JOHM AND L

Te Aroha News, Volume I, Issue 32, 12 January 1884, Page 6

JOHM AND L

"Come, John, "said I cheerfully, "it really is time to go ; if you stay any longer I shall be afraid to come down and lock the door after yoiu" My visitor rose— a proceeding that always reminded me of the genii emerging from, the copper vessel, as he measured six foot three— and stood looking reproachfully at me. " You are in a great hurry to get rid of mo," he said. Now, 1 didn't agree with him, for he had made his usual call of two hours and a half, having, in country phrase, taken t© " sitting up" with me so literally that I M r as frequently at my, wits' end to suppress the yawn that I knew would bring a troop after it. * I Ho was a fine manly-looking fellow, this John Cranford, old for his age — which was the rather boyish period of twenty-two— and every way worthy of being loved. But I didn't love him. I was seven years his senior, when, instead of letting the worm of concealment prey on his damask \ cheek, he ventured to tell his love for my l mature self. I remorselessly seized an English prayer book, and pointed sternly to the clause, " a man may not marry. his grand-mother.', That was three years ago, and I added, encouragingly — "Beside, John, you are a child, and don't know your own mind." "If a man of nineteen don't know his mind,'' remonstrated my lover, "I would like to know who should. But. l will wait for you seven years if you say so — fourteen, as Jacob did for Rachel. \ " Yoxi forget," I replied, laughing at his way of mending matters, ' ' that a woman does not, like wine, improvo with age. I But seriously, John, this is absurd. You are a nice Boy, and I like you, but my ! feelings toward you are more those of a mother than a wife." The boy's eyes flashed indfgnantly, and before I could divine his intentions he had lifted me from the spot where I stood, and carried me infant fashion to the sofa, at the other end of the room. " I could almost find it in my heart to shake you !" he muttered, as he set me down with emphasis. This was rather like the courtship of William of Normandy, and matters promised to be quite exciting. " Don't do that again," said I, with dignity, when I recovered my breath. " Will you marry me ?" asked John somewhat threateningly. ' ' Not just at present, " I replied. " The great handsome fellow," I thought, as he paced the floor restlessly, "why couldn't he fall in love with some girl of fifteen, instead of setting his affections on an old maid like me? 1 don't want the boy on my hands, and won't have him ! " "As to your being twenty-seven," pursued John, in answer to my thoughts, "you say it's down in the family Bible, and I suppose it must be so ; but no one would believe it ; and I don't care if you are forty. You look like an angel of sixteen, and you are the only woman I shall ever love." " Oh John, John ! at least five millions of men have said the same thing before in every known language." Nevertheless, when he fairly breaks down and cries, I relent — for I am disgracefully soft-hearted, and weakly promise then and there that I will either keep my own name or take his. And John looked radiant at this concession, for love is a very dog in the manger. It was comfort to know that if he could not gather the flower himself, no one else would. A sort of family shipwreck had wafted John to my threshold. Our own household was sadly broken up, and I found myself comparatively young in years, with a half invalid father, a large house, and very little money. What more natural determination than to take boarders? And among the first were Mr Cranford and his son and sister, who had just been wrecked themselves by the death of the wife and mother in a foreign land — one of those sudden, unexpected deaths, that leave the survivors in a dazed condition, because it is so difficult to imagine the gay worldling who has been called hence to another state of being. Mr Cranford was one of my admirations from the first. Tall, pale, with dark hair and eyes, he reminded me of Dante, only that he was handsomer ; and he had such a general air of knowing everything worth knowing (without the least pedantry, however) that I was quite afraid of him. He was evidently wrapped up in John, and patient with his sister— which was asking quite enough of Christian charity under the sun, for Mrs Shellgrave was an unmitigated nuisance. Such a talker ! babbling of her own and. her brothers' affairs with, equal indiscretion, and treating the latter as though he were an incapable infant. They stayed with us 'for three years, and during that time I was fairly persecuted about John. Mrs Shellgrave gave me a letter on the subject, in which she informed me that the whole family were ready to receive me with open arms — a prospect that I did not find at all alluring. They seemed to have hearts set upon me as a person peculiarly fitted to train John in the way he should go. Everything, I was told, depended on is getting the right kind of wife. A special interview with Mr Cranford, at his particular request, touched me considerably. "I hope," said he, "that you will not refuse my boy, Miss Edna. He has set his heart fully upon 1 you, and you are everything that T could desire in a daughter. I want s,ome one to pet. I feel lonely at times, and I am sure you would, fill the vacant niche." I drew my hand away from his caress, an# almost felt like hating John Cranford. Life with him w.ould be one of ease and luxury ; but I decided that I had rather keep boarders. Not long atter this the Cranfords concluded to go housekeeping, and Mrs Shellgrave Was in her glory. >3he always came to luncheon in her bonnet, and save minute details 6f all that liald been done and talked of about the house in the last twehty-fourhours. "It is really magnificent," said she, lengthening out each syllable. " Brother has such perfect taste ; and he is actually furnishing the library,' Misb Ednaj after your suggestion.' You see. we look upon you quite as one of the family. " "That is 'Very 'good 'of "you," I replied, shortly j " but I certainly 1 haye 1 no expeptatibn of ever belonging to it."' Mrs Shellgrave laughed, as though I had perpetrated ari excellent joke.' ' , " Young ladies' always deny these thingß, of course ; but John tells a different story f " I rattled the cups and saucers angrily ; and my thoughts floated off, not to John,

