St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1881-08-19
VOLUME 45--NUMBER 2299.

may be sure, now."
Sometimes he would bring batch of
eggs larger and dearer than usual.
"Pets been two weeks saving them"
he would say cher speckled hen laid
every One-they're rich-they are. Pet
wants ten cents more for them, to buy
fallals with"
We got to calling her Pet, too, before
the winter was through, and by
degrees we learned that our butter-and-
eggs man had not been of much ac-
count until Pet took hold of HMM
fact, he had been Il hard drinker and
was running farm to waste when he
met an angel of dcliverance in his wife.
''She was II college graduate, too. |
heard her speak her piece the last day.
Lor' wasn't she tne-hair as yaller as
gold, and all kind o. putfed out. Poor
little thing She don't get time to fix
it up that II way now," and he sighed
meekly.
We drew pictures to ourselves of
''the sweet girl graduate in her golden
hair" chasing the speckled hen and
milking the brindle COW, and we made
IA little heroine of her, wondering how
she could give up her school life to re-
deem such an ordinary man; and yet
there were great streaks about him,
too. He was so good humored, so pa
tient, and loved his little wife so de
| vOtedly.
We often pictured her to ourselves
as frail little thing, struggling with
milkpans and churns, and consoling
her starved soul with glowing sunsets,
or ideal dreams that enveloped her in
II rose-colored glory rs she toiled in the
life she had chosen.
We hoped her lord and master was
not IL hard task-setter but blue eyes
and benevolent smile do not always
denote IA good heart, and we sometimes
feared that he shirked his duties and
only came to town with the produce be
cause it was pleasanter than staying at
home. Once we were going to send II
book new story to Pet, but her
husband discouraged us. 'She hadn't
time to bother with rcadin'; the min
ute she gets through she goes to bed
and we concluded she must have II
hard time of it, though the little man
did sound her praises so loudly.
One day we happened to go into the
country, and as it was in the direction
of our egg-and- butter mans house, we
determined to call and see Pet, taking
for an excuse the fact that we were
just out of butter. As we drove up, we
noticed the scrupulous neatness of
everything, and had reached the front
door, when it opened, and a tall wOm
an stood i'll the way arms-a-kimbO.
She was the tallcst woman we had
ever imagined, and as we looked at her
aghaSt, the youngest of our party OBJ
served SOttO rOce:
1--WE should have brought IL step-lad-
der with us"
''Wcll, said the woman, looking at
lis with the coolest china-blue eyes
that were intensified by IL crown of
fiery red hair, "what do you want ?"
We closed ranks for protection and
murmured in concert something that
had sound of "butter."
"Well, you can't get any butter here.
My man is down sick with the intiu-
enzy and as soon as he's up he'll take
it all into the city to some folks that
can never get enough. wish that
they had to churn it, | reckon they'd
eat less grease them
"Pet," piped feeble voice that we
knew, from the interior of the house :
"WhO be yOu talBin' to ?"
"Never you mind Jest shet up and
go to sleep; there's big churnin' wait
in for you"
She never asked us in - she was rs
clean and neat and narrow and viX-
, cnish as she could be, and her long
muscular arms were bare to the shoul-
ders and she stood before us like grim
fate. We slowly backed off the door
step, looked up and up to the freckled
face and cold blue eyes, then turned
, and incontinently fled
As we scrambled into our carryall
the youngest cast one look ut the mex
Orable figure in the doorway and muir
INJURED: go, Pet, Pet, wherefore art
thou, Pet ?'-[ Detroit Free Press.