Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1857-10-03

warm fountains OF her nature and ALWAYS di,
81 played II, that won so manv hearts towards her
She was no, sentimental, or inclined to III, blue
Alas the damscls Of fifty years ago had n OF 8
intimate an acquaintance with these matters a
their descendants
t But now reader, in order to do fill penanc
for this latter remark, we jpst admit that, for one
T. we don't believe our grandmolhers were any bet
j. Ter than we arc--not bit
Nicer pies and puddings they could indisputa
bly, make, thrifty house-keepers, faithful wive
and loving mothers they surely were, and fo
these things blessed be their memory But, af
ter all, spinning wheels alone cannot cnlarp,
ones sympahps, or daily darning stock Kings en-
rich ones intellect; and habit narrowed down tc
the circle OF their own families, the views ant
feelings Of the women of the last century.
Aud the true woman Of the present time has
broader social sympathes and richer life and
although she must acknowledge that her first du
ties are in her home, she will not think they end
there, as her grandmolherdid. knowledge, that
Is true to itself, expands the moral as well as the
intellectual life and the world hasn't gone back
ward with the substitution Of botany for butter.
churns, and mathematics for milking pals
But to return TO our heroine. When Enoch
and Cyrus, two tall, sunburnt, but fne-ooking,
young farmers, came in to supper, they were fill
OF a story which quite drove out all thoughts of
the sap-bollng from the head of widow Pease
and ner daughter.
Some terrible depredaions had been commit
ed the night before on Squire Hubbard's sheen
and lamhs--the dog had been dcvoured. and
| two large bears had been seen prOwling around
Blueberry hill, just in the edge of the previous
evening.
lhe young men were greatly excited, for a
large party had been organized to 60 out that
| evening 10 Squire lIubbarl's, who lived in an
| ADJOINING town not more than ten miles of, for
the purpose of destroying the wild animals, and
1t was apprehended their former success would
stimulate them to fresh dcpredations SO with
that belligerent propensity which is so strong an
element OF Anglo-SaXon character Cyrus and
Enoch discanted eluwingly on the best method
of surprising and dispa;ching the animals; while
the motherand sister listened with The indefnabe
mixture OF wonder, admiration and terror which
women always award to manly courage and skill
But, dear me- said Lefty, as she poured
Cyrus third glass Of milk, " what ifa bear should
come round here some of these DAYS You know
Elder Smith SAID he saw one on his farm last
autumn. ., my | believe it would take the
breath straight out OF my body to come across
one of the creatures" And the rosy cheeks
grew pale at the thought.
Nonsense, sis u said the hearty voice of
Enoch, as he spread double stratum of butter
oh MS Ioutih sllce oi rye breac, there's no sort
danger around here. Nobody in these parts
was ever touched by one of them ere chaps
reckon They're smart enough not to venture their
heads far into his town. They wouldn't stay
on long, it they did, that's sartin"
Now whether there was much philosophy in
this speech or not, it had The effect of quoting
Leity's fears though if Enoch had been called
On to give his reasons for exempting Brrrygaie
from bear incursions, he could probably have
found no better one than the propensity indi-
eenous 10 human nature of supposlng ourselves
less liable to i'll fortune than our neighbors.
We'll, after supper, the boys started off in hieh
spirits duly equipped with rifles and long knive,, !
receiving many solemn iniuncIions from their |
mother to look out that them critters didn't get
hold of their skins, maternal warnings which |
have remarkable faculty of going in at one ear, |
and out at the other
q declare, Lefty, we'd forgot all abo.t that |
sap boiling !" suddenly remarked the widow to
her daughter, who, having washed up the tea
dishes, was busly smoothing down the wavy
folds of her hair at the little mirror on one side
Of 'hc kitchen, while some pleasant thought was
shyIy dimpling round her ripe lips, and brighten
ing through her blue ewes.
" So we have, and they haven't pulled up any
boughs. It's too bad, with such nice weather for
boiling, and its likely to set up and rain week
steady at this time of year"
Supposn' you run down to the woods, and
heap up some boushs tonight, Lefty? The
moon shines, so its as bright as day Ihc boys
could hang up the kettle early for you, you know,
bni they coull not stay 10 do anything else, for
they've got to be Off by sunrise to see about
them calves and they wont be home before mid
night, reckon, concluded Mrs Pease with an
oracuIar shake Of her head.
But I'm expecting company tonight, moth
er," answered Lefty, with the rosy tnge WIDEN
ing and deepening through her cheek A" and il
wouldn't be very polite to be off when they
come"
"Well, its likely you'd have time to get back
afore they do child II IT'S any o your beaux,
l can send EN- out to the naples"
Now ifthe truth must be told, Lefty Pease
had two admirers, Cor whom there had often. of
late, been struggle between her affection and
her pride.
Jason Williams was country merchant, a
smart looking Young man, who had recently gone
lnto business for himself He was always dressed
III broadcloth, stood behind the counter with the
poliest bow and smile Imaginable, and was VOTED
ut the winter singing school, " the greatest catch"
in the town.
Then there was Seth Peters, the miller
away down in the silence of Letiy's heart was i
IA voice that plead for him as ii never did for the
merchant Seth was certainly good looking and ;
intelligent, while a nober heart never beat for .
the woman it loved but then his bow wasn't to
be compared with Jason's, and he wore blue |
oyeralls, which were busted over with flour from
Monday morning till Saturday night, except I
when he visited Lefty 3
1t was certainly great contrast and the girl {
felt 1t keenly (as any maiden of twenty would)
when she rode past the old mill, and saw its a
young owner in his powdered clothes, lifting up |
the great bags OF wheat by the rope that dan lied
from the window, or pouring com into the large /
trough under which the great wheel plashed and i
groaned in the stream all day lit was, as we =
SAID, great contrast TO 90 ON a few rods farther r
to the new store, with its green shutters and ]
large sign, and see Jason standing in the store i
dressed better than the minister and receive one
of his inimilable bows. +
Then it would make such conquest, and all b
the girls would envy her so. She would be,
" Mrs Williams, The merchants rife" n
II sounded exceedingly well, and yet, when h
she thought OF it, that low voice would rise up d
and speak for The miller again Poor Lefty no
wonder ii was a severe struggle between her at /
fections and her pride. n
She looked out of the window, and the full 8
moon WIS AininU 1nwn m tho hara aa,,h aoI