Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1878-05-31
Maud MuIIar

Maud Muller, as Whittier drew her,
was comely young woman in briar-
torn dress and ragged hat, innocent as to
shoes and stockings, who helped her
father during the busy haying time,
hired help being scarce and high. This
was certainly commendable in Maud
| though as she paused in her work, and,
| leaning on the rake handle, glanced to
| the far off town, she couldn't help wish
ing that Fate had cast her lot different
from a meadow lot, and that she was a
clerk in a ninety-nine cent store, or
something like that. She asked herself
I whether the life of female book can
vasser was so very hard, and wondered
if any lady clerks were wanted at the
post-office.
While she is thus rejecting, the judge
comes riding slowly down the lane.
Whittier dosen't tell us what he is
Judge of, though we conclude he is a
| tolerable good Judge of rustic beauty,
for he drew his bride lat some church
| fair and asked the maid to bring him a
draught of water from a convenient
spring, although it was far into the sum-
mer at the time This she did, and blush
ing deeply as she recollected that her
shoes and stockings were "up to the
house." handed the cup to the Judge,
who gallantly remarked that
"A sweeter draught,
From fsirer hand was never quRffed."
Maud courtesied and said that her
father considered her a pretty fair "hand"
in the bayfield,.
The judge fingered as long as he could,
talking about the weather, the silver bill,
the eastern question, chances of his re-
election to the bench, ETC., ETC., to all of
which she simply replied, eyes, sir"
"te-he," or something like that, and
when he couldn't make any more
excuses for lingering, he rode away.
Maud looked after him and sighed as
she thought, 'gThe judge is just the kind
of man I'd like to tie to. Dress? I
reckon not Pd have new gown every
day, and two on Sunday. And dad
should wear store clothes; and brother
Sam should have helmet hat"
How about the judge as he rode away2
Was he filed with Vague unrest p
Certainly he was. He wanted to adjourn
court sine die, and although little past
the hay day of his youth, going haying
with Maud from that time out. But his
feelings Mauderated when he thought of
his sisters, who were society ladies, and
what they and the fashionable world
generally would have to say about ii. So
he kept on his way, and he opened court
that afternoon same as usual only the law
yers smiled as they caught him humming
an old love song, Swinging in the Lane"
The judge got elected to the bench
again, and then he was elected for life
in another wayne married a wealthy
but cold-hearted lady who moved (eVery
spring. in the first circles, and who only
accepted him because she thought it
would sound well to be spoken of in the
society column of the newspapers as
Mrs. Judge So-and-So." And sometimes
when the judge was taking q drink of
old rye, all by himself in his study, he
wished that Maud could step in with a
little of that meadow spring water to
mix with it.
Maud got married, too. She married
the hired man in a check shirt whom the
Judge saw moving in another part of the
field. True, she loved the Judge more
than she could any mower she ever saw,
and would continue to until time should
be no mower, but as she couldn't have
him and was fearful that there would be
no mower offers, why she clinched on to
the hired man. @
But Maud wasn't happy either, for she
couldn't help thinking how different her
life would have been as Mrs. Judge. She
thought so much on the subject that she
came finally to believe that the judge
had really proposed to her, and she had
refused him. And when she got into
row with her husband she would throw
it up to him, saying!
"If hadn't married you and got stuck In hispen,
I'd been much better on, fOr H1t0a q had BEN"
Which Yas the Judges front name.