Year: 1867

1
then, and though have other notions
of him now, Pm not sure | do not re
tain that also. MY peanut lover
called him, as l spent whole evenings
laughing at his queer ways and talk
making fun of him, scolding about him
exagerating, traverstying his PECULIAR
ties.


I'm not sure by any means that otbel
girls do not do the same thing, even in
this day; and my opinion is that there
is usually genuine feeling at the bot
tom of these demonstrations. | was q
little, yes, good deal ashamed of John
Ray, and l liked him all the time
may say, l think l Loved him.


John Ray was not city youth. He
was comely and green. He was the
very handsomest lover l ever had, and
would have been beau to be proud
Of, if he had only had little more
knowledge of the world.


But ought l to tell you who John
Ray was9


had only met him the summer
previous 10 the one ofwhieh | am speak
ing. We had engaged country board
with Mrs. Ray, and Johnny was her
only and best beloved darling child.


1t was lonely enough place where
they lived, and this handsome youth
was not to be despised there. In fact
we could not do without him, and we
did not want to either. 'We,' vi and
l, thought it the best fun to ride with
him in the hay wagon, or on top of the
swinging load. We neither expected,
nor wanted him to be elegant or refin-
ed. We had enough of that outside
sham in the city, we said and felt. We
liked@a genuine gentleman, with the
feelings of one, even if the manner was
a little Objectionable. And by the
time we had been three months in
Lakeland we were prepared to acknowl-
edge that Johnny was perfection.


We went back to the city full of John
ny,s merits, and gave papa no peace till
he procured for our favorite the place
he now occupies-as clerk to our grocer.
Yes that was Johnny's first experiment
in city life, and he liked it well, I believe.


And this was how he came by the
nickname we gave him.


It seems that just after he left home
to be Mr.. McGregor's clerk, his mother
had written to her brother in South
ern State that Johnny had left home to
go into the grocery business in New
York, and Mr.. Provost, understanding
her literally had written back his con-
gratulations, and a proposal to send
JOHNNY, as present to be added to his
stock in trade, certain productions of his
plantation, among which was a huge
lot of peanuts. In some way Johnny
had found out that vi and l were both
fond of peanuts, and he kept us. well
supplied, after his present came, rather
more literally than we wished to be.
We had imbibed the idea, in some way,
that the love of peanuts was rather a
low taste. That the natural habitat
of the article, was the 'Old Bowery,'
and similar institutions, and we had re-
solved while adhering to the private use
of the delicious article, to reserve the
knowledge of both liking and use with
in our household.


Now, everybody knows that in New
York you are nobody unless fashion
able. Why it should be any worse to
eat peanuts than hickory-nuts, 1 was
unable to even guess; but it was un-
fashionable, and 1 would not have any
human being lin New York. know that
I ate bread, if it was not fashionable to
eat it. So vi and l thanked Johnny,
at first for the peanuts and ate them
greedily behind the back of the un-
conscious world.


Johnny was the youngest clerk, and
in point of fact, the grocery's boy and
had the monopoly of the errand busi-
ness at McGregor's. So he got in the
habit of being often at our house, and
as some of the family were usually in
the dining room, which was upon the
kitchen floor, he would unceremonious-
ly come in there. We asked him to
dinner on Sundays, too, and treated
him, as we thought, well, both for his
mothers sake and his own. vi said
Johnny was little gentleman and knew
his place, and we thought he would feel
gratifed by our ciyiEties, and would
not intrude into apartments and circles
to which we had not introduced him.
To us he was country protege, to be
treated kindly, thanked for his gifts,
and talked to freely when nobody was
by; to be ignored in the presence of city
company. But Johnny's ideas were
different from ours. He knew no superb
ors. McGeorge's errand boy was as
good as anybody. He had commenced
at the right place, which was the foot.
A father with money might have plant
ed his feet higher but he would not
have felt better for that. These were
the feelings he entertained but he said
nothing about theory which seemed
too obvious, and as yet had no oppor-
tunity to exploit ; it. And then the