/ 2 ! 
290 
OOKE’S 
THE OLD HOME. 
AN ENGLISH 1*0ESI. 
Yes, still the same, the same old spot; 
The year's may go, the years may come. 
Yet through them all there ebangeth not 
The old familiar home. 
The poplars by the old mill stream, 
A trifle taller may have grown ; 
The ivies round the turret green 
Perchance more thickly thrown; 
Vet still the same green lanes are here 
That brought their violet sets in Spring, 
And heard through many a golden year 
The winsome echoes ring. 
Of children, In the April morn. 
Knee deep In yellow cowslips’ bloom ; 
Of lovers' whispers lightly borne 
Through sultry twilight gloom. 
And out upon the rod-bricked town. 
The quaint old houses stand the same; 
The same old sign swings at the crown, 
Ablaze In sunset llame, 
Yet still 'tis not the same old spot— 
Tho old familiar friends are gone. 
1 ask of strangers who know them not; 
All strangers, every one. 
The morning brook* may sing the same ; 
The white thorns blossom In the May ; 
But each long loved, remembered name 
Has passed in turn away. 
<®ttV nr li¬ 
the LITTLE SISTEE, 
CONCERNING THE COURSE OF A TRUE LOVE WHICH 
DID FINALLY RUN SMOOTH. 
BY MAY WHITNEY HALL. 
[Concluded.] 
CHAP. II. 
As a general thing I am not much given to 
laborious analysis of anybody's character, not 
excepting my own ; but, for one reason or an¬ 
other, I had studied 8 a khan a palls Simpiun- 
son’s pretty thoroughly, and had reached the 
conclusion that he belonged to that very limit¬ 
ed number of rare creatures who, like Wash¬ 
ington Ikvi.nu, fancy il a proof ol' superior 
virtue and manliness to harp on one string all 
their mortal days. They are unwilling to let 
Nature take her own gentle course with them, 
bm go mopingubout in sackcloth and ashes and 
will not too comforted if their one lathy passion 
miscarries. Forgetful that infancy Is subject 
to all sorts of epidemics, not the least of which 
is ‘’first love," they will persist in believing that 
the Itrst pure and ardent passion of boyhood is 
the only love worth possessing. This beautiful, 
true theory may apply to the few persons who 
advocate it, but it won’t do fur the rest of us. 
Whether the confession redounds to our glory 
or not, Cupid has left, more sears with most of 
us than chicken-pox ever did, and his wounds 
have healed as easily ns mere pin pricks, be¬ 
fore the Dolly Vardeu fever raged so fearfully 
among iho fair sex, the prevailing epidemic 
was “disappointed love" —a disease which 
rather tends to increase the attractiveness ol 
our “weak sisters" and translates them from 
plain, unvarnished prose into most delicious 
poetry; but broken hearts in masculine breasts 
always have been and always Will be unfash¬ 
ionable and unlovely. 
I would not have you think that Sardt be¬ 
longs to this unfashionable minority; but bis 
blood-pump was in such a dilapidated state that 
I felt it imperatively necessary to haul him olf 
for Immediate repairs. The only question had 
beenWho is worthy to be troubled with this 
delicate “ Job? " Who is skillful enough to put 
in order this most intricate piece of mechanism 
—this rare specimen of Goo's handiwork—a 
human heart? No doubt yon thmk me a cold¬ 
blooded automaton soi l ol creature, tout I assure 
yon 1 was all pity and sympathy and tenderness 
and hope for Sahdy, and 1 meant well if 1 did 
make a slight mistake in my reckoning. 
1 am indebted to the widow of my ninety- 
ninth cousin for the answer to my question. 
“ Who,” she said, "is so likely to succeed in 
this great undertaking as the person who made 
that heart a wreck In the years gone by ? She 
knows every twist and turn of it, andean go 
through it again with the ease of its natural 
fluid! Besides, having long ago repented the 
evil deeds of her girlhood, she pledges herself 
to a life of earnestness and fidelity in his service. 