but, to John's,, father,,, sitting lonely , in ,the ,li|fc>rary,. furnislied ,after my suggestion. 1 Wasn't} it, after; all, my duty to marry the family generally. . . . , house was finished and. moved into,' and John spent his evenings with me. - :I used to get dreadfully tired of : him. ;He' was, too devoted tq>bo at all interesting,; an,d,l had reached, that state of It feeling which, if summarily ordered to take my : choice between him and the gallows, I would have prepared myself for the lattter ■with a, sort, of , cheerful alacrity. , , I locked the door upon John on the evening in question, when T had .finally got rid of him,, with these things in full force ; and I meditated while undressing on some, desperate move that would bring matters t to a crisis. But the boy had become , roused at last. He too had reflected in the watches of -the night, and , next day I received quite a dignified letter from him, telling me that business called him frpm the city for two or three weeks, and that possibly on his return I might appreciatehis devotion better. I felt inexpressibly relieved. It appeared to me the most sensible move that, John had made in the whole course of our acquaintance, and I began to breathe with more freedom. Time flew, hpwover, and the, three weeks lengthened to six without John's return. He wrote to me, but his letters became somewhat constrained, and I scarcely knew what to make of him. If, he would only give me up, I thought ; but I felt sure that he would hold me to that weak promise of mme — that I should either become Edna Granford or remain Edna Carrington. " Mr Cranford " was announced one evening, and I entered the parlour, fully, prepared for an overdose of John, but found myself confronted by his father. He looked very grave, and instantly I imagined all sorts of things,, andjreproached myself for my coldness. " John is well ? " I gasped, finally. " Quite well," was the reply, in such kind tones that I felt sure there was something wrong. What it was I cared not, but poured forth my feelings impetuously to my astonished visitor. " He must not come here again !" I exclaimed. "I do not wish to see him. Tell him so, Mr Cranford ! Tell him that I had rather remain Edna Carrington as he made me promise, than to become Edna Cranford." "And he made you promise this V was the reply. "The selfish fellow! But, Edna, what am I to do without the little girl I have been expecting? I am very lonely— so lonely that Ido not see how I can give her un." I glanced at him, and the room seemed swimming around — everything was dreadfully unreal. I tried to sit down, and was tenderly, carried to a sofa. " Shall it be Edna Carrington or Edna Cranford ?" he whispered. " You need not break your promise to John." " Edna Cranford," I replied, feeling that I had left the world entirely, and waß in another sphere of existence. If the thought crossed my mind that Mr Cranford had rather cheerfully supplanted his son, the proceeding was fully justified during the visit which I soon received from that young gentleman. I tried to make it plain to him that I did him no wrong, as I had never professed to love him, though not at all sure that I wouldn't receive the shaking threatened on a previous occasion, and I endeavoured to be as tender as possible, for I really felt sorry for him. To my great surprise John laughed heartily. " Well, this is jolly !" he exclaimed. " And lam not a villian, after all. What do you think of her, Edna ?" He produced an ivory-type in a rich velvet case — a pretty, blue-eyed simpleton, who looked about seventeen. " Rose," he continued — " Rose Darling ; the name suits her, doesn't it? She was staying at my uncle's in Maryland — that's where I've been visiting, you know, and she's such a dear little confiding thing that a fellow couldn't help falling in love with her. And she thinks no end of me you see ; says she's quite afraid of me and all that." John knew that I was not a bit afraid of him ; but I felt an elder sisterly sort of interest in his happiness, and had never liked him so well as at that ,moment. And this was the dreadful news that his father had come to break to me when his narrative was nipped in the bud by my revelations and the interview ended in a far more satisfactory manner than either of us had anticipated. So I kept my promise to John, after all j and as Miss Rose kept her's, he ie, now a steady married man, and a very agreeable son-in-law.

Mr G. F. Sherwood, of Patea, is now in this city on his way to America, whither he proceeds by the mail steamer on Tuesday next. By Mr Shez'wood's departure, New Zealand loses a good colonist and Patea district a most energetic worker in her interests. Mr Sherwood has filled with credit nearly every public position which was open to • him — member of the Provincial Council, County Chairman, Mayor j of Patea, and Chairman of Harbour Board, School Committee, and Cemetery Board. The local "Mail," in bidding him farewell, testifies to his eminent services, and adds : — He has abilities of a high order both as a writer and a speaker, and lie may yet give us cause to be proud of his connection with Patea. That hewill remember us kindly we feel sure, and if he can at any time do us a u good turn " we shall be surprised if it is not done, and that too with a will. A most amusjing incident is related in con-, nection with the floating of the steamer Triumph. It appears that a gentleman, whose occupation requires the frequent application of "feel tape " and "sealing-wax," was on duty on board the Triumph during the morning, and he did not feel by any means comfortable. In fact, t h© proved a regular plague tq others on board of the vessel by his repeated queries of "Do you think she is quite safe now?" " Donft you feel her going over, sir?" and such like. This fear so far got the better of him that he unlaced his boots and expressed his determination to take a header " directly the vessel went down," as he " could swima little." He was assured again and again that there was no danger, but he refused' to be comforted, and upon the Anne Milbank coming alongside, he hastily jumped' on board, declining 1 even to wait for ,a Small bundle of cloihing which he left on board' the object of his great terror. However, he felt comparatively safe on the small steamer, and viewed the "rescue of the Triumph 1 ", from afar with feelings of satisfaction arid relief . '« Six new islands, with good soil,, w^ll watered, and thickly populated, have been discovered near the sou.th-eastern extremity of Npw Guinea. SirE.dward Beed,,M.P., thinks it possible to' construct iron and steel steamers 1 of. an unsinkable type— unsinkable that ' is by'air but the most extreme accidents, and oer* tainly, unsinkable by causes Which are now continually sending fine and costly" $hips to thebottdfo; " « ■ <