Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1898-06-23

My dear grdnnie, do go in; how I'M
wise to come out to the door" said
/ Cornelia
Whereupon the old lady, but half
understanding, held out her hand to
/ Esperance, till Cornelid herself led the
way to the prim little drawing room,
and taking up Mrs. PASSWORDS speak
| ing-trumpet, made the deaf old lady
understand who her companion was
"Amy's little girl come from France,
dear me, dear me, Come and kiss me,
my dear"
Esperance obeyed willingly enough.
but when Cornelia put the other end
Of the speaking-trumpe into her hand
with an injunction to SAY something"
every word Of English suddenly es-
capped her memory, and after a dread
full pause she could only say in French,
Il am pleased to see the friend of
my mother
Whereupon Cornelia frowned angrily,
and the old lady herself put down the
trumpet with a little laugh.
"Ah, you speak in French. and |
am not such a good scholar in that
respect as | used to be. Never mind,
we shall understand each other soon"
Esperance blushed crimson, vexed
at her failure, and some minutes passed
| before she had collected her thoughts
! enough to listen to the conversation
Yes, grew tired of st. Leonards,
Mrs. Passmore was saying. "The
house was draughty, too, and l began
to long for my old haunts; after ALL
my dear there is no place like home"
and are you comfortably settled
I iu?' asked Cornelia
Well pretty we'll; there is a great
/ deal to see to, and the days are short;
my rheumatism has been troublesome
to-day, and that is hinderance
| Could you spend a few days with me,
my dear you or Bertha? | should be
so glad to have you"
| Ccrneia did not at all wish to stay,
and began to hunt for excuses
Il am so busy just now, grannie, or
! / certainly would come, and Bertha
has a ccld or she might have helped
| you"
Mrs. Passmohe looked disappointed
Il am 50 sorry for that, it would have
been such a pleasure to have you. "
Then with smile again. Gould Amy's
little girl stay?"
! "Oh, certainly" said Cornelia, with
out referring 10 Esperance She shall
stay with you now. just as long as you
| like"
| And so the matter was settled, and
Cornelia soon took leave. turning just
at the last to Esperance with the
words, u will send down your things,
and the books you will want, and You
must walk in on Friday morning for
your lessons; | viii be ready for you
at eleven "
/ Then the carriage drove off, and
Esperance was left behind with mingl
/ ed feelings of relief at being away
/ from the deanery, anger at being so
summary disposed Of and awe Of
/ Mrs Passmore and the trumpet.
1 She was soon happy enough, how
/ ever for Mrs. Passmore was delighted
/ TO have a companion. and spared no
pains to make her comfortable and at
! home, She was charmed with her
curious old-fashioned bedroom, and
/ with the exquisite neatness OF the
whole house: there was a feeling Of
calmness and repose. too, which, with
/ all its dizziness, the deanery never
could attain, and most of all, the sense
/ OF being really wanted restored Esper-
ance 10 much OF her old cheerful
/ brightness,
/ The only drawback to her complete
/ happiness was Mrs. PASSWORDS deaf
ness; this had now been Of such long
/ duration that the old lady had fallen
| into silent habits and only twice in
I the long winter evenings did she take
up her trumpet But though silence
, or dizziness of any description We're
usually very uucongenial to Esper-
ance she was now too much out of
health, and too weary of the incessant
"uagging" OF her cousins not to be
thankful for the respite.
The busy idleness Of the next morn
ing. too, suited her admirably, She
enjoyed helping old Mrs Passmore in
her manifold tidyings and arrangings
and as the old lady could not feel COM
Portable till every drawer and cupboard
/ In the house had been systematicau
searched and sorted. she was kept fully
| occupied Her dainty little fingers
seemed 10 have a natural aptitude for
such work, and nothing came amiss TO
them, whether they dealt with stores
OF old lace, artificial flowers, venerable |
silk dresses, or chaotic odds and ends I
At last. while setting to rights the |
contents of an old secretary, she came
across a drawer full of letters. and
not liking TO break In upon their wild :
confusion, drew Mrs. PASSWORDS at .
tyutiou to them.
Letters? dear me-" exclaimed the T.
old lady; II thought I had sorted them /.
all last year. This will be an after |.
Moons work for us, Esperance"
Accordingly, after the two O'Clock .
dinner was over, and Mrs. Passmora .
hand IN lgan hsr Dsua1 siasta tho tu.1 T