Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1875-08-27
MIR. ToLYS LOVE AFFAIR.

! men OF Mrs. SkipwelIs estaDllsnment, ouI
| before dinner-time the rumor had circled
swiftly from floor to floor of No. 10 --
Place that Mr. Toly had been seen carrying
basket as if IL contained eggs.
81 do wonder what it can be?" pondered
Miss Walker, the dress. maker, as she con-
! suited the cracked mirror of her tiny room
above stairs in flutter Of expectation.
No. 10 -- Place was large, old-iash-
ioned house, located in the unpopular quar-
ter long known as "down town." In its
faded splendor the mansion seemed to
scorn its small brick neighbors, as if it
were a sort of reduced gentlewoman of
house, and would not associate, even in
poverty, with trades-people.
Mr.. Toly, with manner evincing sup
| pressed excitement, went to his room, his
step precise and gingerly, deposited his
basket or the table, rubbed his hands, and
looked about him. lie occupied one of the
parlors, which had a ceiling elaborately
gilded, the walls paneled in sea-green, and
the chimney piece 50 exquisitely wrought
that the marble seemed deep unfolding
flowers of snow. The effect of this elegance
was somewhat marred by the prominence
of a battered wash stand and a rusty pair
of tongs but MIR. Toly, whose tempera-
ment was poetical, strove desperately TO
keep up appearances by imprisoning his
bed in "Plimpton" case, aud banshing
his boots 10 a cavernous aud mouldy ward
robe.
OMEN did he sit in reverie before the fire,
with his pipe, wondering if the people who
| a, ~, 1, and
life had passed away, and if the house were
not still eloquent with some faint pulsation
of their presence. Such old homes, desert
cd and forgotten by the children, arc like
the graves Of the parent builders. Mr.. To-
ly lifted from the basket rose-bush in
bloom, and placed it Oh a stand with other
plants in the window. Having performed
this feat he stepped back, folded his arms,
put his head on one side, and calculated
Perfect"
This stand of flowers in Mr.. Toly's do
minions had Il deep significance. a pair
of bright eyes had lured him from the pur-
chase Of one fuchsia TO three pots Of he'll
iotrope, and thence into reckless indulgence
in japoncas and camelias, until the apex
of his folly was reached in this final tea
rose. According to the scale of Mrs. Skip
wells household, Mr.. Toly was we'll to do I;
he was an agent for steel pens; but TO his
own conscience and the florist alone was
KIN own the chasm in his finances made by
the flower stand. The florist miscreant
that lie was-lauphed in bis sleeve, and
wove a trap of maidenh hair for Mr.. Toly's
feet on his next visit.
Satisfied at last with his exertions, Mr..
Toly surveyed himself in the cheval-gass.
a small thin form, sallow complexion, hair
and mustache of that raven's-wing black
suggestive of Mrs. Aliens Rcstorer, and
primly neat costume. This was the Mr..
Toly who answered the summons Of the
bell and entered the dining rom.
Here were gathered fellow boarders, a
portion Of that great army which yearly
changes its camping ground, marching
through miles of brick and mortar in vain
search for domestic comfort, too onen with
muskets reversed over dead hopes of dis
covering households which do not dissolve
on the lst Of May. On each face was legi-
bly, imprinted the canker blight, 81 board"
At the head of the table sat Mrs. Skip
well, somewhat frayed and 1y-away as 10
dress, with abstraeted gaze and high fore
head. She was supposed TO possess the
clairvOyaut power, which She had not leis-
ure to cultivate as a branch Of her cduca-
tion; but if household emergency re-
quir cd, Mrs. Skipwell might be found in q
dark little room, with a pack Of cards
spread out on the table, and a spectral fore
finger tracing the ten of clubs, which meant
uueXpect ed wealth. The ten of clubs
might shoot like comet of hope across
Mrs. Skipw ellis fortune, but the money
never came. a successful landlady? Hard
ly that for what with the business failures
of Mr.. Skipwell, the non n-payment of trust
cd bOarders, aud the necessities of a large
family, Mrs. Skipwell had been "fore-
closed" and sold out so many times that
she bore these disagreeable processes with
commendabe equanimty. There was q
remote country town from whence swarm
ed nephews and nieces nnumelable, and
she received all with uny arying hospitall-
ty. Indeed, it seemed as if the Skipwell
race issued forth, like the Golhs OF old, t.
fou nd new colonies.
For the rest, tho landlady was more pop
ular with her boarders than with her butch
er and baker. One can not hope TO please
every one. Sho went through some muir
INJURED 70 rmula of wishing people TO feel
sat home," although no one ever did.
Mr.. Toly's seat was at the other end o.
the long table, with Miss Walker alert and
good looking on his right, and a tall Prus-
sian on the left.
There was politician, TO whom dinner
was a matter of Indifference, either because
he had taken many "modest quenchers
on his way up town, or because he loved
to discuss knolty questions of national
greatness in a clear, metallic voice.
There was General Gallinipper, from the
. South, gentleman of attractive qualitiO:
and an exaggerated Difference toward the
fair sex. Mrs. Gallinipper and several
juvenile Gallinippers were waited on by q
sullen mulatto girl.
There was also any number of young
clerks of buoyant disposition, who liveC
up under the roof like swallows. The din
ner was dubious in flavor, the roast bee
having first impaired its juices to the soup
and the turkey proving a sorry veteran
With what superiority did Mr.. Toly sur
vey his benighted fellow creatures from hi;
own height OF wisdom! He was rooted oil
, the Graham system, and seemed 10 subsis
, chiefly on bran and boiled carrots. He was
ready at any moment to don his armor and
wage a deadly warfare with animal food
He found a disciple in Miss Walker, whC
, proved an admring satellite amazingly
soon aller learning what Mr.I Toly's bust
ness standing actually was, as Mrs. Skip
wells lady boarders freely remarked.