Beadle's Dime Novels No. 35: East and West — page 25: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS. 25 Melancholy as was this episode in the progress of their ac- quaintance, the aunt and niece felt that it was a new bond of sympathy; and while Mrs. Willard refrained from augment- ing the sorrow of the orphan girl by useless questions relative to her bereavement, she succeeded in diverting her thoughts by directing them to other and present objects. “TI fear you will not find yourself very comfortable with us, Constance. It is so long that we have lived in this rude way, and suffered so much sickness, and had so many losses, that I must have forgotten how to be comfortable, even were the means in my reach. But we want you to make known your wishes without reserve, and promise to comply with them as well as we are able. Now, don’t go to saying any thing, for I know from some dim remembrances of my own, that this is very different from a civilized life!” “ Well, then, I promise to inform you when I find your ways quite unbearable,” said Constance, with a return of her natural gayety. “ And asa sort of compromise, I shall require you to let me know when I become troublesome.” “ We will take means to make you aware of that, should any thing so improbable happen; and to begin with, I am going to put you over here in this corner while I set the table for your dinner. We have to board the mill-hands, and they want their meals at early hours ; but I shall not compel you to eat at their table, and their dinner is over for to-day. Take care of your beautiful dress, Constance, it will soon be spoiled with the dust of our cabin-floor. You see I could not wear pretty dresses, if I had ever so many, in such a place as this !”’ ° Thus talking on, Mrs. Willard contrived to shorten the first - &pparent distance between Constance and herself, by frankly owning the disagreeableness of her situation; and the fastid- ious and not less generous girl was glad to find, in the Seanty space and lack of ease which her aunt's house afforded, &8 excuse for an awkwardness of manner that pained her, as ‘welt as for any peculiarities of dress and living. She knew from hearsay that this plain, thin, sunburnt and care-burdened woman had once been beautiful; nor had her dark eyes lost any of their youthful fire, nor her raven hair its blackness, through all these years of hardship. But the once beautiful comlclbooks.com