... . . . . tf-WX I Js A A A I IH II 11C fll V1H i It IF fll r TVOPirO Mil 115 ' WlRVfll m www TZ?r?cr"- AN INDEPENDENT FAMILY NEWSPAPER. JsJ' "Vol. VI. INoav 131ooiiiAell, I?a., Tuesday, June 18, 1873. IVo. 25. J8 PUBLISHED KVSBY TUESDAT MORNING, BT FRANK MORTIMER & CO., At New Bloomfleld, Terry Co., Ta. Being provided with Rteam Power, and large t'yliuder and Job-Presses, we are prepared to do all kinds of Job -Printing 1" fiood style and at Low Prices. ADVERTISING KATK9: TramUtU8 Cents per line for one Insertion. 19 ' " two Insertions 15 " three Insertions. Business Notices in Local Column 10 Cents per line. Notices of Marriages or Deaths Inserted free. Tributes of Respect, Ac, Ten cents per line. . YEARLY ADVERTISEMENTS. . Ten Lines Nonpareil one year - $10,00 Twenty lines " " " 18.00 For lonser yearly adv'ts terms will be given Upon application. Harvey Middleton's Proposal OR love in a Staze Coach. IT WAS a cold spring day, nearly ten years ago. The snows were melting, and the frost just beginning to come out of the ground; consequently the hilly roads of Maine wore in a porilous state deep mud boles alternating with old snow-drifts, and treacherous spots which seemed frozen, but were merely a crust covering the porous mass below. It was nino o'clock in the morning when the stage-coach which con nects the little village of B , on the Kenuobeo River, with the railroad terminus some twenty-five miles below, drew up be fore the door of the public-house, whore Harvey Middloton stood waiting. That gentloroan watched its approach with some doubts concerning hisown chances of a Beat. It was not a coach, but a thing called a "mud-cart" a kind of wide open Wigou set on strong elastic) springs, and having several low-backed seats, which extended over the wheels to afford more room. Evory seat was full except one on tho elovated fwreh of the driver, and thither Middleton clamberod with soni$sdiffioulty, and wrap ped himself as well as lie could from the cold. ' lie was just recovering from rather a severe illness, which had detained him a fortnight in that out-of-the-way place. A busy Boston lawyer, with an office full of cases calling him home, he had not borne the confinement very patiently; and not feeling really well enough yet to boar a tire some stage drive, was just in that state of nervous irritability to be annoyed at every thing. As he mounted to his place his ears rere greeted by a woman's laugh a hearty, Tinging laugh, too loud to be exactly lady Bike, but with a pleasant sound in it for all that,.' At least he might have thought so in A more amiable moment; now, however, he turned, a little disgusted at the boisterous outbreak, and, wliile sottling himself on the fur robes, took a rapid survey of his fellow travellers. " ' ' They were none of them of a class likely to please his fastidious taste. On the back seat were a sharp-visaged Shaker, who had pestered him to buy a washing-machine at the publio house that morning, a sleepy looking elderly farmer, and his wife. The latter was a nervous, restless woman, who bad in charge throe baskets, a bundle, a shawl, an umbrella, and her husband, and seemed equally anxious about them all. Four red-shlrted log-drivers, on their way down the river to start a' big "jam" at Carratunk Falls, filled .the front seat, They were decent men, though rough, and rather disposed to treat the other passen gers to a good deal of chaff. On tiw mid dle seat were three persons. The first was a country youth of the hobble-dehoy age, "but with a pleasant, intelligent face, inter esting in spite of immaturity and freckles. Kext him sat a palo, tired-looking woman, 'With a sad, girlish face, who carried In her arms an enormously fat and Incredibly live ly baby. . The other occupant of the seat was a young womaa of certainly striking appearance, Bhe seemed about twenty four or five bad a tail, sbswy figure and a handsome face very handsome. . .Middle ton admitted to himself, after several sur veys. A brilliant complexion, an abun dance of black hair iq shining, satiny hands it was before the advent of "frizzles" clear, strong gray eyes, a well-cut nose, and a handsome though somewhat) large mouth filled with daszling white teeth. Plainly It was that mouth from which' had Issued the ringing, boisterous laugh which bad so of fended Middleton's fastidiousness. Her attire was remarkable. Sho wore a hand