Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1876-09-08
A GREAT FOOL.

image which the sound Of his name, in a
musical ear. would call up in the mind.
For John should be strong, and quiet, and
true, and grave, and john Holt was all of
these. His skin was fair and his eyes blue,
but the hair, which had been tow colored
in his childhood, had deepened to brown.
Ordinary persons would call him good
locking, rather than handsome, but a close
observer would pronounce his profile per-
feet, and his mouth and chin models of
firm and symmetrical chiseling. The brows
were straight and strong, though smooth,
and his not very high forehead was broad
and open.
John Hollis characteristics were
womanish gentleness, a most marvellous
and absurd honesty, and patience which,
to them, looked only too much like cowar-
dice. In his family John was called a
great fool.
Johns father had died when the lad was
but ten years old and left his widow to bring
up her family OF five children and manage
the farm. She was perfectly capable of
doing it, and wary business men were on
their guard when making bargain with
the sharp Yankee matron. -Four of her
children followed in her footsteps, and
knew perfectly well which was the best
end of the bargain but John-well, if he
was fool it was not because she had not
warned and talked to him.
John did not grow wiser as be grew older
and took upon himself the cares of life.-
Mrs. Holt had a large and valuable farm
just on the borders of the town. Streets
had crept gradually about her fields, and
surrounded them On three sides; on the
fourth woodlands stretched back toward
the east. Why she should give the control
of this place to John, instead of one of his
sharper brothers. a puzzle even to her own
mind. The only reason she could give was
that John was steady and quiet, and more
likely to remain home than the others
were. But she confessed to herself to be
in continual tribulation with him.
"My DEAR" she said to a crony, 'syou
know that fifty cords of wood we had,
good beech, birch and maple, with not
more than twenty sticks of spruce through
the whole? Well, John must mention that
stoveful of spruce, and SO lose five dollars
on the bargain. never did seesuch fool.
Then he wanted to hurry off our potatoes
last fall for fear of rot. told John par
ticularly not to own to a speck; but, if
you will believe it, when Thurlow came to
buy them, and asked if we had seen any
signs of rot, that ninny said: Yes. little,
though VOW don't believe there were six
spots larger than the head of pin in the
whole lot. don't know where the fellow
got his shiftlessness. Pm sure could al
ways make a bargain"
John took all this very quietly, as we
have said. He knew that though his moth
er would say such things to others, she
would by no means have allowed any one
to say them to her. But one thing he could
not bear was that Nellie Cramer should
talk In the same way. Nellie seemed to de
light in tormenting him. She would fol-
low him into the gardens and fields, hang
on his arm with her curls blowing across
his breast, looking up smiling and chatting
into his face, as soft and sweet as kitten;
then suddenly, if he CHANGED to press those
wandering curls against his breast, or to
bend too near her lovely upturned face, or
to breathe word of tenderness, off she
went with a toss of the head and curl of
the lip, and as likely as not, some such
speech as: II do wish you would not be SO
foolish, John Holt ~
He never got angry with her. How
could he? But sometimes a shadow would
drop over his face, and he wouldn't have
much to say to her for time Then, when
she went to him with her coax1ng ways,
and laid her little hand on his arm, whis-
pering:
''Now, don't be vexed, John; like you
so much, but don't want you to talk
nonsense he would look down and smile,
though not very brightly, and promise to
try to avoid nonsense for the future, end
ing his promise with sigh.
''Dear me! I wish you wouldn't sigh so
John ~ the girl would say, pettishly. "It
makes me feel melancholy to hear you.-
One would think had done something
dreadful to your
Then John Holt would smile again, still
less brightly, and promise to try not to
sigh any more.
Such little scenes as this were mere
asides, however. Nellie usually paid but
little attention to John, being chiefly &C.
cupied in dancing, flirting, and quarreling
with his more snowy brother Frank, or
with any other gay fellow who was so un-
fortunate as to be taken with her pretty
face. For Nellie was an incorrigible firt
1t was only when she had no one else to
talk to- or when she wanted some real SER
vice, that she went to John, who was some
times pleased and sometimes hurt to see