The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1870-02-08
Three Calico Gowns.

Judge the OuucSt man that ever llNcu. III
oddity consists Of having way Of his
own, Judge Clinton was n very odd man.
He would insist upon living i'll a little
brown old-fashioned house, without car
pets upon the floors, and what was more
yexatious, would not allow Il sofa, or
lounge, or rocking chair, inside the four
brown walls. As he had an idea that the
whole country was going TO wreck and
ruin, because the men wore broadcloth,
and the women wore silks, he declared he
would wear homespun as long AS he lived,
and his women folks should be restricted
to calico.
As we have nothing to do with Mrs.
Judge Clinton, we shall not allude to the
hearty vexation with which she carried
out the whimsical old Judges domestic
relations. As she could do nothing wiser
than to gulp dow her chagrin, she did
gulp it down, and, woman-like, pretended
to believe, with her husband, that they
could reform the world by making them
selves conspicuously mean and uncomfort-
able.
Judge Clinton was still in digo-colored
homespun, and Mrs. Judge Clinton in
ninepenny calico, when Miss Clara Clin-
ton, having reached the age Of eighteen
and having will of her own (which her
mother was careful to tell everybody the
child inherited from her father, announc-
ed her determination to 90 to boarding
school.
The Judge himself fhad been poor boy,
self-educated through his own exertions.
lie was proof of his humble BIRTH and
the difficulties he had overcome at Brun-
dery. lie had read Virgil by the aid of
a pine.knot, and Greek by the aid Of a
penny candle, and solved the problems of
Euclid by moonlight. He respected but
one desire in the wsrld, and that was a
thirst for knowledge. So when Miss
Clara protested that she must, and could,
and would 90 to boarding g-school, Judge
Clinton chcerfully acquiesced, and cx-
pressed himself ready to "cash over
No sooner was the interesting subject
broached, however, than to Miss Clara s
surprise, her father selected the most ex-
pensvc, thorough, and aristocratic institu-
tion in the country, paid the yearly ex-
penscs in advance, and sent her at once to
complete her education, with twenty-five
cents for spending money, and three cali.
co gowns for her wardrobe.
1t was bad enough, Miss Clara said
sobbing all the while as if her beautiful
eyes had really been liquid fountains, to
be obliged to dress in calico but have
three calico gowns all alike, from the self
same piece, so that her companions would
think she had but one-that was the
"hardest to bear of all" But the old
Judge was incorrgiblc. lie had saved
two shillings and sixpence by having them
all alike, and he was satisfied, if his daugh.
ter was not.
1t was n bright, clear May morning
when Miss Clara bade adieu to the ugly
brown homestead, and her mother, who
wiped her tears ON her calico apron, and
the sheep that bore the flecces from which
her fathers homespun was made. She
loved everything about the dun dwelling
now that she looked back upon it from
the coach window, But soon the novelty
Of her condition overcame her grief, il
the new scenes and strange people arounC
her.
Very weary and travel-soiled, sh,
alighted at the end Of her journey, ant
was shown into the reception room, ,wher,
were seated several stylish young ladies
evidently newly arrived pupils ike her
self
There was Miss June, with her exquis
itely fitting travelling dress, who LOOKED
her over with quizzical look in her darl
eyes and Miss Clara felt sure that tn
peculiar smile that fingered upon thos
sarcastic lips, owed its existence to tn
fact that she wore "calico."
. Bushing to her very temples, poo
Clara looked away, only to encounter th
= gaze of Miss Gay, who, reclining upon tn
sofa in the most faultlcss attire, SCENE
absorbed in studying the pattern of tn
print.
Miss Gay and Miss june exchange
glances and smiles. Tears welled up iror
Clara's full heart, but she was too prou
to wipe them away; one fell, then anOtl
= er, when soft voice said;
: "You are very tired, am sure so ar
5 we all but We shall be attended I
K soon"
a Clara looked her thanks to the gentl
}. speaker girl very plainly dressed, an
OF sweet winsome countenance, whc
bringing her chair nearer, asked her som
trivial questions. and related some ann,