Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1873-08-28
AUGUSTA NO 2o4
NO. 2o4.
THE THREE MARYs OF sHARPsvILIE.

THE THREE NARYs OF sHARPsvILLE.
they are all dead now,--as dead as
their Scriptural namesakes. so that they
may lawfully become the prey of litera-
tufe' and, without any glamour of ro-
nance, only with the safety of time and
ostance, be made to live in the memories
them.
:. i Three unmarried Pollys they were, of
dinerent degrees Of education and oppor-
.uh'ty' but OF the same social position, be-
ing that of lone that serves" and of very
nearly the same age.
In the early part Of the century, Relief,
Return, and Pedy Uhe diminutiTe Of Ex-
Perience) were common names in the par.
lor, and both Polly and Sally played the
harpsichord and rustled in paduasoys, but,
presently ascending to the genteeler titles
OF Mary and Sarah, left their cast off ap-
peliations to do homely duty in the kitchen
and thus it came to pass that our three
Poilys suited their names to their employ.
ment OF scrubbing, nursing. and the
mending OF old clothes and carpets. Some
OF our kind hearted and condescending
magnates liked to call them Mary Frank
ana Mary Dexter, but the more conserya-
i've among us confined themselves strictly
10 the proprieties, and never varied from
them out OF a weak sympathy. But, in
deed, think neither Of our three Pollys
cared at all for such nominal elevation,
oeins self sustained as only full blooded
New Englanders can be- Perhaps they
toresaw that the whirligig of times re-
venges would some day bring Polly and
Molly up again, and reduce Ellen and An.
Sellna to the company of pots and pans.
Polly Frank had a story: a sorrowful
one, of which never heard MANY particu.
lars, and those only years after my first
guess Poor thing! suppose it was r
comfort to her to whisper the sad secret
to the ears of even child, else why would
she have told me once that she had son
twenty years old; and when l said, 81
didnt know you were married, Polly"
why did she unnecessarily confuse my in
iant mind by saying she never had been?
She must once have been very handsome
ior her face was of the Grecian ideal type,
with line running straight from the low
forehead to the tip of the nose and follow
ing short upper lip and round chin that
Aspasia would have been proud of. So
much of beauty was lett that age could not
wither; with tall, commanding figure,
that never stopped nor bent to living man
or woman. Blue eyed, fair haired, and
strong limbed she was as the charioted
Boadicea. or as daughter of the New
Hampshire hills was wont to be.
Had she father? Had she mother
And why was she scrubbing in any back
kitchen in Sharpsville that happened to
want her, when every one knew that she
counted kindred with the bluest blood in
W., and when she couldn't wash floor or
cook dinner without making enough
classical illusions to astonish a sopho.
more?
| "How came you to know latin, Polly ?"
'Studied it, child, of course. My faith.
er taught me, DR.. Frank and Greek, too."
| Then she would recite in what purport-
ed to be that tongue. We never thought
OF questioning the Greek or Latin then;
but there came day when doubt broke
in upon us, and when we doubted every
thing-l mean about her knowledge. That
first day, SO fatal to faith, / was reading
in the kitchen, and looking up dutifully as
usual, said, "Polly, where's Crown Point
DO you know ?n
Know. OF course l know Crown
Point Why. it is off Cape Cod" She
leaned on her mop handle, as on a scep-
eyes grayeiy on me. If manner would
have done it, the Notifications would have
been planted at Provincetown. and SHE
doubtless thought it was, or else believed
in herself as implicitly as Norma OF the
Fitiul Head in her own prophesies. But.
somehow. the assertion didn't fit in with
Ticonderoga; and so, as l said, the whole
fabric of faith came eventually to the
ground. Do We remember when we first
| Clipped the shells of childish belief, and
shivered into the doubtful airp And how,
having once changed doubt into conyic-
ton, we changed places also with our IN
structors, adopting even more than thei,
infallibility and pompositys
| Whatever we might think of Polly's geo.
graphy, or even Greek. we were heartily
afraid Of her knuckles in the nursery, and
rather bore the ills of keeping our own
faces clean, than have those hard hands nj
our windpipes. Then the wondrous tales
by the kitchen fire at night! Even after
we came to disbelieve one of the most
frightful, we shuddered at the ''black legs
coming down chimney" as with the pleas
ant thrill from a theatrical catastrophe.
Polly had fallen from the high estate OF
maidenhood in W., and, as the custom
was had been discarded by all her large
circle Of unspotted relatives. Coming to
Sharpville where she was both known and
unknown, she had some peculiar advan-
tages. People could afford to sympathize
with her; and. being down. she feared no
fan. She readily found employment and
lived and died among us an honest, indus
trious woman, Pharisee OF the Pharisees.
and a respected member at last, with three
others, of the towns Poorhouse.
To the poorhouse we all sent her friend
ly contributions of green tea, loaf sugar.
and such deicacies as are not provided by
the selectmcn; as also from time TO time.
whatever garments she seemed likely to
need. These she accepted with lofty
grace, quite her own, leaving us only
humble that our offerings were not twice
as many and better. Sometimes. in my
mothers eagerness to bestow good gifts on
Polly. she forgot the prophecies. as when
she sent her. all too soon, my fathers win
ter drawers; so that. returning FROM
church in the teeth Of northeast wind,
the good man was moved by conflicting
emotions to exclaim with even angry. Bit