Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1880-07-16
A HYSSOP CENTIPEDE.


A HYSSOP CENTIPEDE.
"A lie has a hundred legs; the truth but one"
-Itditdn ProUerb.
Mrs. Green opened her eyes, and thought
it was daylight; the bed.head was turned
toward the window, so she could not see fully
how bright it was out of doors, but having
been restless all night from the heat, she was
glad to perceive morning; so she got up and
went to draw aside the curtain, and just as
she did SO, the church clock struck two, and
she saw that it was n cloudless night now,
though it had rained heavily the past evening,
and the full moon rode high in II solitary
heaven
The night was fresh and fragrant its dewy
coolness soothod her hot head and tired eyes /;
80 she shut the outer blinds, turned the Stats
straight and sat down TO enjoy the calm and
rcfreshment Of the hour.
Right opposite was the village bnnk, and
as she looked across at it, and wondered if
John Hackctt was not sometimes afraid TO
sleep there alone, she saw two women come
quickly and silently down the street, steal up
to the window of the bank, and tap on the
shutters.
Her breath came quick here was an ad-
venture immaculate John Hackett, indeed !
And there was his head put out and the
women talking earnestly with him then
they all three laughed, and John withdrew
his head, shut and locked the window-she
could hear the fastening snap in that stiffness ;
but still the women fingered, talking softly TO
each other, with now and then an irrepressible
little laugh, and in few minutes John emerg-
ed from the front door, locked it behind him
put the key in his pocket, and walked of with
a companion on either arm.
Mrs. Green fairly gasped. Here, indeed
was food for gossip Here was veritRble
scandal. John Hackett was a youth suppos-
ed to be Ms good MS n boy in Sunday school
book. Nobody in Hyssop had a bad word to
say about him, except the wild youths who
called him Miss Nancy, and laughed at his
disgust for drink and tobacco. As for any
thing bad or vicious about him, even in Hys-
sop people would have smiled ut any such nc
Gus ttiou against John He was teller in the
bank, sl,p in it always by way of guarding
it, and was fully trusted in all his business
relations.
Mrs. Green meant to be good woman
but she did like to discover and relate 9th, +
peoples faults aud follies rather too we'll
partly on the old principle that
"satan finds some mischief still
For idle hands to dc"
partly because her life was dull, and she long
cd for excitement as some people do for
drink. She had no fixed home her husband
was physician Of the specialist tribe, and
went about the country from place to place to
heal peoples eyes and ears-or at least pre-
tend to-aud having no children to tie her to
domestic life, she went about with the doe
tor. Hyssop was her native place, and she
felt more at home there than elsewhere, so
she sometimes staid at the Hyssop House. and
let her husband travel on his rounds, while
she enjoyed herself among her friends. To-
night, after she had seen John Hackctt 20
away, she left the window, and sat down in
her rocking chair to think the matter over.
John she was sure of, but who could the wo-
men boz She thought aud rocked in vain
and after an hour of fruitless speculation,
felt so cool aud sleepy that she went back to
bed, and never even dreamed of the matter
Early next morning, after breakfast was
through, she repaired to the dress makers
over the way, who was an old acquaintance,
there to unburdon her mind, and lay the af-
fair before an expert. Bristling with impor-
tance ard full of tidings, she proce,d ded to
tell her tale, but was interrupted by the en-
trance of Mrs. Parke, q lady well known and
highly respected i'll Hyssop, a widow, and
the mother of two or three children, one of
whom, a boy of sixteen, was in the bank with
John Hackett, as errand-boy and general run
ner aud doer hoping to be promoted in due
time, and picking up knowledge of the
business to that end.
Mrs. Green did ot like to go on with her
tala before Mrs. Parke; it would probably 90
back TO Mr.. IIackett at once if she did 80 !;
80 she pursed up her mouth, and waited for
Lucela Pratt, the dress maker, to fit Mrs
Parke's dress, measure her skirt, decide upon
trimmings and make elaborate calculations
as to the yards and inches of lace and velvet :;
for this was to be gown of state, and figure
at Lucy Parke's wedding She found no
time to finish the detail Of her story that
morning before Mrs. Parke left, other GUS
toners came in, and the tale had to be
left half told. Only enough of it to make
plenty of mischief had reached the ears of
Jenny Peters, young girl who worked for
Miss Pratt and sat near enough to the sew
ing room door to hear how two women
knocked at the bank window, and called out
John Hackett at two o'clock in the morning.
This was enough to set her silly mind agnpe,
and she revolved the precious morsel under
her tongue till it grew and tlourished out of
its original size, and developed locomotive
powers that worked any. amount of trouble TO
various people,
It was a great pity that Mrs. Parke was
quite 30 much respected in Hyssop. If Mrs.
Green had been a little less afraid of her, and
gone on with her history, my own story would
never have been told, nor any centiptde
CfhWltu hDOuI lue ltllb Nlllhbe over JOnu
Hacketts character and happiness but $50
it Was"
Some weeks after the aforesaid event-Mrs
Green having, by-the-way, been suddenly
called to join her husband at Chicago that
same day, aud SO never finding an opportun-
ity to further enlighten Miss Pratt-Jenny
Peters went to dance at the village hall,
where the clerk of the Hyssop House was her
partner in the first cotllon. John Hackett
danced in the same set, and was so occupied
with his own partner that he merely nodded
to Jenny.
Now degrees in society are all unknown in
Hyssop; everybody is Just as good as every
body else, if not a little better the butcher
and the baker and candlestick- dwell
together in unity with the doctor, the minis
ter, and the lawyer; their wives wear as
good clothes their children infcst the same
schools they practice socially that democracy
which is elsewhere theoretic and John
lIackett had not the least idea of despising
Jenny Peters because she earned her living
by sewing for Miss Pratt, and he earned his
by writing and ciphering for the bank. They
sat side by side in the choir on Sunday; they
had learned their lessons on the same bench,
going to the district school, years ago but to-
night lie only nodded to her being absorbed
in the pleasant talk and sweet face Of Miss
Deane, young lady from hartford who was
boarding for the summer at the Hyssop
House with her father.
Alonzo Filley, the clerk, had himself meant
to dance with Miss Deane but she, who had
always lived in the city, had no idea of SO
demeaning herself, and made him under
stand it; consequently he too had griev-
ance and when Jane expressed her contempt
for John Hackett's "stuck up ways" Alonzo
chimed in, and they said n good many dsa-
4. A 4.