The Fremont weekly journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County, Ohio) 1867-1877, 1874-02-27

a black-eyed, ragged lad OF eighteen
the factotum Of the school, genera
fag, boot. black and boy-of-all-Worl
to the establishment, with an occa
sional elevation to coachman. Jak
was subject to state Of chronic out
break, restive, forgetful Of rules, ant
dreadful sassy" the maids declared
But Jake had his ideal, and tina
Ideal was .tManda Lis" !" Her pale
patient face, her soft quiet vote
were potent with him. The girl wa
really poorer than Jake, lower in th
scale, and with no apparent chanc
of raising from her bondage, but shr
recited with the young ladies, and
was Jake's high ambition to hell
her through with her chores and ge
her into class. Jake's guardianship
ofthe girl was an accepted feet il
the school and village round about
No boy dare play any tricks OF
Amanda Liza. /.
"Just you wait till ] get my luck
an I'll teach yOup' MAS JaKe's ad
monition, accompanied with q clincI
ing ofhis sturdy fist, that ably sec
ondsd the argument. I
The girl took st very quietly il
her gentle way, and seemed to have
4 kindly regard for Jake-mend
ing his coat occasionally or darnine
his stockings-a thing Jake gallant
ly declared "she shouldn't do never
again; he wouldn't have ne ladies
waltin' on him"
Ladies'! The girls used to nudge
each other and smile; but for al
that they were very good to Aman,
da Liza, whose faded dress and meek
ways set her apart from the noisy
yopthfulness of the rest Of US. We
never begFudged the extra polish
which Jake, in his capacity of boot.
black, bestowed upon her shoes and
we did not laugh when those same
shoes made their appearance one
day adorned with a Fesplendent pair
of steel buckles, which were after
wards discovered to be extracted
from the coachman's rig in which
Jake oceasionly did duty, and to
which, I am sorry to add, he was ig-
ANONYMOUSLY obliged to restore them.
Occasionally, on some rare holi-
day, we girls had the privilege of a
drive out into the country, when the
Squimpses' superannuated sorrel,
covered with an elaborate netting to
conceal its DEFICIENCIES, and pricking
up its tasseled ears with quiet show
of spirit, would set off on q brisk
trot, animated, no doubt, by the pros
poets of a grassy nibble along the
road. Gay times we're those. Jake
was at his jolliest, and We all-old
Dobbin; included-forgot our @shOrt
commons" and long lectures, and
grew hilarious together. Even poor
Amanda Liza quietly slowed away
in the back seat, frightened up in
the sunlight, and was meekly mer-
ry. Once, / remember, old Dobbin
csntered along so frisk that he up
set the whole party on a messy bit
Of rising ground, and Whisking his
long tail facetionsly, quietly betook
himself to pasture, while we picked
ourselves up as best we could.
eve might have had worse luck"
SAID Jake, as he plucked Amanda
Liza out of the heap, shook her out,
and wiped the dust from her black
apron, leaving the rest Of the party
to look after themselves. Which
We did, scolding and laughing by
turns, and giving, by accident, the
front seat beside Jake to Amanda
Liza the rest of the way. All! the
twilight that summer evening was
warm and mellow, the fields were
gilded, the meadows fragrant, aud
ne heard q refrain Of the grand eter-
nal poem on the jolting seat of the
old wagon, though Jake was silent
the rest of the way, looking fnrtiVely
now and then at the girl beside him,
and being very attentive to old Dob
bin. Poor Jakei Amanda Liza had
shot up clean out of his reach since
then, and what We wanted to know
was whether the girl would remem-
ber him now in the days of her ele-
Yations 4iFals7 saral
A wealthy uncle, a splendid home,
and money .onher own account-ah !
no wonder we had not seen Aman-
da since.
"They touched her off like sky
rocket, and she vanished, said Jake
Had she vanished for good? Then.
poetical justice was a myth, and.
Amanda's patched shoes and faded.
dresses were net more worthless
than she. We waited. We watched
The windows furtively. We prick
ed up our ears at every ring Of the
1oor-bell, bat weeks passed, and the
golden coach-and-six in which our
was to arrive did not rat
tie up the drive to the Squims' Acad-
emy.
i think we had almost given it up
and Amanda Liza's base forgetful-
ness and ingratitude were becoming
an old story, when one day at noon
Jake came rushing in among us, hot
and shining, and holding between
his thumb and forefnger a dainty
billet. He looked like an embodied
''hurrah" at that moment.
But, to tell the truth, Jake could
not quite make out the writing, for
with all his opportunities" as our
worthy principal designated "his vi
cinage to wisdom and learning in
the capacity of shoeblack," the lad
was unable to decipher manuscript
the patience" he declared.
Jennie Smith read the letter to
him amid the general applause. JUS
tice and righteousness had triumph
ed, it appeared, and Amanda Liza
had proved herself a Irregular brick"
as Jennie, with beaming eyes, OBJ
served, handing back the precious
scrap of paper to Jake, who carefully
wrapped it in his ragged handker-
chief. The letter contained q brief
invitation to the lad, urging him to
come and see his old friend-a day
was appointed for the visit, and the
street and number where she was to
be found, were written ont in a school
Ill hD-5 coab;ooaI,1a ar1 rraol