Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1877-11-16
NOLLIE'S BOYITOOD.

.NOLLIE'S BOYHOOD
A little girl sat squeezed in between an old
fat man and his old bony wife in n crowded
hall on u sultry evening in October. On one
side it was rs if a feather pillow loomed above
her with intent to smother; on the other.
sharp elbows came into distressing contact
with her ribs. The w'n lows were open but
the hall had not been built with reference to
transmitting draughts on suffocating nights
for the benefit of packed audiences; and
everybody gasped for breath though every
body fanned-that is everybody who had
fan, a newspaper, a hat, or starchod hand
kerchief Mollie had neither fan. newspaper,
hat, nor handkerchief, and yet she of all the
audience gasped unawares. She was stihed,
but happy. Elbows and bad air might do
their worst her body suffered but her spirit
scared. She was lifted above her neighbors,
into an atmosphere where she was conscious
of nothing but the eloquence that fell in such
soft tones from the lips of the beautiful wo-
man ON the stage.
Mollie was fatherless and brotherless. She
had no male cousins within n thousand miles.
Her only uncle, two blocks off, was a man
whose dinners rebelled against Digestion and
who might have been beyond the seas for all
the good he did her. They were n feminine
family, ,-MOllie, her mother. the old cat and
her kittens three, ,-bereft of masculine rule
and care, and in need of money earned by
masculine hands.
The mother bore losses and lacks with the
philosophy of her age but Mollie's age was
only twelve, and knew not philosophy. She
realized that she was a mistake She was mis-
erably aware that she was n mistake which
could never be corrected. Friends repeatedly
assured her that il was great pity she had
not been born Il boy, and tantalized her with
boyhood's possibilities. Frequent mention
was made of ways in which she might minis
ter TO her mothers comfort if she were a son
and all Mollie's ay-dreams were visions of
that gallant sons achievements. She used to
close her eyes and see wings and bay-windows
growing around their little cottage and max
ing it mansion: their old clothes gliding
away and fine new robes stepping into theiI
places strong servants working in the kitch-
en- pictures stealing up the walls, and luxu-
res scattering themselves hither and thither,
till she felt the spirit of the boy within her,
and seemed equal TO the deeds he would have
done. Then she used to open her eyes wide
TO the fact of her girlhood and have little sea-
sons of despair.
This had been going on "A long time. the
Visions their destruction by facts, and the
consequent despair; for, of course, she had
always believed there was nothing to be done.
Anu now mere WIS Ont bclllllR utT Nlltl NoIht-
thing could be done. that she. even she. the
little girl Mollie, had equal rights with boys,
and that it was not only her privilege but her
duty to claim them. Here was one eXhorting
her to throw off the yoke of her girlhood,
talking of glorious career that might be hers,
of emancipation and liberty, of a wOmanhood
grand as manhood itself And how the tre-
mendous sentiments so beautifully uttered
thrilled through Mollie from the crown of her
hat to the toes of her boots. She would have
given worlds for one glance from that brnyest
of her sex who had thrown of the yoke, and
for chance TO ask her Just how she did it.
For while Molle had fully made up her mind
to wear her yoke no longer, she did not know
by what means to become an emancipated
creature. As she walked home with her hand
i'll that of the fat gentleman who had treated
her to the lecture. she reached the conclusion
that no special instructions had been given
because it was taken for granted that each
womans nobler instincts would guide her.
She entered the gate a champion of freedom,
believer in the equality of the sexes--a girl
bound to be boy, and trusting to her nobler
instincts to teach her how.
No trembling and glancing back over her
shoulder for goblins and burglars tonight as
she put the key into the door No scared
| chattering of teeth in the dark hall No skip
| ping three steps at time up the stairs pur-
| sued by imaginary hands that would grip at
her ankles She faced the darkness with
wide-open eyes, instead of feeling her way
with lids squeezed down as had been her Gus
tom; and when eyes seemed to look back at
her from the darkness, her boyhood laughed
at her girlhood, and she did not quicken her
pace But-Mollie was glad to step into the
room where the light burned Her mother
| had gone to bed early with one of her tired
out headaches, and she only half woke to see
that her little girl was safely in. Mollie
kissed her softly (for boys may kiss their
mothers softly and took the lamp into the lit
tie room beyond, where she always slept
The first thing that she did was to look in
the glass What n girlish little face it was
How foolshly its dimples came and went with
| its smiles In what an effeminate manner
the hair crinkled above il, and then went
rambling of into half yard of stylish dis
order Mollie lifted the hair in her hand and
surveyed it thoughtfully. Then she took a
| thoughtful survey of the scissors in her work
basket. Then she reached them. She al
lowed herself a moment of conscientious re-
Election; then the boys naughty spirit crept
| down through her fingers and set the scissors
| flying, and the deed was done.
1t was not easy to satisfy her mothers
| amazement and vexatiOn in the morning but
Molle stumbled through it and went to school.
| There opportunities were few. She coaxed
her teacher 70 let her study bookkeeping,
and took one disagreeable lesson in its first
| principles but she accomplished nothing
else that day except the putting of general
check upon weak-minded inclinations to be
frohcsome.
But that evening there was a fair sky, one
of the soft deep skies that make imaginative
little girls brains dizzy and Mollie tramped
down the gravel path to the gate and leaned
over; then she soon nestled her head in her
arms and looked up and lost herself Boy
hood was far from her dreamy fancies, when
they were scattered by tweak at one of her
cropped locks.
'What does this mean Z" asked the voice OF
the neighbor over the fence. How came il
| to be done without my leave y
Don't look manly Mr.. John ?" said Mol
| lie.
''What does it mean ?" said he severely
THAT would be telling" said Mollie
81 intend that you shall tell me, " said he.
''0h, it's q secret !" said Mollie.
IAN the better; Wen keep it together. Tel
it,"
| He was grown up man, nearer thirty thar
twenty years old, who stopped to take an inf
terest in his neighbors little girl, and fattered
himself that he was bringing her up in the
way she should go. 1t amused him in his
leisure moments to try the experiment of rear
ing girl to be as unlike as possible the gir
of the period.