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BYGONES.
Ye doubts and fears that once we knew,
Ye bitter words, of anger born;
Ye thoughts unkind, and deeds untrue,
Ye fo?lings of mistrust and scorn;
-Against your memory we rebel—
We have outlived your foolish day.
-No longer in our hearts you dwell—J
Bygones! Bygones! pass awayl
But oh, ye joyous smiles and tears,
Endearments fond, and pleasures past,
Ye hopes of Ufe’s first budding years,
Ye loves that seemed too bright to last—
Ye charities and words of peace,
Affection’s sunshine after rain—
'Oh never let your blessings cease—
Bygones! Bygones! come again!
Charles Mackay, in Temple Bar
A PAIR OF WEDDINGS.
by ROSE TERRY cooke.
“You don’t sav to'”
spectaeleTat Grandma Pine looked ^Naunv sharnlv over her
heFf pretty 'old-f Camnbell
who sat at eet o n an onei aduoned
“cricket cricKei. ’’ the tin. Wazeofthe oia r o oi me open fire nre
playing lending on her bright, blushing face,
and a richer shade of gold to the
-crowa of fluffy hair that hid her white
forehead.
Nanny had come up to Traverse from
Boston to spend the day with her grand
'parents. Her father and mother could
not leave till the next Dr.
Campbell was day too busv a man to spare
more than a from his practice; and
Nanny was glad to come alone, for she
had a great piece of news to tell grand
ma. Yes, with a deeper glow than the
firclight on wonderful’ her drooping intelligence face, she
parted the that
wa e s goLgfo g be marSonChrfs’tmat'
pSftoJ'^rw^^rsonol Cimpbell's
D, ol.le.t ,md t,,t Wend,
wisdom of old ladies, had prophesied to
herself this result years ago, yet She
thought prophecy she fulfilled. was surprised to find her
months, They had been engaged several
but Nanny had not announced
the fact to any but her father and
mother. She was both shy and cautious;
ao she waited to tell grandma until the
wedding day was set.
Grandma was ready with congratula
tions; yet, as she drew the fair young
head down to her knee and stroked the
bright sighed, hair she with tremulous fingers, she
for had lived too long not to
dread life for the child she loved so well,
“Im kinder pleased,” she confided to
grandpa,, two” which m married that “grand people committee hold of
on mat
tors that interest them or their neighbor-,
“and I in kinder distressed too. I dou’t
like his bein' a lawyer; ’t never seemed
as though’twas a reliable business, nor
one thet a real honest, straightforward
. man could foller.”
got to take things thoughtfully, by and
Elviry—by you ve and large. There’s large,
all business. You don’t some lyin’
m sell all the
big the p’tatoes nor all the sound apples in
same barrel ef you’re a farmer, nor
you don’t tell a man how old your crit
tors be—not to a day. Do you s’pose
Tatum sells his dry goods an’ groceries
on the square always? Don’t we get poor
drugs An’come for high prices down to Dean’s?
don’t to fine it down, Parson Pitcher
write a sermon every week, now
I tell ye. There’s suthin’ bad to every
thing ;’tain’t a heaven on earth down to
Bosting.no more’n ’tis here to Traverse.”
“Well, I don’ knowas ’tis,” replied
grandma, And while with a sigh.
in the kitchen Nanny was bustling round
the next morning,stirring
- cold milk into the Indian padding that
had the great oven to itself, basting the
huge turkey in the roaster, garnishing
the tongues, keeping an eye on the
chicken pie that stood on a tripod in the
had chimney been corner drawn to from keep the it aforesaid hot after it
and doing for grandma all the little oven,
odds
and cuds that are so much work for old
people grandma and so revolving little tor young ones,
was in her mind cer
might tain good might counsels tor the girl, which
or not be accepted and
acted upon; for grandma had old-fash
ioned ideas. She spoke at last, her fin
gers meanwhile busy paring potatoes for
the pot that stood bubbling to receive
them:
“So you’re goin’ to be married New
Year’s Day, be you, Nanny?”
“No, dear—New Year’s Eve.”
“Seems pretty cold time for a wed-
din’,” said grandma, taking up another
potato. “Well,
yes. Jack would not wait till
June, when I wanted to have it; he said
he never believed in long engagements.
And mother thinks just so; that is,
where people have known each other as
long as Jack and I have.”
“Goin’ to be married in church, I
s’pose?” and
“Oh, ves; then a reception. Now :
you and grandpa must come down; I
want “We’re you promise.” old rheu
a’most too and too
maticky, - , , Nanny, r to , go junketin’ . . , round ,
m midwinter.
