Arizona silver belt., 1894-06-30
FRED'S AUNT.

upon 1t one of the few distinctions il
 could boast--namely, that of possessing
 the very bashfulest man in the whole
 university. But his college did not treat
 him with any excess of aduiation or
 that account probably from a prudent
 fear of rubbing tho bloom of his mod.
 esty. They allowed him to blush un,
 seen, which was the condition in which
 he preferred to blush.
 He felt himself oppressed by pau.
 city of ideas and adifilcuIty in knowing
 which way to look in the presence of
 his fellow men, which made him ne,,a,
 so happy as when he hsS fastened his
 outer door and secured Himself from all
 possbihtv of intrusion, though it was
 almost an unnecessary precaution, for
 nooocy ever thought of coming to see
 siushington
 In appearance he was Q man of mid.
 ale height with q long scraggy neck
 and large head, which gave hin the
 air of being much shorter than he really
 was He had little weak eyes, nose
 and mouth of no particular shape and
 very smooth hair of no definite color.
 He had timid, deprecating air, which
 seemed due to the consciousness that he was an uninteresting anomaly, and he
 certainly was as impervious to the ordi
 nary influence of his surroundings as
 any undergraduate well could be. He
 hved a coloriess, aimless life in his lit.
 tie rooms under the roof, reading every morning from till 9 with a supersti
 uously mechanical regularity, though very often his books completely failed to convey any ideas whatever to his brain, which was not particularly powerful organ.
 If the afternoon was fine, he generally sought out his one friend, who was a few degrees less shy than himself. and they took monosyllabic walk together, or if it was wet he read the papers at the Union, and in the evenings after hall he studied general literature "a graceful term for hoyels---or laboriously spelled out sonata upon his piano, a habit which did not increase his popu. iarity
 Fortunately for Flushiugton, he had no gyp, or his life might have been made positive burden to him, and with his bcdmaker he was rather favorite as "a gentleman what gave no trouble" meaning that when he observed his sherry unaccountably sinking, like the water in lock when the sluices are up. Flnshington was loo delicate to refer to the phenomenon.
 He was sitting one afternoon over his modest lunch of bread and butter, pot ted meat and lemonade, when all at once he heard sound of unusual voices and strange ffrtter of dresses coming up the winding stone staircase outside and was instantly seized with cold dread
 There was no particular reason for being alarmed. although there were cer. tainly ladies mounting the steps-prob- ably they were friends of the man oppo. site, who was always having his people 1p. But still Flushington had that odd | presentiment which nervous people have | sometimes that something unpleasant is 1n it's way Co them, and he half rose rom his chair to shut his outer oak.
 It was too late; the dresses were rus. ling now in his very passage, there was l pause, few faint smothered laughs md little feminine coughs, then two 'aps at the door
 Come in, cried Flushington faint. y. He wished he had been reading any. hing but the work by NJ. Zola, which vas prOpped up in front of him. It is our mild man who frequently has a aste for seeing the less reputable side f life in this secondhand way, and Washington would toll. manfully trough the voluminous pages, hunting p every third word in She dictionary, gith a sense of injury when, as was of. en the case, it twasnot to be found. Still here was a sort of intellectual orgie bout it which had strong Vaccinations pr him, while he knew enough of the inguage to be aware when the incidents pproached the improper, though he 'as not always able to see quite clearly ] what this impropriety consisted
 The door opened, and his heart seemed stop, and all the blood rushed vio- : 'ntly to his head as large lady came ! weeping in, her face rippling with ' road smile of affection. She mortified Flushington, who knew bloody with the least claim to smile at ' i'm so expansively as that He drank ! to conceal his confusion. You don know me, my dear Fred?" 10 said easily "Of course not--how V 'ould you? Pm--for goodness sake, my 'ar boy, don't look so terribly fright. Q led! I'm your aunt--your Aunt Anne D. come over from Australian Q Tho shock was severe one to Flush. ] gUon, who had not even known he DOS. ssed such relative. He could only J. "oh, which he felt even then was ? arcely warm greeting to give an | mt from tho antipodes. t "Oh, but, " she added cheerily, hats not all I'vs another surprise c r you. Tho dear girls would insist on n ming up, too, to see their grand col ' ge cousin. They're just outside I'll q II them in; shall I?'' n In another second Flushiugton' lall room was overrun by a horde of male relatives, while he looked on r spiEg W They were pretty girls, too, many of s' em, but that was all the more dread e l so him. Ho did notmind the plainer q cs half so much A combination of T autv and intellect redncaI hin, tn n