some blue silk dress, a velvet cloak richly fringed and braidod, a light Bilk hat with feathers, and a lace collar fastened with a showy brooch. Gold bracelets on her wrists, and lemon-colored kid glovos, completed a costume which, though certainly becom ing, could hardly be called appropriate for a stage-coach ride in a muddy 'spring day. Middleton's taste instantly pronounced it and its wearer hopelessly vulgar. She talk ed constantly, not only with the youth at her side, who seemed to belong to lior in somo way, but with nil the other passen gers. Her voice was a pleasant one, though its tones, like her laugh, wore so loud as to jar disagreeably on Middleton's ear. . Ordi narily it would not have occurred to him to be thus annoyed; indeed, his sense of hu mor might have been pleased by the young woman's shrewd and often witty comments on the incidents of their ride; but to-day ho was ill and nervous, and her loud tone, her unpolished and occasionally ungramat ical speech and vulgarly showy dress dis pleased and disgusted him. He bore it as long as he could, and then his impatience bi'oke out. Not loud enough, however, to be audible to the object of it. It was to his companion, the driver, that ho exclaim ed, " Confound that woman's tongue I Is there no end to its infernal clatter?" The driver looked at our friend with a surprised and balf-offonded glance; but in a moment he answered, in a tone rather patronizing and tolorant, as though the person he addressed could really not bo supposed to know any better. i " Well, stranger, I guess you feel kind o' out o' sorts this morning. ' You don't look well, I snum. Been sick, ain't ye?" ' "Yes." " Well, it beats all, how 'most anything will kind o' hector a fellow when be don't feel just right. Now, for my part, I'd rath er hear Lymp Tucker laugh than to hear preachln'; there's something hearteneu' in it; would cheer a fellow up if he was blue as Moxey's Mountain." " I beg your pardon,1' said Middloton. "tI did not know she was a friend of yours; and I meant no fiarm any' way." ' ' ' ' ' . "Oh, well, there's no offense. Lymp ain't anything to me in particular; but she's a girl I always like to have behind my horses." " What did you call hor?" "Lymp Tucker short for Olympla Deacon Bon Tucker's daughter; oldest of six." "Aro they all like her?" If there was any hidden snocr in his words the driver did not perceive it. " Not much," was his emphatio reply. . "The're as pindlin' set. She's as strong as a thresh ing machine, and as smart as chain light ning'," " '' ' " Indeed I" what can she do?" " Well, I should like to have you men tion any thing she can't do." Middleton's good heeding constrained him to express an interest . in the driver's theme which, perhaps, be did not wholly feci. The latter went on confidentially. , Tboir seat being higher than the others, the loud rattle of the wheels kept their words within bounds. "You seo, sir, Deacon Tucker he hain't never been a strong man, and was always rather behind hand with his farming. Then they've hod a sight of sickness. Two of the girls died with consumption, and Miss Tucker she fell down stairs and hurt the spina of her back, so she has scarcely done a day's work since. One year the deacon's crops failed, and the next he had bad luck with bis cattle dying; and so, what with sickness and all, he'd bad to mortgage his farm, and it bad only three years more to run, and everybody reckoned he'd have to lose it. Then Lymp she said that never should be, for she should earn the money to pay off the mortgage. She was eighteen then, and had done all the work at home pretty near since she could run alone. She went out spinning till she got money enough to pay hor fare to Lowell, and then she started for the factory. ' I car ried her down to the cars in my stage, and I happen to know that she hadn't but one gown to her back when she went away, " Well, she got a good place, and she worked straight along, and sent borne money' seven hundred dollars and clear ed off the mortgage, and took a deed of the place in her own name to make sure against accidents, That was six years ago or more, and to-day you would never know 'twas the same place, i The house is all fixed up, and there's new furniture in it, and the deacon's as chirp as a cricket, and proud of Lymp, you'd bettor ballove." u ;. ... " lie ought to be," said Middleton heart- "Didn't I tell