AVhy not permit her to try her hand with him 
once more V 
Why not, to bo sure? I looked at the speak¬ 
er, and satisfied myself, for the ten-thousandth 
time, that JosuspjUJSB Pelham, relict ol t he late 
Chalkek. and the identical coquette who drove 
flit* innocent Sardine frantic fifteen years be¬ 
fore, had proved more than a match for fate; 
that ton years of married misery, instead of 
bligliiing her beauty, had bestowed a womanly 
dignity, combined with a touching pensiveness 
of manner, which, to my taste, was far more 
fascinating than her earliest bloom. She was 
tall and stately, rather voluptuous in form, 
with a queenly carriage; a brilliant conversa¬ 
tionalist, a superb singer, a skillful pianist, and 
a tolerable housekeeper; In a word, 1 saw the 
very woman to rule in, and reign over, my 
friend's heart and home. 
I had never doubted for one moment t,ho suc¬ 
cess of our conspiracy; it seemed impossible 
that a man like Sardanapalijh Simpkinson 
could‘resist the all-persuusive charms of rny 
magnificent Josephine, whom ho had loved so 
madly in hi;; youth, and for whose sake—cruelly 
as she had treated him—lie had renounced all 
thoughts of matrimony. I was not a little 
shaken, however, by that, "moving tableau” 
in the front porch ( ho day of our arrival. A 
week or two elapsed before Josephine was 
presentable, owing to that most unfortunate 
slip of the tongs; and as these “ moving tab¬ 
leaux” wore the chief features of every day’s 
pleasuring, in spite of Josephine’s frequent 
and rather malicious demands upon the services 
and society ftl’ the little sister, and heedless of 
my most energetic remonstrances against such 
unwomanly trifling with the affections or imag¬ 
inations of babes, It Is Impossible to deny that 
their Uomeo-wnd-JuLiet-istic attitudes were hor¬ 
ribly pretty and becoming, us well us agonizing¬ 
ly destructive to our pet plan. 
What tortures Joseph ink must have endured 
during those few days of waiting for her lumyiic 
to growl J was annoyed and chagrined at the 
turn of events; but the way that injured and 
suffering woman took the matter to heart was 
something quite appalling to behold. When¬ 
ever the offending couple chanced to puss her 
windows, which they frequently did, on their 
return from wood or field or river ramble—ho 
apparently all enthusiastic admiration attd de¬ 
votion, ami she all smiles and blushes and de¬ 
light; lie seeming lo have lost his fifteen years 
of manhood, and become once more a boy, in¬ 
nocent, merry, and confiding, and she appear¬ 
ing’ to have suddenly blossomed into woman¬ 
hood, yet somehow retaining her girlish grace 
and fearlessness then my Josephine would 
grow white, and wring her hands until the poor 
Jitttlo white knuckles cracked again, and walk 
the bounds of the prison in which her vanity 
had confined her, and give von I to her micou- 
trolablo passion In expletives more forcible than 
elegant. 
"The heartless, unprincipled fellow!” she 
would exclaim, with true womanly logic. "How 
dare he flirt so abominably, right under my 
nose, and with my own little sister, too?” 
"But," 1 would meekly interpose, "yon for¬ 
get that poor Sappy Is utterly unconscious ol 
tlie near proximity of that precious Grecian 
proboscis ol yours! Only let him become aware 
of Unit delectable fact, and 1 promise you lie'll 
drop your Jill lesistor like mi poinmcdc tern: too 
highly charged with calotte! 'there he goes 
now with pretty Florian tucked under liis 
arm, as blissfully iguorani of her relationship 
to you as though he had unearthed her with his 
own facial protuberance from the bowels of 
the Mphyn.v ! KUug open your window and 
prove that year nose is sharper than a two-edged 
sword, even to the dividing asunder of roman¬ 
tic lovers !" 
"I can tell you one thing, John Chalkeu !" 
and she poured out the remainder of her wrath 
on my devoted head:— 1 "Saiuiy 8 impkinhun 
never would have tormented me as you have 
done for u week never! 1 do believe you wish 
him to get in love With Floiuan just (o spile 
me! But you'll not succeed. I’ll shut that child 
up in the garret and he shan’t see her again this 
Hummer, so 1 wifi !" Tears in torrents. 