“No, you're not-not a bit. The cars
are warm, and mother 11 have a fire in
your room; and it s going to be such a
pret.y wedding! bix bridesmaids,
granny; all of them pretty girls too, in
low dresses of lace and pink satin with
roses and short veils of tulle. They’ll
look just lovely. And Dr. Adams-you
Ada ms \ who f, tudled
-with father~he’s to be . best man.
ted ,,? r ' 7
should t /V nk ,’ ack would be the bc3t t man
“S “ We11 -” f? Iau - S hed - , Naan w y< w, ... th a ,,. bldsh ,
« f would have; been the precise . tint for
her bridesmaids’dresses, “/think he is;
but that isn’t what they call him.”
“And what is ‘low’ dresses?” Queried quened
1 grandma -
° u ( J h \ow-necked and with no sleeves
Imw iusta strap ' P across the shoulder von J"™
”
lady! “Good lookfnTre^hcr «racious'” exclaimed spXcTes the old
with a
o-larc nf horror “T should think that
" Dreadful low too Thev’d 7
ouo f.^hv . ht t be’si amed of thcirselves'”
“idon’Uarenothino-aboutth'at irran’ it’s the fashion ”
■ nrettv’ child
l"ts it ain’t tfsee decent noi gb^bonef? it ain’t Ind Who gi^
them
g0t mUCh m0re ’ n
f ^“ i“ G wh ma Ar d0 R thi r ““S f ”,fna f^k t“,v
ab ,
‘” V " J * *• is *
“Weil, anyway I call it cruelty to an
im-ds ’onditio. to r them -irls »o out in that
b^ drau°htv of a add winter’s ntoht into “oh? a
y ctoreh Be Jo vou
brides.’ “oh no! It’s not the fashion for
I’m goin’to have white satin,
high to the throat and down to the
wrists, with beautiful lace all about it.”
i( j „ uess your pa wou idn’t let you go
anv other wav” ’ drvlv remarked
'
orandma
“j o-uess he’d have to. if’twas the
fashion “Weil ” pouted Nannv.
tools ain’t all dead yet,” re
torted grandma, with some severity.
“When I was married ’twas was' daylight,
an d to home. Eben and me going
down to Boston for a spell, he was in
old Silas Bunker's store then. I had on
a dark blue cloth habit with frogs onto
it, and a big Leghorn bonnet with a
white feather, real long and curly, an’
some red roses under the front on’t.
’Twas warm an’sensible for a long ride
j n September, and our well.” folks thought I
i ooke d consider’ble
The old lady’s keen dark eyes and del
icate aquiline profile, though the waved
hair was now snow white, and the small
mo uth had lost its color and fullness,
made Nanny acquiesce in “our folks’”
verdict
“I guess you looked just lovely,
S grandma- “Say!’here’s but—’’
the doctor!” screamed
Thankful Bangs, who was setting the
table tor dinner, and Nanny’s 7 speech 1
nev er was finished, tor she and
grandma rushed out to meet the wel
come °uest
Two hours after, when the dinner had
been discussed and the guests were pick
ing out their walnuts and butternuts,
Mrs. Campbell said suddenly: “Oh
Nanny! I quite forgot. Here’s a little
note that came for you after you left.”
Nanny took the envelope, and, after
the fashion of women, eyed it on the out
side, turned it over and examined the
seal, and then returned it and inspected
again the direction and the postmark.
“Seems to me it would be a quicker
wa v to find out who wrote it if you
opened it,” remarked Dr. Campbell.
Nanny laughed, she said, and broke the seal,
“Oh dear,” after running
through the brief missive: “Isn’t this
provoking!’ It is Alida Van Alstyne.
j us t hear:
“ ‘My Dear Nanny:—I have only found
out to-day tnat your “maids” intend to wear
low dresses. I never have given into that
style yet, but if I could sacrifice what you
would call my prejudices occasion, and for I call my
principles on any or any one, it
would IfVUlU be L/U now UV” for *.««» J you. VM( MV However, » w • y jm. I im>T6 hav< ft
threatening cold, which I must nurse, and
perhapg monia last you will winter, remember I that I had pneu
so cannot for my
health’s sake, iong-sleeved wear anything but a high
necked and dress. Now I shall
not feel at all aggrieved if you drop me from
the company of bridemaids on this account;
but 1 want you to let me know just as soon as
Sadame Delano.* “ T ° r may ” 0t engase
“‘Yours lovingly, AudaVan Alstyne.’
