The New Bloomfield, Pa. times. (New Bloomfield, Pa.) 1877-188?, 1879-05-13

bcuJ Dub Week, WHSn " leJJcI iiOLu hiiu
fell like bombshel into the midst of
his peaceful family circle.
have married widow with six
children, you will be somewhat surpris-
ed to hear; lady whom / long ago
learned to esteem as the wife of my old
classmate, Mr.. L." Thus wrote DIR.
Dlllaway.
The letter fell from Laura's trembling
hands. They each picked II up and
read 1t, to be sure that Laura had not
taken leave of her senses. Dolly was
the first to break the stony silence:
ooh, 1t is too dreadful to be true! 1t
is nightmarel Pinch me, somebody,
and make me wake upl"
"a widow with slx-now we should
have thoughta widow, all by herself,
was bad enough" !" said Josephine, medl-
tatively; " but piling on the agony in
this way, does seem too much Some of
them must be grown up, and girls, per-
hapsl I'll never stay here after they
come And am better off than either
of you, because am young enough to
go to school. I'll go to Vassar College
now. 1t will be better, thousand
times, than staying here with a widow
and six children ~
She won't be a widow, she'll be
papa's wife, that is the worst of it'll
said Dolly, dolefully, "and she'll expect
us to call her mother. o, what an aw-
fully wicked thing for minister to
dor'
don't think you ought to talk
quite like that" said Laura. Papa
wouldn't It do anything wicked. / don't
think he realized at all how we would
feel about it. And, perhaps, we haven't
done quite as much for him as we ought.
But I'll have carpets put down before
they get here. She shan't have the
satisfaction of doing it, and acting as if
she had been abused. I'll go down to
Seymour's and order them this very
day !"
"There is no hurry they won't be at
home for three weeks. On their we'd
ding tour now How perfectly ridicu-
lous Two old things like that ~ said
Josephine, disrespectfully.
" Laura, shall you stay here = go on
living here, mean, after she comes p'
asked Dolly, from the depths of a brown
study.
:" 1t looks very much as if tickle
fate had prisoned me here. have no.
where to go. Besides don't mean to
leave poor papa to his fate until 1 find
out what it is likely to bel She may
prove virago, and make his life wretch
ed -
81 hope she will. 1 hope she's Fee
| jee Islander, with six little cannibals ~
said Josephine, who was always very
fierce while her anger lasted, and then
very penitent.
Well, L shan't stay here to be lectur-
ed and dictated to by step mother !"
cried Dolly, hotly.
g." / don't know where you can go,'
said Laura.
81 knows" cried Dolly, triumphant
ly, though with blush, "I'll marry
Frank He'll be glad to get me at any
time. And 1 am going to ask him right
straight off,"
"Dolly Dillaway, are you crazy p''
said Laura, severely. "Ask a man to
marry you and for the sake of a
homel"
"As if he hadn't asked me times
enoughl''
"But he may have changed his
mind"
"He's changed since last night, then u
Dolly, don't marry man that you
don't love, for the sake of getting
away from home. Better go away and
earn your own living; better endure the
worst step mother that ever lived"
"I'm not going to marry man that
1 don't love. There, you made me con-
fess to what l didn't mean to. Who
wants to own up to being spooney = Pm
going to write note to Frank, and ask
him to come here tonight, and then I'll
tell him all about it, and if you think
it's more proper, Laura, I'll make him
ask me again."
/ was just thinking that 1 couldn't
bear to tell anybody of it," said Laura,
and that we had better let papa sur
prise his parishioners, as he has u.s."
f" won't tell anybody but Frank.
Let papa enjoy his lovely surprise. II
there could be grain of satisfaction in
1t, it would be in seeing how some wild.
ows will look. (These were ladies who
were thought by his daughters to have
| GpliIQd fO0 aWaatlu t1F1on tho 1,o,Ico,.,.