Middletown transcript., 1895-03-16

IU-GUllIP eye ofthe camera.
Now and then a
sklff fun oi men from Oxford, very
young and only partially clothed, would
come swinging down the river. They
would put up for the night at the
pretty little rose-covered inn facing
the landing stage. or would erect q
most uncomfortable tent on the
island by the old mill; but pleasure
boats were comparatively few then in
those waters, and house-boats were
practically unknown.
So it happened one sunny morning
in June that the most of the idle in
habitants of the village were assembled
on the long, picturesque, wooden
bridge to watch the house-boat, called
the Meadow Sweet, towed to her moor
ings just below the weir. Now, q
bouse-boat has many advantages, but
no one can plead tor it that it is a very
handy craft. 1t was only by diut of
much exertion and good deal of solid
swearing that the Meadow Sweet fln-
ally bumped ungracefully against the
bank, and took up the position she Was
destined to maintain for the following
six months.
Dick Hardinge, who had been ca
reering fore and aft with long pole
and shouting frantic directions to the
bargee with the horse, who had tight
ened when he ought to have slackened, !,
and vice ce,:sa, as is the way of his kind,
came and flung himself, in a state OF
of alarming exhaustion, into a ham,
mock chair, and said,-
"For heavens sake, Lettie, max.
me lemon squashl'
But Lettie ungratefully paid no al
tention. She was running up anu
down, making rapturous exclamations
about the beauty of the charming red
rooted village which, softly veiled i'll
a delicate blue haze, lay at the foot of
the wooded hills.
"Such a dear, primitive little placel
How delightful it would be, the
world forgetting, by the world forgot
to dream ones life away among the
silent green water-meadows, besides
yon steep-roofed mill where the pur-
ple-breasted pigeons cluster"
Thus Lettle, ad infnitum-Lettie,
who in her normal condition, loved
nothing so much as to drive her rail
car in the park, to 60 to gossipy femi-
nine tea, to select little dinners and to
theatres and hops of all description.
"You are always drinking lemon
squashes, Dick.' said she presently.
"They are bad for you and dreadfully
reducing"
81 expect we will require good
deal of reducing soon," replied Dick,
manipulating the lemon squeezers with
a deftness horn of much practice, "Ii
is, of course, subject of much con-
graduation that here We know nobody.
You have held it out as the chief ad-
vantage of the upper Thames, but
with no picnic parties, no tennis, and
cushiony and most seductive punt III
tow, we shall l ; m certain, soon lose
all that neatness of outline which il
has long been our boast to possess"
The Meadow Sweet was the hired
property of one Charles Fenwick and
of Lettie his wife; and Dick Hard
inge, that much -to-be-envied creature,
an unattached bachelor, was theiI
guest. He was one of those slim, sun
burnt athletic looking young men ,wh,
looked exceedingly attractive in river
garb. He was popular with men, ant
women almost always liked him wheL
they knew him well, though ther.
were some who called him lazy ant
coDceited. He had nice old place il
the north Of England, which would
have made him very interesting, only
everyone knew he was so hard up ht
had to let it; and W hat was still less t.
be got over was the fact that he was
engaged to be married.
None of his friends have seen Dick's
financee and wha5 was certainly rathe,
remarkable, he had never seen hei
himself. His engagement was one OF
those which one sometimes reads OF il.
stories, and which are, | suppos.
sometime to be met in real life. ii
was one of money; match of conveL-
fence, purely. His cousin, Mary Mus
grave, had the money. He had tht
property. 1t had been her fathers
wish that these might be united again
by a match between the young couple.
He had made Mary give her consent
at a time when she was Indifferent &.
anything else in the world except hel
grief at his approaching death, and ht
had written long letter to Dick, VIII
being heart-whole, saw the force of hi
uncle's argument, and agreed to the
proposition.
He allowed decent time to elaps
after his uncle's death, and then be
wrote to his cousin letter, which un
der the circumstances, he could no!
help making rather more business
like than lover-like. He represented
her fathers wishes, ventured to HOPE
that they might not be distasteful t.
her, and trusted that before long the,
might have an opportunity of meeting
and getting to know each other.
Mary. in reply, said that she was