Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1877-03-17
OUR TREASURE.

Our girl Mary had been engaged
hastily, but we never regretted that
haste. Never had we been so respect
fully served, nor so thoroughly well salts
fed as now Every one told us that we
had treasure" and her very manner of
opening the door to a visitor was be.
witching while grocers' young men and
the milk man and butcher seemed to
linger entranced when they came to de-
liver their wares. Mary took their COM
pliments calmly, and had q ready smile
for them all, without departing from the
quiet dignity of her ways, and we felt no
shadow of coming evil, until matters be-
gan to look serious with the one-armed
postman.
This same postman had delivered our
letters regularly for the last two years,
always in the same business like way,
never lingering for a moment, never by
any possibility smiling or exchanging
word with either of lis, and yet we look
ed upon him quite in the light of q
friend, and speculated about his history,
as lonely women will about those with
whom they come in contact He had
been in the army and had lost an arm /;
this was all we knew about him, except
that he was eyidenly German, and
quite good looking-not to say scholarly
in his aspect
"Were you aware" asked Brunhilda
one morning, that Miss Murphy speaks
German ?"
"Speaks German.l" I repeated, in
amazement. "And pray how did you
find it out ?"
"By hearing her address the postman
in that tongue" was the reply.
/" I shall nip this in the bud, said !,
severely But presently better thoughts
came to me. [ remembered my own
youth, and [ remembered Crawford
where Miss Matte, after the death of an
old lover, softens to Martha and allows
followers"
A week or two passed, and [ was at
tending to my preserves one day in the
kitchen-it was pleasure to do any
thing in Mary's kitchen, everything
looked 50 immediately clean, almost
poetical, 1 tbought-and [ approached
the subject uppermost i'll my mind by
saying, carelessly:
$50, Mary, you know German, it
seems. How does that happen?
Mary's pretty face was overspread by
rosy cloud as she replied, in low
tone: 81 picked it up myself. 1 had
some German books once"
Then she sat down and cried, very
much to my bewilderment; and present
ly she exclaimed: "I should like to
tell you something, Miss Darlingford;
L shall feel better when you know all
" hope, said I, with a vague expec-
tation of dreadful developments, that
all is not very bad, Mary ?"
The flush deepened on the pretty face.
but for answer she took from her bosom
black ribbon to which was fastened q
plain gold ring. dropped my preserves
in amazement; the girl looked so
young.
"You are widow, then?" said I,
with feeling of tender pity. "Poor
child /"
" l don't know whether I am or not. -
was the reply, with fresh burst of
tears, "and that is what troubles me
So"
L turned to my preserves again, with a
smile, as thought of the good looking
German postman.
"Miss Darlingford," continued the
girl, more composedly, "I want to tell
you everything, and I am sorry now that
L didn't do this at first. But I felt that
it would be against me, and had to get
place. have boy six years old -
+" In the name of WONDER exclaim-
ed, chow old are you yourself?"
Il am twenty-five" she said, little
proudly; "and Mr.. Blumenthal prom
ises to take care of Willie; he wants me
to let him pay his board now"
Here | sat down hard in chair to col
lect myself. People have other things
besides greatness thrust upon them; and
l saw that L was destined to prove most
unwilling benefactress to the one-armed
postman. Why is it, 1 thought, bitterly,
that if one ever does happen upon that
1'ari aUiS, a model servant, all the pow
ers of darkness seem leagued together to
spirit her away?
"Where is your child ?" I asked, with
a strong effort.
81 have put him to board little way
out Of town." replied the girl, sadly.
He is with friend of mine, who takes
good care of him; and I always go tC
see him on my afternoons out; but dc
miss him so p
And here she broke down again.
But what does it all mean ?"'I con.
tinued, for my sympathies were getting
dreadfully worked upon. "Why are
you not living with your husband, if he
is alive? or why do you not know it if he
is dead? Just tell me the whole story
Mary, from beginning to end"
At this point Brunhilda, who always
scents romance from afar, appeared
upon the scene, and gracefully estab
lished herself upon the kitchen dresser
"Seven years ago, said Mary, "whe1
married William Murphy, though
there was no one like him in the world
and [ should think SO yet if he hadn'
nearly worried the life out of me. Blu
shall always believe that his mothe
was to blame for it all. She was tina
jealous of Will that it sometimes seemed
as if she would like to scratch my eve
out We lived with the old people for
year or two; but after little Willie wa
born / had no peace at all for his grand
mother, who insisted on having her wa,
with him, and I naturally thought that
had right to nine
"The old people had money, an,