Identical Smith.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 685, 4 November 1876, Page 2 (Supplement)

Identical Smith.

Darby U a dull p'aoe, and its most rauaark»tild feature is tho great dearth of youug and marriageable men. Whether Ui dulineis o,umi »li the young men to leava hi precinct* M loon m they come of age, or w briber their abaenoe causes tho dallaeis, lam 'unable to »ay. Bat be th*t mit m^y th« o«tuai-uker'« reports h»vo always ahobvn tb»t two-third* of the populatiou bear the name of Snith, that old maids are ou tha iuoraMu, »i»d that marfi»i{«» ara as uuoouim total «olips«s. I rtmsutbtr h»»r-

i ing, when » ohild, a facetious old gentleman propound to » maiden auut this conundrum, 'Why is Darby like heaven?' She being unable to think of any points of resemblance between the two places, ho replied, with a kuowing wink, 'Because there is neither marrying nor giving in marriage.' The color fUmod up even to the prim little curls on aunt Eunice's fore-head, but she freezmgly rejoined that she, had no doubt that was the very reaion heaven and Dirbv were such happy places ' I was bora in Dtrby : and though my parents had not bequeathed to , me the nims of Smith, for which I was i supremely thankful, I was disposed to quarrel with dettiny because when my nine1 teenth birth lay arrived I had not had a lover, and there w»? no prospect that I ever would have. To my almost inneparab'e companion, Zira Brown, I unburdened my i mind without reserve. ' Zoe,' I said, I feel like running off to see if something romantic won't happen. Did you ever see such a place ai Darby, any way ? Not a single man in the whole town, and erery-body named Smith ! : Why, I believe I would enjoy suffering from a broken heatt in comparison to having no experience in heart affairs at all. It would be vastly rotnaatio to pine away because of misplaced affection, and would bo about the proper thing,' too, if the affection hadn't been placed on cats and canaries. Tha n what I oall misplaced affection and t'ia','s what I'm destined to pine away of, I know. Now, there's the new dress pa gave me for my birthday gift, it's perfectly lovely ; but what of it, if there is no one to admire" when I have it on ? 1 shall coax pa to leave Darby, so I shall. ' ' Oh, F«tunie, don't' said Zie, starting up. ' You know I couldn't live here without you Then, you don't know what you are talkiug About. You wish for an experience, bat 1 pray that you may never have onu like mine. ' Yes, loTlng it a pticful th ill, And not to 10/e more painful a HI ; But oh 1 it it tae wont of pain To lova aud not be lored again " Two pearly drops huno; on Zje's long lashes as she atld this, for she as well as several other Darby girls, had placed her affections on the schoolmaster, who was au uninteresting mortal, with whites hair that our tod iv light little kno's over his head. She had fallen ia lore with him, not bemuse he was brilliant or handsome, but tiuoply because there was no one else to fall in luve with ; while he seemed to be somewhat bewildered at the shuatidn, and distributed his attentions so impartially that Zoo was in » constant state of perplexity as to the real condition of the young man's heart. She smiled upon him, sung melancholy little souga to him, and used a thousand other innocent wilej by way of charming him and encouraging him to express any teaser sentiment taat he might feel too biokward to betray ; buthe was entirely for non-committal There existed between Zoo and myself something more than an ordinary friendship, and before I left her that day I promised that I would not tease my in ulgent aud only parent to go away from Darby so long as my deareafc friend remained there, even though it did seem hard to have nothing to look forward to in