Year: 1871

/
that Mrs. Amanda Holmes had the pater-
nal blessing chiefly in view in her trip.
She had brought with her very dear
friend, Miss Janet Dunton, the accom-
plished teacher in the Mt. Parnassus
Female Seminary. Why Miss Janet
Dunton came to the country with her
friend, she could hardly have told. Not
a word had Mrs. Holmes spoken to her
on the subject of the matrimonial scheme.
She would have resented any allusion to
such project. She would have repel-
led any insinuation that she had ever
dreamed that marriage was desirable
under any conceivable circumstances.
She often declared, sentimentally, that
she was welded to her books, and loved
her leisure, and was determined to be
an old maid. And all the time this
sincere Christian girl was dying to con-
fer herself upon some worthy man of
congenial tastes; which meant in her
case, Just what it did in John Harlow's
some one who could admire her at
tainments But sensitive as she was to
any imputation of desire to marry,
she and Mrs. Holmes understood one
another distinctly.


Mrs Holmes and her friend arrived
twenty-four hours ahead of John, and
the daughter of the house had already
installed herself as temporary mistress
by thoughtlessly, reversing, and turning
inside out all the good Huldah's most
cherished arrangements, All the plans
for the animal festival that wise and prac-
tical Huldah had entertained were We
toed, without a thought that this young
girl had been for year and half in ac-
tual authority in the house, and might
have some feeling of wrong in having a
guest Of week overturn her plans for
the next month. But Mrs. Holmes was
not one of the kind to think Of that
Huldah was hired and paid and she never
dreamed that hired people could have
any interest in their work or their home
other than their pay and their food. But
Huldah was patient, though she confess
ed that she had feeling that she had
been rudely " trampled all over" l sus-
pect she had good cry at the end
of the first day / cannot affirm it, ex-
cept from a general knowledge of wo-
men.


When John drove up in the buggy
that the boys had taken to the depot for
him, his first care was to shake hands
with the deacon, who was glad to see him,
but could not forbear expressing hope
that he would shave the hair off his
upper lip" Then John greeted his sis
ter cordially, and was presented to Miss
Dunton. Instead of sitting down, he
pushed right on into the kitchen, where
Huldah, in calico frock and u clean,
white apron, was baking biscuit for tea


She had been schoolmate of his, and
he took her hand cordially as she stood
there, with the bright Western sun half
glorifying her head and face.


"Why, Huldah, how you've grown !'


was his first word Of greeting He meant
more than he said, for though she was
, not handsome, she had grown exceedingly
comely as she developed into woman.


Undignified as ever p said Amanda


as he returned to the sitting-room,


How 2" said John. He looked be


wildered. What had he done that was


undigni6ed? And Amanda Holmes saw
well enough that it would not do well t
tell him that speaking to Huldah Man
ners was not consistent with dignity
She saw that her remark had been mis-
take, and she got out of it the best wa,
she could, by turning the conversation
The next day the ladies could get NJ
good out of John Harlow He got VI


early and MIXED the COW. He cut WOO
and carried it in for Huldah. He rod,
+ old Bob to the brook for water He dit
everything that he had been accustomed
to do when boy, finding as much pleas
v ure in forgetting that he was man, a
: he had once found in hoping to be man
! The two boys enjoyed his society greatly


and his father was delighted to see tina
r he had retained his interest in the farm
f life, though the deacon evidently felt Al
3 unconquerable hostility to what he calle,
|, "that scrub brush on the upper lip"
q think if John had known how stron
:. his fathers feeling was against this muc
}, cherished product he would have NOV
. ed the crop and grazed the field closel
i until he got back to the city.


s John was not insensible to Janet Dur
d tons charms. She could talk fuentl
J. about all the authors most in vogue, an
h the effect of her Auency was really dai
g cling to man not yet cultivated enoug
% to see how superficial her culture was
l. For all her learning hoated on top. Nor