“Isn’t it too bad!” exclaimed Nanny,
as she laid down the note.
“Too good-to be true,” growled the
doctor
“What shall Ido?” asked Nanny,
looking pair. ° “ about She’s her in intimate a sort of mild de
S s-oino- he my friend, and
was °anic°e to first bride maid- she’s
such contrast tome, ’ and I’m so fond
of her! Aud ghe - 3 sent me the loveliest
sent r had _ w(c/( a set of paIc 1 pink 1
, d f , , nh d ,,,
(<I shou d think she - d °> t some sens »
^ t in grandma . »j do t sae why yoll
ant t0 make your weddin , a
businegs to all them , young cretuJ s.”
“Thafs ^ just it, mother/’ said the doc
t quartering? putt5n down rhe red apple he was
\ Last winter there was just
s had Ich another ride wedding. All those girls
to a mile to the vestry of St.
Paul’s; form there, and tramp round to
the front door of the church; drop their
. t th , shouf
wind T a struck uc their le bare chests cllests and a 11 * 1 s>noul
ders; stana , . twenty , minutes . at the altar;
nde back ‘ hat mlle '-. and stand U P a11 * he
at a so crowded that
the windows had to be dropped from the
t0 P, t -°i.? r , C ^ ent , asphyxia, and then at
thermometer being six below zero,
There were six bridemaids there; two
h M ad P n fumonia bronchitis; within another the week; tonsilitis; one
tbe , other two, being tough or case
ba,dened -„ es ca P® d with severe colds,
“ U ch IOr “ , SSes at a “ ^ ad '
,
Sr ‘^anny ‘“No;’she wasn’t X1 one of ’em? ” asked
went' to the wedding, but
) -shaped necks to their dresses—a
fashl0Q that only exposes the most sensi
tive part of their lungs both in front aud
at the back ’ However, Madame Delano,
the autocrat of our city dress-makers, is a
P atl ent of mine, and I held counsel with
her; so Mistress Ivan went to that party-
111 a P r etty as well as a respectable
f®7 \ >d L^, ’i.° r t that l^ ld P lece -° f -P'e i®! shaped 1 ” 1 J 8 neck
- Hi + thick satin f . covered with costly lace;
wl
and there were actual sleeves to the
S° wn > short, to be sure, but long kid
gloves met them, so my daughters per
a( i n n ,°L 01 ? Mk } bltl °“, BaTmlm ’ 8
soled lat f lady thatrught decent andshewascon
for being and warjn against
he ne ^ T< ^ dl ^ n t f k( ;, expeaslve aco and s - ome
I v „
i h n
came home did w not you find a „ cup of *
hot broth ^waiting for you? and fire in
J? u L room \ Wito do you think ordered
Nan looked , , A at ,, her father - , with dimmed A
J? bb an ? b J ! Cw 1181 f a be klS3 S aa to at reabze hl “ pnc care the
that 7 had surrounded her all her days,
“wwVwn What shall fzZJZ I say to All a m da, mamma,
motherly Mrs. Campbell but, was a quiet, sweet,
woman; more sympathetic
than the doctor she better understood
how P owerful fasbl0!1 ls wltb girls—how
fawba J e of characicr towith
sUnd its stringent if absurd demands,
1 d ° n ‘ llll .“ k y ? u ,^ a “ dr0 P he r !
„ Nanny,” she «ud. T T thuk-that would, ,
be unkind and need ess. She is to be
first bndemald ’ and therefore stand next
to you; and as you are be to wear a high
dreas hers wlU not aa conspicuous as
H she were among the others I agree
entirely with your father, and I am glad
it was not your suggestion that the rest
should wear low dresses
So the ma ter was settled, and in due
time .. the wedding came oft had It assured was a
pretty wedding, would as be; ISanny but the old
grandma le it d d down poo- tor
P 1 ravcr3c ‘ not com f.
‘ t; tbe sn ° w la v dc e P over all the coun
- depths
tr J r ‘ tb< ! thermometer f sank to
unusual even in New the England, shining and drifts keen
winds swept across
that seemed to pierce the heaviest cloth-
1D S
“We love ye just as much, dear,”
wrote grandmother, married; but “as we’re though old we folks, come
to see you
and the weather is consider’ble cold for
anybody to be out in, and he is threat¬
ened some with sciatiky, so we dursn’t
risk it. So we send you a little matter
to buy a little weddin’ present with,
bein’ you’re all the gran’child we’ve got,
and do you get somethin’ real useful or
comfortable with it for to remember
y01 f r ^ ery ^° vln gtkndpa and , g „ randmft.”
check lor five „ hundred. d« ollars fell
from the letter.