you?" asked the other, triumphantly. " And that ain't half. She hires a girl to wait on hor mother, and she sent the younger children to school she never had a chance for schoolin' herself and then You seo that boy back there with hor?" " Yes, I noticed him." ' " Well, that's hor brother John; all the boy the deacon ever had. He's seventeen, and smart. Lymp's putting him through college, going to make a doctor of him, she says." "She is a noble girl." : "Well, she's got the grit. You can't discourage her. She's bound to laugh right through things; and that kind always have good luck; Not proud neither,though she's got money in the bank, and can afford to have nice things now. Some difference," he continued proudly, with a backward gesture, "between that velvet cloak and the day I took her to the Falls with only . one dress. All bought with her own earn ings too." Middloton did not smilo; ho felt rebuked. Even the velvet cloak and dress hat In the stage-coach became respectable to him in connection with that cheerful, courageous, unselfish spirit. If the girl had pleasure in these things, why should she not enjoy them? Tho driver went on, lowering bis bis voice to a tone still more confiden tial : : . , , " They say I don't know how truo 'tis that Squire Danvers is kind o' hankerin' round Lymp. lie's . a widower, well off, and got a nice place. But Lymp don't take a shine to him. She told my wife she didn't fancy second-hand goods no . way. She reckoned matrimonyjwas best fresh; she'd rather not take her'n warmed over." , Middleton's laugh was almost as hearty as that which bad so annoyed him. But the driver's gossip , was , here interrupted. The coach stopped to lot off, the four log drivors, and Middloton gladly availed him self of tho seat they vacated, it being more Bheltered from the cold wind than the high one he hod been occupying. This movement brought him face to face with the owner of the lgli, and ho could not help surveying her with a glance of curiosity. He had heard of tho.eonius factory-girl,but perhaps had never before been knowingly, in com pany with a specimen. Tbore was nothing rude in his look; and the girl observing, re turned it with a steady, unabashed gaze in which there was no shadow of boldness. It was moro as one man regards another; and Harvey's eye was tho first to fall. A 1 .The road was in a frightful condition. Sometimes the wheels on ouo sido. Bank to the hubs in soft mud, while those ou the other were tilted up on a snow-drift.. The jolts and lurches were as painful as- alarm ing, and Harvey in his weak state could hardly endure them. He leaned .back and closed his eyes, but the deadly pallor of his face betrayed bis suffering. In a moment a pleasant voice addressed him. It was the factory-girl, who said, ."You do not seem well, Sir.; Perhaps it is disagreeable to you to ride backward. You are welcome to my seat, if you like to change." . . , . : , . i : .., -"You are very kind," said Middleton, surprised, " The seat is very well, I be lieve; only I have been ill, and the road is rough." ' 1 ' " Why, it Is dreadful for a sick person'. Pray take this thick shawl of mine. I am sure you could make yourself more comfort able with it." ' ' ' "Thank you very much; but I would rather not deprive you of it." ' '' ' " I do not need it, Sir; my cloak is very warm; and you can make yourself a pillow of it. Please take it;" and she loaned for ward and arranged tho shawl . herself in a manner so comfortable as to be its own rec ommendation. He bad not energy to re monstrate further, but leaned back and again closed his eyes, thinking the while bow very handsome hers were, and what; a gentle touch she bad. . , , ..... , He lay thus for some time, paying little heed to anything; but after a while his at tention was attracted by those in frout of him. Tho woman with Uie baby was quest ioning Miss Tucker concerning Lowell and its factories. She bod a timld,nervons man ner, and spoke softly, as if frightened . at the sound of her own voice. Bhe bad been pretty once, but now her face bad a weary, hopeless look, which touched Middleton's sympathies. ; .. Miss . Tucker answered ber questions with ready good nature, soon drawing from ber the foot that she was on ber way to Lowell in the hopo of finding employment. " Have you any frionds iu the city ?" sho presently asked. " No." , " But what will you do with your