Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1896-12-30
AUNT JEANS MISTAKE.
BY HELEN FORREST GRAVES.

placently, 'why shouldn't you per
dare say this young man can chow you
how he does it.
Kitty looked at the young man; the
young man looked at Kitty, and then
both burst into o hearty peal OF
laughter, to Aunt jeans great mystt-
fcation.
sob, aunty," said Kitty, still chok-
ing behind her pocket Handkerchief,
.'that isn't the way that artists are
made"
Half on hour later Kitty Fold was
out on the green, feeding her little
downy ducklings with scalded meal,
when Judge Laughington's carriage
drove up.
Kitty let the tin pail fall In her dis
may. To her, Miss Laughington, in
summer silk and diamonds, represent
cd oil that was elegant and adorable.
How she regretted that she still
wore her old blue gingharn gown, and
that her curls were all tangled by the
sweet, soft wind! :.
"Don't run away, Kitty, DEAR" said
Miss Laughington, beckoIling with her
ivory handled parasol. f'You are ths
very girl that I want to see. Ny
cousin, Mr.. Leigh, is coming down
this way to-day to sketch. I have told
him about those pretty, old ruins OF
the blacksmith's shop; SO, if he comes
past here" !.
"Ob, Miss Laughington," cried
Kitty, turning as scarlet as the big;
bunch of peonies at the corner of tho
house, she has come already! And
Aunt Jean set him to whitewashing.
and paid him quarter of dollar and
his dinner. Oh, how could we have
made such blunder%
Miss Laughington laughed.
"Blunder, child!" said she.
"Where's the blunder? If Horton
wants to do thing, he'll do it. If
not, the whole world couldn't compel
him."
And after the glisteniug carriage
had rolled away, Kitty Ford sat down
and cried.
Judge LaughiDgton's daughter
drove on to the ruined smithy, where
Mr.. Leigh was composealy quitting
in" the lights and shadows OF the old
chimney and the mullein.stalks.
But she went back to the stately
"Court" with bent brow and an ill
\ pleased expression of face.
"Horton is so awfully eccentricl"
said she. "There's no knowing what
ridiculous whim he will take up next.
For Mr.. Leigh had declined to ac'
oept the hospitalities of the Court.
"You always have such loads ol
ompauy there, Antonia," said he,
.and prefer qniet. No--Pll come
Up to see you when the spirit move:
me; but I'll pitch my tent in this
secluded dale. Il will be better Tor
rsal9 steady work. !" sGseep, liquid eye,
still haunted him.
"The prettiest girl ever sawl" he
kept repeating to himself. 'tA pure
spirit, dwelling in a lilly-like temple
/ must see more of her; I must sketch
her as 'Una.'"
So he went back that night, just aG
the dew was falling and the 'whippoor'
wills beginning to sing, and asked
Aunt Jean if he could occupy the little
room over the kitchen, where the
brick chimney perked ITSELF out, and
the one little window looked directly
into the bows of the old pear tree.
"Oh, I don't care" said good Aunt
Jean. "It's Kitty that does the house
work. She must decide"
"We are plain people," said Kitty,
blushing.
"Then I may come" said Horton
Leigh.
People were very much surprised
when Horton Leigh brought a blue
eyed country maiden to preside over
his city. mansion the next'fall.
But Kitty Ford, secure in innocent
happiness, never knew how many
tears Antonio Laughington had shed
over her cousins wedding card. And
Aunt Jean makes her boast that Kitty
has "store carpets" in every one oI
her rooms and carriage of her own.
"He's painter" said Aunt jean to
her friends. "Not o house painter.
but picture painter. And he knows
how to whitewssh q ceiling equal to
Perkins Polk. I guess there amt nc
fear but that he'll make Ills way in the
world. Anyhow, Kitty likes him, and
that's enough. Saturday Night.