the future. The next Suud*y after this the usher showed a stranger into our family pew, and during the services 1 drew his face in protila on the fly-le^f of my hymn-book The features were not at all striking, but the expression was not unpleasant. ' Well,' I menta'ly commented, * his name is Smith, I know, for tjlj the Smiths come to Daroy D »rby ! Why don't they oall it Simthtotvu ?' and I wrote Smith with a flourish un tor the facn on the leaf. The next d*y p» brought tha. stranger homj with him to dinner aud introduced him a« Mr Smish, bis now clerk. ' I reaiouiber you as the gen'ljmau who octuple las at m >m pow y^stertUy. \uu are *s .i anger iv Ifjrb.y, 1 bdlieve ?' was my I firs 1 ; reman. ' 1 09,' he replied, ' this is my tintb viuis j to tie placj, uud 1 asbure you 1 w»* quite I su'prisu'l to sue that «yen yesterday you were acquaint ad with my ujinn. Ido uot know wuytn I ought to chank for beiug *o kind as to speak of me beforehiud,' 'There must be some ousufce,' f s»id, with surprise, 'as I hivo only learned your tuine from, pa just vow.' 'Ah, 1 he said, with a ourioun smile, ' how dhon could you gU4*s sj well 1' I remembered my hymu-book. He had noticed the drawing aql had rtiortgmg.d his own likeness. 1 f^-lb n luoie confused, bat laughed as I replied : ' Oh ! everybody here is named Smith, and I «upp ised you had com) to see your relatives. Smith i« parted m tho Darby schools as a common noun. In fact, it uno nama at ail, ani you will soon lose your identity in too mass of D*rbyice< unless you come to be spoken of as wa speak of other books aud the Bible. You will have to bo the Smisb, the Smith of Smiths, the identical Stnita, or else be just anybody or uobody at all.' ' I dan t reliah the idea of being lost in a crowd. Let me, then, be the identical Smith,' and hs laughed good-naturedly In a short time half the gtrU in i>»rby had quite forgotten th »t there was any outer Smith in town, and to them at least, he was tha Smith of Smiths, fj-a had the disposition to n»k« himielf agreeable, and noc being blind, hi quiokly peroeived that youu^ men wore needed to nuke society interesting, and made * l*ul*blo eff jrt to supply the whole deficiency himself by employing all his leisure in aooopting invitations tv uea and croquet parties. H»d he not come to Darby he nover would Uavo kuo»vu tba<> ixa was • a lion among the ladius.' Oao day 1 said to Zoa, 'Did >ou e>rar sio anything liku lue way iho guis uu^ta f>r Smith? i woudor tiioy ue uo> asunncil,' 'I have not uoticuJ,' bae ropiieu, ba.it they do it's perfectly suatneful. VVny, hm wife hasn't buu dead a mouth yet. AaywAy, who would waut a widdowur ?' ' A widdowor 1' I exclaimed almost mdignanily ; Smith was never married ' Way, F*uai« H •»> ndid ! the f unarm jua., *,hroo weeks ago to d*j .' ' Oh ' I MUgued, you ineau oue m*a au4 I meaa anotner. I **» Ull(.ing ab^uo urn Saiub ; Identical, you know.' Zoe came up, and put. ing her arms about me said ooAXiugly. 'Say, Fitnuid, tell me, aren't yau in lovo with identical, as you oall him? The question startled me. 'In love with Identic*! ? Why, no. He is not hlce my hero a bit. Ho is too tame, and thinks more about being a pet among the girls than anything clso. 1 want u groat, grund, whole-woulud mun, n<it an advurtioument of Lubin'sextraoc in tha ahape of a dry goods clerk. ' * 00, yes, Fannie dear, that's all very fine, but wuera wHi you iiud your hero? Not in L)*rby lan tell you. Tneu, Identical u very nice, and I know he is more thau hall in love wioh you. I he«rd hiiu.ay you Were the luveliti.il> %ivl ia Oaroy.' ' You did T ' Y<a, and that iun't all. Now ' treat him well aud 1 11 do the lutte maneuvering to match tn<*c of the other gti Is. Aud — F«uuie ' uuro «uo hid her laoo ou m> ghouldvr — I believe lam tuppior tluu i wari. Hunry Thomson came over mUui «cQool yesterday. He and ho was goiny away to upend b<s vacation, aud aaked tno L.write- He &*y* he doitu'i, umu lo got iuittuc i froui any ouo out me while hu is aw<ty.' I ' Zoe dearie, I said, '1 am gt»d io uUi