baby if you work in the mills ?" , ; - " I thought perhaps I could get some one to look after him, if I had the luck to find work." . " Haven't you any frionds where you como from that would take him your own folks?" - " No" rather hesitatingly. " I haven't any folks at least they don't care for me now." ' " Where is your husband ?" was tho next abrupt question. A fiery blush spread over.the woman's face, and hor lips contracted as if with a sharp spasm of pain, but she made no answer. Miss Tucker regarded her for au instant with surprise; then a sudden, swift lifting of the eyebrows showed that sho comprehended the cose. Shu leaned for ward and said in a low tone, "I under stand: your husband is not living. I am sorry I spoke of it. What a fine healthy baby yours is 1" ; , There was a gontle, womanly accent in her voice, which did not escape Harvey's ear; and the ready tact with which she had covered the poor creature's embarrassment, turning instantly from the painful theme to that wbich. would naturally bo most consoling, pleased and touched him. Ho looked at tho over-dress, loud-voiced fao-tory-girl ' with more of gonuiue admira tion than he bad ofton bestowed on any womau. Indeed, he was not an admirer of woman in general. A bacholor of forty, well born, good-looking, ' ' and rich, he might well have been a mark for man aging mammas and designing daughters, had be chosen to put himself in their way. But he was not partial to female society. The truth was he had in his youth, when not so .prosperous as now,' boon rather badly treated by a beautiful but worldly girl, who, after encouraging his suit, sud denly jilted him for a wealthier rival. Tho experience had possibly somewhat shaken his faith in woman in general ; at least it had givon him a distaste for their socioty. He had two married brotbors, but their matrimonial luck was not of a kind to make him envious. The wife of one was a very high bred woman, a model of elegance and propriety in externals, but with the temper of a demon; the other was art amiable fool. ' So,' on in the whole, Harvey was content to remain as he was. 1 Unfa miliar with woman, he was, as a rule, rather unobservant of those with whom he might be aocidontly thrown, and indifferent to what they chose to say or do. So it was, in fact, an unusual thing that he should be listening now with Interest to the talk of these two, one of whom was evidently no hotter than a social pariah and the other of a standing and culture so Inferior to bis own.-' He observed how the . latter, thongh evidently comprehending ' the truth 'With regard to ber new acquaintance, showed no shrinking or hesitation. She saw only ber need, not her fault, and gave her all the advice in her power in a tone of, grave but respectful compassion. ' They rumbled and jolted along, the road growing more difficult with every mile, till, indeed, it was nearly impassible. The old lady with the basket grew Grosser and more frightened with every fresh jolt., She scold ed the driver incessantly, as . if be were somehow responsible for the state of the roads, and seomed out of patience with all the rest for not being as much terrified as herself. Her wretched husband slept con tinually, but managed tol lurch forward every moment against the .youth in front of bim, till the hitter very nearly lost his temper under the . infliction. The baby fretted and cried J and as for Harvey, he grew so tired that he began to think he could go no further. . . .-. ... ' : But discomfort and annoyance only seemed to bring out Lymp Tucker in great er strength. She laughed merrily at each fresh mishap, rallied the ' old lady out of ber fears; and helped her to straighten ber mashed bonnet, which had come to grief from the jolting stage ; and joked away her brother's ill-humor, and produced from her sacbol an orange' which quieted the ' crying baby, and gave its weary mother a brief rest, ' Her unfailing good humor and choer fulness had an effect npoa all ; even ' Har vey partly forgot his weariness' In the lively talk in wbich she engaged him. , She chat ted with perfect frankness and some disre gsjod to grammar rules ; but the quick wit and the shrewd pemroonsense she displayed made amend for much. ,,, , ',) j . .,. . At last, going down a long bill, tho ca tastrophy which the old lady had been looking for camo ; the stage Bank with a sudden lurch into a deep