Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1879-11-28


1t was all very well for Sally at first thi
quiet farm house aud this lonely shore sh
spent her days out OF doors entirely, thOug
with the thrifty instinct of New England, sh
carried her knitting or her tatting along bu
these were soon disposed of in her pocket
| and while her aunt sat on the fsh-hous
steps, or made herself at home in the hot SUI
and the sand, glad enough of free breath
and resting her tired lungs Sally secured tn
beach far and near, gathered stones enougl
to fill her basket fshed up sea- weed iron
the whispering fringes of foam gathere,
| money purses" and salt cellars" by tn
dozen; wondered under which gray ole
boulder, planted deep mid sand and sea, Cap
tain Kidds hoard lay sleeping or, tired o
| roaming came back and sat beside Aunt Lyd
| dy, and watched the long green rollers com,
roaring up the sand, rearing their tossing
shining names high in air, white and light
with myriad foambells, only to dash them OF
the shivering shore, with the soft rush aut
crush Of breaking bubbles and sliding seas
that recoiled for fresh assault, and returned
with new splendors of beryl depths aud feecy
| crests TO roar and fall again. Splendid Wis
ion which a worn and weary heart could
watch forever losing in this vast dumb force
and glory its own sense of present anguish
or despair, and feeling in every fibre the sad
| 9"NS'ASon VI thdt iIllbhNl hOui ludl Hth lIOlu
its temple in such sea, but breathed Out
first in human words such human longing
~ could lie down like tired chill
And breathe away this life Of care,
Which have borne aud still must bear,
Till deaih-like sleep should fall on me,
Aud should feel 10 the warm air
Ny cheek grow cold aud hear the sea
Breathe DER my dying brain its last monotony."
But Sally was young and a girl She
craved life and variety, and she was getting
woofully tired of the dull days before half
her first summer at Matoouoc had gone. when
luckily for her, the Nancy Beers" sailed
into Boston Bay from China voyage, and
her second mate, handsome Joe Hazard
came home TO see his folks, and saw Sally
Hart too.
There was wailing and weeping among the
beach girls when they saw Joe devoting him.
self, day after day, to this up-country crea-
ture.
Weren't his own set good enough for him {?
Evidently Joe thought not Cynthia Tucker
and Deny Hazard, and Bet Hazard, and Red
Joe fuckers twns-foI they were all fuckers
or Hazards at Matoonoc-all these had sci
their various caps in vain at Joe, ever since
he was man and mate on the Nancy
Beers, instead of boy or common sailor for
Joe had taken to the sea since he was big
enough to take to anything, and had worked
hi7 way ups bul uOW, hlttG all Ilelr IdSClna-
uons had failed, after blue eyes, gray eyes,
green eyes had tried their darts in vain, after
every feminine charm of his own neighbors
and friends had proved useless, here was
girl from up-country, a white, slim thing
had but TO look at him, and he was captured
II dono what he secs in that red headed
thing, snapped Deny Hazard ''She can
no more row o boat than she can stan on her
head. scarf her to death most, 'tother day
when We was out a bathin', pullin' on her
out into a breaker
rae, She S.o3 qipt no IN. more into her'n a piece o
twins, she can't dig clam. fetched her
round to the salt pond a Saturday, n I'll be
drownded ef she didn't ketch up a crab to
look at il. Didn't il ketch her though |
tell you she hollered like n gale O. wind"
well, l expect Joe II suit himself; men
folks do, mostly" sighed Cynthia Tucker,
who was occupied along with the rest in the
pleasant amusement Of clawing reluctant
CLANS from their sandy bed, with a sort of
tool compromised between a rake and hoe
DENY laughed, but Bet Hazard who was
the oldest of the crowd, and in virtue of her
sense, her years, and her experience, some
thing sarcastic growled out in a deep voice:
Il expect they do l dono who'd under
take to suit EN-. I'd rather sail a pnky
round Pint Judy Pint in a sow-eAster, then
pick out a mans gal for him. man had
oughter git leave TO choose his own boat nd
his own wife l say an ef he don't git it,
he ginerlly takes it specially ef he's a Haz-
ard"
There was no doubt Joe belonged to that
family In any other, his inherited name Of
Josiah never would have been shortened
into joe and his dark, crisp curls, his flash
ing black eyes, his clear brown skin, attested
L.
Hazards were as well known about the
shore as the Black Douglas in Scotland.
As for Sally she found it mighty pleasant
to have devoted admirer fall at her feet in
this desert she was used to it at home, and
thought little of three or four scalps dang
ling at her belt but here she had been dull
for long time; the swains of Baxter had
not followed her, for the good reason that
they were following the plow, or welding
the hoe just at present, and had no time TO
philander round the country in their Sunday
clothes. But here was handsome bright
active, young fellow, who had capitulated at
once, and become her devoted attendant
now there were no mere lonely walks on the
shore; under his guidance and care, she
walked over the bare, gray hills to gather
berries was borne in little row-boat over
the tranquil bosom of the salt ponds, and
taught to catch sprawling crabs with a scoop
net, not to take them in her fingers for her
Joe brought luXuriant clusters of great rho
dodendrOn blossoms, cool fair blooms of rose
and white, from the borders of the Great
Swamp; dripping armfuls of ivory water-lilies
from its deeper recesses aud frequent pools
spires Of too fragrant clethra garlands of
pale, wild roses quaint garnet blossoms of
the pitcher plant and rare, wild coreopsis
flowers tinted like a shell, and shyly fragile as
a dryad might be.
Moreover, he persuaded her SO far out of
her terrors of the sea, that she learned to
enjoy a fishing party in a whale-boat, and to
draw in big blue-fsh as deftly as DENY
Hazard herself he taught her to paddle a ca
noe on the lonely, fresh ponds that hid their
crystal depths in the forests of the swamp
to trace those paths that wound their narrow
and devious way from one of these desert
jewels TO the othor and even, Con rainy
day, to be sure! > TO learn the whole economy
of brig, from boom to jibber-jib, for the
Nancy Beer swas a brig and Joe's furlough
was near its end.
Poor Joe he longed to risk his fate too
soon, and would have done so, but that Sally,
with the tact of a woman, avoided and avert
ed his declaration till he almost feared to
speak, and then, Just as he was getting des-
perate enough to throw himself at her head
for certauty's sake, he was called away TO
Boston on ships business and though he
hurried back, Aunt Lydia and Sally had gone
home before he reached the beach, and the
honest fellow took it for fnality, and de-
parted on the long voyage, both sad and
sore.
1t must be owned that the youths of Bax-
ter did not compare well in Sally's eyes with
Joe, though she found theirdevotion
and it must also come to light
hot hos pliptana1 an1 har baapf haat
over package that arrived for
her by express from Boston, containing del
icate China Grape handkerchief, a chain of
crystal beads, and few rare and beautiful
shells, all wrapped up in a paper which ad-
yertised the Nancy Beers sailing on Monday,
August 3Oth-and this was Monday
Yet such is the invoution and wonderful
structure of the female character, that if Jo-
sah Hazard had asked Sarah Hart to marry
him. she would have refused without com
junction, or reserve of hope while by an
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