Year: 1875

NOW, Aunt sally 90 please teIi Us
why sou never married. You know
you said once that when you were girl
you were engaged to a minister, and that
you would tell us all about it, sometime.
Now, Aunt, please do


We'll, you see, when ! was about
seventeen years old. I was living in
Utica, in the State of New York
Though / say it myself, ] was quite
good looking girl then, and had several
beaux. The one that took my fancy
most was a yonng minister. very
promising young man, and remarkably
pious and steady He though great
deal of ME, and | kind of took a fancy
to him, and things ran on till we were
engaged.


'One evening he came to mel re-
member it as we'll as if it were only yes
terday. When he came into the parlor
where was sitting alone, he came up to
me and-but now, pshaw! girls, don't
like to tell the rest.


oh, Aunt Sally, for mercy's sake,
DOM stop, tell us what he did,


Well, as | said, he came to me, and
put his arms around me, aad rather
hngged me, while / got excited and
some frustrated, and it was a long time
ago, and don't know but what / might
have hugged back a little. Then l felt
but now just clear out, every one of
you, shan't tell you any more


Goodness, gracious, no, Aunt Sally.
Tell us how you felt. Didn't you feel
good, and what did you do next?


'Oh, such torments as You are! l was
like any other girl, and pretty soon i
pretended to be mad about it, and
pushed him away. though wasn't mad
bit. You must know that the house
where / lived was on one of the back
streets in town. There were glass doors
in the parlor, which opened right over
the street-and no balcony or anything
of the kind in front of the house. As it
was in the summer season these doors
were opened, and the shutters just drawn
TO- StSRDCu OdCA a lltAAC ohA
when he edged up close. / pushed him
away again. l pushed harder than /
intended to, and don't you think, girls
the poor fellow lost his balance, and fell
through one of the doors into the street.
Yes, its so. As he fell, gave scream,
and caught him by-but l declare ]
won't tell anything more. I'm going to
leave the ROOM


NO, no, Aunt Sally! How did you
catch him! Did it hurt him much?


well, if must, 1 must. He fell
head first, and as he was going l caught
him by the legs of his trousers. / held
on for minute and tried to pull him
back, but his suspenders gave way, and
the poor young man fell clear out of
his pantaloons into a whole parcel of
ladies and gentlemen passing along the
street.


%! Aunty, Aunty; Lordy, Lordy!-
He, he, he"


There, that's right, giggle and squeal
as much as you want to. Girls that can't
hear about little thing like that with
out tearing around the room and he-he-
ing in such a way don't know enough to
come home when il rains. A nice time
the man that ever marries you will have
won't hep


But, Aunt Sally, what became of him?
| Did you ever see him again?
No. the moment he touched the
ground he got up and left the place in
terrific hurry. I tell you it was a
sight to remember, to see how the man
did run. Father happened to be COM
| ing up the street at the time, and he
said that he never saw anything to
equal it in his whole life. ] heard 9TH
ers say that he did the fastest running
ever known in that part of the country,
and that he never looked behind until
he was two miles out of town. He sent
me note few days afterward, saying
| that the engagement must be broken of,
as he never could look me in the face
after what had happened. He went out
West and believe he's preaching in
Illinois. But he never married. He
was very modest and suppose he was SO
badly frightened that he never dared to
trust himself near a woman again.
That's the reasonr girls, never married.
l felt very bad about it for a long time
for he was a real good man, and have
often thought that We should always
have been happy # his suspenders hadn't
giUcn toy.