Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1871-11-10

Ne lived far away in the country in a
rustic district. My father was postmaster Of
-ie little place, and kept few groceries l9r
-le Bat he had enough to do to maintain
Do. family scantly and clothe them deccnuy.
WAS sixteen, and housekeeper my mother
WAS dead, aud was the eldest of MS four child
rom. The rest being younger, / stroye To do
my lest for them.
Nv one great trouble then was my clothes.
Other Young girls OF our station that asso-
c.atcl with. dressed better than could. and
it gricvcd me. Vanity begins earlier than
that n the female heart. hai made up
and rcmadc every article of my mother s
wardrobe for the children or for me. had
worked up every shred to the best advantage;
and now that was all gone. and ! did need q
new dress for the coming winter. ! made
my shoes last as long again as other girls
did. for | knew my father needed every six
renee be could earn. and dreaded wanting
ANYTHING. Not tina, he ever was cross, but
he often sighed, and looked 50 painod and
sorrOwful when / asked for money, thar
tried 10 do with as little as possible.
But here it was the last of October ; Ely
summer dresses. poor enough atall times.
looked very thin and paltry now.
on Saturday afternoon | shall never forget.
Dr. what I am going TO tell Of Ny work
au done, the children at play in the orchard,
cu5ed out my long brown hair, put on my
i--. cotton frock, selected PLAIN linen collar
o-mv own making, and pinned it round my
neck with an old breast pin. the only bit Of
'ewalry had ever owned. With me, / think
it was an instinct to dress well. Not fine 4.
only neat. Then. taking out my last winter 5
best frock, sat down by the window % see
what could DO at renoyating it. ltwas q
light blue mcrin0-vcry light, indeed. now
and knew it was too short for me, as ! was
-till growing. and was very shabby But by
turning and putting in a wide band OF tim
ming which I had, ! thought it might be
made to answer, 50 l set to work with Will.
The work was vexing. ! was trying TO do
what scarcely could be done; and as | sat
sewing and contriying. / felt fit to cry over
our poverty. Just then the dog on the shop
sd 5c. mp loud barking. and / looked % see
what il was at. 4 man was coming ln at the
gate with pack on his back; travelling
rediler ! knew. lie smiled and came IN,
although said did not want anything and
the children, seeing him, came running IN
too.
81 cannot afford to buy indeed ! cannot,
I kept saving. But the man only kept on
smiling. and opened his pack on the parlor
floor And It was too great treat 10 me to
see the things to make great opposition.
The first tina, came out was just the very
thing had most longed fora beautiful fine
French mern0. of dark crimson color. had
once seen dress of this kind, hut none bad
ever been offered for sale in our little place
that could equal this in shade or texture
The ucldler looked at me with his keen
black ewes as knelt down to feel the prize
had no hone of winning. THE lady will
buy" he sand but | shook my head. and
crossing nv hands behind me. stood up re-
-olutoly. irving hard not 10 long for the much
desired piece Of goods.
Not buy 2" he exclaimed in a broken
language of some sort, | could not tell whcth-
cr German or French and be looked SO as
t1nishcd. even pitilul, that ! felt sorry at
once. and confessed that had no money. and
could not purchase.
"But the beautiful young lady have some
id silyer-oll iewelry y-old silk drcsses-.iust
good as money! said he
laughed at the idea, but be only opened
another package to display 10 the boys some
handing them each ono, he took out a small
DOH for my little sister, and told them to :un
away now. "till sister bought her dress. |
mentioned 10 the boys ID stay near the door
step. and then taking up the much-coveted
dress-u piece. / again examined 1t. satan was
tempting me. or some vcxauous spirit that
does duty for him. and never had / been 50
,lrely beset How could let il 20, yet how
Jay for it?
The black eyes never left my face, but the
fellow was respectful. only bowing lower as
be ,aid You think it good?''
..Oh. yes - | replied, "too good for me. ~
Not so, " he said. at suits You much. %
and YOU shall have cheap.
'. tell YOU | have no money.
"No matter, trust. You give ne some-
ains 20 keep for you, and | come again, he
s-1
"But have nothing, | insisted. Still, he
0nlyseeued more eager; said something OF
bard times. of having 20 stay at the tavern,
and expenses over Sunday, Of being so very
tre'-and am with the merino in my
hand all the while.
suddenly he stepped close to me. pointing
% the poor brooch wore. ! could give him
thar. he slid that is, lend it to him in trust
until he came again. Did think much Of
1t? he asked.
laughed as | undid it. ! did not think
much OF it, but it was all the jewelry pos
sessed in the world ! showed him my name
on the back. .Alabel." But it was nearly
Ilegible now.
Nearly quite. said he, turning IT about
in bis hands. ut very poor"
And this was true; the poor thin gold, II
it was gold. was all dinted and mashed fat,
the original pin gone, and a needle tied in by
the eve with thread served to fasten it. One
large stone was set in the centre as large as a
pea. surrounded by nine smaller ones, but one
Of those was lost out long ago, and | had Of
ten tried to find piece Of white glass to fit
the small cavity, but had failed. The stones
were all glass. as | believed. Some Of the
girls in the village would ask me why wore
the old fashioned thing and then | would
show them the dim Mabel on the back,
and tell them had been named after the
name there. Some one had given my mother
the pin for me when was born, and she said
| should bear the same name. The peddlel
kept it in his hand, and | noticed that hi;
fingers trembled.
''I'll bring 1t back to you in SIX months
time, said he; "'twon't be'o no good to me
but III take it on trust. Or, if you can pay
sooner, shall be about the neighborhood all