The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1873-05-15
HISS DOLLY CORNERED.

HISS DOLLl COkNERED.
Il shouldn't be surprised any day
Dolly, to see David Wiggin tying hi.
horse at your gate" said Mr.. Blount
rogui>hlv. gathering up the reins.
"Non>en>e, brother. anything the mat
ter with his own hitching- poSt.' retortct
Miss Dolly. turning in the doorway.
Mr.. Blount laughed. Everybody fell
bound to laugh at Miss Dolly'S crisp say
ingS She had kept her friends in good
humor these forty years.
And when David does call on you, '
pursued Mr.. Blount. more seriously, IL
do hope, Dolly. You'll give him IA chance
t. do his crrand. That'll be no more n
tair. and the man won't be easy till he has
freed his mind"
What mischief are YOU the forerunnel
of now, james Blount:" cried Miss
Dolly, facing about like Il soldier on drill
What upon earth have l to do with
David'> errand>:"
well, his witt's been dead Il year or so, "
said Mr.. Dlnunt, suggestively, shutting
one eve, and squirting with the other
down the length of his whip-stock, land
lately he's been askin" about you. You
can put that and that together to suit
Yourself"
getically.
Il >ha'nt say have him, nor don't have
hini-thou~h there isn't a likelier man
living than David-but do say, Dolly,
You ought to give him a hearing And
having convinced himself beyond rea-
>onahle doubt that the whip was all right,
Mr. Blount tickled his sleepy horse with
1t, and drove away.
"Oh, my sorrowS..' calculated Miss
Dolly, closing the door with an afflicted
countcnance, and sitting down so quietly
Tor once that photographer might have
copied her then and there.
Not that he could have done her justice,
for her expression was too quick and
varied to be caught by any trick of chem
ical>, and without it Miss Dolly's physiog-
nomy would have been rather character
less but for her prominent Roman nose.
This organ gave tone to her face. BY
which | would not be understood literally,
as saying that she talked through it in a
nasal whine. l mean simply that in Il
metaphorical sense this bold feature spoke
loudly of energy. And Miss Dolly had al
ways had abundant need of energy-clse
why the nose: Every two years during
her childhood she had been tiptoed into
The east bedroom to see Il new baby. TILL
at her mothers death, five little brothers
fell to her charge to be coaXcd and scolded
into manhood.
You can't bring up them boys" croak-
cd dolorouS aunt. "They'll run square
over YOU, Dorothy Almeda"
Dorothy -Almcda was Miss Dolly's hap
tiSmal name, but it was so manifcstly too
big for her that most of her friends would
rs soon have thought of labelling IA tiny
homeopathic vial with Il quack medicine
advertisement as of calling her by it,
Let EN- run over me, as long as it
doesn't hurt 'cm"' laughed Miss Dolly,
skcwcrin~ her tlaXen hair with goose
quill. and tying tow apron over her
calico long short, preparatory to bringing
up" said youths.
From that day forward she went chceri-
" on, making the best of everything,
though it must be confessed she often had
odds and ends to work with. as people
usually do have who are born with a
faculty. Somehow she found time for all
her duties excepting matrimony. If that
were duty, it was one she couldn't and
wouldn't attend to while her father and
the children needed her. Divers young
men thought this a great pity, among
them David Wiggin.
Don't be silly, David.' said Dolly,
when he limited as much to her, where
upon David went off straightway and
married Olive Searle, the plainest girl in
the parish. This happened thirty years
ago, and now David was again wifeless,
and again the current of his thoughts
turned toward Miss Dolly, who still lived
at the old homestead near the foot of Bry-
ants Falls. Her father had died some
months before. OF the boys, James and
Ezekiel had settled on neighboring FARMS
and the remaining three were in the West
David's benevolent heart warmed with
compassion as he remembered Dolly's
lonely condition, and he felt that it would
be exceedingly kind in him to offer her
home, especially as he owned as good
place as you'd find on the river, while the
Blount cottage was fast falling to decay.
lie wouldn't let her former refusal of him
tell against her, for, now he looked back,
he really didn't see how she could have
married anybody at that period. She
ought to be rewarded for the devotion she
had shown to the family, and, for his
part, he felt magnanimous enough to give
her second chance to accept him. Such
was the worthy widower's state of mind
when he asked James Blount, with mock
humility, whether it would be of any use
for him to try to make bargain with
Dolly.
That's more'n can tell" Mr.. Blount
had answered; Dolly's a puzzle. You'll
have to find out for yourself"
Mr.. Wiggin smiled, in complacent an
ticipation of acceptance. Indeed, if it
might not seem like reproach to the
memory of his lost Olive, l should say
that the kind-hearted man rejoiced in this
opportunity of making Miss Dolly's hap
piness.
Benevolence was in his face, benevo
lence was in his spirit, as he sailed forth
at an early day to acquaint her with her
good fortune. The broken harrow which
he had strapped into the wagon to give the
ncighbors plausible reason for his trip
to the Falls was by no means typical of
mental laceration in its owner. His feel
ing as he approached Miss Dolly's moss
grown cottage was purely one of thank
fulness that it was in his power to pro-
vide her better home. Not that he was
grateful to his dead wife for leaving a
vacancy there: Mr.. Wiggin had mourned
faithfully for Olive year and day.
Miss Dolly was out in the garden gath
ering catnip. She never used it herself,
but there were nervous old ladies in the
village who looked upon this herb as the
substance pleasant dreams are made of,
and Miss Dolly dried it every year, and
often left little bundles Of it when she
made visits of consolation. She had
built chip, fire under the tea-kettle, and
then whisked off to pick an apronful of
the pungent leaves while the water was
boiling. There she was, STOPPING be-
meath the caves of log-cabin bonnet,
and humming lively fugue tune, when
Mr.. Wiggin drove up.