rut, and one of the wheels snapped like a reed. Forunate ly the vehtclo was not upset, and only stuck fast ; but they could go no farther. Here was a cheerful state of things I The nearest house was half a mile away, and they had the alternative of walking to it through tho mud or of waiting there in the bleak March wind for an indefinite time till another conveyance was found. The former course was plainly tho wise ono, and all scrambled out accordingly. Lymp Tucker drew up the skirt of her gay silk dress, thereby making a liberal display of ankles and under-gartnents, but the comely shape of tho one and the spotless neatness of the other mode it excusable Then, taking possession of the kicking baby, and bidding her brother give his assistance to Middloton, she led the way across the field, the whole company taken up their line of march behind her. Arrived, after considerable difficulty, at the farm-house, they had the satisfaction of learning that they must wait at least two hours for the repair of the broken wheel, and that they were still five miles short of the half-way house where they had expected to take dinner. Of course they were all nearly famished after riding so long in the cold. The good woman of tho house seemed well disposed to supply their wants, but she was alone and her larder somewhat loan. "I don't suppose you'd want fried pork," said she, dubiously. , " I might kill a couple of pullets." "That would take too long altogether," said Lymp Tucke. " We should eat the baby before they would be ready." " Well, I guess Jones' wife,1 down at the corner would let me have some ham ; but I hain't got no bread baked then." :' ' ' "Oh, never mind that. Give mo ' the things to do it with, and I'll have the bread made by the ' time you are back from Jones'." ' ' " '' -i . 'i .... ... "La, now," said the hostess, looking doubtfully at the fine apparel of her guest, "do you suppose you could?" . " You bring me tho things and boo," re plied tho other, . laying aside the velvet cloak and light i kid gloves. The woman obeyed at once. Miss Tucker turned , up the silken sloeves, from a pair of largo and handsome white arms and tied on a big check apron, while the hostess flung a shawl around her head and took her way across the field to "tho corner." - The gnly fire in the house was in the kitchen, so all the passengers sat around it and watched the preparation of their repast. The impromptu bread-bakor flirted a flour sifter, twirled a spoon in a pan, mode several rapid passes . over a board, and in an incredibly 1 short time had produced a large panful of biscuits, which she set in a tin bakor before the open fire. The hos tess soon returned, and presently bad ready a smoking dish i of . hot bam and eggs, which, with biscuits like snow-fiakes,made a very inviting repast. By the time the meal was well over the driver returned with his wheel mended, and they took the rood 1 Again. Harvey, who had paid the entertainer liberally for his own dinner, noticed the 'palo young woman approach and offer to do the same. ' 1 ' ' " That is all settled," said the hostess, and motioned with her band toward Miss Tucker. n. Harvey felt mortified that he should not have thought to do that kindness himself. He overheard the poor womau's grateful murmur of thanks to her new friend and the light laugh with whioh they were turn ed aside. He had come to like the sound of that laugh quite as well as the driver. He was not sorry when, : on resuming their places, he found Miss Tucker seated beside himself, no could no longer bear to be only the recipient of kindness, and he exerted himself to show to his companion all those small courteslos of the road which occasion allowed. ' He talked very little, however, though he talked his ' very best ; and his grave, respectful demeanor offered no in dex of the feeling, as new as it was delight ful,' which really thrilled through all tho pulses of his being. It was not merely respect for the fine qualities he had disoov ed in her, nor wholly his kindling admira tion for ber rich and glowing beauty, but -an emotion commingled with and.far trans cending both a delicate and subtle pleas ure in the presence of a' large and gracious woman which bis whole man's nature ac knowledged and bowed down to. ''" " '' l CONCLUDED ON SECOND PAQB. ' "' ' ' ! '1 . I , .... !'.. 1
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