Year: 1873

ing manner with the tip of her foot 3


sleek, lazy-lOOking gray cat that Law purr.


ing and blinking on the hearth-rug be-


fore her.


Annie sat on the other side of the Ia


bic, deity drawing her needle in and out
OF a long piece of white cambric an /


with her head as busy as her hands
with trying to contrive some clever way OF
incidentally mentioning the visit. which
she was now momentarily expecting, to


her mother, without exciting the suspi-
clon of its being a pTe-arranged affair
| She wnnid have given good deal to have
been able 70 say in an off hand manner that
she wouldn't wonder if Mr. Winthrop
We're to drop in, as he was in the habit Of
calling occasionally on Saturday evening
at about this time But she recollected
with twinge of concience how hard she
had tried to pursuade the old lady to ac.
company her husband on the promised
visit TO Aunt Ruth's in spite of her fore


warnings of coming spell of neural
gy," which had intimidated her from
venturing out into the damp night air,
and also how she had plead headache as
an excuse for not going herself She
knew that her mother was quite sharp
/ enough to draw her own infereRces from
these two facts and the additional one of
her being dressed with more than usual
care to spend an evening at home


Il shall not dare to tell her now,' she
said to herself Shed be sure to think
| that wanted to get her out of the wav
so that [ could have David all to myself. ;


I'll venture my work on it, you would
not have wondered at our bashful young
farmers desperate enthraIlment if you
could have seen Annie Moore as she sat
sewing by the fire that frosty night in No
vember. She had, Just before supper,
INDUCED in what a Western girl would
call "a fixing up A neat fitting, dark
chintz dress, looking as fresh as when it
had first come out of the village store, a
dainty white linen collar and cuffs, and
coquettish frilled apron of white muslin,
and blue neck ribbon tied in a cunning
bow, were the chief items of Annies toi-
lette. But she looked as sweet and pret-
ty as if hours had been spent in donning
satin, lace and jewels Her rich. wavy,
gold-brOwn hair was carried in shining
folds away from her warm red check, and
caught up in the meSheS of silken net
at the back


Eight o'clock and past Worthy Mrs.
Moore was doing over her knitting
Her shadow on the opposite wall bobbed
about in grOtesque mimicry as she nodded
to and frO-nOw crushing the voluminous
white satin bows on her spruce cap against
the back of the chair-nOw almost falling
forward, while her fat hands at length
dropped HstleSsly in her lap, and her
ball of yarn rolled down upon the hearth.
Pussy eSpying it, was soon busy in unwind
ing and converting it into all sorts of
GOrdian knots


At once came a double rap at the door
an audaciOus double rap-which said
Let ME inl'' loudly and impatiently, and
in such self-aSsured manner that Annie,
rendered nervous by suspense, started up
with little scream, and set her foot on
Madame Puss' tail, who in turn gave vent
still more loudly to her amazement and
displeasure


All these three combined, or rather,
rapidly successive noises, aroused Mrs
Moore, and she started wildly into an
erect posture, rubbing her eyes, setting
her cap border, and exclaiming:


Bless my soul, Annie What was
all that? Somebody at the door? What
time is it anyhow, and who can it be?
So late as this, too -


g 1t is not very late, mother only
little after eight. I'll go and see who it
is, said Annie, demurely, at the same
time taking the one candle from the table


MOI Here, Annie, you wind up my
ball, and brush up the hearth while | go
to the door. Drat that cat -


For the old lady's feet were all this
while struggling in the perplexing meshes
of the unraveled yarn


In her hurry Mrs Moore forgot to take
the candle with her, and as she stepped
out into the small, Enlightened front en-
try, she unwittingly closed behind her the
door of the room she had Just left Almost
at the same moment she put her hand on
the handle of the outer door, and opening it
she found herself in the ardent embrace
Of stout pair of arms. A whiskered
face was brought into close proximity to
her own, and before she could fully real
ize her position, she received a prolonged
kiss hearty smack, given with a sig
niicant gustO which indicated that the
unknown was taking his revenge for some
past slight-paying off some old score, for
it said, as plainly as words could have
done, There take that And all this
fell upon her unofending. virtuOus mat
ron lips.


ooh! Murder! Murder 'Taint Joshua
neither ~


For she had by this time divested her.
self of the impression that it was her
usually sober spouse returned home in
strangely exalted condition, thus to in
dulge in such unwOnted demonstrations Of
conjugal affection,


"Git out! Git OUT Murderl Fire
Thieves Annie Annie do come here
Here is man kissing me like mad !"


But the intruder had by this time dis |
covered his mistake, and it did not need, |
the indignant pummeling and pounding |
of the old lady S respectable fists to make |
him relinquish his hold and race off as if |
pursued by some avenging spirit.


Annie, nearly chOked with smothered
laughter, in spite of her trepidation, now
came to the rescue.


"Oh, never was so took aback in all
my born days! The mean scampi Who
could it have been? Annie, have you an
idea?


But that dutiful daughter was to all ap-
pearance as innocent as an infantile dove
She tried to sOOthe the indignant matron
by representing that it might have beenC |
one of her neighbors, who, under the po-
tent influence of wee drop too much,
had mistaken the house and-the house
wife. She searched the entry for the
missing spectacles, arranged the crumpled
zap ribbons, wound up the tangled yarn,
stirred the fire-all in the most amieable
manner possible-and at last had the SAT
sfaction of seeing her mother subside in
to her usual tranquility Of spirit


But Mrs. Moore was fully awake now.


She had got new idea into her head,
md instead of settling herself for another
nap, she pursued her train of thought
md her knitting both together, with
wonderful rapidity. At length, stopping
md looking keenly at Annie over her
oba oofI. |