"Thai's right! Glad to see you alive to the 
importance of immediate action. Have her up 
in the garret by all means! It. will be such a 
fine opportunity for Flohian to display her 
lovely English chirograpby in numerous little 
epistles to Sappy, in which she will dignify 
your memory by such titles as ‘Horrid old 
thing!' ‘Jealous old ogress! ’ etc. And 11 will 
afford Sappy a delightful chance for exercising 
bis long-unused climbing apparatus! AVliy, lie 
would go up 1 he side of this old house, covered 
as It is with half a century of vine growth, as 
easily as the two would afterward ascend the 
marble staircase in Gorham. Put her in the 
garret, by all means, if you want an elopement 
in your family. There’s nothing like a little 
healthy opposition to stimulate it couple of 
triflers into downright earnest lovers! ” 
"Well, I'll send the ungrateful little minx 
home by the next train; Aunt ?U! shall begin 
packing her trunk at once ! ’’ 
“Better still; for Sarpy will spring into the 
phaeton and embark with her, leaving us with¬ 
out further trouble to enjoy each other’s 
smiles and tears unmolested. The Jitile sister 
will create a sensation in the metropolis, 1 can 
assure you, ns there is a great demand just now 
for yellow hair and blue eyes. Hr. 8. and his 
young bride will, no doubt, go abroad next 
AViuter; while John Ciiai.ker and the anti¬ 
quated Joseph ink will quietly ‘settle' In some 
Obscure corner and atone for their past mis¬ 
deeds by practicing all the ‘cardinal virtues' 
with commendable * puppy-nt-u-root-iveness.'" 
“Not iiidle yet, my good coz.;” retorts she, 
laughing, in spite of her anger and disappoint¬ 
ment. “If the antiquated Josephine has the 
honor of her own acquaintance, she won’t scut¬ 
tle this shiii without another struggle or two. 
Il will he time to talk about the’cardinal vir¬ 
tues ' when every thing else fails. .1 ust now the 
question is, what shall I wear to dinner ? The 
Sardine, 1 remember, used to like blue; but 
Hint’s not admissible now. What say you to 
this lovely purple and black crcpr mocwtlc, with 
purple pansies on my forehead, to cover up the 
hanyue l blxt-ce lout t " 
"o out, oui, Madame; e'est trop mnynifupw ! 
Poor Flo., In her bedraggled white wrapper, 
will look like ‘a little faded flower ’ in compari¬ 
son ! 1 feel compelled to suggest, however, that 
Sakdy hates purple, and adores simple Avhite 
dresses, and that his favorite song is that same 
4 Little Faded Flower! ’ ” 
“ Then I'll sing it for him after I've compelled 
his eyes to admit that purple is the most royal 
of all colors, and the most suitable one for the 
Queen of his affections to wear. How about 
this ugly sear on my forehead? ” 
" Fringe your frizzle down over it, and be in 
the fashion for once! You've forehead enough 
and to spare when that much is concealed. And 
if you ever could be induced to change your 
mind, I'd go down on my knees and implore you 
to banish the purple crepe, which makes you 
look precisely like the sierotyped widow who 
desires to change her condition,attd that imme¬ 
diately, and wear instead that lovely white po¬ 
lonaise (or whatever you call it), trimmed with 
those delicate ruffs of illusion, which will so re¬ 
mind our friend of his early condition that he 
will yield to .your pensive attractions without a 
sigh of regret. Now don't shake your head; 
you Him n't wear that ugly purple stripe. Here 
it goes into the attic!" And I deliberately 
walked off with what I supposed to be the prin¬ 
cipal part of it; hut Just before tbo dinner bell 
rang, down she came, with the while polonaise 
floating like filmy clouds over a sea of purple 
underskirt, and 1 was obliged (o confess that 1 
liad never seen anything so superb since her 
wedding dav. 
Our trouble was in vain, however, for we had 
no Sardine at dinner. We waited soup a u hour ; 
we lingered over the fish until the baked meats 
were burned to a crisp; we delayed the vegeta¬ 
bles until they were indescribable; and just ns 
Iho desert chi no tardy off, little Flo. crossed the 
lawn alone, her eyes rod with weeping, and her 
manner betraying great agitation. AVe could 
elicit nothing from her except that Dr. 8 lm p- 
k in son and herself had " had a little talk,” and 
that ho had left her, two or three hours before, 
In the Alder Grove; and that she supposed he 
was “al home with Josephine” long ago! 
Nothing more satisfactory could ho elicited from 
the child, and she was sent dinnerloss to bed by 
her imperious sister, while I was a-; imperiously 
detailed to meander along the river bank iu 
qu^st of my impetuous guest. 
