The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1872-06-08
SELECTED STORY.
PATTY DREE.
A CALIFORNIA COUNTRY SCHOOL, AND HOW
IT WAS REDEEMED.
from the .o,erl- I'd Monthly for June.l

AS theV went rdIlllllS ny uOuUuy Game TO
meet her. School Director Penny was taking
. ouiet game Of euchre al Wilson's saloon:
Whqpsy was tendin' burryen,' for he was
al Eoroner and undertaken, and Sharp was
dead drunk at his office in the village. 1t was
a sultry September afternoon, toward the
commencement of the autumn term; and the
young teacher, endowed with a second grade
certificate, and good degree of pluck, had
travelled lao miles TO her destination. The
yellow dust lay ON the uuplanked sidewalk
like sift of Indian meal, and the parched
leaves threw their skeleton shadows over it,
hopeless of moisture; the very air seemed to
come in palpita5ilg gasps over the inhospta-
ble-looking brown hills, and wretched sense
of inactiv " pervaGed, benumbing alike to
soul and body.
Patty reused herself from its influence. SIS
there no conveyance into the N.llagew que
ried she of the ,anterr. jawed man, who stood
watching her small trunk with an air OF APP
preparation.
prietorsh;r in this ark of refuge awoke in his
soul at once. ''Here, you heft up this yere
trunk; now, git - Dunkdm, and tell 'em the
new school-marm's come" This was ad-
dressed to an overgroWl boy, whose dust
covered feet sug sested buckskin boots.
''You bet, / amt a-goin' there" was the
instant rejoinder, accompanied with a twirl
of his thumb to his nose.
Jehu locked at Patty, and said with a
chucAle: "He's one o. your scholars. His
folks raises garding- sass fur the hull neighbor-
hood, an he peddles it raound."
Patty smiled. She began to think sass was
cheap in Blue-nose Canon. She felt like cry
ing.
FLoSs more out O. the same BALE" said the
driver, encouraged to loquacity by the SMILE
you'll be chiperer school-marm than
we've had yet, eff you can get along with
them yornS varmints. We've tried men, an
we've tiled gals-marred women an old
raids But they hain't none OMEN conquer
ed, SD. tally the boys They're a towerin'
set; and The gals amt much better Eff you've
ever broke colt, you'll know how tits your
self"
A faint, little ''Ah, indeedr' checked .lr-
Their remark. The coach-a sepuichral-look-
ing concel Il, driven at hearse-like ace, and
smelling like coffin-conta' ned besides her.
self two other passengers One of them vol
pnteered the observation that 'Ghis here
team was fetched across the plains in 40, and
was inst as good as new yet'' The other, she
mentally characterized in one word, "Pike,"
as the drive-. Shutting the door to keep out
the Sitting ddst, said: ''Them's the store
keeper an the ditch superintendent. Gents,
make your manners 10 the lady,"
pleasant day, miss" ventured Pike.
"Warm, tho, the sSore-lleeper supplement-
ed
''Going 10 the hotel p queried the first.
"Wilson's the BEST" chimed the other.
"Fleas at Wilson's and-and bugs" Pike
brought this out with triumphant intona-
ton which made The vexed little teacher
crawl all over, and conyi nced her he had an
interest in the opposition hotel.
CHATS noshin,' said Cheep, the store
keeper; 'haye 'em at the doctors too, an
you'll allow she's a hOuse-keeper."
An animated discussion ensued between
the two regarding the doctors wife, to which
Patty listened in silence.
The ho.el was soon reached. 1t was din
gy monst :osity, which, for economy's sake,
had been whIewashed at an earlier day, and
now was shedding lis skin in cI.sp little
fakes, which, falling, left bare spots here and
there and exposed sick-looking front, sug-
gestive of an eruptive disease Over the door
way hung altered wreath, which had been
used as decoration during the preceding
Christmas; but which now brought the I'M
pleasant idea 70 Patty OF the holidays having
scabbed over, the dr7 circlet being saved to
vaccinate Che next season of festivity. The
windows were occup' ed by women and child
rem, a.trscted by the arrival of the "great
focty-niner'-the name bestowed by its proud
owner upon the bus and pa 1ted in glaring
letters upon IFS side.
