybody. though
doubt whether she was ever more reli-
gious than the proprieties of her position
required
OF late years she has eschewed the
higher walks of literature and has aban-
doned herself to novels. and even in her
choice of these she has gradually subsid-
ed from the classic lucubrations of Wal
ter Scott to such humble wayside flow
ers as are to be culled from the Seaside
libraries, varied occasionally with an
odd volume from the Partisan publca-
tions of Calmann. Levy & Gle. For my
part. so far from blaming her, applaud
her good sense An amusing novel is
like the best kind of gossip. Gossip is
proper to those whose days of youth and
activity are over. and as we see scarcely
any company no other gossip than that
of novels is accessible to the dowager
Lady Mainwaring,
Well. then, when mother approached
me with the manner which | have de-
| scribed knew at once that we were
about to discuss domestic matters, nor
was much at loss to divine what the
! particular matter would probably be.
| John and Sinfre had gone out for ride.
We were about to converse concerning
Sinfire and John. Mother seated herself
in the large japanese armchair-the one
made of split cane or bamboo. She just
fills it comfortably. She is very much
broader than she used to be, and her once
delicate complexion has acquired sub
stantial and permanent ruddiness. II
sometimes seems as if mother had not sc
much enlarged as actually become pos
sessed of different body from that in
which she spent her youth. If it were
not unbecoming to speculate about the
skeleton of ones parent, should be in
clined to think that her present osseous
! framework had been designed for Brit
ish fishwife Except for this physical
expansion. however, she remainsat least
as aristocratic as ever.
Rembrandt. or perhaps Rubens, would
have made a splendid portrait of her
Her eyebrows are set high in her fore
head: the spaces Immediately above anc
below the eve are full, showing a fluent
command of words; her nose is a mod
| crate but unmistakable aquiline; her up
per lipis thinner than the lower, which
! is nodded on resolute chin; her gray
hair is covered with black lace cap, thu
wide strings of which fall down OF
either side her cheeks; her summer cos
tune is ordinarily of some substance
which will venture to call black grena
dine, with lace embellishments and som'
glimpses of white ruching at the throa
and wrists it makes no attempt tt
mold itself closely ON her form, and it
antiquities are imposing as well as pru
dent Poor mother must suffer greatly
from the heat, but she never permits
herself to complain of it. She even fam
h. rself sparingly, as if she We're still de
termined to be the cool and slender crea
ture of 30 years ago. There is heroisn
in these little things. none the less be
cause it gains no renown.
Our conversation led to no definite re
suit Mother wanted John to marry
and she shares the general infatuatoi
regarding our Cousin Sinfre, and yet
| could perceive that her mind was no
entirely at ease. The forces of tradition
of convention. of temperament, wer
working in her against her special an'
arbitrary affection for this strange youn|
woman. Reason prompted her to dis
trust. or at least to wait and prove
while instinct. or something like that
urged blind acceptance. Between tn
| two nv excellent parent was unwonted