Sharp County record., 1882-08-24
MIR. PIPER'S PROPOSAL.

"Pll ask her to marry me this very
day. To be sure she's young, but it
will renew my youth to have her for
wife. l must first speak to her aunt
and get her consent. Uncommon fine
woman is Miss Marcia. More suited to
my age, I dare say, than her pretty
niece; but Mollie l love, and Mollie l
will marry, if she will have me.
Strange that l should be such fool
over girl at my age! Here | have
lived single for fifty years, and have
looked forward to spending the rest of
my life in the same peaceful manner;
but as soon as | saw Mollie l forgot all
about that. declare fell in love with
her on the spot! Pm an old fool, but,
as said before, I'll marry her if she
will have me-"
This conclusion was reached by MIR.
Theodore Piper after many hours of
anxious thought, during which he had
viewed the subject from every stand
point, carefully reasoning away all
doubts; for, in spite of the fact that for
the first time in his life he was in love,
he was not so blind that he could not
dimly perceive the folly of his inten-
tions. He had lived bachelor all his
life, feeling no desire to change his con-
dition, when fate, in the person of Miss
Mollie Danvers, upset all his placid
serenity, scattered to the winds his
visions of peaceful future of single
blessedness, and created within him a
desire to possess her for wife.
Mollie Danvers was the orphan niece
of Miss Marcia Parmlee, who lived in
charming cottage on one of the
pleasantest streets of the pretty village
of Cherryfeld. Upon the death of her
widowed sister, fourteen years before
my story opens, she took her doubly-
orphaned daughter, then child of four
years, to her heart and home. She
never regretted her kindness, for with
the coming of the bright little fairy TO
her quiet home came also great
source of pleasure into her lonely life,
and she often found herself wondering
what she should do without the mis-
chievous child, who was at once the
pride and torment of her existence.
Thus life flowed on, calmly and un-
eventually. for ten years, till Mollie was
fourteen, and Miss Marcia decided that
she must 60 away to school, and receive
the advantages of a better education
than the village academy afforded; and
she was forthwith sent to Nine. Blanks
select seminary for young ladies, situ-
ated in distant city, to 60 through a
four years course During the last
year of her absence at the school the
population of Cherryfeld was increased
by the arrival of Mr. Theodore Piper,
who purchased handsome residence
next door to Miss Parmlee's pretty cot
tage, and settled down with two or
three staid old servants to keep his
household affairs in running order.
Great was the excitement of the old
maid element of the village-Miss Mar
cia excepted--over his coming, and
many were the efforts put forth to at
tract the attention of the wealthy
bachelor, who, however, while polite to
all, seduously refrained from asking
any of the anxious fair oneJto share his
lot.
He lived very quiet life, avoiding
society, as he was very bashful, and it
was some time before he Overcame his
aversion to females sufficiently to be
neighborly with Miss Marcia; but find
ING, after while, that she had no de-
signs upon him, and not being so much
afraid of Che kind hearted, but some
what prim, old maid as of the rest Of
the Cherryfeld spinsters, he gradually
became quite sociable, and often used to
send her fine fruits and vegetables
from his own garden. Miss Marcia
thought him "a right nice man." and
was often beguiled out of her primness
as they talked in neighborly fashion
over the garden fence that separated
their respective domains, telling him
of Mollie. and how proud she was of
her.
Thus things went on until the last
year of Mollie's stay at school drew to
close. One morning in June, Mr. Pi-
per crossed his garden and presented
himself at Miss Parmlee's side door
with basket of very fine strawberries.
1t was opened by that usually serene
spinster herself, to all appearances in a
state of great excitement, while from the
glimpse he obtained of the interior of the
cottage he concluded that a revolution
Of some sort was going on. After re-
ceiving the berries and thanking him for
them, she said
my niece is s'coming home on Sat
urday. | have not seen her since her
last vacation, year ago. She has fin