Evidently, thought I, he has by some acci¬ 
dental question discovered little Flo's relation¬ 
ship to Josephine, and, angered by the decep¬ 
tion practiced upon him, has repudiated her— 
and thus her tears. Or perhaps, learning the 
near proximity of his early love, he is so over¬ 
whelmed by old memories that he dare not up- 
poar in her presence, especially after Ibis fiirtu- 
tion with the; little sister. Or, more probable 
still, he has tied from both of them to avoid the 
unpleasant scene which fs sure lo lake [dace 
soon or laic. 
After wandering about a couple of hours 
wTihon I finding my friend hanging his harp of 
lift; on any ol 1 the convenient willow boughs, or 
doing any other desperately romantic tiling, I 
went hack lo ihe house to report; and through 
Hit; long, low parlor window I saw the truant 
enter and make his bow to Josephine, who 
sprang forward lo meet him, her handsome 
lace aglow with smiles, her hand eagerly ex¬ 
tended to clasp his own, her crimson lips trem¬ 
bling with excitement. Now, thought I, there'il 
be a scene worth wilt teasing. You'Jl think il 
very unmanly in me, lint I was so overcome 
with surprise, delight and curiosity that 1 slid 
in among the vinos, constituting myself an 
audience, which, I fancied, knew how In ap¬ 
plaud at the right moment. 
“AVIittt u charming surprise!" Sakiiy began, 
meaning, no doubt, to meet her with all the an 
fait, airs of a heartless man of the world, but 
the sight of those dear brown eyes, the well- 
remembered smile, the touch of that little palm 
annihilated society “ varnish ” and left the bare, 
bleeding, bitter man, who recoiled from her 
wit h a face so pale and stern that it made me 
shiver to see it. 
“May 1 ask for what purpose I am again be¬ 
trayed into vour treacherous hands?" 
There was a vibration of passionate scorn In 
his face which muddier eyelids droop, her poor 
little slandered hands drop nerveless fit her side, 
while a lurid spot burned in either cheek. 
"AVhatdoes it all mean?” he rushed on, im¬ 
petuously, bis formidable will proving but a 
slight barrier to his rising anger. " Would you 
play the old tragedy over again, Josephine? la 
it nut enough that you made a desolate ruin of 
my happy boyhood, that you poisoned every 
pleasure winch youth and hope held out to me, 
that you made me a scoffer, a miserable, heart¬ 
less t litter, as base a worldling as ever disgraced 
God's beautiful earth ? What more do you ask? 
Come, speak your purpose!" 
Now, If I had not known that Josephine’s 
whole heart was bound up in the ungrateful 
wretch, t should never have guessed it from 
her manner, or her words. By this time she had 
recovered her self-possession, and stood be¬ 
fore Him to all appearance as unlmpasaiODod as 
a statue. She knew perfectly how desperate a 
game she was playing and with what a reckless 
antagonist. When she replied her voice was as 
calm, as low, as sweetly indifferent as if her 
future happiness was not staked on the turn of 
events. 
“I can tell you what my purposeanew, If you 
care to know it, but, unfortunately, it has 
changed within the hour. For fifteen years I 
have cherished the memory of a generous, 
light-hearted boy who loved mo-" 
“ It is false l" he broke in almost fiercely: “I 
never loved you! I was enchanted with a fair 
and lovable girl who seemed to embody my ide¬ 
al of a noble womanhood. It was the beautiful 
mask I loved, not the faithless abomination 
within. My God! Howl ouyht to hate you!” 
he cried passionately. “ When I think how you 
have wrecked my past, how you have decoyed 
me here only to blast my future-" 
He broke off with a gasp and sank into a chair, 
covering his face with his hands as if ho could 
no longer endure the sight of her. 
She was silent and irresolute a moment, and 
two big tears ‘meandered’ down Inward the 
tremulous corners ol her month; then she pro¬ 
ceeded with her little speech, putting into it an 
earnestness which must have thrilled him 
though be had been stone. 
“ For fifteen years I have been stung by the 
remembrance of a noble, generous boy whom I 
had wronged, not knowing how sensitive he 
was, without guessing bow true and manly and 
constant w»N the love 1 slighted, or how poig¬ 
nant the misery l indicted. It was a girlish bit 
of coquetry, a frolic which 1 thought would but 
enliven the boy’s dull days ns it had my own. 
AVhen I realized the full extent of the injury I 
had done him, I would have done anything to 
lessen his pangs, I would have gone on my 
knees to implore his forgiveness. I would have 
laid my very life at his feet—but he was gone. 
