The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1879-07-02
THAT UNLUCKY QUOTATION.
A STORY OF "PINAFORE. "

STORY OF "PINAFORE."
They would have made very pretty
picture on painted tile, as they sat on
the porch in the vivid afternoon light.
The cottage itself was as trim and COM
plete as toy house; its color was a soft
gray. The late sunshine was goldenly
clear, and all the green world was shin
inc, fresh from p shower. Auntie Trib
was sitting in a bright red rocking-chair,
and her pretty old face was rs pink and
white as bunch Of roses; and as for
Sallie herself-well, ask any critic in
Rockdale, from the oldest inhabitant
down to the tiniest toddler, and you will
hear more enthusiastic comment than
any which can supply. Rockdale is =
neat little New England village, far
away out of the world. in q rocky, hilly
and-daly district. where the direct de-
scendants Of the Puritans still hold their
sway.
Auntie Trib's son, Free Grace Hill
called Free" for short-made his name
good at an early age by snatching his
liberty and marching away Ito town ="
never mind What town; we can call it
i. He verified his mothers title ut
the same time, for she became indeed an
embodiment of tribulation; but Free
disappointed her agreeably, for he found
q good situations and worked in it faith
fully and steadily. He was now q never
failing source of pride and delight when
on his brief visits he dazzled Rockdale
with his "town-made" garments, his
dainty mustache and general air of
"style."
His last visit, however, proved an
: epoch in the history of Rockdale, and al
so in the history of his fair little orphan
cousin Sallie. He brought with him an
older friend. employed in the same house
with himself, but in a more advanced
position. This parsonage, whom he de-
signated as Jack Arnold, Immediately
sent poor Free into the shade, and cast
him down from that pinnacle of fame
which he had mounted at the cost of
many a pair of highly-polished boots
and much studied elegance.
Twill not attempt to describe the effect
which young Arnold produced upon the
"simple village maidens." Every pretty
vile which had formerly been directed
toward the fortunate son of Auntie Trib
was now leveled at his friend, with q
force and energy that produced the effect
of bombardment. Ere long, however,
it was discovered that the newcomer
was proof against every species of attack.
Not that he was invulnerable-far from
it. The truth was that he had fallen
under the very first shot. He had not
been beneath Auntie Trib's roof twenty
four hours before he had succumbed un-
conditionally to the force Of Sallie's
charms. The little Puritan maiden.
with her cameo face and her stcadfast
gray eyes, stole at once into his heart
an honest heart, for there is no villain in
this unpretending tale-and from hence
forth he was her liege knight for life. 1t
was not by passionate pleading and great
deeds that he undertook to win her tor
his own no, the task was but easy, after
all. He was fair, good -humored, tall
and handsome; Free said he was q capi-
tai fellow, and Sallie had great faith in
Free; he was devoted and unreservcd in
expressing his affection: what more
could maiden ask? Before his vacation
was over he had bravely made known his
love, and was shyly but readily accepted; !;
and wien he and Free left Rockdalc they
bade tender farewell to happy little
damsel with ring upon her finger.
All this did not happen long ago, but
in this very year Of 1879. Rockdale was
nestled away fur and deep among the
hills; it was not very near the town of
D, and l. itself was not great
city. How should Rockdaie know what
was agitating the world beyond? BY
newspapers, of course; but women do
not often read the newspapers carefully,
and the two women of this narrative
seldom looked into them. Especially
did they, in their Puritanic rigor, neglect
the amusement columns. After all, why
read of operas, plays and concerts that
one cannot see or hear? When anything
was "going on in Rockdale itself, all
the village was on the alert; but no one
cared what the fashionable folk stared at
through their opera-glasSes in the great
Z cities So this year, when Il. M. ).
Pinaforen sailed jauntily, with colors
fying, into American waters, many of
the Inhabitants of Rockdale recked not
of it. and this simple fact brought con-
stcynation to the house of Hill. The
"saucy ship found its way to l.,
anchored there long enough to set few
enthusiasts to singing Little Butter
cup" and "TLe Merry Maiden and the
lar (lncOEEeCIly, VI CoulsCI, ftiiu ho1
finding quite so warm welcome as in
some of the larger cities, soon set sail
again for more coneenial haven. But
the mania for quoting the libretto-
especially the "hardly everN epidemic
spread in that region, as it did every
where. . r.,
Our friend Jack Arnold went to see
the performance, and of course he
thought of Sallie all the evening, and
envied young Hill, whose lady-love was
in the party. The two young men were
meditating brief visit to Rockdale, and
hence it was, perhaps, that Jacks
thoughts were too far away to allow of
his giving full appreciation to the incom-
parable little opera. All the tender
music filled him with thoughts Of love,
from which the irresistible jingle of the
merry choruses beguiled him only for
the moment. Therefore, when the day
came for the journe- TO Rockdale, and
he found himself at sst in the presence
Of his beloved, his mind was quite alb
sorbed by the joy of it, and he had no
leisure for such tr Hing matters as the
discussion of pretty new opera. So
Sallie was left still in her benighted ig-
norance; she knew nothing of "Pina-
fore"
They began to talk of mundane mat
ters, however, on the second evening,
when they were all seated together. =
HTbot NOR Iaura Roamie p'-r raid