The Vermont transcript. [volume] (St. Albans, Vt.) 1864-1870, 1864-07-08
NICE GIRLS"
by A BACHELOR.


girl" | don't mean a pretty girl, or
dashing girl; or an elegant girl, but a
mice girl" one of those lively good
tempered, good hearted, sweet faced,
amiable, neat, natty, domestic crea-
lures, whom we meet in the sphere of
Home" diffusing around the domestic
hearth the influence of her goodness,
like the essence of sweet flowers.
What we all know by mice girl is
not the languishing beauty, who daw-
dies on a sofa and talks of the last
new novel, or the last opera; of the
great giraffe-lookihg girl, who creates
an effect by sweeping majestically
through drawing-room. The mice
girl does not even dance well, or
play well, and she does not known a
bit how to use her eyes or coquette
with fan. She never languishes, she
is too active for that; she is not given
to novel-reading, for she is always too
busy And as to the opera, when she
goes there she does not think it nee
essary to show her shoulders; but sits
generally away in the back of the box,
UNDECIDED and unnoticed 1t is not in
such scenes that we discover the"nice
girl. 1t is at "Home." Who il it
that rises first in the morning and gets
the breakfast ready before the family
comes down? Who is it that makes
papa's toast, and carries up mamma S
tea, and puts buttons on the boys
shirts, and waters the flowers, and
feeds the chickens, and makes every
thing bright and comfortable in the
parlor? Is it the sofa beauty, or the
giraffe, or the elegant creature? BY no
means. 1t is the mice girl" Her
unaided toilet has been performed in
the shortest possible space of time; yet
how charmingly her hair is done how
simply elegant is her silk dress and
plain white collar What hearty kiss
es she distributes, unasked, among the
members of the family. She does not
present her cheek or her brow, like
the Finest girl, but takes the initia-
tive herself and kisses the boys one af-
ter the other with an audible smack
which says aloud, II love you, ever so
much" If ever / coveted anything in
my life, it is one of those kisses from
that mice girl. She is quite at home
in all the domestic duties. She troub-
les no one to help the kettle" She
has fetched it from the hob, and re-
plenished the teapot, while some one
hasbeen thinking about offering his
assistance
Breakfast over, she dives down into
the kitchen to see about dinner; and
all day long she is running up and
downstairs, always doing, and always
cheerful and hght-hearted. And she
never ceases to be active and usefu
until the day is gone when she will pol
ka with the boys and sing old songs
and play old tunes to her father 70.
hours together, and never tire. Sh,
is perfect treasure, is the mice girl
When illness comes, it is she that at
tends with unwearying patience the
sick chamber. There is no risk, no
amount of fatigue that she will not
undergo; no sacrifice that she will not
make. She is all love, all devotion.
| have thought it would be happiness
to be i'll, to be watched by such loving
eyes, and tended by such fair hands.
One of the most strongly marked
characteristics of mice girl, is tidi-
ness and simplicity of dress. She is
invariably associated in my mind with
high frock, plain collar, and the
neatest of neck-ribbons, bound with
the most modest little brooch in the
world. / never knew nice girl
yet, who displayed profusion of rings
and bracelets, or who wore low dress
es, or splendid bonnet. Nor can l
imagine mice girl with curls, but
this may be a prejudice.
lam quite sure, however, that coax
ers,p or ''c-c's" those funny little curls
which it has been the fashion to gum
upon the cheek with bandoline-are to
tally inconsistent with the character of
a nice girl" And if any one whom l
have been disposed to regard as a
nice girl were to appear with her
bonnet stuck on the back of her head,
| should cease to believe in her from
that moment. The only degree Of
latitude which / feel at all disposed to
allow to my beau ideal-or, should it
be in this case, belle ideal Pts kid
boots with brass holes. There is n
nameless charm about tidy feet, which,
/ believe, the whole world recognizes.
/ maintain that neatly booted foot,
and well shaped ankle in conjunc-
ton with a clean, white petticoat, and
a tight stocking, will nearly make
amends for squirt. Young men, is
it not so? Yes, you confess it.
/ say again, there is nothing in the
world half so beautiful, half SO intrin-
sically good, as mice girl" She is
the sweetest flower in the path of life.
There are others far more stately, far
more gorgeous; but these we merely
admire as we go by. 1t is where the
daisy grows that we like to rest.
Under every condition, every aspect,
/ admire--nay, that is too cold a word
Il love the mice girl p" Under every
condition, every aspect, save one--that
one is the condition of matrimony.
When | hear that one of the mice
girls" of my acquaintance is about to
be married-about TO be monopolized
by some Jealous beast with whiskers,
and an ugly sister who is to be brides
maid, | come over faint and sick at
ho.,t Whara s.nice oirls' dwell il