I could only wait for his return. And I have 
waited,” she continued, in a voice more lender 
lhail n turtle dove's cooing, “all those misera¬ 
ble years, 1 have waited, hoped, prayed for the 
hour when I could look once more upon that 
noble boy, grown into a nobler man; when I 
could throw myself at his feet and beg him to 
forgive me for that early wrong, as he would be 
forgiven for his past offences; when I could 
humble myself so much ns to confess ” 
But she didn’t confess It, l'or Hardy, whose 
chest had boon heaving uncomfortably during 
the latter part of her speech, raised his head 
suddenly, and looked at her with such burning 
eyes that her lids drooped again, and the lurid 
glow crept nil over Ihe radiant face. He seized 
those “ treacherous hands " and forced her to 
look at him. “ Well, go on ! You would have 
confessed ” 
“ I would have confessed many things to such 
a man as 1 hoped to meet which could never es¬ 
cape my lips in presence of‘a scoffer,’ ‘a mis¬ 
erable, heartless tritler,’ ‘as base a worldling as 
ever disgraced GOD’S beautiful earth! *" she re¬ 
torted, with a tantalizing smile. 
“What would you say to even such a poor 
sinner if ho spewed out of his memory those 
bitter years, and promised to live liis future life 
out fair and beautiful, as you onre dreamed he 
would? If ho said, ‘I love you better to-day 
for ail the suffering which we both endured, 
and which has made us stronger, wiser, and 
more tender toward the rest of earth's poor suf¬ 
ferers,' what would you say to me, Joshs?'” 
1 don't know what she said, for I discovered 
suddenly Quit 1 was Monsieur Db Trop. It was 
too “ melting" a moment for me. 
“And wlnit is to bo done wi Hi Fl.orlan?”! 
asked, some hours later, as the happy Sardine 
smoked the pipe of peace and grutillation with 
me on the verandah. “The poor child will he 
heart-broken. You have behaved in a shock¬ 
ing manner to Jome's little sister!" 
“ Well, l am a little ashamed of that affair; 
but, you see, I eoiildu’l help if. The little tiling 
reminded me so of Josephine that I felt all the 
old emotions reviving, and 1 imagined 1 could 
place the old passion on to the new and be buppy 
once more. So I made myself as fascinating as 
possible, and when I thought ’the pear was 
ripe,' I proposed to her-” 
" You did ?” 
" I did, indeed; and what do you think she 
said? ” 
“ Why, she accepted you, of course: and now 
the tender little innocent will be sacrificed on 
the altar of j our selfishness! I shall horsewhip 
you, I know 1 shall. AVon't somebody hold me 
before 1 damage this dandy? " 
“ Don't explode, my festive friend! The little 
midge won’t perish on my account. AVhy, she 
had the audacity to tell me that she had looked 
upon me only as a brother, an elderly friend, or 
something of that very Platonic sort; and after 
a deal of teazingon my part, and n small Niagara 
of tears on tier's, 1 discovered, to my intense 
disgust, that she cherished a passion for ‘ bonnie 
brown hair,' and couldn't abide such grizzled 
locks as mine—In a word, she couldn’t bo Madam 
Simpkinson beoauso a certain jolly, generous, 
handsome, whole-souled friend of ours, named 
Chalker, had so captivated her fancy that 
she-" 
1 tarried not to hear the rest of the pretty 
speech, being of the opinion that such a confes¬ 
sion would be infinitely more appetizing if made 
to me by the charming little sister herself, 
which felicity 1 enjoyed to the fullest extent 
before Josephine and Sardy ended their hon¬ 
eymoon. 
-*.-*.+- 
SOCIAL SPLINTERS. 
A Clergyman, having made several attempts 
to reform a profligate, was at length repulsed 
With, “ It is all in vain, Doctor ; you cannot get 
me to change my religion." “J do not want 
that," replied the good man, “I wish religion 
to change you.” 
A marked change of fare- Formerly avo treat¬ 
ed those with whom we differed in theology to a 
hot stake, now we only offer them a cold shoul¬ 
der ! 
“ AA'here have you been since the cow 
kicked? ” Chicagonians now ask each other. 
A vocalist was nearly choked recently by 
his swelling notes. 
Pay j our little outstanding earthly bills, anil 
don’t romance about the falling dues of heaver,. 
