Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1895-01-04

NtBEEHafIH5EAtH hlI 1HiI GOWN aQC
adore mademoiselle no?"
The Belle--"No, not all the men.
Some of them. Enough of them.
(Sighine). Too many of them"
The Maid--"That is good. Made
moiselle has embarrassment Of choice.
The Belle Yes, an embarrassment
of choice. Yon speak truly, Celeste.
(Sighing again). 1t is that which
makes me--but, bah why think of it
ali? I suppose it is the experience of
all girls like me in society, with a for
tune, face and facile tongue.
There! That will DO for tonight,
Celeste; I am going to sit up for a
little. may read and 1 may write, l
cannot say
The Maid (horrifed) )--"But made
moiselle has already lost SO much of
the beauty sleep"
The Belief am restless. Be-
sides, if all be true that men have
told me tonight, 1 do not need it.
Good night. Celeste"
The Maid-''Good night, mademoi-
selle!' Exit maid).
The Belle (alone)-''Five proposals
in one night. That is, counting one
that suppose does not-ought not to
count. Four of them at any rate such
as girl in her second season should
jump at. AS for the fitth-welI, [
won't think of it, [ mean, if 1 can help
it l won't. Yet-but what nonsense !
Let me review the others. First came
old Totterly. Sixty years old lie said
he was. He is eighty, if he is day.
Worth four millions, he said. That
part is probably true. But, oh! Let
us pass on to the next Philip Eyer
ton Denning, the writer and thinker !;
the literary lion of the season. Funny
he should fancy me. I like him, too,
myself. ] cannot help admiring his
intellect, and I feel that [ should
always respect him. Yet-(muses sew
eral minutes, then si9hs). Who next?
Oh, yes. Laughing heartily. Imust
not forget him. Lord Tuffnut, the
latest British importation, who did
me the honor to offer me, with a
monocle in one fishy eye, his title, his
mortgaged estates and the family
tree that, in its time, has borne an
abundance of just such overripe fruit
as he is. And for what? My youth,
beauty, and money. Nonsense. Next
Ahem! The same thing, in a measure,
only of our own manufacture. Tracy
de Puyster Van Treffer, of the most
cerulean of blue blooded Knicker-
booker stock. Truly our country has
reached wonderful height in her in
dustries when she can turn out any
thing SO nearly like the English arti
Gle, even to his morals. as Tracy de
Puyster Van Treffer There they are,
all of them, labelled to the best posi-
BILE advantage. All-except Jack.
Poor Jack Well, might as we'll list
him. Jack Willoughby. Something
down town. Poor as a church mouse,
handsome as Apollo, and true as steel
Ah, we'll (sighing) suppose must
not think of him. It is lucky, though,
that some one interrupted us when he
proposed, or ] might have said yes. l
was overcome with the heat of the
ball room and when he put his arm
around me, and whisperingly begged
for an answer, felt SO weak, for the
moment, that 1 don't think l should
have had strength to refuse him. But
somebody came, somebody always
does, and I suppose l am safe.
promised them all an answer in a week.
An embarrassment of choice, Celeste
said, CLOSES her eyes and thinks.)
A half hour or more passes, during
which the belle appears to sleep. Sud
denly she opens her eyes.
The Belief must have slept. But
nothing in my dreams seemed to offer
me any help. Oh, dear! Is there
anything or anybody that can show
me what to do?''
A voice-"There is
The Belle (startled)-"Good gra-
cious! What was that?"
A Voice-''Don't be frightened. 1t
was l."
The Belle (still more alarmed}-
"But who are you? Where are you?"
A Voice-'sYour mirror"
The Belle-"But, good heavens !!
Mirrors cannot speak.
The Mirrors can do a
great many more things than people
give them credit for. We reflect;
why should we not speak? That we
can do SO is proved by my talking to
you now. I have listened to all you
have thought and would help you"
The Belle (trembling)-"Was I
thinking aloud?"
The Mirror-.'No. But you cannot
think and look into my face without
every thought being known to me
even though 1 may not reveal what is
in your mind Iwant to help you to
decide yur future. Are you willing,
that I shuld?''
The Belle "You mean with regard
to"
The Mirror (blandly)-'I mean
with regard to the five proposals you
received tonight.
The Belle latter pause)-'Which
al,aL. Z sooa,at q,