coming out right. Bat tell the rest that you beard Identical sty about me ' 'Ho said you were the most graceful and queenly gtrl he ever saw, bat that you were ho proud he was afraid of you ' I felt iiattered and pleaaod ; Zoe was right, any w<*y. I never would meet my hero, and if Identical Smith loved and admired me, that would go far in atoning for the lack of those qualities that I had hoped to fiad in a lovoi. i might af^r all rind him a beUnr man than many anotjet hotter woman than 1 had loved no I stooped there iv the twilight nnd kinsed Zo% aaymg ' I will be kind to Identical ' After this 1 gate him no cause to be afraid of me, but no sooner hart 1 changed my manner of cool inchffenee to one of positive kio^neas, than it was noted by a dozen-pairs of watchful eyos, and tea p*r tits and challenges to croquet so multiplied th*t I scarcely caught a, glimpse of my hero for more than a w«ek after my first display of the Olive branch. Indeed, I think he never would have baen allowed leisure to exchange the common civilities with me again had not Zoe come to the rescue. 1 Oh, thos? artful, maneuvering things/ •ho said, referring to the girl* of ' coarse. 'He is first pulled this way and then that; way, till really it seems as if the poor man does 'nt have time to take along breath. I wonder they are not ashamed; but I'll match them ' And she did match them ; for she planned picnics and excursions in rapid succession and always invited myself and our indentiotl Smith to assist in perfecting th«i arrangements. When I spent the afternoon with her she son 1 ; for him to come to tea, then he could do nothing else than escort ma home. She told him there was a Reading Club in Darby, and that she and I were the only members, and asked him *o make the number thret. He was delighted, and readily complied. In truth, so skilfully did Zoe mauceuver that the other girla gave up the contest in despair, aud at last Smith swayed like a pendulucn between Zoe and mi. I enj >ye 1 the chagrin ot the other girls, thinking th y were being Caught a good lesson, and never once stopped to analyze my feelings toward the victim of all thisfemmiue wire-workiju, buwipposodl was dosperate'y in U>ve My kind pirenfc scoldfld because my b'lU for finery h*d become so large, and Zo/s father was ' quite horud ' 1 studied tp please tho taste of my only masculine friend, and Zoe would hive thiuat like mine, no matter whit the consequence She becimo so interested in tho progress of my love affair that she almost entirely forgjc her own, and Henry Thomson's letters ware sometimes lefc unrrad and were seldom answered. Ibis state of affairs continued for several weeks, when one day I ch»nc Q J to pick up a loose letter from near the aofa. It read : My demi Gco> at : Iwm mach nmrnol or«r tho Account contained in your taut laitor of /our Ufa in Darby, and I b«ll«r« I uoald bt almost toil. in of llms« Dtrbr glrli did I nut b tv* th» m >»t uubiundoj fMi.li i.i ™.y lover. Bat, de»r Georg , whtm I ana ■oaune.l and know that your rewa luart will dictntn tl)« b«*t courio to pur»u», I cm not but f jbl h>(l wh4n 1 think Uow often wurnou fon?«t to b) «ro n*iiy f lere follow "I ieTenl pirigrtnhs or very to id r lentiruent waioli 1 will not transcribe ] You *sk mo now to u*on» the d*jr and to avne »n e»ily one. Th :n let it u« j nit one month from thin date. Y >uc Ar*NiiS I did not faint, for I wan not in the habit of fainting, but my strength seemed to ooz» out at my fiagera' ends, and, weak and limp, I lay down ou the sofa. I was uot couicioiu of any otrher feeling than one of extreme mortification Z>o soon ctme rushing uncpr»injniouily into my room. 