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MY GREAT AUNT POLLY' S ELOPEMENT. 117
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 ...
business in that small but promising town : on this day , of all days of the year , he was expected home , and towards evening accordingly
he rode into the town , along the north road , with pistols and bags , as the custom then was : he came an hour earlier than he was due
, and his horse bore marks of hurry , and his face of some strong excitement . I should premise that this youth had been a favourite
of Madam Clorinda ' s , and had often visited her at York . This was the tale -which Joseph told in Burchester to the crowd of neighbours
who were assembled at his father ' s : —Thirty miles off on the northern road he had stopped to give his cob some water at a trough
by a wayside inn : as the beast was peacefully drinking , and himself luxuriating in the shade of a large elm , he saw the dust rise
on the road about half a mile off in the direction of Burchester ; the cloud came nearer and nearer , until he saw the heads of galloping
horses , a postilion in scarlet , and a coachman in a wig and hat also seated on the box of a handsome chariot , of which the
windowblinds were down on the side next himself ; but as the vehicle dashed past him the blind was suddenly drawn up , and his cousin
Polly nodded and smiled in his astonished face . It was over in the twinkling of an eye ; but he just caught sight also of— " Whom _?"
shouted a dozen voices in a breath . " Of my father ' s good friend , excellent Mr . John Chiselton , " said Joseph , quietly , as if that were
the saving clause after all ! Roars of laughter , screams of amusement from Samuel , Jonasand
, Darias , imprecations from Zephaniah at having been so completely outwitted , and hysterical tears from Mrs . Dever to find the matter
¦ was not so bad after all , finished that eventful day . Mr . Paul Lefevre was exculpated , and , in the public excitement caused by the
true story , the rumour of the chariot having been one of his own was forgotten . He swore at and bribed the two men among his
own servants who could have testified to the disappearance of his equipage , and the very practical joke to which he had been a victim
never went farther than a gossip ' s wink . We need not say that worthy John Chiselton married his wife in
lawful style at Gretna Green , and drove her quietly back to her beloved Yorkwhere the wilful child never appeared to regret that
, she was an " old man ' s darling / ' The chariot was returned to the Priory with Mr . Ohiselton ' s compliments ; and when I was a little
lad , Mrs . Lavinia Billings , who alone knew this story in its detail , showed meat the time of the great Lefevre salethe identical
, , vehicle with crested panels and faded yellow hangings which had
assisted my Great-Aunt Polly ' s Elopement .
My Great Aunt Polly' S Elopement. 117
MY GREAT AUNT POLLY ' S ELOPEMENT . 117
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), April 1, 1858, page 117, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01041858/page/45/
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