Connecticut western news., 1878-08-22
The Parish Clerk.
TALE OF TRUE LOVE. BY CHARLES
 DICKENS.

Once upon 8 time, in very small country town, at 8 considerable distance from London, there lived little man named Nathaniel Pipkin. who was the parish clerk of the little town, and lived in little house in the little High street,
 within ten minutes walk of the little church, and who was to be found every
 day from nine till four, teaching little learning to the little boys. Nathaniel Pipkin was 8 harmless, inoffensive,
 good-natured being, with turned-up nose, and rather turned-in legs q cast in his eye and halt in his gait; and he divided his time between the church and the school, verify believing that there existed not upon the face of the earth, 80 clever man as the curate, so a. posing an apartment as the vestry- room
 or 50 we'll l-ordered 8 seminary as his own.
 Happening one fine afternoon, in a fit of mental abstraction, to raise his eyes from the slate on which he was devising some tremendous problem in compound addition for some offending urchin to solve, they suddenly rested on the bloom ing countenance of Maria Lobbs, the only daughter of old Lobbs, the great saddler over the way. Now, the eyes of MT. Pipkin had rested on the pretty face of Maria Lobbs many tune and oft be- fore, at t.church and elsewhere but the eyes of Maria Lobbs had never looked so bright, the cheeks of Maria Lobbs had never looked so ruddy, as on this particu- lar occasion. No wonder then that Nathaniel Pipkin was unable to take his eyes from the countenance of Miss Lobbs no wonder that Miss Lobbs, finding herself stared at by 8 young man, withdrew her head from the window out of which she had been peeping, and shut the easement and pulled down the blind. All this was very natural, and there's nothing at all to wonder at about it.
 It IS matter of wonder, though, that any one of MT. Nathaniel Pipkin's re- tiring disposition, nervous temperament, and most particularly diminutive income, should from this day forth have dared to aspire to the hand and heart of the only daughter of the fiery old Lobbs-of old Lobbs, the great saddler, who could have bought up the whole village with one stroke of his pen, and never felt the eutlay-old Lobbs, who was known tc have heaps of money invested in the bank at the nearest market Jown-old Lobbs, who was reported to have count less and inexhaustible treasures, hoardeC up in the little iron safe with the ssbie key-hole, over the chimney piece in the back parlor-old Lobbs, who it was vel known, on festive occasions garnishec his board with real silver teapot cream-ewer, and sugar-basin, which he was wont, in the pride of his heart, tc boast should be his daughters property when she had found man to her mind
 But love is blind and Nathaniel had { cast in his eye; and perhaps these two circumstances, taken together, prevented his seeing the matter in its proper light
 Well Day after day, when school wa, over, and the pupils gone, did Nathanie Pfpkin sit himself down at the front win dow, and while he feigned to be readin. book, throw sidelong glances over tn
 way, in searching the bright eyes o Maria Lobbs; and he didn't sit ther many days, before the bright eyes ap peared at an upper window, apparentl
 deeply engaged in reading too. Thi was delightful, and giaddening to tn
 heart of Nathaniel Pipkin. It was some thing to sit there for hours together an
 look upon that pretty face when the eye were cast down but when Maria Lobb began to raise her eyes from her book and dart their rays in the direction C Nathaniel Plpkin, his delight and admi ration were perfectly boundless. At last dne day vixen he knew old Lobbs WE