A group ofmen, with hands in their pock-
cts, lounged round the entrance, with an air
of nothing to-do-ness not al all calculated TO
impress a stranger with the advantages Of
Blue-nose Canon as place of business. Pat
ty had the satisfaction of hearing Cheep in
form one of them that you'd find that 'un
Q stuck-uppe-; see if you didn't"
Turned up her nose at both of u.s. added
Pike.
''There amt much of it to turn up" said
Bob Lndlow-a si2-foot loafer, lounging out
of the hotel bar-room, ard joining the group.
How hot and irrita1ed, and uncomfortable,
Patty felt! Outwardy she was serene; as
the landord-a one-eyed man, with bald
head and salmon-colored whiskers advanced
to meet her, and with a crushing grasp,
shook her little hand till it ached; and with
his eye kept single TO the main chance, sJsh-
ed over with a boisterous ''You 'uns is well
come: hope you're peart and hearty, marm."
Ushe:ing her up long flight of stairs, at
the head OF which stood a dingy table filled
with candlesticks, yet smirched with the gut
tering tallow of the preceding evening, he
said with an energetic glee, quite in contrast
with thelassitude of the loungers below stairs:
''Hed a party last, night an the boys amt got
all cleaned up yit. 1t was buster, you bet
sheet an pillow-case; Didn't never tend one
of EN- did ye? Kinder windin' sheety they
are; but lots of fun. Here's the parlor. Sec
0nd or thlrd-100r room, miss +?
''Either" replied Patty. 81 am particular
about the room being airy and clean only"
Jas if they wern't all that, in mig house"
observed he with stunning emphasis on the
personal pronoun.
1t was a very small room, at the end of
long entry on the second floor, permeated
with dining room smells, the predominating
odor at present being that of Goldfish balls.
Patty distinctly heard the sizzle of their fry
ing. 81 never can endure this, )" thought she !;
"and that man with one eye is dreadful. is
expression is diabolical. But, oh dear!
wonder where we "'uns'' will find water in
this inland Sahara?' She looked round for
bell-pull. That convenience was lacking;
but a small hand-bell stood on a table, which
served fol wash-stand, also. Patty rang it re-
peatedly, before 12-year old boy announced
himself by opening the door, without knock
ing. Momentary establishment at the intru-
sion gave way to indignation, as he said:-
''Look a-here, stranger! don't you be ring
in that bell fur me all the time. l ken jist
tell you, it won't fetch me. don't get 'nuf
salary here to come at everybodys beck IAN
CALI
''Where is the bath-house?" peremptorily
demanded Patty.
'Hain't got none. There's foot-tubs, an
wash-bowls, an pitchers O. water. The
tanks just down to the foot O. them stairs,
all you re welcome 10 nelp yourself. loves
is served at A p. m; there's yourn a-hangin'
on that hook. And the imp shut the door,
and went down stairs, whistling-
'Not OR Joseph, if he fuows it
Not for Jo!''
"Of all the impudence l ever heardp' solil-
oquized Patty. "That little wretch must be-
long to the sass-pedding family. Wonder how
many more of them there are? ''Well, /
must succeed here; and ''ccnquering those
varmints" will be a tall feather in my cap
Besides, the excitement of the conflict Will
be worth something. And then-there's
mother. A state certificate and The prospec-
tive princ;palship of good city school will
make her so comfortable-dear, darling moths
err! wondec what she is doing now?" and
Patty took from her bosom a little golden
locket and gazed at and kissed her mother
image, with sigh of regret and remem-
brance.
Before she had completed her toilet, the
doctors wife was announced and "Just let
me come right up where you are," was fol-
lowed by her unceremonious entry into the
chamber. The young girl blushed with veCa-
ton. This intrusion upon her personal reti-
cence, Patty felt to be ill-bred and presum-
ng; and she encountered the keen and in
qusitive glance of Mrs. Randall with dignity
bordering on hauteur. The little woman
was not at all confused by it.
'Rayther taken aback, air you, Sister Dree,
by not bein' quite ready TO see me? But it's
no matter. You needn't apologize. don't
mind-just go on with your dressin', and I'll.
look over these things in your trunk
We haven't had the fall fashions