Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1881-06-23
Gales ano Sketfbfs.
DoLLr's DESTINY.

D0LLT's DEsTIyY.
Il shouldn't he surprised any day.
Dolly. to see David Wiggin tying his
horse at your gate said Mr.. Blount
roguishly, gathering up the reins-
Nonsense. brother. Anything the mat
ter with his own hitching post % retort-
ed Miss Dolly turning in the doorway.
Mr.. Blount laughed. Everybody felt
bound to laugh at Miss Dolly's crisp say
ipgs that had kept her friends in good hu-
NOR these forty years.
.'And when David does call on you"
pursued Mr.. Blount more seriously, Il
do hope. Dolly. you'll give him chance
to do his errand. That'll be no more
than fair, and the man won't be easy un-
til he has freed his mind.''
..What mischief are you the forerunner
Of now, James Blount?'' cried Miss Dol
lv. facing about like a soldier on drill.
What upon earth have to do with Da-
vid's errands?"
..WeIls his wife has been dead a year or
MORE" Said Mr. Blount suggestively,
shutting one eye and squirting with the
other down the length Of his whipstalk.
land lately he has been asking about you.
You can put that and that together to suit
Yourself"
..Fiddlestick ~ said Miss Dolly. ener-
getically.
II shan't say have him or don't have
him-though there isn't a liklier man
than David-but I do say, Dolly. you
ought to give him hearing" and having
convinced himself beyond reasonable
doubt that the whip was all right, Mr..
Blout tickled his sleepy horse with 1t and
drove away.
80. my sorrows,' - calculated Miss
Dolly. closing the door with an afflicted
countenance, and sitting down so quietly
for once that photographer might have
copied her then and there. Not that he
could have done her justice. for her ex-
preston was too quick and varied to be
caught by any trick of chemicals. and
without it Miss Dolly's physiogomy would
have been rather characterless but tor her
roman nose. This organ gave tone to
her face BY which | would not be I'M
derstood literally. as saying that she
talked through nasal whine. ! mean
simply in a metaphorical sense, this bold
feature spoke loudly of energy. And
Miss Dolly had abundant need of energy
else why the nose? Every two years
during her childhood she had been tip
toed into the east bedroom to see a new
baby, till, at her mothers death. five lit
tie brothers fell to her charge to be coaxed
and scolded into manhood.
You can't bring up those boys, ''crooncd
dolorous aunt. They'll run square
over You, Dorthy Ameda."
LET them run over me so long as'it
does not hurt EN- laughed Miss Dolly,
skewing her iaxen hair with goose-quill
and tying a calico apron over her calico
long-short. preparatory to bringing up"
said youths.
From that day forward she went cheer
lily on. making the best of everything.
though it must he confessed she often had
odds and ends to work with, rs people
usually do have who are born with fac
ulty. Somehow she found time for all
her duties except matrimony. II that
were duty, il was one she wouldn't and
couldn't attend to while her father and
the children needed her. Divers young
men thought this great pity. among
them David Wiggin. Don't be silly.
David ~ said Dolly. when he limited as
much to her; whereupon David went off
and married Olive Searle, the plainest
girl in the parish.
This happened twenty years ago, and
DHvid was again wifeless. and again the
current of his thoughts turned toward
Dolly. who still lived a, the old home
st}ad at the foot of Bryant's Falls. Her
fassler had died some months before. OF
ths boys James and Ezekiel had settled
oiSneighboring farms, and the remaining
tSec had gone west. David's benevolent
h mt warmed with compassion rs he re-
II. ,mbered Dolly's lonely condition. and
he felt that il would be exceedingly kind
in him to offer her home, especially as
hs owned as good a place as you'd find
oe the river. while the Blount cottage was
falling into decay. He wouldn't let her
former refusal tel. against her. for as he
looked back he couldn't really see how
she could have married anyone at that
period. She ought to be rewarded for
the devotion she had shown to the family.
and. for his part, he ielt magnanimous
enough to give her a second chance to ac-
cept him. Such was the worthy widow
er's state of mind when he asked James
Blount. with mock humility. whetherit
would be of any use tor him to try and
make a bargain with Dolly.
That's more than | can tell" Mr..
Blount had answered. "Dolly's puz-
zle you'll have to find her out yourself"
Mr.. Wiggin smiled in complacent an
ticipation Of acceptance, indeed if it might
not seem like reproach to the memory of
his lost Olive. should say the kind-heart-
ed man rejoiced in this opportunity of
making Miss Dolly's happiness. Benevo-
lence was in his face. benevolence was in
his spirit. as he sailed forth at an early
day to acquaint her with her good fortune.
The broken harrow which he had strap
ped into the wagon to give the neighbors
u plausible reason for his trip to the Falls,
was by no means typical Of mental lacera-
ton to its owner. His feeling as he APP
preached Miss Dolly's moss-grown cot
tage was purely one of thanktulness that
it was in his power to provide her a better
home. Not that he was grateful to his
dead wife Gpr leaving vacancy there,
Mr.. Wiggin had mourned faithfully for
Olive a year and day.
Miss Dolly was out in the garden gath
ering catnip. She had built chip fire
under the tea-kettle. and then whisked off
to pick an aprontul of the pungent leaves
while the water was boiling. There she
xvos sfoonsnrv hon III tho ouxos Of ln.v