The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1902-11-01
MISS ANN's GRApHoPHoNE.
BY FLORA STEWART EMORY.

If Miss Ann ever had a lover Ger
t,in1y no one knew it. She was E
pioud, naughty Southern lady whom
Fate had so far favored as to leave
hei, through much "beColoneled'
unde,a a large Virginia farm. Here she
lived alone, with the exception Of the
hired help and Steve, whom she had
never considered exactly in the light
of servant. When his father died
and she had to foreclose the mortgage
on Steve's only inheritance, she told
him he could come to Wesley Hall
for an indefinite length of time. He
became indispensable to her, and he
stayed on. He MIXED the cows,
churned the butter, and drove her
out whenever the other men were
busy. She had always spoken kind.
ly to him, but not as she would have
spoken to an equal. Yet there flow
ed in Steve Pixies veins blood as blue
as any in Virginia.
Miss Ann liked farming, and ran
her two hundred acres to profit.
How much of her success was due to
Steve's untiring work and good man
agement, she never realized.
One July morning she made the an
nouncement that she was going to
Baltimore on the next steamer. Steve
looked surprised, as she rarely ever
left home during the hot weather.
Indeed, Miss Ann," he said, hes
itating at the door, there are great
many sunstrokes in Baltimo' this
month"
She shrugged her still shapely
shoulders, but made no reply. 1t was
enough to show him, however, that
she resented his interference.
When he assisted her into the COM
Portable phaeton and gathered up the
reins, his features were as immovable
as those of a paid coachman. She
liked him in this mood and mentally
compared him to those men in livery
whom she had seen perched upon
costly carriages all along the city's
shopping thoroughfare. Lexington
Street was Miss AIMS one excite
ment. In fact, her object in going tc
Baltimore this day was to do some
necessary buying, which she had fail.
ed to do in the Spring.
The boat ride was delightful, but
when Miss Ann walked up Light
Street each step became harder tc
take.
"The city is stihing," she said tc
herself. II do hope won't have a
sunstroke." 4"
The wagons made terrific noise
on the cobblestones, and she felt her
head getting hotter and hotter.
81 wish 1 had stayed at home, "
she thought for the first time during
her quarterly visits to Baltimore, and
they had gone on for over twenty
FIVE years, she was not enjoying her
self.
She concluded to get lunch and
go home on the night boat. 1t would
be useless to try and accomplish any
shopping, and if Steve was not at the
dock to meet her she could hire a
darkey to go for him. She lived a
full six miles from the wharf.
AS she drank her tea, her atten.
ton was attracted to the next room
where a man was demonstrating the
wonders of graphophone. 1t was
the first time she had ever heard one,
and while she was too high-bred to
gush over it, her sparkling eyes and
intense interest inspired the salesman
to ask her if she would not buy one,
She blushed rosy red as she asked
the price of the best one he had. She
felt very foolish.
cit would be sight of company,
she argued to herself. Almost TN.
consciously, her mind wandered back
to the many, many years that had
been spent in almost solitude.
IT will buy one," she said, "and
plenty of songs and few speaking
pieces, too"
When she reached the wharf, the
sun had set and the whole Western
sky was a soft pink which was fast
fading away. There waiting for hel
was her horse and phaeton, and Steve
coming toward her. He did not ex'
plain why he had come down, when
she had distinctly said that she would
not return until the next night; Meth.
er did he say he was glad to see her.
Something in the cool air comforted
her, and she felt it was nice to have
some one who looked after her inter
ests and happiness as Steve did. She
held out her hand graciously. 81
could not stand the city," she said,
smiling.
ct knew you could not" was al
he replied, failing to see her out
stretched hand. She somehow re-
sented this quite as much as she had
his kind, solicitous speech of the
morning.
Going home she explained all about
her new purchase. To her enthusi
asm, Steve said nothing, but wher
she invited him to hear its first per
formance, he shook his head. 81
amt got no time fer sech things, no
how"
"Steve knows how to speak cor
rect1y as we'll as 1 do," she murmur
ed to herself, and 1 wonder why ht
persists in using such vile English. >
She had often wondered about 1t
as if he spoke correctly it was only
when he was not thinking especially
what he said. Then some times ht