Pawtucket tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 1890-189?, 1894-07-20
CINDA'S RIDE.

Hetty Shelter wns made up ono-kourtn
OF beauty, one-fourth Of intelligenoe, one
eighth u light accomplishments, one
eighth Of loving kindness and one-fourth
Of frolic The reader Will note that this
method Of statement saves long strings OK
mucilaginous platitudcs about fathomless
orbs dropping lashes, faultioss form and
pecping feet that norvously pat on occa-
sion, etc.
Hetty was ls and she had beau, and
this beau loved fun and Hetty as much as
Hetty loved fun and him lt Is certain
this prospective match was made In heav-
en-, for their reciprocal fitness was com
plete Hetty enjoyed the be-beaued sen
sation SO much that she wanted every girl
friend to have n bean She specially pitied
Lucinda Stocking, who had careered beau
lessly far into the thirties
"CindA, as she was faniliarly called,
exhausted In her personality All the posi-
bilities OF scrid spinsterism. She was pain;
fully pcrpendicular In person and manner
and was ~ neat it made you uncomfort-
able. She WAS prim, precise and punctil
ious In every thought and action, and her
daily life was an epitome OF prudery. She
had no use for the "horrid men," and she
dotted on Baxter's Saints Rest" and on
her Maltese cat Et.s
In the same town lDad John Hatfield,
a bachelor of az John was an exoeeding-
ly proper man and was much more afraid
OF women than Of cholera or smallpox or
even a rampant dynamite bomb. He was
not woman hater and had always In
tended TO marry whom tho fright woman"
should come along. 1t began TO look like
she would never show up.
Hetty conceived the audacious scheme
of bringing these two into the relationship
Of lovers. She was full Of resource and
had no end of that innocent cunning and
flncsse which, properly adjusted and
worked, win circumvont fate Itself. With
out firing the render with tedious detail,
it Is enough to state that within a month
from the time Hetty put her plan on foot
she had John and CiDda on speaking
terms. This represented feat In d.
plolnacy which was littlo short Of marvel
GUS. In another month the intimacy be-
tween John and Cinda had grown and
warmed so marvelously that they actually
went To church together on one Sunday
owe. The surprise OF the people was only
exceeded by the astonishment OF John and
Cinda themselves Thinking about IL
made John doubt his own identity, while
glance into the Immediate past and
prcsent sent Clnda into catalepsy OF
dazed self insufiiciency. The gossips had
settled It that the marriage OF this couple
was inevitable-that nothing short OF
death could prevent It.
Hetty had nice horse and road cart at
her command Like all girls, she was
crazily fond Of n drive Thinking 1t hu-
manizing and socially improving to ride
out, she had lately ooaxed Cinda Into
her cart This ancient damsel got at last
really submissive about 1t and would 60
with Hetty without having to be ooaxed
more than ''just tiny bit, as Hetty ex-
pressed it
On one beautiful Sunday afternoon
Hetty overcame Cinda's religious scruples
and propriety sense sufficiently To get her
into her cart with herself. She wanted to
show people how human and modernized
Cinda had become They drove out In
the country, called on some friends, stop
ped by the way and gathered some flowers
and with these pinned on their bosons
chatted pleasantly and contentedly as Mel
lie trotted abstractedly along. Hetty was
typical girl driver. She was particular
not TO keep her lines taut, was careful
to look In every other direction except
ahead, scorncd to pick the road for her
animal, and perpetually forgot that the
horse, with all his noble qualities, Is a
dumb brute.
Just before entering town, and while
Hetty was discoursing eloquently upon
the perfectly proper and very elegant figure
they were cutting (this to quiet Cinda' a
scruples, who as they neared town began
to feel self condemned), the horse stumbled
and went clear down. The sudden stop
page procipitated both Hetty and Cinda
over the dash and astride the horse, Hetty
In front and Cinda behind. Tho marc In
stantly recovered her feet and started of
very briskly. As Hetty had nothing TO
brace her feet against, her feeble tugging
at the reins only stimulated Nellie 70
greater spced--she soon broke into spir-
tied cantcr And thus they entered town
and thus travorsed the main street TO the
end where Hetty lived The sidewalks
were full of people who were ont prom
enading and enjoying the beautiful weath-
err The Jolt had busted" their Psyche
knots, and their hair streaIned wildly out
behind, while there was swapping and
fiuttering OF skirts and things which was
truly animating
As they few along Hetty caught a
glimpse of her beau, who. with a comical
smirk. politely tipped his hat Although
outrageously embarrassed over her situa-
tion, it had been all che could do 10 re-
strain her laughter. The dToll act Of her
lover snapped the puoker strings Of her
self control, and she burst into ringing
laughter This had the effect Co make her
equostrianism seem voluntary. The street
boys screoohed with delight. many Of them
In the excess of their glee throwing cart
wheels and turning handsprlngs, etc,
while the sober citizens felt scandalized
and were profoundly shocked The agonies
OF Cinda during this forced piece Of bare
back riding were something too excruci-
ating TO be even conceived, much less de
scribed.
They reached Hetty's homo In safety,
and her father, astonished into speechless-
ness, assisted them TO the ground. AS soon
as Cinda touched terra nrma she loosed a
food Of the most startling profanity, thus:
La goodnessl Sakes alivei Mercy mel
The awful awfulness Of this awful thing
Is Jest too toredown dreadful at alli Then,
with her bonnet pulled well down In front,
she hurried home and hid away there,
deeply and darkly determined to never be
seen on the street again.
The affair shocked John 20 the very
basement Of his being, and while he still
has longings with reference 20 Cinda he
thinks IL perfectly reasonable In her TO ab.
jure all society, including himself, and to
spend the rest OF her life In self abasement
and absolute seclusion. w. q. Cooper In
Cincinnati Post.