'What's the inittir;' she ex'jlvme'l. ' Aro you aick * Hiw you lo >k I Oh, y m poor dear !' and she <t-ouch<»J my f.ue with cau de cologne. ' I am no, sick,' I said in a voice so changed that Z c fairly shrieked : ' \Vii»t is tne mitcer, the *. ?' 'Read this I ienticil diopp"d it hern Ian!; eVJniUij, ' and I f.ue Jut t!ie letter. .Shd re.;-i it, an<l lwt H lill I'liea as iho pus ii> r ltdudd over her face a low wail broko fiom her hpa aud the te4N trickled through her h >g.JM. ' Uj.i't fe«l so, Z>e, dear It dotaVt hart me ; I only feel inortitisd, aud wish. I hid never tejn the creature,' for I thought my good little friend wm mourniug over my dii ippointiiitiut ' O.i, Pauuie i don'c you know T Haven' 1 ) you suspected n ?' * uop )cied wha 1 . ?' < .'h, I could a' b help thinking more of Ideutioal than 1 ought, though I didn'c at first. I was afraid you would know it and thiuk I was playing ihe part of a false friend. I couldn't help ie : bui, oh, F*nuie, I was true to you all the time and did all \ could for your happiness,' an 4 here 2jja nobbed outright, 1 ojuld not repreia a lau^h at this audden change in the aspect of afftirs. ' I thought you were in love with Henry Thomson,' I said. ' I thought to, too, once, but he's so little, and not a bio like Identical, Ie couldn't l*st long I've made a fool of myself 1 k,uovy,' und she rushed out of tl^o room. I ruahed after her, u*vldi( recovered my streugtu, aud s >on brought her back Wo talked over tho m&uter coolly and ca'mly, j poiuaog oat ail Uu shortcomings fulling*, and af .er aa hour or uiqre qt 'oonsideriug th 3 auuation,' I aaia ; ' Bjsidea the mor'.itioation there's the lace and rib 0.-s pa aojlJed so fearfully about — that mm a ole.ir waste of raw material.' " lhat it wda" asserted Z ie with emphasis. ' P.t u-ve mo Horn j mouey this moruiug and ! ■ >id lcoi^ldu'o l t ivj auy m >ro for a loag titno. dut now a c wo going to keep cue other gwls from iaug liu^ 4.0 ua? do *r they will r jiica ! j Tiiii «vi.l be woroj tQ4n all ihd resc. 1 believe c.b tt I Uave 4 greater capacity for trouble th.iv attybjdy eiatj ' 'I'll m»uuage th*t, bub I shall never ligh agun for an experience C>me, lee us q Muoppiag I know thore it) uigruane bonnet oan't assuage You kuow we we l ' d to gee chose two that w« aaiv that are ju^ ainio.' VVe m*do oi}r pr4rchas.es, an i to the iumuu*Cia o remark ot (tie tmtlinor thac auiipuiieii t wouidsoon Od wauoiug aoinetaiug ia whue, 1 v. tared au exoUiuanoa in bltuk astuuiau* uient. 'Oil of couise jou will Jeny it, but why is Mr Smith so attentive ?' ' ' vVhat Mr. buiuU? You'll have to bo definite,' I said merrily, ' but if you mean j pa's clerk, 1 am surprised. Everybody iv Darby aught to have known before thu that he 11 to marry a youag lady of Sumtnerville Whit hu Madam Humor been doing that abo should have forgotteu to publish id ?' ' You don'c aay X ' Yes, I happen to know all about it ' in a tone that I lutended hhjuid uouroy the impression that the subject tvas s»ale aud uu> interesting to me. Ihe desired effect was produced. Zjc cnughc her cue from thu and when South brougni home tin bride eveiybjJy was pro pared for it, and Zoe and I were the nrst 10 cill upju her. Tnat mi long years ago, and I still have the letter ao a uouveuir ot the put. If Zoe autiere.l fiom tbe ' pm^B of cLapisod lovo ' dho hid ie iroin even mo, aud f*te sent htr a gieat broad-shouldered lawyer tho very uext year, and she lefc Darby forever P« a younger parmor iv tUe buaiuesß, »nd found one. Ho was • a g£t at, y■ m, vViiole Houlod mm,' au 1 1 fou d my nun, Uu u»me la — we'J, Uuo.tu't Ui*t,tor, f«» 1. me he 11 tht Smith of Suntaa.