Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1874-04-15
The Minister'S Daughter.

/ ne ItN- IetuDen l1Ntlt WAS Il 2Gittluttt'
Of both Amherst and Andover. His parents
who had made great sacrifices to give him
such advantages. looked forward to his be
coming shining light in the church, and
even hoped that the first pulpits of Boston
would be open to him when he left the
seminary, But alas for the vanity of
human expectations, his sermons We're
only dry statements of the views of Ed
wards and Stuart; and, after preaching rs
- candidate" " in several large towns, only
to be rejected, disappointed and done with
ambition, he drifted into the small town
of Marston, where kindlinesS and frequent
pastoral visits We're more highly priced
than powerful discourSes. His slender
salary eked out by the productions of the
garden and field belonging to the parson-
age, the tillage Of which took up his leisure
hours, and having, through his failures, a
dislike for the great world, he rarely left
home, except to Exchange with some
brother minister as unknown and uneXpect
ant as himself.
Mrs. HYDE was an amiablc. industrious
woman. never absent from the PRAYER
meeting or sewing circle, and untiring in
her thrifty household cares. Their children
were Bessie. grave. patient, gentle girl
Ol zen. w llIi a. ltluIlt, llIlOt en- i'l CIV II
curlS, and appea ling look in her blue eyes
that went straight t. your heart; and baby
Will a vehement little fellow, jlSt enter
inc his second year, and who went far to
prove the theory of some Scottish philoso-
pher, that children inherit the dormant
rather than the active faculties of father
and mother.
Such was the Hyde family when. at nine
! al I M..rStpr 10 SnanI tl..
/ summer with my aunt, who WAS their next
door neighbor; and this WIS the way Bes
sic and became acquainted.
/ had been three days at my aunt's. an(
had gone through the rooms, and explored
! the garnet. and examined over and oVcl
/ again The few picture books among the ole
volumes on the hanging shelves. l hac
/ found every nook of the garden, and count
ed ;,n. fed the chickens. and seen the COW!
milke.l, and frolicked with the two gray
kittens. until the eat, alarmed at oul
| Familiarity, had carried them off to thril
inaccessible nest in the barn; and wa
beginning to be weary of the stiffness
broken only by the ticking of the tall clocl
in the corner. IN think ,ng rather sadly o
Ned and Fanny at home, when my aun
looked up from her work and saiI:
y
Put on vour bonnet and 90 ont and pla,
with Bessie Hyde There she is, draw in!
her little brother up and down the path. >
Charmed at the pro- pect of company
and vet Il little afraid of strangers | ac,e,
upon her suggestion, and going cautiousl
to the foot OF the garden looked through
the paling at Bessie There she stood il
her dark gingham gown and shaker bonne
her brown curls clustering in her neck
and her cheeks flushed with efforts t
please Master VIII, who was rs erect an
proud in his large clumsy wagon, us if h
had been heir to all the Russias. She sa,
me, and now and then looked timidl
towards me; and know not how long W
should have thus regarded each other h,
not Il great orange spotted butterfly com
tluttering over the walk and alighted on
currant bush close beside the wagon. Th
Fl baby shouted with delight and held OF
his hands to catch the dazzling rover, whe
away it flew above my head and disal
peared in the near orchard. The chill
; set up Il scream of veXation that migt
+ have been heard throughout the village
and scorned all his sisters attempts t
, console him. A device occurred to mt
The minister's garden had only few pll
+ flowers, but my aunt'S was gay wit
various blooms. | ran to the beds An
| plucked a nosegay of the brightest rose
columbines, scarlet geraniums, and hurr.
+. ing through the gate and along the patl
laid them down before the riotous boy
, He lookedjnp, laughed in spite of his tear
and then gathering them in Il confuse
f heap in his arms, and doubtless thinkin
5 them so many captured wings, he wa
soon the IMAGE of content.
Thank you," said Bessie, from unde
her sun bonnet.
"How loud he did Scream" said l.
y Twas the butterfly that made him,
f answered Bessie. And from that momeI
, we were friends.
f The next Monday morning went wit
, Bessie to the village school, and found
i so attractive thatI continued to accompan
: her all the summer: The Marston chil.re
e were rather rough in their ways; but "
$ had rare fun during recess, and there W;
r really only one scholar of whom we wei
Q afraid-Tom Stevens, rude. mfschievot
/, boy from the tavern at the end OF tt
2 street, who delighted in tormentlng "A
/, weaker and younger than himself. II
knew Bessie was in mortal terror OF hin
and SO he was always teasing her; b'
i when John Farley found out anythin:
f Ton WAS sure to get his deserts. JOll
: Farley was the lesicon's son, tall, hant
E some. athletic boy of thirteen. full of mirtl
I and daring, and generosity. Since Il
q landing Of the Mayf1ower," there coul
not have been found Il man more rigid ar