The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-07-24

| theless still pursued her with more " less
attention, for McBurnie was a name to con-
| jure with and covered many a transgres-
| sion of parliamentary as well as social law.
| 1t was quite late in the autumn when
/ Mrs LIE Grande Potter came to town
| the guest of the Emerson Club lie Grande
| Potter was a poet of rising fame. His verse
was considered strong" possibly because
he INDUCED in strong language and rhymed
yeIp and whelp and had all sorts of things
| below and belch and spew. AT any rate.
his WIFE whom he persstently sighted and
VIGOROUSLY abused. was trying to live up to
her husbands reputation and went about
reading his poems to such appreciative
bodies as volunteered to pay her expenses
and furnish the need of appreciation req
uisite for an evenings entertainment. In
her letter of acceptance to the Emerson
! Club she made the following somewhat dis
] turbing statement:
Not the least Of my anticipations in COM
| ing to McBurnieville is the hope of meet
| ing Miss McBurnie, the daughter of our
revered and deplored Ex-Governor. / feel
| that have peculiar claim upon her be-
| cause, when I a very little girl, her
| father made a Fourth of July Grafton at
my home. was dressed in a little white
| frock and presented him with bouquet of
| flowers. Although so small, remember the
| fatherly way in which he patted my little
| head, though he was but a young man. 1t
was during his candidacy for Governor.
] remember he quite won my dear mothers
heart, and she said father must vote for
him, which he did. although a member of
| the other party"
To have an ex-Governor's daughter in the
same town and be unable to exhibit her
! try ha natl of lccc ocSix
| club than the Emerson, and it was decided
to make one more effort to awaken Miss
! McBurnie to sense of her obligation to
society. The ladies who called upon her
| for that purpose reported an entirely diff
| ferent reception from that given to Mrs.
Blair. They found the mistress of the Nc
! Burnie mansion seated upon a richly cusl-
| Toned couch in front of cracking wood
| fire. Her splendid grand piano was Uttered
! with music, a partly finished water color
! sketch adorned an easel by the window,
/ and on old-fashoned mahogany table
! stood a vase of rich red roses, shedding
| their rare perfume about the room. Miss
| McBurnie herself was robed in a gown of
| some wonderful fabric and fashion which
McBurnieville eyes had never before seen.
| She greeted her visitors cordially and
! served cake and wine to them upon old
4
| board in the dining room.
1T is one of nay lazy, luxurious days."
| she told them, and gave a rather preoccu-
pied consent when they invited her to meet
Mrs. Potter at Mrs. Blairs on a certain
| day.
On the eventful afternoon Miss McBurnie
| arrived rather late and seemed in decid-
| eddy disconnected frame of mind. She ran
her eye over the "stuffy" arrangement of
| Mrs Blair's parlor and regarded with pos
/ tive disfavor the tissue-paper decorations
/ in the ''colors" of the club. A rather fussy
| lady in rustling gown handed her a slip
of paper with the whispered instruction that
it was her quotation.
What for?" inquired Miss McBurnie.
quite audbly.
In reply to the lady's hurried explanation
| that she was expected to respond with it
when called upon, the guest of second i'm
portance thrust the paper back. Il really
don't care to read it, she remarked. II
don't like Emerson This Hitch your wag
on to star is so hackneyed, and never
could see the least bit of sense in it any,
way. I'll just listen, IL you please"
During the reading of the minutes and the
quavering delivery of quotations Miss Nc
Burnies face grew momently darker, and
Blair's most impressive presiding, she
| startled the assembled body out of all par
liamentary etiquette Is i4sing and advance
ing toward Mrs. Potter, remarking quite
audibly: II will bid you good afternoon,
Mrs. Potter, I am glad to have met you and
1 really must he going'
The meeting sat aghast at this blunder
and one lady, noted for tact upon such oc-
casions, remarked, without addressing the
chair, "Oh, Miss McBurnie, our meeting
isn't half over We shall hear Mrs. Potter
read presently and then we are going to
engage in little intellectual contest, that
of guessing the number of beans in glass
jar. / am sure you will win it
Thank you very much,' cut in Miss Nc
Burnie but if you'll excuse me 1 believe I
will get out in the open air. feel rather
smothered."
The polite circles of McBurnevile did not
soon recover from the shock of this deadly
breach Of etiquette. Miss McBurnie's name
was vigorously excluded from all invitation
lists, except for dinners given by the old
families, who felt that they must entertain
| her for her fathers sake. Besides she
really was a charming dinner guest, con-
| versing brilliantly and seeming entirely ap-
preciative of hospitality. Those who met
| her at certain Of these dinners could scarce
| ly realize that she was the uncouth person
| who had disgraced the town in the eyes of
| Mrs. LIE Grande Potter and actually had
| the temerity to snub Mrs j. Dabney Blair.
1t was about a year after Miss McBur-
! MES home coming that the new courthouse
was built, and the people were not surprised
| to find that she was violently opposed to
the new edifice.
1T seems to me- she said sadly sitting
on Mr.. Ballingers front steps one spring
twilight. lit seems to me as if I couldn't
endure to see the old one torn away. That
| little square courthouse stayed in my men,
! DRY all the time lived abroad and many
| a time when L would be walking through
| some splendid art gallery or dim cathedral
| aisle, feeling oppressed with the magnfi-
cence and loneliness of the place. and
| troubled by a haunting sense of unreality
/ would close my eyes and catch vision
of that funny little cupola rising out of the
/ trees, the white pigeons wheeling and flut-
tering about it, and soon 1 would feel set
tied and collected again. AS soon as father
| died 1 felt must come back to it, this little
| honey village, and the places that knew
| me when I was a child
The laying of the cornerstone of the new
| temple of justice was to be attended with
much ceremony. There was to be speak
| ing ana no less a parsonage than the newly
elected Governor of the State was invited