Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER 111. where does Miss Toosey live? said John Rossitter, on Monday morning;
I think I may as well go and call on her, as I have nothing else to do. I do not know what impelled him to go. It is impossible to define motives accurately, even our own. We cannot say sometimes why we do a thing; every reason may be against it, ? common sense, habit, inclination, experience, duty, all may be pulling the other way, and yet we tear ourselves loose, and do the thing, urged by some invisible motive of whose existence we are hardly conscious. And if it is so in ourselves, how much more difficult to dissect other people’s motives! and it is generally safer to leave the cause alone altogether, and only regard the effects produced. So it is enough to say that, on that Monday morning, Miss Toosey heard the rattle of wheels along North Street, and, looking out, saw the Rossitters’ dog cart and high-stepping chestnut flare, which, to her extreme surprise, stopped in front of her door.
Something wrong with the harness, she concluded, as the little groom flew out, and stood at the horse’s head, with his arms crossed.
Bless the child ! Miss Toosey said,
as if the creature could not have swallowed him at a mouthful, top-boots and all!
But her observation of the groom from the bedroom window was interrupted by a loud knock at the door, and before she had time to tie her cap-strings, or put a pin in the back of her collar, Betty came rushing up, out of breath and red-faced, with a card held in the corner of her apron, bearing the name
Mr. John Rossitter.
And he said he hoped as how you ‘d excuse his calling so early?and ? flower in his button-hole beautiful, added Betty, in a snorting whisper, distinctly audible in the parlor below. Then followed some ha…