“Oh!” exclaimed Nanny. “Nowlcan
have a seal-skin! I didn’t want to ask
^ atbt ' r
While . the bndal ... procession was form¬
. 1 afra d at \ he al ‘
l tain n ?7' ? at a “ the after ‘ eTen procession-the ar; “best , cer :
man” was observed by a disinterested
spectator to turn his eyes very often upon
Ailda \ an Alstyne. No wonder, she
w«s her a very lovely girl, and to-night was
at best; the delicate rose satin that
clothed her stately, lithe figure up to her
throat and down to her wrists shone like
a pale draped sunset through the filmy lace that
was over it and caught up with
blush-rose; where the lace crossed her
bosom in soft folds from either shoulder
a bunch of the same roses nestled and
! he J" 11 ° f nch ’ a f® that f tood U P aboat
ber thr ° at w f beld “ P lac « a PP a '-eatly
by a collar of silver filigree, fine as frost
work, whoseheartsparkleda clasped by a rose of pink coral, in
diamond dew
dro P : the short veil that rested on her
eorouel of dark hair was held by a rose
and ltsbud ; And best of all, a warm,
natural c.olor lit her fine face, and she
'ooked as she felt, comfortable and at
case ’
But the others—poor souls, how could
they help it ?—were pinched with cold:
their cheeks colorless, their pretty noses
absolutely blue; and Rosina Leavitt
could not smother with her utmost ef¬
forts and her lace handkerchief the in¬
cessant little cough that made Dr. Camp¬
bell knit his forehead and stir uueasily in
his seat, for he knew the girl had a sad
inheritance of blood: her mother came
of a consumptive family.
Dr. Everett Adams did not forget his
admiration for the “ first bridesmaid ”
when this wedding was over. He be¬
came more and more devoted, and the
next September so-iety in B were
pleased but not surprised to hear his en¬
gagement to Miss Van Alstyne an¬
nounced. By a rather odd coincidence
their wedding Alida too was fixed tor Christ¬
mas Eve. Van Alstyne was very
wealthy, if she was very sensible. She
had as many “maids” to attend her as
Nannie Campbell, and she gave them
their dresses. They were of rose satin
too, but made high in the neck and long
sleeved, the quaintly cut basques
trimmed with white fur, a broad band of
it edging the short full skirts; poke bon¬
nets of the same satin wreathed with
short white ostrich tips, and bunches of
white roses on the left shoulder, com¬
pleted the charming and warm costume.
Not one among the pretty group had
ever looked so pretty or been more com¬
fortable. And the bride was lovelier
than ever in her close robe of spotless
satin, with no sparkle of jewel or glitter
of gold garlanding about her, but profuse white
roses from throat to hem her
long dress, and a crown of them fasten¬
ing drapery the veil of Mechlen that was all the
that fell over the solid moon¬
light folds of her train.
Mrs. Jack Norton looked on from a
chancel pew, and thinking of her own
wedding, gave a silent sigh to poor
Rosina Leavitt, sleeping in her Southern
grave. That troublesome little cough
had done its work. She had taken cold
in the church, and gone dowD to death
so fast no human power could stay her
“Do you know what first ‘fixed my
young affection’ on you, as the novelists
say, Alida?” asked Dr. Adams, as he sat
with his bride on the walls of the old fort
at wedding. St. Augustine two weeks after their
“I suppose it was my beauty,” she
answered, with a look and laugh of co¬
quettish mischief, tor Everett Adams had
always said that lie never could or would
marry any woman merely for her good
looks.
“No, indeed, madame. Though I
don’t deny the self-evident fact of your
ladyship’s loveliness. But the first thing
that attracted me was your sensible and
comfortable dicss at Mrs. Norton’s wed¬
ding. If the other bridemaids had only
known how pinched and forlorn they
looked, lioxv little those bare arms and
necks Were admired by the spectators, it
would have taught them and sonic radiant, things.
But you were blooming than theirs. and I
your dress far handsomer
could not have fallen in love with a red
nose and pale cheeks, I admit.”
Alida laughed and the doctor kissed
her. There was only a sea gull to be
shocked.— Harper's Bizar.
The keeping of young alligators as
household pets is described as a new
“craze.”