Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1876-10-12
rCortinued from FIRST PAGE. |

ment in the house of Baker 4 Baker; his
marriages. the birth of his boy Sam-the
child of promise that was to be solace
to his declining years; his acceptance Of
the situation of a warehouseman in the es-
Enlistment of Loostrng & Tool, the
wholesale milliners of Wood street; and
the one sorrow of his lite--a sorrow that
seemed in its deep intensity to ingulf all
the joys of preceding years. After this
come visions of the long, earnest struggle
10 right grieSious wrong last OF all, the
remembrance of the kind words addressed
to him but an hour previously in the
wholesale druggists private room.
The Changing tone OF big Ben" awoke
Abel Webb from his reverie. With the
sudden thought that his daughter Polly
would be home before him If he didn't
make great haste, he set of at brisk trot,
resuming his CHEEKY whistle as he went
along.
Aud sure enough home she was. When
he had threaded his way through Lady,
rinth Of Westminster byways. and at last
reached the corner of the narrow street in
which were his lodgings, and involunta-
rly cast his eyes up to the seeond-HOor
window of one of the houses, he knew rs
we'll as though he saw her standing beio e
him that she had managed to reach home
first. No neutrality-suspicious. with
kindheartedness as she might be-cOuld
provide such a heart welcome tn honest
Abel as his daughter Polly. Why, the
very Goals seemed to burn brighter and
send forth more ruddy glow when she
had coaxed them into flame. The re-
Election of their CHEEKY warmth showed
itself upon the drawn blinds, aud bespoke
the comfort and love iOstered within the
humble lodging shared by Abel and his
daughter.
Was Polly handsome? No. Was she
pretty? Scarcely that, for her features
lacked harmony. You had to look below
the surface to discover what made Polly
the idol Of her fathers heart, and the cause
OF anxieiies unspeakable to honest ION
Smith. FIRST OF all Polly was short. She
had light brown hair, which tol med itself
into natural curls aud danced about her
head in the most provokingly coguettsh
fashion. Her eyes were IA soft liquid blue,
her nose slightly retrOusSC, and her lips
like no other woman ) in the world--at
least SO Tom Smith thought.
so much for Poly's outward character
istics. In temper and resolution she was
ihN ScuHhSiP pau Vi hti ihliCi, 1lt
Judgment was far in excess OF that pos
sessed by most girls OF her age (eighteen)
She was of Industrious habits, was
Thoroughly domesticated, and, above all,
possessed a heart which as warmly re-
sponded TO the appeal of the suffering as
it echoed the joys of those it loved.
Polly's usefulness was not confined TO
the two rooms on the second floor. She
had served her apprenticeship to the mill
inery business in the house, possessing the
services of her father, and, strange to say,
Tom Smith was one of the young men
who served at Mrs. Lootstring and
Tools. OF course the love affair was kept
very quiet and sometimes poor Polly's
heart bumped with fear lest the secret
should be discovered for in the eyes of
their employees, Lootstring and Tool were
terrible indeed. Abel and his daughter,
however, kept nothing from each other;
so that the supplemented old warehouse
man was speedily made acquainted with
the state of affahs, and by no means
dsapproved of the match, though be de-
voully hoped it would not be brought to
an issue until he was freed from the bur-
den which had so long kept him, by his
own free will. almost penniless.
CONTINUED TOMORROW.