St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1880-03-12
and well adapted to young readers and
the nursery.
Taking Boarders.
BY MRS. MARY N. PRESCOTT.


sit was scandal,n the neighbors
said, ''that Miss Della should be obliged |
to take boarders, after all she'd been |
through and Heaven knows boarders
didn't help body to work out her sal |
vatiOn. And so much money in the |
family, too, taking it by and large.
Wasn't her uncle Eben, over at Dover,
well to do, and not chick of bis own
to care for, except the boy he had
adopted, who was no credit to him? ? 1t |
was odd, now, that man with poor re-
iatlons should take to stranger, when
his own flesh and blood was needy
out sometimes it did seem as if folks
had more feeling for others than for
their own kith and kin. Then there
were cousins in the city, forehanded
and fashionable, who never were worth
row of pins to Della and there was
her great-uncle Johns widow a-larking
on the Continent, a-gambling at Baden
Baden, and trying the waters of eyery
mineral spring in the three kingdoms.
for no disease under the sun but old
age. She'd been known to say that her
own folks were too rich already, and
probably she would eudow some hospi-
tai with her property"
Plainly, wealthy relatives were of no
value to Miss Della. To be sure, she
had never seen her great-auDt since she
was child, when her uncle John had
brought her into their simple life for
months visit, with her French maid
and dresses, her jewels and fallals,
which won the heart of her little name
sake. Since then Uncle Johns widow
had become a sort of gilded creation,
always young and always beautiful !;
for, though Della had received little
gifts from time TO time across the seas
for the last fifteen years, she had nei-
ther heard nor seen anything of the be-
ing who had inspired her youthful i'm
agination, and was quite uncertain if
such person as Mrs. John Rogerson
was in the land of the living. Dead or
alive she seemed to have maze no ma
terial difference in Delia's humdrum
life. After having nursed her father
through long illness, Della found that
he had left a heavy mortgage on the
homestead, and her mother and herself
Oh the highroad to the poOr-house, un-
less they should bestir themselves. As
her mother was already bedridden, the
stirring naturally fell upon Della, and
she advertised for summer boarder:
| GOOD BOARD IN THE COUNTRY, BY THE
| broad piazzas, fine views berries and new milk.
One mile from the station Address
DELLA ROBERTSON, Croftsboroxgh, Maine.
''Cheap enoughn commented an ell
derly lady who happened upon it.
"Delia RogersOn. An old maid, sup
pose, obliged to look out for herself. l
have good mind to try her broad pi-
azzas and new milk. If | don't like,
there'll be no harm DONE"
And so Delia's first boarder arrived
an old lady, with false front of hair,
brown, wrinkled skin, faded eyes, a
black alpaca gown and hair trunk.
Della made her as welcome as if she had
been ii duchess; lighted wood fire in
Mrs. Clements room, as the night was
damp, and brought out her daintiest
cup and saucer, with the fadeless old
roses wreathing them. "Wonderfully
kind" reflected Mrs. Clement, as she
combed out her wisp of gray hair and
cOnfided the false front to a box.
"WOnderful kindness for seven dollars
a week She's new to the trade. She'll
learn better. Human nature doesn't
change with ATTITUDES. She'll find it
doesn't pay to consider the comfort of
poverty stricken old creature" But,
in spite of her worldly wisdom, Mrs
Clement was forced to confess that
Della had begun as she meant to hold
out, though other boarders came to de-
mand her attention, to multiply her
cares. The fret and jar of conflicting
temperaments under her roof was new
experience to Della. When Miss Gre
some complained of the mosquitoes,
with an air as if Miss Rogerson were re-
sponsible for their creation of the flies
as If they were new acquaintances; of
want of appetite, as though Della had
agreed to supply it, along with berries
and new milk of the weather, as if
she had pledged herself there should
he no sudden changes, to annoy her
bOarders; of the shabby house and the
antiquated furniture, "tOo old for com
fort and not old enough for fashion,
then Della doubted if taking boarders
was her mission. "What makes You
keep us, my dear 2" asked Mrs. Clement
after day when everything and every
body had seemed to go wrong. "Why
didn't you ever marry You had low
er, l dare say ?"
eyes; long, long time ago."
"Tell me about hint"
"There isn't much to tell. He asked
me to marry him. He was going to Aus
tralia. l couldn't leave mother and
father, you know, (they were both fee
ble), and he couldn't stay here. That
was all.'
"And you--you-"
"'Now all men besides are to ME like
shadows"
"And have you never heard of him
since 2"
eyes. He wrote but where was the
use 1t could never come to anything.
1t was better for him to forget me and
marry. | was a milestone about his
neck. l didn't answer his last letter."
"And, supposing he should return
some day, would you marry him ~
81 dare say" laughed Della, gently,
as if the idea were familiar, ''let the
neigbbors laugh ever so wisely. I've
thought of it sometimes, sitting alone,
when the world was barren and COM
monplace. One must have recreation
OF some kind, you know. Everybody
requires little romance, little poetry
to flavor everyday thinking and doing.
Pm afraid you will think me silly old
maid, Mrs. Clement"
mo. The heart never grows old.
The skin shrivels, the color departs,
the eyes fade, the features grow pinch
ed but the soul is heir of eternal youth
lis as beautiful at fourscore as at
sweet and twenty Time makes
amends for the ravages of the body by
developing the spirit. You didn't tell
me your lovers name. Perhaps you'd
rathor not
"His name was Stephen Langdon
Sometimes Capt. Seymour runs against