Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1871-06-30
Tangled Threads.

room, Flossy--a little grey fur 6all--lay |
on the floor in front Of the CRATE, her
white paws crossed meekly and her bright
eyes shut, apparently enjoying that sound
and sweet sleep that comes only to the |
innocent, but on the other side Of the
fire was Aunt Prue's work-basket, up |
side down, with its molly contents in
such confusion as is only produced by kit
ten claws or baby fingers, There are
no baby fingers in the quiet household of
my widowed aunt aud her bachelor broth |
er, aud Flossv lay condemned already !
Aunt Prue's work basket is no fine
lady's dainty silk or salin-lined recepta
Gle for a trihe of embroidery, with ac
companying gold thimble and tiny, gilt
tering scissors, but is of goodly size, and,
with its many reels of silk and spools OF
cotton, its balls OF yarn and rolls of tape,
il has many time proved its adaptation
10 all household needs, from the elahor,
ate darning Of some rare old lace 10 the
homely mending of Upcle Reuben's uu
/ slightly blue yarn socks.
/ Aunt Prue loves order as Heavens
! first law" but she has stronger love for
peace and quietness, and no wrinkles
| from tretting" have found place of
abode on her mothery face; so that /
was not surprised as she entered upon
the scene from the opposite door,, that,
after an involuntary lifting of her hands
and exclamation of Mercy on us p
she glanced from the mischief done to
the mischiefdoer sleeping so quietly, and
seated herself laughing in the nearest
chair
Sometimes / think I'll poison that
cat! She must have whipping" and
Aunt Prue with severe face advanced
toward the the sleeping culprit.
Flossy sleepily opened one little eye,
took survey of the situation, and in
stantly disappeared through the door
that Aunt Prue in her dismay left open
behind her.
"Well, if she amt the smartest Great
ure," said Aunt Prue.
To do the first thing to be done with
out grumbling, that's Aunt Prue's rule
of life; and with another remark on the
depravity of cats, she seated herself on
f low stool to repair the mischief.
Let me help you, Aunt Prue p
No, child, you wouldn't know where
to put things. Take your work and sit
RIG int down, aud I'll soon have it put to
rights.
The clock ticked, and the fire cracked,
and Flossy crept back and laid herself
down boldly in her warm place, and |
dreamed over the slippers / was embroid,
ering for somebody's" Christmas, and
built fairy castles with the beads, and
the floss, and the bright woods, Cor the
e milIiner and the dressmaker" had
, made me but shadow of my former self,
and my indulgeut mother had sent me
10 the quiet of Uucle Reuben's country
home for a few weeks rest before the
p New Year should bring me new duties
as we'll as new happiness, in home OF
my own.
, Aunt Prue, busily engaged said moth.
ing until the larger part Of the chaotic
mass on the floor bad been restored tc
its wonted order, and nothing remained
bnt a most hopeless looking snarl, in
which threads of cotton, linen, silk anc
yarn were mixed in apparently inextri
cable confusion
T. "Someha w." she said, as with deft and
nimble fingers she followed the twists
d and turns of the various threads, occa
= sonaly dragging one out and winding
e il up with the air of a cOPquerer, "Some
how, Hester, such Iangle always makes
me think of folks lives; yes. ana o
d folks themselves, too. Now there's cot
i ton folks, and linen folks, and yarn folks
and silk folks, in the world, and every
body's life gets into tangle some tim'
/ or other, and they get mixed and tangled
together just like this. Now you se'
\, folks alongside of each other that ain
no more alike than this fine white cot
ton and this coarse brown linen here,
: she said, drawing them out as she spoke
The fine white cotton. that she had
been so carefully engineering through
y knot and loop, snapped.
IS "There, that's just like Pauline Girls
g wold r.
Like Pauline Griswold, Aunt Prue
u Tell me how She was Mr.. Dan Girls
h wod's wife, wasn't shey
N ayes, and as fair and delicate as ,
white lily. City-bred, too, and no mor'
: fitted for country work than Flossy there
Everybody wondered how she came t.
have him. But her city lover Tilted her
and her stern father had no sympathy
and what with dissipated brother, anc
"a no mother to advise her, life had got in
A to snarl, and | suppose when she cam'
. down to the old Deacon's-he was sor
n of connection of her mother's--and sucl
n a reliable man as Dan Griswold Offered
;. her home, she felt as if it would be ;
) kind of rest, and took it without count
4 ing the cost. But it didn't straightei
r. out the snarl for her after all. He wa
q strong and true, jlst like this bit of lin
y en- here, ut be was rough and knotty
. too, and when such threads get twiste'
!, together, they don't pull even, you see
= and by and by there comes little twitcl
4 and the fine one breaks. and that's the enc
y of it. So it was with Pauline and Dan
!. they worked along together side by sid
, till little Sue was seventeen years old
4 and in spite of her mother threw hersel
= away on worthless Joe Hall. Then Dar
i Griswold grew hard and stern and for
n bade her the house, and she went away
n She was delicate girl like her moth
% er, and the separation from her was to-
hard trial. In year Joe wrote tha
~ Susie was dying. Dan was full of re
~ ,orse f,r he meant to he inst. but no