St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1874-12-04
Billy's Wife.



tra.c. and mechanic 10y the grace of
God Il perfect pet among the girls. as
handsome as the day is long. and aS
good as he is handsome. That is Billy.
or rather Wds Billy when first | knew
him. He was the Youngest of the squad
of carpenters that worked on our new
building. aud altogether the most active
and efficient OF the party. They sent
him t" all the cNpoScd POSITIONS. and he
risl>ed his lite gaNly every day. "Thcrr
is Il special Providence for fools and
childrcn.' said he. land claim protrc-
tiom under the first clause of that law"
| WAS Watching him. one daN. at work
on top of the h"n>r. when his foot slip
ped. and he STATED head foremost for
terra fImd. When within ten feet of
the bottom he touched some >caifoldiuy
with his hand. "SNarpcd ends and
| lightr, on his feet, like the tumblcr in
Il circus. made me an elaborate sdIddm.
and climbed up again to his cNIIc full
forty fee; above my head.
| Billy had not worked long for IT,
when II hccanc apparent there WAS
>umethimg on his mind. The jollicst of
fellows among the men. he Vet stroVe
to get away from them III his leisure
hours. and passed the greater part at
SUNDAY out i'll the meadows. or under
| the trees. Even III the house he WAS
| addicted to ItVrIir. and his absent
minded replies to remarks made To him
| gave Ii>c to many II laugh. The query
Went round. Nv hats the matter with
| BiilN ;" but found no solution until
guessed it.
| He WAS in love. The ncighhoIimg
gills. laughing-rycd. dimplc checked
rustic beauties who came To visit me.
could make II" impression on his faith
tul heart. Being my self il mnthrrll in
diNidual of that type which Byron de
ScrihrS ;Is - fair, fat. and fnItN. BILLY
took to me as naturally H. ducks t" va
ter. and before long he told me all about
it.
The prctticst girl in all the world
Mrs. Brown" he said ''but that would
lee nothing if it wasn't for bcr goodness
| To he sue she l. two icaI> Older tlIlt
|, but why should | care? She i :,
truthful and innocent Nou can look
clear down through her blue eyes into
her very soul. She is Il bic girl -h,
weighs IL hundred and fifty pounds.
Judged ii to he ncaitr one hundred and
eighty. but then YOU are biz. Nou
know. and the boss certainty made :;
tcm-stIikc " hen he got YOU. like liz
giIls myself. If they are sweet anc
good. Nuu can't have too much of EN-
am like Il Chinaman huNin" boots:
want the biggest can get t"r the mon
rN. Then Alice j. smart. tell Nou: il
fact. she Is too smart to he tied to >ICl
a numskul as | am. and | can't tell what
she sees in me to love: but there is m'
accounting for taste. She does love me
any how, in spite of my ignorance an'
awkwardnrss. God bless her, And
am wholly grateful to her for it, Yes
am. The thoughts of it hIing tears t'
my eyes often. though You w"uldn
take me for such Il gla NY.
And away he Went singing in Il rich
clear voice. ''i'm lonely Tonight. love
without You" and passed i'll out Of th'
moonlight to put Little Pickle to bed
thinking all the time of Billy, and hop
ing his girl would he I> good and tru'
us he believed. But somehow. Withou
ANY particular reason, | felt sorry fo
him | have Il sort of old ta~hiour,
pity for men, anyhow. thinking of III,
own good husband. and how he ha
struggled to support me and the chil
dren, until cale and anxiety have fur
roWcd his dear lace ANA hl;iicheh III
hair. while have been ;" sheltered ah'
protected tiht tihlc mas ci' me lIi'l"S
untouched. About us young aS "ht'
inarlleu YOU i,M, ana n'"P '''''
looking ne S''"' ia>' 7,'''"hH' ""rl
had on my new blue and white caliC
ton the illsi tilnr:
brl"ie ION" hliIN G"' IeaNe "i 1t"
Hehct' ana went 10 c"'t''''t.''"' ''il'
he soon lttnlhe"' oiiil".nS HIS "lc. 'Il
was wiling even ANXIOUS |" neip ~
with the h"llse-W"lk an" S""ii' WIN
hig-healted tyranny, she ih"h"poilZe
Il 1t all. Or course coniu il"l resi- III Ill
easy chair. feeling all the time 'il''t
was imposing upon nfr Nl''''IeSS an
50. aitei ronlcr'i'S WIN my n''s'ai'',
was decide" I" pay her '''i' "'SeS |"
her work.
She was lrh'ai h'n'H nth',>'''''e W., w.
man, with ',hea"- piece !,I on her' u
teen years "iutr lll'', DIN '' rra>!
!, tr" she called H. p"t ne was young
Years and Ill the hla'h','''''"''s "i "'
charming sex. ana TOOK hcr N"l'' Oh Il
subjects. never "a" '''''i .ili :" I'', +,
III love III an my '''' ''n .S" .t' "
made n" ei1"r, I" ''intai '"''.,'; -, ta u Vi
n"tlmng nhnl''" ni S."','i,, Inra. '" :, t'u.
exhibition oi II. IL ",'S !" wv, ~