The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1896-05-14

now the young woman's D name and res0-
lutely rang the bell. Stating the ma
ture Of his errand to the servant who
admitted him, he soon found himself
in the presence Of the object Of his
visit, whose beauty and majestic bear
ing made such an impression upon him
that he remained riveted to the spot,
gazing at her and forgetting the formal.
ity Of introducing himself, he forgot all
but the vision before him. After ON
awkward pause Of few moments the
girl, her face turning crimson under his
admiring glances, said in somewhat
displeased tone, "Wii you kindly In
form me Of the nature Of this call?''
The young man apologized for his
seeming rudeness and handed her the
pocketbook, which she at once recog-
nized as belonging to her friend Amalie.
Explaining all, the two were soon en-
crossed in an animated conversation,
though she did not at first seem dis
posed to overlook his indiscretion Of
reading the contents Of the letter to her
friend. But the young man pleaded so
earnestly and looked so crestfallen that
she smilirgly held out her hand, which
Charles gratefully grasped and carried
to his lips, perhaps trifle impulsively,
for she quickly Withdrew it,
To tell the truth, Miss Clara seemed
to like the young foreigner, and before
he left she had mentioned the fact that
she and her friend Amalie would meet
that evening at the Court theater, which
would give her chance to return the
pocketbook to its owner. More than
that, Charles, by few adroitly put
questions, knew the exact location Of
the seats to be occupied by the party.
Of course he was there-a good deal
too early too The doors had hardly been
opened, and he was for quite awhile
alone in the vast auditorium, Willing
away the slowly creeping time by study
of the curtain, the chandelier, the carv-
ings ON boxes and galleries and by in-
specting everything within the reach Of
his eyes. When the two young women
arrived, after having sorely tried Char
lies patience, they, or at least Clara.
found, to her surprise (?), the young fell
low seated in the stall next to hers and
introduced him to her companion as
"Mr. Berner Of San Francisco" who
had found her pocketbook.
y
The phlegm which usually character
lied every movement Of the worthy land
lord of the Blue Lion at M had all
at once disappeared. Since the receipt of
the letter from America he knew no
rest. The best room was put in readiness
for the expected guest, he inspected the
house from top to bottom, he scolded the
servants incessantly, and never before
had his good wife known him to be such
q tyrant and so hard to please More
than that, he would go to the parson and
schoolteacher and make them point out
to him the map of America and tell him
about California, and in the evening he
would impart this knowledge to his
guests in the taproom, showing for the
hundredth time the letter and talking
about the rich young relative from the
: far west.
His daughter Marie took things much
, more quietly. If she liked him, she
, would be his wife; if not, she was firm.
ly resolved not to marry him, riches o,
no riches In due time, she said to her.
self, she would find one who loved hel
and whom she loved in return.
-
One day in the latter part Of August
a carriage and pair were seen to ap.
J proach the sleepy little town Of M.
Its sole occupant was Henry Decker,
who alighted some distance from the
place, near the mines, which to inspect
he had come all the way from Ham.
burg.
}, Tired and out Of sorts he wended his
way along the dusty highway and ell.
tered the town. Reaching the market
place he was spied by the portly host Of
, the Blue Lion, who leaned against the
, threshold in anything but good humor,
on account Of the protracted delay in
, the arrival Of his long expected nephew.
He looked hard at the stranger. No.
, body he knew in this neighborhood was
, 90 fashionably dressed A thought shot
, through his brain. The approaching
: man was his young relative, Charles
Berner from America and no other! Nc
, one but All American looked like this.
Quickly summoning wife and daughter,
, and running down the steps as fast as
his portliness would admit, he embraced
and kissed the stranger repeatedly, ex.
: claiming:
"At last! At last! We have been ex
! pecting you for the longest time. How
is your father? Well, I hope! But come
inside and rest. Look, here are my wife
and daughter. The older Of the two il
} my wife, your-well of course you,
, aunt And now kiss all around, as nea,
relatives should.
} Decker tried hard to unwind himself
| from the old mans tight embrace
, which almost deprived him Of breath,
but in vain. No chance to explain that
there was mistake. At last, all hi
, could utter was, "If you think, if you
, believe, sir, that p
"What the dickensl'' the old man in
terrupted. "Of course believe, nay,
even insist that you all kiss and become
, better acquainted. Such is our fashion
. among relatives, and no doubt among