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MY GREAT AUNT POLLY'S ELOPEMENT. 115
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Transcript
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Babl Dear Y Be Reader Declared .—The By ...
accessories after the fact , floated across his brain . He saw Polly in all imaginable honours of matronhood , ordering dinners , making
preserves for his own particular eating , ( he was dainty , "was Paul Xiefevre ) , and . even snubbing his dear sister Arabella at the
countryballs . At four o ' clock he woke and listened to the birds' singing merrily in the Priory trees ; at six o ' clock he got up , and dressed
himself with elaborate care . At seven o ' clock he "was leaning out of his library window , trying to while away the next half-hour ,
¦ when a short cut across the grounds "would bring him to the rendezvous _. The library was on the first floor of the Priory ; its "windows
looked out across the lawn and a low shrubbery , to a broad gap in the trees which commanded a long stretch of the river and the
road , now brilliantly illuminated by the morning sun . In the direction of Burchester he saw something moving amidst a cloud of dust ; a drove of bullocks probably , or the yellow caravan with
the Giantess of Terra del _Fuego and the Two-headed Boy , "which had for three days attracted all the idle children in the town . But no ! the thing came too quickly to be bullocks or caravan ; Jove
himself when he ran away with Europa could not have roused his bovian legs to such a pace . No yellow house that ever rumbled on wheels could manage anything of the kind . The dust swirled
up thicker and thicker , the dreadful misgiving grew and grew . Finally there dashed across the gap in his old oaks an unmistakeable chariot-and-four ! As the rattle of its wheels died away in
the distance , Paul Lefevre rushed down the road , and , skirting Burchester , darted into the lane by the meadow , and found
nothing !—only the morning sun shining placidly on the broad river , and Mr . Zephaniah Dever ' s house pleasantly astir betimes . Presently the breakfast-bell rang , and Samuel , Jonas , and Darias
came running from the yard up to the back door . Then the wretched Mr . Lefevre could hear the clatter of breakfast . He drew nearer , behind a hedge , and heard Mrs . Dever say , " What makes Polly so
late ? " and heard Mr . Dever say , " The child has taken over much of late to the reading of vain romances , and sits up of nights . " Presently one of the serving-maids was bid to call Polly down : she
returned with the news that that young lady ' s window was wide openand the room deserted . Samuel "was next despatched to the
, meadow , Polly ' s usual resort , but no wood nymph was there . Universal confusion ensued , and the only person who could have let
in some faint light on the matter slunk away in a state of groaning revenge and suspicion against some person or persons unknown .
An injured husband may pursue his runaway w ife with a pair of pistolsbut a deserted lover can hardly give chase to a fair lady who
, seemingly prefers an empty chariot to his tender company . But was it empty ? No : the more Paul reflected , the more sure
he felt that it was not : but who was now reclining on his comfortable
cushions , clasping one of Polly ' s fair hands , and indulging in
My Great Aunt Polly's Elopement. 115
MY GREAT AUNT POLLY ' S ELOPEMENT . 115
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), April 1, 1858, page 115, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01041858/page/43/
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