Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1870-01-06
THREE CALICO GOWNS.

4an66 dA1VV w w NO
They-that is, the people-eallec
the Judge the oldest man that ever
lived. If oddity consists in having ;
way of his own, Judge Clinton was 8
very odd man. He would insist upon
living in little, brown old fashioned
house, without any carpets upon the
floor, and what was more vexatious,
would not allow sofa, or lounge, OF
rocking chair inside the four brown
walls. AS be had an idea that the
whole country was going to wreck and
ruin, because the men wore broad
cloth, and the women wore silks, he
declared he would wear homespun as
long as he lived, and his women should
be restricted to calico.
AS we have nothing to do with Mrs.
Judg Clinton, we shall allude to the
hearty vexation with which she carried
out the whimsical old Judge domes-
tic relations. AS she could do nothing
wiser than to gulp down her chagrin,
she did gulp it down, and, woman
like, pretended TO believe with her hus-
band, that they could reform the world
by making themselves conspicuously
mean and uncomfortable.
Judge Clinton was still in indigo
colored homespun. and Mrs. Judge
Clinton in nine-penny calico, when
Miss Clara Clinton, having reached the
age of eighteen, and having a will of
her own (Which her mother was care
full to tell everybody the child inheri-
ted from her father, announced her
determination to go to boarding school.
The Judge himself had been a poor
boy, self-educated through his own ex-
ertions. He was a proof of his hum
bic birth and the difficulties he had
overcome at Brundery. He had read
Virgil BY the aid of pine knot, and
Greek by the aid of penny candle,
and solved the problems of Euclid by
moonlight He respected but one de-
sire in the world, and that was thirst
for knowledge. So. when Miss Clara
protested that she must, and could, and
would go to a boarding school, Judge
Clinton eheerfully acquiesced, and ex-
pressed himself ready TO leash
over"
Ne sooner was the interesting sub
ject broached, however, than to Miss
Clara's surprise. her fathSr selected
the most expensive, thorough and
aristocratic institutions in the country,
paid the yearly expenses in advance,
and sent her at once to complete her
education, with twenty-five cents for
spending money, and three calico
gowns for her wardrobe.
1t was bad enough, Miss Clara said,
sobbing all the while as if her beauti-
full eyes had really been liquid foun-
tains, to be obliged to dress in calico,
but to 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 incor-
rigable. He saved two shillings and
six pence by having them all alike, and
he was satisfied if his daughter was
not.
1t was bright clear May morning
when Miss Clara bade adieu to the
ugly brown homestead, and her mo-
ther, who wiped her eyes on her calico
apron, and the sheep that bore the
fleeces from which her fathers home
spun was made She loved every
thing 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, in
the new scenes and strange people
around her. Very weary and travel
soiled, she alighted at the end of her
journey and was shown into the re-
ception rooms where were seated
several stylish young ladies, evidently
newly arrived pupils like herself.
There was. Miss June with her ex-
quisitely fitting travelling dress, who
looked her over with a quisical look in
her dark eyes; and Miss Clara felt sure
that the peculiar smile that fingered
upon those sarcastic lips owed its ex-
istence to the fact that she wore "cali
co."
Blushing to her very temples, poor
Clara looked away, only to encounter
the gaze of Miss Gay. who reclining
upon the sofa in the most faultless at
tire seemed absorbed in studying the
pattern of the print.
Miss Gay and Miss June exchanged
glances and smiles. Tears welled up
from Clara's heart. but she was too
proud to wipe them away; one fell,
then another, when a soft voice said:
"You are very tired, l am sure; SO
are we all; but we shall be attended to
soon."
Clara looked her thanks to the gen
tie speaker-a girl very plainly dressed
and of sweet and winsome counte-
nance, who bringing her chair nearer,
asked her some trivial questions, and
related some amusing experiences of
her own in reaching the institution.
Clara felt more at ease, and being
naturally .vivacious and intelligent,
soon made friends with the kind stran-
ger who invited her to become her
roommate.
The school term soon commenced,
and there wss little time for Clara TO
think of her honely garments. But