Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1873-05-29
bury. but the oldest inhabitant could not

Her sweet temper, pretty, merry face, and
def fingers made her universal favorite.
No one knew the wild, beautiful forest
hooks so WELL no one comprehended so
perfectly the due admiXture of salad and
lemonade, or had such a trick OF decking
an impromptu table tastefully with ferns
and flowers. OF course Molly must go.
And it was while in the midst of some
dainty outdoor housewifery that a stranger
was brought up for introduction, and
miss Gale had to look up from her oak
wreaths and frost cakes to courtesy to MIR.
Conrad" A pair of dark eyes met hers
with sudden amused, glad recognition,
which perplexed and mystified her.
"Where have | seen him betore?" she
thought again and again, as the day wore
on with its lively alterations OF luncheon,
laughter and Irritation. But no answer
occurred, and the new arrival followed
her movements with a devotion which
caused some teasing from the other girls,
and not few jealous pangs among the
young men, "It's case of see and con
quer," whispered her friends among them
selves, but neither with surprise nor envy !;
for Molly was belle in her little set, and
none disputed her pretty supremacy.
Mr.. Conrad had come to Woodbury. on
business, it seemed. He did not specify
its nature, and no one could guess it; it
evidently absorbed little of his time, but
week after week he fingered in the village,
and as "business" was by no means the
specially of the place, his errand was a
subject Of great speculation among the
gossips. Young, good looking, and much
of gentleman, he was universally accept
ed and liked Molly met him here, there,
and everywhere, and their intimacy grew
with great strides Before month was over
she felt that she had known him always
a fact which puzzled her not a little
whenever she took time to think about it.
Still the resemblance which had struck
her at first pursued and haunted her. 1t
was not his face Only-voice and form
were alike familiar; all suggested some
body, for her life she could not tell whom.
Twenty times she was on the point of
speaking of it, and twenty times retrained.
1T was so ridiculous,' she said to herself
At last explanation came.
1t CHANGED on picnic. Woodbury. was
famous for its picnics. This was held in
the same beautiful grove where she and
Mr. Conrad had first met in early June.
The day was hot and brilliant. Golden
rod and purple aster fringed the paths an
August sky blaZed through the tree-tops
summer, gathering her last blossoms in
her lap, seemed fastening to be gone.
Dinner was over; people were lying under
trees or wandering about IN groups; Molly
and Mr. Conrad found themselves alone in
a secluded nook.
do YOU know" she said, breaking a
long pause, I've been so troubled all this
time to find out who it is you remind me
of? | saw it themOment you were intro
duced to me; and, if it hadn't been i'm
possible, | should certainly have declared
that we had met before. Isn't it funny"
well" replied Mr. Conrad, slowly,
Observation-Disclosures you think.
| should like-may [? Molly, will you
listen while l tell you a long story? |
have longed to utter it for days past, but
till now | never dared
"Certainlv," said Molly, coloring. He
never called her Molly before.
1T was about young man." continued
MI Conrad-"a wild young fellow, full of
fun and frolic, who never stopped at any
thing that promised a good joke.
There was a young lady, too, as it hap
pened-a sort of cousin of his-as wild as
himself She was sent, for her sins, to
neutrality-suspicious. very strict school. 1t
was at P, not far from here
The convent?" asked Mollie, wonder
i =
Exactly. Well my young lady wrote
home all sorts Of droll accounts of her
prison house. She told all her trials and
adventures, and made pcn-and-ink carica-
lures of the Lady Superior, whom she
dubbed The DragOn;' in short, SO conf
cal that her brothers and cousins, and two
or three Young men who were inmates Of
the house, and so privileged, used to roar
over the letters, and look for their coming
as the best jokes. At last a ridiculous
plan was started between them. Adele
that was the young LADY, had defed them
to insert even so much as one OF their
noses into the strictly guarded domain. 1t
was decided that one Of them should go
in disguise and attempt the experiment
They laid a wager about it, and drew lots.
The lot fell to the cousin.
'sThe disguise he pitched upon was that
Of scissors grinder No, please don't
speak'' Molly had given little jump;
Let me finish my own way
so, carrying his wheel, this young fell
low started off up country. Part of the
bet was that he should 90 on foot, and re-
turn the same way. He had all sorts Of
odd experiences, and about noon the sec
ond day reached the convent.
"His wheel and his Irish brogue gained
him admission at the gate. Adele had
been in a measure prepared for his COM
ing. She recognized him at once, and
considered it the greatestfu fun in the world.
SO the little witch ran around and collect
ed all the knives and scissors in the
house, and gave her intimate friends the
cue, and pretty soon the grinder was sur
rounded by q bevy Of girls, some in the
secret, some not but all catching the eX-
element with a sort of freemasonry pecr1-
liar 10 school. Leave had been asked of
the principal, of course and obtained with
out difficulty. Nobody minds a scissors
grinder, you know"
Molly's eyes laughed, but she did not
speak.
Il hope" went on Mr.. Conrad, that
those scissors were well sharpened, but
| can't feel as sure as | should like to-
But [ know there never was a droller hour
Nan that which this needy knife grinder
had with those girls. The secret got out
and the whole school collected The f1irts
peeped out of the windows, and made
eyes, the demure pretended not to under
stand; the little ones danced and giggled
When all the steel in the house had been
sharpened Tor dulled) the witches ran tC
the Lady Superior, and asked permission
to give the poor man something to eat
He looked so tired-and worked so hard
Oh, if YOU could have seen him sOlemnly
consuming sandwiches, with those forty
girls looking on, and the head witch Adele
i