The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1898-08-16
FINDING A LOVER.
"Ladybug, ladybug, fly awayi
Bring me q bean without delay .

Lady Dug, lauyDug, ny aWayi
Bring me a beau without delay
st. Andrews night had come around
just is times in the brief existence of
Martha McClintock, and for years at
the midnight hour of the fateful day
the girl had said her little speech to the
ladybug.
1t is an old superstition that he or she
who desires to be happily mated must
find ladybug on St Andrews day
The tiny black beetle must be imprison-
ed all day and be given its liberty in
the witching hour of ghosts and COB
Inns. Then within a year will come a
beau to marry the lady fair.
In Honiton township every boy and
girl, since they were old enough to know
anything of beaus and sweethearts, fol-
lowed the old time superstitious custom
on St. Andrews night If any of them
married within the year, they extolled
the efficacy of the charm Of the lady
bug, and the young folk of Honiton be-
lieved all the more faithfully in it
Martha McClintock began to try the
charm at the age of IA, not because she
lacked schoolboy beaus, for she was a
pretty girl, but because marriage meant
to her more than lover and protect
or. 1t meant deliverer from an un-
kind fate.
The McClintocks belonged to some Of
the Oldest families of Virginia. They
had been well to do once upon time,
but had become impoverished Grief
carried away Martha's mother, and
then her father died, leaving the poor
girl alone in the world, save for the
kinship of an old aunt, who had become
estranged from the family many years
ago. She was the sister of Martha's ia
ther, who had forever incurred the dis
pleasure of his family by marrying the
prettiest girl in an adjoining township
rather than the bride they had chosen
for him.
70 this aunt, who was well off in
worldly goods, Martha was sent by the
town authorities The girl was not
welcome gift from the township, but in
view of her close relation to Martha S
father and her ability to house and feed
and clothe her she could not we'll refuse
to receive her To tie the sensitive ten
der, young creature, who had been
loved to idolatry by two doting parents
to sour old maid, who looked with af-
lection upon no one but half dozen
cats, was like imprisoning lark in a
dismal cage.
In this loveless atmosphere the child
grew into a maiden She was given as
good an education as the place afforded,
for her spinster aunt stunned the criti-
cism of her neighbors, which would
have been poured out upon her had
she neglected to give SO bright girl
the necessary schooling. Martha learned
rapidly. She took advantage of every
opportunity to enrich her mind, and as
all the teachers were fond of her and
sought to bring as much brightness as
possible into the young girl life her
school days were among the happiest of
her existence At the age of 16 her
guardian took her from school, beliey-
ing that she had done enough so far as
her niece's mental development was
concerned
A life of drudgery began with that
day for Martha McClintock The serv,
ant was dismissed and she was install
ed as maid Of all work The tedium and
hardship of mental labor might have
been borne in patience had she not been
cut off from all companionship with the
young people of the place She met them
only on Sunday at church, and even
then the ogre eye of the spinster con.
fined the intercourse to a mere greeting
or friendly handshake from the more
courageous youths of the village
The monotony Of her lonely life made
Martha Respondent, and her daily prayer
was one for deliverance from the serf-
dom. Thus st. Andrews day came for
the eighteenth time in the young girl s
life, and in accordance with the custom
Of the young folks Of her acquaintance
she searched high and low for lady
bug among the shrubs of her aunt IS
garden. The season was late and the
bugs and beetles had not come out as
early as formerly Ladybugs were I'M
usually scarce that year. and Martha
was sorely disappointed when her search
awaited her nothing
In bitter tears over her hard lot the
girl retired for the first time since she
could remember, unable to carry out the
charm with the ladybug
Her sleep was restless and frequent
ly broken by the sobs she could not
control At midnight she arose. Per-
haps she would find a ladybug, after
all, if she went out now in the moon
light and renewed her search among the
grapevines that trailed around the fence
at the far end of the garden. Softly she
crept down stairs and out of the rear
door. Her aunt was sound sleeper,
and the girl felt safe from her molesta-
tons She hurried down to the fence,
the moon guiding her footsteps as it
peeped out from underneath a cloud.
Soon it shone full and white over the
entire landscape, bringing into bold re-
lief every object in the garden. The big
the darker background. The dewdrops
sparkled like diamonds, and busy ants
that crawled over them were distinctly
visible Suddenly Martha stopped.
There, away up near the top of the
fence, she saw a ladyhug perched on a
leaf which stood out straight and firm
like tray. 1t was asleep, sound asleep,
and Martha had no trouble in breaking
the leaf from the stem and securing the
coveted prize
"Ladybug, ladybug fly away
Bring me beau without delay"
cried the girl, hope, longing, anguish,
expressed in her voice.
A loud groan answered in the dis
lance The girl trembled. Help, helpl'
cried the voice of man.
Martha's first impulse was to fly to
the house. but her better nature assert
ed itself. A human being was in dis