Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1882-09-21

Hobson's Choice.
HN IMlIY wHEEtTR.

smith Mas .aAing, her knitting needle
polsrd in ar. YOU'D ought 10 get married
I Glr.s arr all very we'll. but the, can't pro
I N.de for a man Ike Wlie, and. bcsidcs
i Phemy can't stAN Slth YOU al~als. Ph,lau
der Dunn Is HisA about iIr,d waiting lot hrI
nov. aud Il a!ut rIght lo Keep Young tulk,
apart 80. You'd ought TO he married"
+ Uncle Joe Badger upped ti' char back :,
a more oomior;ab!, angie. and looked ab
straoleI., al n.s boots. II, "a, tall and
lank, and NOT at al s""!-luuk,uE bat yer,
few people Ven iha, "a W.: Canton. and
as o~aer OF Tie Badger farm. he ir.i able {,
dispense SIih other claims 10 regard BE
sides. good look, bciongcd TO Young people
and nee Joe iId not den, Ia, h.f-ccu;uT,
Of experience.
~ ell. he sad. ..u~n. Il pose ,ou 'rr
about night. rhcmy" lie sighed as he
spoke. but j, ~as not ali N mcmor, of the
~,fr Of his Youth. Pari., also the diticul.
,ie. involved IN The cno.cc Of her successor
depressed h,. .oui. lie "a, .h, man. and
he dreaded the necdfui preiminarIe.
'lou,e waited a proper time" Aunt
PAemy went on. answering that half Of the
SIGH ~hich referred to her sls,er and Id
b, the last one to Sant you 10 MARI, ia IN
hecomln' haste iirii, VA a good wife
and 1t amt i4Aell tou can ind her match IN
Canton. She "a. jest the ehippefe., ~um-
AL about hou., most ever see, all ,he d
be the last per,on 10 want tuu unhappy for
.ack Of some one IN her place"
We'll. that's 80" uc.r Joe as.euied.
with 4 shade more animation "an' rrmrm
Der nov, lcsi about a weck before she died.
she SAID sulhln' like thai. Bat didn't sec
NO cali 10 take i SERIOUS then" lie sighed
again. looking out from the broad porch
~hrre they .at. past the Wheat field and
woodland 10 the deserted srase-yar on the
hall Even al thai distance one could ser
the giimmer Of the white stones in the sun
shine.
did she speak Of ANY one IN particular 2
Aun, Phemy asked. she Mas AWAY, fond
OF Cyulhy Bascom, Know. Sh,. told me
once she thought Cyutay'd make such a
good step-molher -
There, no cal! To talk Of s,ep-mother, ''
Uncle Joe returned. "wIih Harf.l AZ Jose
phlnr settled .n homes Of their own Oal
West, and Phemy AL read, to be married. -"
Evidently h.s fancy W4s not caught bs
Ctulhy Ba,oom's sIItues. Aunt Phemy .a~
II. and ,eerrd al ouce. We'll. that's true
enough, an Il C,nlh = smart, shes not
much To speak Of IN look.. Now there.
;he ~iddes Hood; she. fu.l as ,pry. an
she nnr -appelrIn.
But she, got children
"Onl, one 10 home. Dan provides for
himself now, an they never be 40 expense
To you, for they've got money comm from
their grandfather.
Il don't b1ie,e Hetty'd like a sidder. -
Uncle Joe SAID, falling back nov. as IN her
life, behind her apron. She was alW aNs
sot aginst wldders marvin agtn, least~ays
if they had children"
We'll, there's Corneel, Bugbee shes
suitable for age, turned forty. know. an a
master hand To work. She'd manage the
farm for you an' take care of YOU ef YOU
got down with rheumatic agIn. An YOU
know the doctor saId YOU vas liable TO an
other attack asy time. Its your dooty 10
think Of that. Joseph.
"les, but Corneely, now-ain't she ruth
er-souer-old-an domineering, so 10
speak ?" ventured Uncle Joe, meekly.
There's Jane Hotchkiss, but she's sort o
shiftless never gifts her washln' out before
noon. An Diodeny Barnes, she's too
young"
Why, dunno" answered the other,
doubifully. "She must be nigh on to thir-
ty-se,en or SO, amt she ?"
well, shouldn't wonder if she was.
his adviser remarked, after a minutes pause
to think the matter over. But she amt
very healthy. Now let me see"
For in truth the field was narrowing.
West Canton Was full of spinsters and Wild
ows, and Joseph Badger could certainly
pick and choose But even he could not be
too critical Aunt Phemy saw the need OF
little diplomacy, and took her cue from
his last remark.
There's Maria Stone, if YOU want some
one younger Or Abby Stebblns, though
I'm free to confess she'd never be my
ch'ice"
Now, always thought well Of Abby,
and so did Hetiy. She said once she
thought she'd be happier if she had hus-
band. An Maria's took good care of her
old father, you know"
We'll" answered Aunt Phemy, 81, amt
a wife for me I'm s-seleetin'. an if you fan
CIV Maria or Abby, it's your own business.
But hope you'll make up your mind right
of Joseph Widowers amt expected to
shilly-shally. Everybody knows what they're
as well say it straight out. Jest git your
self ready come Sunday night, an 60 see
one of EN-, an have it off your mind. Its
between harvest and threshin'. You couldn't
have a better time"
But from this awful proposal Uncle Joe
recoiled. He was willing to marry if his
sister-in-law thought best but he took such
alarm at the mention of the needful steps
TOW ard it that at last, in sheer pity, Aunt
Phemy volunteered TO see the elect lady
and sound the matter for him. In consider
alton of that favor, Uncle Joe left the selec.
ton pretty muss to her.
Jest which you think best, Phemy." be
repeated, anxiously. as he rose to 90. al
dunno as I've mite o. choice myself"
But Aunt Phemy had. and when next da,
she put on her sun-bonnet, took her knit
ting, and dropped in for friendly call or
Miss Maria Stone, it was with peculiar
purpose. 1t was plain indication of Prov.
,denee. to her mind, that the Stone wood