178 



KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



Walter stepped forth, and I seated myself 

 in a position to watch his movements. He 

 walked about a little, and seemed to be 

 making inquiries while the long train was 

 disgorging its contents ; but of the crowds of 

 finery that streamed forth upon the pavement, 

 none seemed to belong to my cousin. There 

 was one, a lady approaching thirty, that cor- 

 responded with our notions very well ; but 

 we had been told that 'Bel Forester was only 

 sixteen. There was a pretty damsel of six- 

 teen, but she was carefully attended by a 

 gentleman somewhat advanced ; and there 

 was a sad looking young lady, in black, alone, 

 to whomWalter's hand was extended involun • 

 tarily in lieu of the clumsy collector's : but 

 this could not be Cousin 'Bel. I knew that 

 Walter must be sorry that it was not, for she 

 smiled her thanks very sweetly. At length 

 I began to feel relieved, thinking that we 

 might ride back alone, as we came, when the 

 bright vision of a gay face appeared for a 

 moment at a window ; then a tall, graceful 

 figure bent from the door-way, and while 

 one small, gloved hand was extended, and 

 the daintiest little foot in the world was 

 balancing hesitatingly just below the hem of 

 her travelling-dress, the lady asked — " Has 

 no one inquired for Miss Forester?" Walter 

 sprang forward, and assisted her descent 

 with both hands, and I — I did not wait for 

 an introduction, I can assure you. Blessings 

 on Cousin 'Bel ! how we all loved her at first 

 sight ! The bright lady improved the few 

 moments that Walter was gone to give orders 

 concerning her baggage, in making herself 

 acquainted with his history ; and I treasured 

 as many as a dozen line compliments that I 

 fully resolved to repeat to him at the earliest 

 opportunity. The close proximity of three 

 in a " buggy' 1 (hast ever tried it, reader ?) is a 

 great enemy to anything like distance of man- 

 ner or feeling ; and before we reached home, 

 we were all on just the happiest footing in 

 the world. A stranger would have thought 

 we had known each other for a lifetime. 



There was a crowd of little folks, headed 

 by my father and mother, awaiting us on 

 the portico ; and Cousin 'Bel was passed 

 from one to another, with such caresses and 

 words of welcome as are seldom showered 

 upon a stranger, and then borne away upon 

 my father's arm to the parlor. One brought 

 the stuffed rocking-chair, another untied the 

 bonnet, a third removed the hot, dusty shoes, 

 while mamma stood smilingly by, and little 

 Bessie ran to the kitchen to order a cup of 

 nice tea immediately. But 'Bel declared she 

 was not in the least fatigued ; and holding her 

 wealth of black ringlets, that had broken 

 away from the 'prisoning bodkin, in one hand, 

 she tripped from window to window, exclaim- 

 ing at the tine views ; then turned to smother 

 the little rogue following her, with kisses ; 



wondering, meanwhile, that she had never 

 known her dear, dear cousins before, and 

 declaring that the country was a perfect 

 paradise, and she should never weary of its 

 enchantments. 



In less than an hour Cousin 'Bel had 

 donned a strong muslin dress, and a simple 

 straw hat ; and we were out in the fresh 

 fields together, — Walter leading the way, 

 lowering the fences, where they could be 

 lowered; and where they could not, laugh- 

 ing gaily to see 'Bel spring over them like 

 a young colt, scarcely touching his ex- 

 tended hand. We seemed to have taken a 

 new leaf of our runaway years, and to feast 

 upon these beauties of field and woodland for 

 the first time that day ; such a renewing in- 

 fluence has sympathy ! Cousin 'Bel was 

 constantly startling us with a joyous cry at 

 what was familiar to us ; and she would 

 kneel to smell the rich turf, and frisk about 

 in the delicious clover, just as we had done 

 in years gone by ; and she would hush us at 

 every gush of melody from our choir of wood- 

 land vocalists, and ask the name of every 

 little winged thing that flitted by ; and point 

 away to the hills, marking with joyful sur- 

 prise the warm light bursting from a cloud, 

 and bathing the green turf; then the coming 

 shadow hovering for a moment on its verge, 

 and finally settling down, rich, dark, and 

 hazy, with here and there a small flake of 

 gold upon it ; and then she would dance off 

 after a bee, or butterfly, or a fragment of 

 floating thistle-down, till we were inclined to 

 turn from all wild and gladsome things to 

 Cousin 'Bel, as the wildest and gladsomest of 

 the whole. 



For a day or two, never was there a hap- 

 pier trio than my two cousins and myself. 

 Walking, walking, walking constantly! 

 There was everything to see, and we really 

 began to fear the summer would not be long 

 enough for our purpose of showing off its 

 beauties. Rainy days, too, tvoiddcome ; but 

 it was no punishment to be confined within 

 doors with such a joy-born spirit as Cousin 

 'Bel's. Then it gave Walter a fine oppor- 

 tunity to display the tone and compass of a 

 rich, manly voice, and make known his taste 

 in the choice of fine passages, which I now 

 began to suspect were selected with reference 

 to another ear than mine. We had formerly 

 read from the same page, for the sake of 

 convenience, with an arm around my waist. 

 That last familiarity had of course been 

 abandoned on the arrival of a visitor ; but I 

 did think Cousin Walter might favor me with 

 a glance once in a while. Sometimes I had 

 a great mind to show him that an old friend 

 was not to be so neglected for a new face ; 

 but then he did no worse than the rest. 

 We all neglected each other for 'Bel. It 

 seemed her due. 



