1897. 



THE AMERICAN BEE KEEPER. 



85 



an oia JNiutn warder now. He's some 

 in politics, and his family is right in it. " 



"Percy, I never knew them. " 



"I know, but you wouldn't. It ain't 

 my fault. I wanted to have them all 

 over to mother's so as you could be in- 

 troduced to them. " 



The old lady looked as though she 

 ■would answer this, but did not. She 

 was silent a moment before she pro- 

 ceeded: 



"So her father is a grocer?" 



"Yes, like Mr. Jamison, who yon 

 like well enough. ' ' 



"Mr. Jamison is a gentleman, my 

 dear. The misfortunes of his family can 

 never alter that. The Jamisons are of 

 toe oldest Greenwich families on both 

 Bides. He is a grocer by necessity. This 

 person of whom we are speaking is one 

 by choice. ' ' 



"Well, Aunt Martha, it's as good as 

 being a truckman, and better." 



Mrs. Leveen w iuced. 



"You might have been a judge like 

 your father or a senator like your grand- 

 father. I wanted you to enter political 

 life." 



"Polities J5 pretty low down these 

 days," Percy remarked. "It ain't what 

 it was. Besides, I tried to get an office 

 from Mike McNamara, but he said I 

 wouldn't do in any office where the pay 

 was as much as the trucking pays. And 

 I guess that's about so." 



The last sentence was cheerfully 

 spoken. Mrs. Leveen looked at her 

 nephew's niddy cheeks and sighed. 



"I do wish, Fercy, " she said gently, 

 "that yoQ could have found some one In 

 Greenwich. That part of Hudson street 

 where these people live is way beyond 



the OBtskirts of the old village, out 

 where the hog fields were till the immi- 

 grants began to settle around us." 



"But what's the difference. Aunt 

 Martha? It's all one now. There ain't 

 no Greenwich aiiv more ; it's all just 

 New York city. So what is the use oi 

 pretending?' ' 



The impatience in the young man's 

 tone amazed his aunt almost as much 

 as the sentiment he uttered. Never be- 

 fore had he failed to show her respect. 

 On the contrary, the humbleness of his 

 demeanor had been a grievance to her; 

 it did not become one of her o vn bicod 

 to manifest the same awe before hei 

 that an ordinary Ninth warder did. 



The old lady straightened in hei 

 chair, the lines about her mouth stiffen- 

 ed, and her eyes glistened like hex 

 knocker, as she answered: 



"Percy Dean I You forget to whom 

 you are speaking. You forget yourself, 

 sir, and your good breeding is evidently 

 suffering from the associations you per- 

 mit yourself. ' ' 



Percy was frightened. The last time 

 he had been rebuked in this temper by 

 his aunt was when he was a boy. He 

 meant no offense. 



"I beg your pardon. Aunt Martha, " 

 he murmured. 



Mrs. Leveen took her knitting from 

 the table and worked busily at it till 

 she was quite calm. She looked up aftei 

 every few thrusts of her needle, indig- 

 nantly at first, then coldly, and finally 

 the habitual expression of kindness re- 

 turned to her face. 



"I dare say yon are in a hurry to go 

 to town, Percy, and I shall not detain 

 you much longer. You may tell me 

 something about this young — this girl. 

 How old is she?" 



"She is going on 19, Aunt Martha." 



"Is she cultivated, educated? Come, 

 Percy, tell me all about her. " 



"She went through the grammar 

 school, I think, but she had to work 

 after that. So she can't play the piano 

 or sing, but she is a nice girl and can 

 tend the house and cook, now that her 

 mother's dead." 



"That's right She ought to be able 

 to manage her husband's household. 

 But tell me more about her. Is her 

 voice soft, are her manners gentle, is 

 she modest? Describe her to me, my 

 dear. Is she pretty?" 



Percy was encouraged by the few 

 words of approval he had won. 



"Aunt, she's a beaut, that's" — 



"What do you say — a what?" 



"I mean she's a beauty. She's got 

 blue eyes and blond hair and the nicest, 

 biggest, reddest cheeks. She ain't what 

 you would call quiet; she's more lively 

 like. You ought to hear her laugh when 

 we're down on the docks nights with 

 the rest if the crowd. I'll bet you could 

 hear her across the river in Hoboken. 

 And jolly? If she gets a mug as is too 

 fresh, she can jolly him along to beat 

 the band. But she's on the level too. 

 She does the square thing by her old 



