The Somerset reporter., 1898-08-11
FINDING A LOVER.
'J4adybug, ladybug, fly awayl
Bring me "a beau without delay. u

Bring me a beau without delay"
st. Andrew s night had come around
just Is times i'll 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 witchlng hour of ghosts and COB
Inns Then within year will come
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 a protect
Or 1t meant a deliverer from an I'M
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 III an adjoining township
rather than the bride they had chosen
for him.
To this aunt, who was we'll off in
worldly goods, Martha was sent by the
town authorities. The girl was not a
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 well 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 at
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 splnster aunt stunned the crit
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 We're fond of her and
sought to bring as much brightness as
possible into the young girl S life her
school days were among the happiest of
her existence. AT the age of Is her
guardian took her from school, believ-
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