The Portland daily press., 1869-09-04

examine some cheap calicOes between her
thumb and forefinger.
~ IN take this jug full of molasses," said
Forethought.
west lndee or sugar house? ?" asked the
man, who was tying up quarter of a pound
of black tea.
The best you have" said Forethousht,
feeling for his pocket-book.
do you sell much of this kind OF callco lor
comfortables ?" asked Betsey of the son OF
the firm.
"Sipbts of them, maam," responded "Son."
hThese are the regular comfortable prints,
manufactured expressly for comfortables, by
Mr.. Sprague, of Rhode Island. You must
have heard of Mr.. Sprague; he makes an al
most fabulous quantity of calico every day
and is member of Congress. He's very pop
ular in Washington, too; such a nice, sweet
tempered, benevolent man you never saw,
We always buy our prints right of Mr.. Sprapue
himself, because then we know what we are
getting. Here's our last bill now-you would
not be likely to read it, he's such blind
Writer-'israel PettibOne & Son bought of
oprasue & Co., pieces of comfortable prints
IL IL cents per yard Now these calicoes
are worth ninepence yard if they're worth
cent; but seein' it's you, we'll say twelve
cents"
81 think eleven is all they are WORTH" said
Miss Price.
Couldn't think of It," said "Son - that is
less tn IN we paid for them you know; besides
that, GOLD has been slowly rising in the New
York market the last two or three days, and
OF course comfortable prints must 60 up too"
This last statement being unanswerable,
Miss Price asked for samples of two varieties
to try at home in soft soap, and Just then
Forethought came up with the molasses. He
walked straight by Miss Price, giving her
side wink to come to the door. Miss Price
followed Forethought out and took the lug.
"How much is itS" said she producing her
purse. ..
mo matter about that; it's of no conse.
quence at all" said Forethought. "You'l
let me know about that little matter you
and | were speaking of in day or two?"
Just as soou as l can," said Miss Price,
THAT molasses is pretty heavy" said Fore
thought, "Pd 60 and carry it up for you but
shall be more than half an hour late at the
shop now."
Miss Price protested that 1t wasn't heavy in
the least, and turned up the street. In an
excess of gallantry Forethought tipped his
hat to her back, and after having knocked it
OIL and recovered it again, walked down the
street as soberly as a man can who feels that
his entire temporal fate is pending
Miss Prices ginger-snaps were particularly
nice that afternoon, and when she sat down
to her lonely tea, it did occur to her for the
first time in her life, that it might be pleasant
to have some one to say, while crunching
them down, "Betsey, dear, what good snaps
you do make!" After Miss Price had washed
the tea cup and saucer, plate and knife. that
constituted "dishes" at her house, she lighted
her lamp and sat down by the stove to think
"the matter" over.
When she meditated she usually put her
feet on the low hearth of the stove. drew her
dress and balmoral away from the stove and
tight around her ankles, rested her elbows
on her knees and her head in her hands,
Arranged in this cOntemplative position she
"thought over the matter"
She hadn't given consideration to the per-
sonal question of matrimony for wears. She
had made her way in the world very salts
factorily alone; yet as Forethought had said.
she wasn't as young as she once was; she had
begun to feel the rhematism in her Joints
painfully every morning, and was liable to an
1n1lammatory attack at any time; who would
take care of her under such circumstances.
Miss Price felt to be more than she knew.
Perhaps, too, it wasn't quite safe for her to
live alone; she remembered several maidens
who, in advancing years, had been obliged to
take boy" in order to be under sense of Sc
curity; and taking boy was something to
which Miss Price could never bring her mind:
yet lie acknowledged toherself that it was some
be agreeable to have some one to whom tn
speak whenever she happened to have ANYTHING
to say. Then another advantage of having a
husband would be that she could have some
one to make the garden and saw the wood:
some one TO help cudgel the boys out of the
cherry trees, and some one to empty the tubs
when she was he'd! She could also set all her
pitchers with their handles fronting to the
southwest, and wash her kitchen floor three
fchn oh x,,sx1 4
lively pronounced an old maid
With the above Considerations in view. IT. is
not remarkabethat Miss Price decided favor
ably in regard to matrimony in the abstract.
ohe next turned her attention to Fore
thought. There was nothing Objectionable
about him; he was clever, honest man. and
one OF the kind handy to have about the
house in case of sickness! He had Inherited
a good disposition through long line of Tin
kers; his reputation for sobriety of walk and
conversation was unimpeachabIe, He had
worked In the boot and shoe factory for more
than twenty years, and had laid up very
pretty sum in the savings bank. For indus |
try and -faithfuness in the service he had
been gradually promoted from pegging to the
finishing work, and now stood next in rank
to the foreman.
Miss Price dropped her feet off the stove
hearth AID pushed her chair away from the
cluded. She took little black Japanned |
penholder from the stand drawer, diluted |
her ink with teaspoonful of vinegar, and on
half sheet OF paper wrote as follows:
"Mr. Tinker: Deer Sir,"-I have been
thinking over what you sed this morning.
and don't no but it is the best we can do 10
have each other. suppose you don't care
about no weddn, and don't feel much like
getting one up, people would make no end of
talk We will go over to the minister's to be
married. l shan't get around to it before
Thursday, and guess we had better 90 pret-
ty early in the day, because the conference
meats there in the afternoon, and they will
be likely to be pritty busy. Very affectionate.
ly yours. BETsEY PRICE.n
"P. S. Don't come before 6 O'Clock, Thurs
day morning, becaus it is my baking day, and
l shall have to wett up bread for two"
Miss Prices orthography wasn't faultless.
but she is an excellent cook. Forethought
was trife bashful, but he always spends his
evenings at home, SO, when I say that their
state since marriage has been happy one,
any one who goes through the world with
both eyes open will see some very good rea-
ruI,r CHI Io