The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1901-05-24
HER AFFINITY.

Brown was the poet who wrote the ex-
quisite verse which appeared OCCASION
ally in the periodicals.. He did not
wear Byron collar or flowing neck
scarf, nor were his locks left to flow in
luxurious profusion about his Shout
ders. In point of fact he had no lu1u-
rious profusion of hair to flow, being
considerably bald, in consequence of a
bad habit he had contracted Of wear
ing his hat in his counting room.
At the age of DO, having amassed
comfortable fortune in the banking
business, he retired and gave himself
up to the true enjoyment of life with
his wife and family, the latter consist
ing of two young sons and daughter
of 10. About this time he began small
volume, which he called Rural Treas
ures." which he finished in six months
time. working only, as has been said,
when the muse inspired. The little vol
ume attained an instant popularity,
which surprised it's publishers, wto
could not understand how it had caught
the public's favor.
But many a city man who had been
born and raised in the country knew
and understood the charm Of the book
and wiped away the tears which start
ed unbidden at the memories awaken
ed by such simple verses as "Wading
In the Stream 1.-THE Old Schoolhouse"
and ''The Early Violet"
After it's publication Mr.. Elliot
Browns mail became so heavy, be-
! tween autograph letters, fattering
friends and begging epistles, he laugh
ingly declared he must hire an aman-
uensis. To earn money for pet char
ity his daughter Emily eagerly begged
for the position and spent the early
morning hours attending to his corre-
spondence in her fathers handsome Ii
brary.
During a temporary absence of his
young amanuensis Mr.. Brown again at
tended to his mail and one day found
letter which particularly pleased him.
He was above plain, unadulterated
fattery, but this letter, while fatter-
ing, praised his book in subtle, deli
cately yelled manner in language as
choice and elegant as if borrowed
as perchance it was-from the pages
of an old manual of polite correspond
ence
AS the writer, Miss Annabel Leigh,
gave her address in Boston and begged
for an autograph letter from him the
poet wrote short note thanking her
/ for her kind praise. In few days he
received another letter from her, in
which she confessed that she, too, had
been scorched by the flames Of the di-
vine fire of poetry and begged him to
pass Judgment upon some lines inclos-
ed. The lines were, to say the least,
excellent, and. while they had a IA
miliar ring in Mr.. Browns mental ear,
as if he had read something like them
in some long forgotten volume, he could
not believe the gentle writer guilty of
plagiarism and wrote commencing her
verses.
| This called forth so immediate an
answer, with more poems to be criti-
cised, that Mr. Brown was startled,
and yet, having fallen into the CORE
spondence. scarcely knew how to ex-
tricate himself, so at the end Of the
month, the limit set for his daughters
visit, he had quite pocket of letters
from Miss Annabel.
Singularly enough, he had neglected
telling his wife of the affair, but de-
termined to take Emily into his conf
dence, especially as he knew she would
discover the matter for herself. This
determination was strengthened by the
receipt of a lengthy missive from Miss
Annabel, in which, after declaring that
her heart told her that he was not only
young and handsome, but unmarried
and waiting yearningly for his affinity,
she boldly declared herself that affinity
and babe him fly to her arms.
Mr.. Brown had not expected any
such complication to arise and was tru1
ly alarmed. 1t was therefore with d
strong feeling of relief that he shifted
his burden on to Miss Emily's shapely
shoulders.
Deal gently with her. DEAR" he beg
ged. "She is evidently young and ro-
mantle and has given too free reins to
her fancy"
"Trust me not to be rude, my dear
father" replied Emily and betook her
self to her pleasant task while Mr..
Brown, with lightened heart, went
down to Tiffany's to buy an appropri.
ate reward for her kind services.
This is what she wrote:
My Dear Miss Leigh-My father has asked me to
answer your last letter, as he is on the point Of
departing, against medical advice, for the country
to witness the marriage of his favorite grand
child. Being quite feeble and suffering with
distressing form of govt, he will therefore be un
able at any future time to accept you
kind invitation to fly TO your arms Trusting yor
will succeed in finding available affinity il
: the near future, am, sincerely,
EMILY L. BROWN.
A few weeks later Mr.. and Mrs
Brown made visit to Boston, and al
: a reception the poet was introduced t.
Miss Annabel Leigh, in whom he dis
covered a maiden who, while not ye
in the scar and yellow leaf, had passed
: the age when marriage, as the stats
e ticians tell u.s. may be regarded as al
t acute possibility. They were mutual.
\ shocked but Miss Annabel recoyerin.