The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1879-04-09
CONTRARY-MINDED.

II wonder he din't take the parson. -
mused the deacon's housekeeper as the
deacon drove off alone to the annual con-
ference. ';He's commonly master
thoughtful about lool1in' out for folks.
What husband he was!"
Yes, Asa Phoenix had been a good
husband. All the neighbo1s agreed with
Mrs. Dubbs IN that particular. He had
waited upon his fussy invalid wife by
dying inches Of thirty years, making her
as happy as she would let him; and
when her summons came, he had closed
her dying eyes tenderly, saying, even
with tears: "Poor sufferer, she is better
off"
That he was better off he never limited
by word or look. He worelhis widowers
weeds with sad dccorum; lie reared in
memory of the departed Lucinda mon
ument which the most fastidious de-
ceased might have envived: he grieved
faithfully for the allotted year of mourn
ing. If now, from the ashes of the fa-
neral pyre, like his feathered namesake of
fable, he was springing up with renewed
| youth and freshness, was it not we'll?
In truth, though he had not seen fit to
confde this fact to Mrs. Dubbs, Deacon
Phoenix had sighted the minister DELHI
erately and with malice aforethought.
Nor was it Of the conference he was
thinking that fragrant June morning as
he whirled away, tucking the lap-robe
we'll about his glossy new broadcloth.
For once in his hitherto bla neless life he
was essaying to hide secular underneath
the spiritual. He did not mean to 20
strait ht to meeting; it was his willy in
tention to make wide circuit, and call
on Miss Olive Wayne in the town OF
Chester. He had question to ask her
and did not want the parson with him
he hoped he might want him later.
Pretty, cheerful Olive! How fond he
had been of her, years ago, when she at.
tended his school! If ne had not ther
been in love with Lucinda, ne was sure
he should have fallen in love with her
mere child thong she was. He had never
lost sight of her, and he thanked Prov
idence that he had been enabled by money
and influence to help her family ovel
some hard places. Please God, the dear
girl should henceforth have an easier life
Girl! Why, little Olive must be fifty
The good deacon laughed at the amusing
recollection. Well, she would always
seem young to him. And as for himself
at sixty odd he was a hale man yet; he
could jump fve-rail fence as we'll as
ever he could-give him time. His
thoughts continuously reverted to Olive
so patiently devoted to her invalid father
She should bring the old gentleman tc
his house if she wished, or he would pro-
vide for his maintenance at her brother
Reuben's. He was inclined to consider
that the better plan. The money would
be an object to Reuben.
In these cogitations the morning
passed, and noon found Deacon Pheni1
at the little hotel in Chester. Impatient
of delay, after hearty dinner he set out
almost Immediately for the Wayne home
stead. Arrived at the gate, he spied Mis-:
Olive at the window, and alighted with {
youthful agility not altogether prudent
in man who had twinges Of sciatica
And yet-strange Inconsistency of human
naturel- he dallied at the hitching- post
and afterward, with his hand on the yer,
knocker, he paused, to scan the distant
horizon, as though he had come mainly
for view of the mountains. Miss Div,
opened the door, her cheeks flushing like
late October peaches. She would no
have been woman had she not OWNED
\ the deacon's tender mission, proclaimed
by every detail of his Immaculate toilette
by the grasp of his hand, by his nervous
expectant air. And, moreover, Miss Olive