The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1873-07-24

Sugaring OFF.

/ S"0o'h'S Viz
| q First-rate day for sugar making
Last night troze everything stiff, an the
sun has riz as clear an bright as new
brass button"
And Squire Strong rubbed his rough
palms complacently, as he bent over the
| glowing stove upon which his wife was
trying her breakfast cakes; then. with a
sidelong glance from beneath his shaggy
eyebrows at the girlish figure just emerg-
ing from the pantry, he continued:
| II Jest met Worth's Ben, out here ir
the road, an he offered his help up in the
sugar orchard to-day"
The pretty face in the doorway flushed
a little, but the rosy lips remained firmly
closed, as Mrs. Strong, looking up from
her work. remarked in her pleasant,
motherly fashion:
ooh, he's got home, then-has he
How thankful Mrs. Worth'll be She
misses him dreadfully when he's away,
an no wonder. seein' he's all the child
they've got left When did he come
| squire ?''
II donno; why, | declare, | never
thought to ask i'm. Did you know that
he'd got home, Say2"
| No"
The pantry door and Says lips closed
with a snap that was significant of some
thing wrong, Judging by Mrs. Strong's
anxious glance from the door to her hus-
| bands face-right, if one might trust the
| Squlre'S answering smile
Don't you worry, ma'am," he whis-
pered reassuringly with a nod towards
the closed door. It'll all come out right
i,, ~ Int
| our little girl settled down in happy
home of 'er own, close to us in our old
age. Give the young folks line enough,
and they'll twist it into marriage moose,
fast enough, il they are only jest let
alone
| Mrs. Strong smiled rather doubtfully.
"fm afraid''-she began, but at that
moment in walked Say, cream pitcher in
hand, and a color in her cheeks that al
most put to shame the scarlet of the as
| paragus berries that nodded knowingly
| AT her from their perch. above the looking
glass.
'Shall put the cakes on the table now,
| mOther?" she asked, in very much the
same tone, with which, the next moment,
she rebuked the encroachments OF her fa-
yorite kitten:
Seat ! What are you up to now you
hateful cat ~
Tic broolsfapt paaaaa off without its
usual accompaniment of pleasant chat and
good-natured merriment; for Mrs Strong
was 100 much troubled with her daugh-
ter'S unaccOuntable behavior, and her
husband was too thoroughly engrossed
with his plans for the days work, to be
as talkatlye as usual; so that Say, who
seemed, somehow, to have suddenly de-
veloped new element in her character,
had the field entirely to herself; privi-
lege that she ayaled herself of in way
that aroused even her gentle mothers in
dignation. II do wish, Say" she said at
last, with unusual sharpness, "that you'd
stop tormenting that kitten So If you're
going to give her that bit of meat, why
don't you do it, an not keep putin it
close to her nose, an then snatchin' it
away? do hate to see any cretur tan
telized So"
"Im only playing with her, mother
She rather likes it, and" in lower tone,
80 do IT,
II think" interrupted the squire, who,
having finished his meal, was now brisk
ly preparing to take his departure for the
scene of his days labors, ''I'll send Jim
over to Jordan's an borrow his kettle, for
if | have Ben Worth to help me, we
might as well be tending two fires as one ;
and, Say" turning to his daughter, ''If
you don't mind the trouble, wish you'd
bring me a luncheon some time in the
evenn'. | don't s'pose | shall get
through till pretty late-an' some hot cot
fee, and, if you haye 'em handy, a few
hot buttered biscuits won't come amiss
after eating cold dinner and supper.
Got my dinner pail ready, ma am ?" to
his wife; as she hurried off to bring the
nicely packed lunch, he whispered with a
comical glance under his daughters down
cast lids:
Ben asked after you, this morning !;
but | though | wouldn't ask i'm in, just
at breakfast time 500
Pm glad you didn't"
There was a good deal of petulance,
with not quite hidden undertone of dis
appointment in the tone, that the listener
was shrewd enough to interpret, and wise
enough to pretend ignorance of
"Well, | shall look for you with my
supper any time before nine," he said, in
his briskest, most matter-of-fact tones
while Mrs. Strong, who had entered Just
in time to hear the concluding words, re-
marked hopefully:
"I'll 60 with you Say, if you're skittish
about goin' alone"
'Oh, dear, no! I'm not such tool, l
hope, as to be afraid to 90 over ground
that Pve known every foot of all my life ;"
and with this energetic disclaimer of her
mothers imputation upon her courage,
Say whisked up pile OF plates, which
she deposited in the sink just in time to
catch, through the back window, full
view OF Il young man, tall, strong armed
and broad chested, whose light, closely
curling hair was covered with jauntly
worn Jockey cap, while the trousers be-
meath his loosely fitting blouse were OF a
fashionable cut and material, that made
Says sharp little nose take to itself an
exact elevation, as she muttered, scOrn-
fully:
"Why didn't he wear an old hat and
trousers, as anybody else would? Broad
cloth pants! They'll look pretty, guess,
after days work at emptying sap buck
cts" And thriftily indignant, the little
housewife ratified her dishes into the pan
with vim.
''He's growing to be regular dandy,
a perfect sap-head !" she mused, half an
cry, half regretful, as she leaned forward,
involuntarily, to catch a last glimpse of
the tall figure disappearing in the wood
path that led to the sugar orchard;
''and," with a little defiant twist of her
dish towel, elf there's anything on the
face of the earth that do hate and de-
spise, it's a silly man.
1t was a clear, cold night, and the snow
that carpeted the wood path cracked
irostliy beneath Says light tread, as, with
her pail OF steaming coffee, she hastened
along in the direction OF the sugar Or
chard, where her father was already get
ting little. impatient for the appearance
OF his promised lunch.
The moon WAS at It's full and shed q