The Red Cloud chief., 1880-11-18
ON A BLACKBOARD

MILDRED PARMENTER sat in the little
parlor beating her foot impatiently on
the striped rag carpet. h August
sun peered into the windows, and at
the sides of the green paper curtains,
perforated with pinholcs and Tapping
In the breeze, she caught occasional
glimDseS of the mountains and the
clouds which made a marvellous picture
in front of the old Vermont farm house.
Two n~eighbors had dropped in to see
her aunt, and the three ladies, with
knitting-work and occasional resort TO
their black paper mdchg snuif-boXes,
were discussing the probable fate OF a
diSsagreeable farmer in the vicinity
whose theft of 4 wearing was the
chief topic of conversation in all the
farmhouses within the radius OF half a
dozen miles.
AN they dew say.''-was one of the
passing remarks that caught her ear
''that they haint never had no idee up
to Goshen what sort OF a critter twas
he stole, till ole Ms Stevens, she said rs
haow she seen him agoin-"
Miss Mildred's attention wandered.
she found the conversation dull, but
she looked at the women with Il new
curiosity. And this is their life" she
was thinking, "a clean apron, a pinch
of snulf, and a ~ncighborly call after the
dinner dishes are done up;' a dis
cuSsion of old Mrs. Browns paralytic
stroke, Deacon Stcbbins' third wife,
. Matilda Hines success with her sage
cheese. and the new bell on the town
hall"
One of the thin, monotonous voices
began again, ''Td jest sot out TO go
with Mary Ann. you know she lives two
miles from That there"
Miss Mildred caught up her hat and
sauntcred out of the front door. Only
a few rods away were the pine woods,
cool, still, fragrant. She seated her
! self at the foot of n gigantic tree, and.
leaning her head against the trunk,
went off into one OF the reveries which
lately seemed to fill the waking hours
of her life.
A wagon came rattling along the
crooked. sandy road. Her uncle was
returning from n trip to the village.
/and as he drove into the shed he called
to her, Letters, darter.
1t was always his name for her, she
I was so like a daughter he had lost. She
Wflltu lpI lut ltlAtlN. iiob WY Ailhf
tiently, till he came by on his way to
the house. There were only two of
them. The one from her sister she
opened first ..
"And MIR. Elson came yesterday"
ran one of the paragraphs. 1--WE told
him of your fancy 10 bury yourself all
summer in the rural districts, but
assured him Won would join us for a
week. at least. before we returned TO
New York. OF course that is the only
thing that prevents him from leaving
the Springs at once. BY the way, he
heard before he came up that it is all
over between YOU and Oscar. and that
Oscar is engaged to that cousin of his,
IElla Hunt, who was always held up TO
us as a model of all the virtues. ldont
doubt that she is exactly suited to HIM.
Mamma is delighted that Mr.. Elson is
roinr to stay with us. You know,
Milly. what She has set her heart on,
and of course YOU won't disappoint us
all. He has grown a little stouter than
he was in the winter"
She threw the letter aside, unfinished.
and sat perfectly still. her hands tightly
clasped in her lap. Oscar Brant en-
raped TO his cousin Ellal Well, that
was according TO the eternal fitness OF
THINGS. Ella had an amiable DISPOSE
lion, was dignitied, serene, ladylike
slwavs. She never acted on impulse.
never gave way to a quick temper, and
had never done or said, in her whole
life a thing she had reason TO be sorry
for. Yes, Mildred reflected, she was
altogether the proper person for Oscar
Rrant. and with aqueer little laugh she
tbouoht of the hopeless difference be-
tween herself and this most admirable
woman But the laugh was S o nearly
akin TO a sob that she dared not trust
herself to 60 on thinking. She caught
mn the other letter from a young lady
sd;ourning at Saratoga. 1t was adj
dressed in large, dashing hand. cover.
mo the whole envelope. why will
She use violet ink?" was Mildred's
Thought as she opened it. 1t was as
dashfng inside as out.
"You are certainly a gay deceiver.
NV dear. To think that your health
required rest and mountain air, so that
<xou could neither give your family nor
l me the pleasure of your society! L un-
derstand it all now, and really L can't
blame you. Oscar Brant is more enter
tanning than a hotel full of people, and
bandsomer than ever. / saw him for
inst a moment en- route for Lake Cham
nlsin with his party. Camping out
must be such fun! And to think you
happened to have an uncle living so
conveniently near Of course you see
Oscar every day or two"
There was a four-page description
following of the costumes worn at a
hall at the Grand Union. Mildred
Parmenter to this day has read a
&yord OF it. u.rn how little her Sara.
tora friend guessed at the truth in the
easel And Oscar Brant was only four
miles away. She could not help it now
~ the tears came. Why could they not
Let her alone? she thought. She had
come p to the New England hills to
Tin some of the strength and peace
She had lost after she and Oscar Brant
had parted. She must try for it harder
than ever, now that the time drew near
for her to return to the city.
Her mother and sisters would wait
for her at the Springs. MIR. Elson would
wait, too; Mr.. Elson. worth half a mill,
TO- sixty wears old, his head bald and
shiny: a short. fat. fIssy who had
..orown a little stouter." Ugh! They
would all 90 home together, to the fall
fashions, and dinner parties, and formal
calls. She thought suddenly OF the
stuffy parlor. and of the three ladies