Aikenside

ster's wife, meek, gentle Mrs. Tiverton, whose manner of housekeeping, and style of dr

g, the Thursday evening sewing society, officiated at every funeral, visited all the sick, and gave to every beggar

e vacant seats of his refractory singers. There was no one to respond, unless it were good old Mr. Hodges, who pitched so high that few could follow him; while Mrs. Captain Simpson-whose daughte

ine and decide upon the merits of the various candidates for teaching, giving to each, if the decision were favorable, a little slip of paper certifying their qualifications to teach a common school. Strange that over such an office so fierce a feud should have arisen; but when Mr. Tiverton, Squire Lamb and Lawyer Whittemore, in the full conviction that they were doing right, refused a certificate of sc

prolonged, and others whose days he had surely shortened. Besides being handsome, and skillful, and quite as familiar with the poor as the rich, the young doctor was descended from the aristocratic line of Boston Holbrooks, facts which tended to make him a favorite with both classes; and, greatly to his surprise, he found himself unanimously elected to the responsible office of sole Ins

our ignoramuses," said Colonel Lewis, the democratic potentate to whom Dr. Holbrook was expressing his fears that he should not give satisfaction. Then, as a bright ide

on. He was not easy in the society of ladies, unless, indeed, the lady stood in need of his professional services, when he lost sight of her at once, and thought only of her disease. His patient once well, however, he became nervously shy and embarrassed, retreating as soon

wer," said his "chore boy," passing to his master a li

s called by the genuine Yankee "yellow," and driven by a white-haired man, whose silvery locks, falling around his wrinkled face, gave to him a pleasing, patriarchal appearance, which interested the doctor far more than did the

Holbr

said "Dear." Then, evidently changing her mind, she had with her finger blott

at leisure to examine me on Mon

INE A.

I hope you can attend to me

h knowing that the evil he so much dreaded had come upon him at last. Had it been left to his choice, he would far rather have extracted every one of that maiden's teeth, tha

e a picayune whether it were ugly or fair, though it did strike him that the voice was singularly sweet, which, af

ly Saturday; and then, feeling that he must be ready, he brought out from the trunk, where, since his arrival in Devonshire, they had bean quietly lying, books enough to have frightened an older person than poor little Madeline Clyde, riding slowly home with grandpa, and wishing so much that she'd had a glimpse of Dr. Holbrook, so as to know what he was like, and hoping he would give her a chance to repeat some of the many pages of geography and "Parley's History," which she knew by heart. How she would have trembled could she have seen the formidable volum

t as the roll of wheels and a cloud of d

ted bays dashing down the street, the colored driver reining them suddenly, not before the office door, but just in front of the white cotta

e parts?" was the doctor's mental exclamation, as, running his fingers through his hair and making a feint of pulling up the corners

the tips of her lavender kids, while she told him she had come to Aikenside the Saturday before; and hearing, from Guy that the lady with whom he boarded was an old friend of hers, she had driven over to call, a

entering the cottage just then, the two friends disappeared within the door, while the doctor and Guy repaired to the office, the latter sitting down in the very chair intended for Madeline Clyde. This reminded the doctor of his perplexity, and also brought the comforting thought that Guy, who had never failed him yet, could surely offer some suggesti

feel it my duty to support any man's wife, unless it be my own, or my father's," was Guy Remington's reply; whereupon the penknife went again into the table, and this time with so much force that the poi

ears your senior, a mere nothing, if you wish to make her Mrs. Holbrook;" and Guy's dark eyes scanned curiously the doctor's face, as if seeking there for the secret of his proud yo

. Holbrook turned to another theme, to Madeline Clyde, expected now almost every moment. There was a merry laugh on Guy's part, as he listened to the doctor's story, and, when it was finished, he said: "Why, I see nothing so very distasteful in examining a pretty girl, and puzzling her, to see her blush. I half wish I were in your place. I should enjoy the novelty of the thing." "Oh, ta

hing the justice of the thing, and so at first he demurred; while the doctor still insisted, until at last he lau

of course," he said, "testifyin

ut maybe she won't be, and my orde

ch as your country farmers drive. Guess she won't be likely to stir up the bile of either of us, particularly as I am bullet pro

ter a moment, he added: "Miss Atherstone's health is far too delicate for her to incur the risks of a cli

ok asked, the tone of his voice indicating a little doubt as to a ma

remarkable depth of intellect. But he said to himself, he did not care; he hated strong-minded women, and would far rather his wife should be a little weak than masculine, like his Aunt Margaret, who sometimes wore bloomers, and advocated women's rights. Yes, he greatly preferred Lucy Atherstone, as she was, to a wife like the stately Margaret, or like Agnes, his pretty stepmother, who only thought how she could best attract attention; and as it had never occurred to him that there might be a happy medium, that a woman need not be brainless

gain, but he evidently did not intend to stop, and a close observer might have detected a shade of sadness and anxiety upon his face as Madeline called cheerily out to him: "Good-by, grandpa. Don't fear for me; I

lace go first;" and, chirruping to Sorrel, the old man drove on, while Ma

nged meaning smiles, while the doctor whispered softly: "

n eyes glistening with something like a tear, and her cheeks burning with excitement as she t

ttle Ma