The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1874-05-20
RICHMOND.

called him Daddy Dlnkle on account
of his voice, l don't know He
always spoke IN kind of soft, dron
ing monotone, which WASH a bit
| tiresome to listen to, / assure you
upon my honor, but was very sooth-
| ing and comforting. and / We noticed
| in this world that men who speak
! in that sort of soft Lum1Ium are
always apt to be nicknarled Daddy
this or that But L say / don t
| know why it IS
When he first went to Mayville,
Daddy Dinkle took up his lodging
with a comely young English woman,
who had big, stupid husband and
frisky little American born baby
girl, 3 months old, not yet named
ON account of a difference of opinion
between its father and mother. The
mother wanted to name her daugh-
ter Frances Mary; the father, on
the other hand, insisted that the
child should be called Hannah.
Both agreed to leave the question
to Daddy Dinkle for arbitration,
and Daddy Dinkle named the bright
little thing Theodora-gift of God.
During the year the comely Erg
lish woman's husband died. Daddy
Dinkle still lived IN the house of the
widow A few months after the wild
ow herself died, and left Daddy
Dinkle alone in the house with a
little baby. With her dying breath
the widow had committed the child
to his care, and he had promised
that never while he lived sould the
baby girl be homeless or iriendless,
He promised all this, at the same
time he had no more idea what he
should do with the child than if she
had been an elephant. But he
promised out of the goodness of his
heart After the funeral he paid an
elderly spinster a snPol~tad sum
for taking care of the child, visited
it twice week, and always carried
it doll-baby and package of candy.
This was his idea of infantile FEM
ninity.
Misfortunes never come slngly.
Neither do blessings. Nearly at
the same time another piece of drift
came floating across the wide sea of
humanity into the arms of Daddy
Dinkle. The piece of drift was
boy. It was the orphan child of an
old classmate of Gustavus Dinkle
bach, also preacher, who had died
of consumption, and the poor father
went across the river of death with
his eyes looking backward upon the
world, on account of the little boy
he was leaving. There wasn't o
soul on eal th to stand between the
boy and the orphan asylum. but
Daddy Dinkle. Daddy Dinkle ac-
cepted fate and the two young ones.
He took the children, Theodore and
little Ned Wallace, and set up house
keeping, with the elderly spinster
for his household goddess, her
mother going along to save propri
ETY..
These fwo children were Daddy
Dinkle's wards
That's the bones of my stony
Now it's ready to be commenced.
Let us string the bones together.
A little giil sat ON a green brook
bank, idly splashing with her bare
feet in the crystal water A boy
stood beside her, engaged in the
manly amusement of throwing
stones acrsss the brook at a dog
wood sapling, some way off. He
was trying to stone the bark off the
dogwood The girl had flashing,
bright gray eyes wide, resolute
mouth, white teeth and tanned
cheeks. She was healthy, whole
some child, pleasant to look at, but
not pretty. Oh! no. The boy,
contrariwise, was modle of boeish
beauty, ike golden haired young
god, or something of that sort
Everybody who saw thu two
young ones said what q pity the
girl hadn' been the boy
Boys can get on without beau
ty,' said Mother Vrughn. Girls
can't Boys have everything; but
if a girl hasn't got good looks. she
hasn't anything. What pity for
the child
The children We're quarreEng.
They were always euarreling.
''Win you go home,' says the
girl.
''No; wont. says the boy.
s.Very we'll; then 1 don't go,
either, says Theo-, settling her
self more comfor ortably. I'm as
good as you, and I've as much .ght
to run away as you have"
''Girls can't run, says master
Ned, sententicusly.
Can't says Miss Theo.. sarcastic
ally. '.Didn beat you on a dead
race the other day, and didn t
Daddy Dinkle laugh at you well for
it, and tell you I'd beaten you in
/ the coniugations from 'amo' to an
dire, I'd beaten You IN the multi
plication table, and now you were
going to let me beat you running
Pretty boy, you. wouldn't be a
boy if had to be as stupid as that.
Il do know multiplication, says
Ned,
s'How many are twelve times
eleven, thena
Twelve times eleven had long
been a stumbling block to little
miss, and, mindful of that, she now
brought if up as sumner for the
race of boys
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