Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1878-06-27

Its raining cats and dogs, and Pm YER,
ue.'cate. said the stranger. eouvhi..
!" wet 70 the skin-den't Won think vo,
eau accommodate mel don't mind n cen
lug on the noOr,,
raining. is III didn't know that and
! ne ktnd-heaffed little woman unbarred the
ooor very quickly. "Come in, whoever vou
%ay oe-i only asked you TO 70 on because
In the house." '"' 'e' 'A"'
Inc stranger entered-shakipg him self
hke newfoundland deg upon the stem.
sna scattering little shower OF drops over
MS hostess and her nicely swept floor.
oh-that looks comic rtahle a1ter a MAJ
nss oeen out for hours in a Storm y he said
ne caught sight Of the fire, and ,tridins
n,opg toward the hearth. followed bv
nowse' who snifFed suspiciously AZ bis
neen' ne stationed himself 10 the arm.
.nsr Mr.. Coob's larm-chsir. which had
o"enskept sacred to his memory rG,r ..m..-
sne could not ask him to move. but busted
herself In stirring up the blaze that he
might the sooner dry his dripping clothes.
A new thought struck her; Mr.. Cobb had
worn comfortable dressing-gown during
his Illness, which still hung 10 the closet at
the right. She could not let this poor man
catch bis death BY sitting In that wet Goa,
III he was In Mr.. Cobb's chair why should
he not be In Mr.. Cobb's wrapper. She
went nimbly to the closet, took II down.
hshed out apair OF slippers from . boot
| rack below, and brought them TO him
| Il think you had better take of your coat
and boots; you will have the rheumatic
fever or something like IL " you donr.
Here are some things for you to wear while
they are drying. And yon must be hungry,
too; ! will go into the pantry and get you
something TO eat
| She hustled away Ion hospitable
thoughts intent" and the stranger made
the exchange. He was tall, weli-formed
man. with bold but handsome face. sun
burned and heavily bearded. and look ed
anything but delicate" though his blue
eyes glanced out from under a forehead
white ~ snow. lie looked around the
kitchen and stretched out his feet before
| him. decorated with the deacon's slippers
Then he stroked the cat aud her brood, and
patted old Bowse upon the head. The wild.
ow. bringing in sundry good things, looked
pleased ut his attentions to her dumb
friends.
Its wonder Bowse does not growl;
be generally does II strangers touch him.
Dear me! how stupid"
The last remark was neither addressed
to the stranger uor the dog. but to herself.
She had forgotten that the little stand was
not emp,y-and there was no room on 1t
Tor the things she held.
oh. I'll manage t." said the guest.
gathering up paper. candle. apples and
| spectscles-(n was not without little
psng that she saw them In his hand. for
they had been the deacon's and were
placed each night, like the armchair. be-
side her)-and deposited them on the set
| tee.
give me the table-cloth. ma am; can
spread II as well as any woman. I've
learned that along with scores OF other
things Ia my wanderings. Now let me re-
lleve yoL OF those dishes; th ey are far too
heavy for those little hands," (the widow
blushed;) "now please sit down with me.
or cannot eat morsel."
81 bad supper lsng ago, but really l
think | can take something more" said
Mrs. Cobb, gently drawing her chair near
er 10 the little table.
"Of course you can, my dear lady-!n
eat twice As often they do 10 warm. Let
me give you q piece OF this ham-your
own curing, dare say"
"Ies; my poor husband was very fond
| Of Il. He used 20 say that no one under
stood curing hams and drying beef better
| than t.
He was 8 most sensible man, am sure.
l drink your health, madam, in this cider"
lie took long draugh,, aud Sc, down
his glass.
At is like nectar
The widow was feeding Bowse and the
cat, (~ho thought they were entitled 10 a
share OF every meal eaten 10 the house,
and did not quite hear what was said. /
fancy she would hardly have known what
"nectAr" was-so 1t was quite IS we'll.
Fine dog, ma'am-snd 4 very pretty
cat"
They were my husbands favorites;"
sigh followed the answer.
| ''Ah-your husband must have been .
very happy man"
! The blue eyes looked a, her so long that
| she grew nurried.
is there anything more | can get for
| you. sirl' she asked nj last.
Nothing more, thank you kindly,
have finished"
She rose TO clear the things away. He
assisted her, and somehow their hands had
. queer knack OF touching Is they carried
the dishes 70 the pantry shelves. Coming
back TO the kitchen. she put the apples
and cider In their old places, and brought
out clean pipe aud box Of tobacco from
| an arched recess near the chimney.
| My husband always said he could not
sleep after eating supper late, unless he
smoked" she said. Perhaps you would
like to try 1t SIR"
ono, n n IA to drivs vo, wsv-h. an
s~.r.J TO- .hs h.d re, =. na,a ;n h.,S.nS
"Oh. no-I do not object 10 smoke At
- e -. .'..
49, h',, sh. aIancsd :, ~ 49, ~ ~,
ad n., s'a ~. W ."u ., ,en
m. .,,.n,., n,sn.t ~. 49,, 80. ~.
the pine vas M. and drew his easy chair a
little nearer the tire-and her own.
.lr, not late-sud wbeo 4 man has been
knocking about 10 California and all sorts
of places, for berth Ike this-snd TO have
a rood.natured. pretty woman TO speak to
once aaaiu-.,
"Caiiforpia? Have YOU been TO Calfor-
nisv' she exclaimed, dropping into the
chair at once.
unconscfously she had long cherished
the ides that Sam Psyson-the lover Of her
youth-whh whom she had so foolishIy
Quarrelled. had pitched his tent, after
| ..m.,a..;z-s