The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-09-02
Poor Aunt Priscilla.

| ufeh Although We called her aunt, she
really was a great-aunt. and. being at
least sixty years old. she seemed to be-
long to ditferent world from ourselves.
1t was impossible to imagine her as ever
having been young. So far as we could
remember. she had always looked pre-
eiseIy the same
She was tall. thin. and, for her years.
wonderfully active. very upright in her
bearing. Sitting rigifly erect in her chair
and scornihg the assistance of the straight
carved back. For her height she had
rather small head; her smooth grey hair
peeDed out from beneath quaint mob
cap; she had keen eyes that missed moth
| ing. Aunt Priscilla's expression varied
| according to the position of her glasses
! upon her nose. which. being long, gave
her fairly wide range. When she took
sights at us from the extreme tip we
knew she was better left alone; when the
| spectacles were set close Nd, to her face,
we could approach without fear. But
when they were laid aside altogether
| there was often a dreamy look in her
eyes. and then she was always kindest.
| At such times cake could be safely relied
| upon. And what cake ii was, In spite
L
member the taste of it yet, and l do not
believe that anything half so good is made
now.
Nobody who had once seen Aunt Pfis-
ella would be likely to forget her Her
attire was verv old fashioned, the dress
being short WASTED and puffed at the
sleeves. which terminated in neat bands
OF velvet. Upon her wrists were long,
stin white cuffs. and upon her fingers a
great number OF curious old rings. As she
was sipgularly quick in noticing the
changes that went on around her-quick
In commenting upon them, too-we
thought 1t strange that she should cling
to style which had long gone out of date
Her riding habit was the wonder and adj
miration CT the neighborhood, for moth
ing like 1t had been seen for nearly half
century. The skirt was green in color
and of extreme length and she wore with
1t loose Jacket and a very broad brim-
med straw hat with an ostrich feather.
For Aunt Priscilla still rode, though
only on Sundays. the distance to church
being rather far for her. She had {. little
grey pony. which was supposed to be as
old as herself. and punctually at the first
stroke of the bells for morning service she
was assisted into her saddle and rode
away down the hill at walk, the man
servant following on foot with her pray
er book, hymn book, and the Bible.
Whether it was uphill, downhiIl, or on the
Nat, she never varied the pace-out OF
consideration. she said for her old four
footed friend. When the service came to
an end the pony would be waiting at the
church door. and my father bareheaded
and in his surplice. used to escort the old
lady cut and help her to mount During
this ceremony the greater part of the con-
gregation stood around some of the school
children perched upon the tombstones to
get better view. and all wearing an ex-
preston of serious interest. But as soon
as Aunt Priscilla was in the saddle and
fairly on her way towards the gate, eye
sought eye. and kindly smile went round
the circle.
Everybody was fond of Aunt Priscilla. |
in spite of her sharp tongue. They liked |
her delicious cakes. her famous anchovy !
butter, her mock ginger (made out OF !
carrots according to a receipt which she |
kept secret. her orange wine. over which |
my father used to smack his lips with |
great gusto. and. more than ALL they liked /
the old lady herself. When any dispute
arose. it was usually referred to her for /
arbitration; and so strong was her sense /
of justice that she always pronounced in !!
favor of the younger and weaker for {
which reason her decisions never failed /
" give f1eT lnHueDCe was [
the more remarkable as she was not |
native of Cronkeary. Born in Liverpool, /
she had only removed to. that picturesque l
little village among the mountains when 4
her girlhood was past. But she had lived /
there ever since. and had drawn after her
other members of the family my father /
becoming the vicar, one of my uncIes the /
doctor and another the lawyer: so we
seemed to have taken complete possession |
Of the village.
There was tradition in the family that |.
Aunt Priscilla had once been in love, but
we children could not believe it. Not that /
we understood much about such matters.
The outward sign, as exhibited. by our
mother. was a double allowance OF jam,
a fact which did not appear to fit the
present case But one pair of lovers
Bob. the grocer's son. and Hetty the mil
ler's daughter-had come within our ken,
and as we had more than once seen them
kissing by the waterfall in the glen, We
others by their standard. And
we could not imagine anyone burning to
kiss Aunt Priscilla. For although she was
a charming old lady. her cheeks. when
she presented them to us, were depress-
ingly cold to the lips.
At the same time we guessed that she |
had a secret of some sort In her little
drawing room. among the quaint old fur |
niture and china which she busted her.
self every Saturday morning, was an in
laid cabinet. which had a peculiar fasci-
nation for us. because it was always lock-
ed. Upon one occasion, when Aunt Pris-
ella was asked about it. there came into
her face such a strange expression that
we never ventured to allude o the subject
again But the incident added greatly
10 our curiosity. We wove all manner OF
stories around the cabinet. and
II it had contained jewels of fabulous
value we should not have been much sur
Drised. We often fingered near it for
hours. hoping to discover something about
t.
II fell to my lot to make that discovery. |
Something had happened-at this distance
Of time l forget what-but / burst into the
room very suddenly one evening and then
stopped, for there was the cabinet actual {
" open. aud Aunt Priscilla sitting by its {
side in the dusk. Upon her lap lay a bun
lie of faded letters tied with ribbon,
miniature. and a lock OF fair hair. which
lad been neatly folded up in paper. As s
he cabinet was empty, these were evil |
iently the whole of its contents.
l confess it was a grievous disappoint-
nent-a most prosaic ending to all our {
ireams. But curiosity drove me forward r
crept timidly to Aunt Priscilla's side and I
,azed at the miniature 1t represented a !
young man Of about two-and ,
wenty.
What a pretty man, Auntt' exclaim-
ID. WHO is it?''
Perhaps it was my praise that induced
Ter to answer can give no other reason
after she had been silent so long
"A young gentleman, dear" she said
who was very fond Of me-