Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1880-09-17

/ Nh hio thhhn MI Aouhb was iuhhAh
over wild beautiful green oil, an way,
way up at the top iv the derrick was your
fairther's face GRIMM down at me rs PLACED
as If he was goin till wake An | stood
| spacheess wild wondther till l woke up lay
in in me bed
An now what in the wide wurruld wud
that dthrame be afther manin but there's oil
at the tut " the hill forninst the rlVerT'
I'm afther runnin' to tell folks" cried
tenyear. old Mickey, starting for the door.
TITS not tell anybody ye wull, ye silly
| spalpeen! Is it somebody else ye're wantin'
to strike oil, an why not ourselves
And Mrs. Mulloney seized the astonished
| Mickey by the collar and shook him vigor-
| ously.
| ITS rollln' in riches wen be, wearin' silk
| dresses, an hlrin aven our dishes washed for
us aqual to the Queen on her throne said
the widow.
Maggie, and Teddy, who was next in age,
looked awed at the prospect OF so much
| grandeur, but the imaginations of the rest of
the brood were not equal to the occasion.
It's not Paddles well be thin, for the
| Queen do be n Yankee, remarked Mickey,
after reflection. An it's only Yankees
strikes oil
"Oh, musha, musha Is 1t snylh' mesllt
TIL a skeleton am to sind yeez all to school,
to be that Ignorant ye think the Queen be's
Yankee An why wudnt decent honest
| Irish wildly woman sthrlko oil If the knOwl-
edge iv it was snt till her from heaven p
And Mrs. Mulloney forthwith donned her
bonnet and shawl, and she set out for the res
ldence OF MIR. Punchard, the superintendent
OF the Allegheny Iron Company. 1t WAS nee
essary that she should contde her plans to
somebody, as she was utterly ignorant of the
indispensable preliminarios to striking oil,
and the departed Dennis had great faith III
MIR. Punchard. That gentleman was not pop
ularly supposed to be shrewd. He belonged
to the great company OF the unlucky, accord.
ing to bis own testimony; but, Ike most OF
that noble army, he invariably trusted to
luck The FIRST savings OF his boyhood had
been invested IN lottery ticket, which, to
his unbounded amazement drew blank. lie
was clerk in stock-broker's office. and
lived on bread and water for the sake OF buy
ing stocks, which invariably deprecated in
value on his hands. The stock-broker failed
and he was thrown out of employment
resources consisting of several tickets in a
lottery which had been suppressed by law rs
a swindling operation, some stock in a gold
mine which had proved to contain nothing
more valuable than iron pyrites and in a
bank which had suspended payment.
Then luck seemed Cor once to smile upon
him He married al heiress, with no over
particular parents or guardians who did not
approve Of speculation, and scattered her for
tune to the four winds within five years. all
but two or three thousand dollars which she
managed to secure to her daughter Just be-
fore she thankfully turned her back on what
she had found-at least since her marriage
an unlucky world. For fifteen or sixteen
years longer he experienced the ups and
downs of luck in New York and then when
his fortunes were at very low ebb, he OBJ
tanned the position OF superintendent of the
iron company. The salary was good, and
better than that, the oil aud mining region
afforded unboundsd opportunity for spccula-
ton But no sooner had he entered upon
the duties of his position, and comfortably
established himself and his daughter in the
fine house provided by the company, than
general business depression fell upon the
whole country. The mines were abandoned
because it no longer paid to take out the ore,
and the mill fires were allowed to go out.
Somebody was needed to take care of the
property so the superintendent was retained
at very small salary. His daughter Pene
lope, now young lady Of twenty, was his
housekeepcr When an unusually bad spec
ulation IN oil had absorbed all his funds, she
was maid of all work, and errand-boy as well
Partly by nature, and partly by means of the
training of adyCrsty, Penelope could turn
her hand to anything. In their lucky times
she had been taught to sing and dance and
play upon the piano in the most approved
method in the unlucky times she had taught
herself to bake and brew and patch and darn,
anu the countless homely accomplishments
that kept the wheei5 oil daily hVih9 from
getunG hopeless!y clogged. Besides accom-
PhNhihH wonders IN the housekeeping hne'
hho iounu 'iihe 10 go ScailperihB al over thG
country On h'lo uIoWh mare Whlch hau
heVeral times pteh Soid WheA luhds ran low,
ana repuFGh"cu "nGh OIL rose AT the rlSnt
tihe-to danco NJ all the merry -makings IN
tne hIel6noorhoou' 70 win 'ne Iearts OF sever
~ Oh princes ana 10 iAl III loNe with Dr'
boD Macf"e;
Dr. SOD Macrae r rather and grandfather
before MN hau mIhlstered TO inc neshly Ills
OF an Bugle county Though they were
ncotchmeh, they We're NOT canny enough
10 possess themselves OF mnch oi thlS world 5
goodS Dnt II teeuing the hungry ciothing
the NAKED ana VlsiuhB the WIDOW ana Tue
iatherless DC laying up treasures ABOVE Dr.
BOD iather-oid Dr. Duncan as he was
ealleu-hau gone 10 tho enjoyment OF great
possessions lie had bequeathed TO MS son
few acres OF sterile land, somewhat mea-
gre medicai library, ana a reputation Tor pc
neVoience which Kept his once swarmed Tor
seVeral hourS every DAY with the iamllies oil
the miners and mil hands, who, having no
work, mad no money to pay, aud probably
would not have paid If they had, being pos
sessed by the CONVICTION that doctor was
Providentlaliy supplied, like the sun, alike to
the Just ana TO the unjust.
DIR. Bob had zeal for his profession which
his ancestors had never shown. He burned
the midnight oil studying and writing essays,
which the medical journals sometimes appre-
ciated and paid for, and sometimes returned
with thanks" The only difference it seem
ed to make to DIR. Bob was that when his ar
ticles were appreciated he bought himself a
new coat, and when they were not he wore
his shabby old one. Apparently he was new
er either elated or discouraged. His paying
practice was very small, q new doctor having
moved into town and taken his fathers place
while he was still in college-a doctor who
had a way of looking sympathetic, and slap