St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1882-10-20

which the family was interested,
had called him across the water
some three months previous to the
time of our story, and he had left
''the children,n as he always called
them, for almost the first time since
they were babies.
And now, to use Jacks significant if
not altogether classic eXpression-he
had ''sprung" a grandmother upon
them.
The very fact of their devotion to
him made the blow all the bitterer.
| That their vested rights i'll their dear,
own, and only grandpa" should be
encrOached upon by anybody else
seemed not only rank heresy but out
and-Out sacrilege. They were not sell
tish-that is, no more so than love
makes all of us. OF course they didn't
like to be wrOngcd nobody dOes-but
that their darling old grandfather,
whom they wOrshipped and who wOr-
shipped them, that he should he i'm
posed upon and sacrificed-that was it,
''sacriticedr the blood of all the
Wetherells and Pepperells rise in com
bined wrath against the ''audacious
woman who had dared to come be-
tween them. 1t certainly was not a
pleasant or promising outlook for the
future serenity of the aforesaid "auda-
ciOus woman"
Fanny and Sue were aS warm heart
ed, goOd-naturcd, generous girls as
ever breathed. Sue, gentle. innocent
and dOve-lil<e and Fanny, loving and
true, albeit a bit impulsive and quick
to wrath, and yet they were both fully
L IL f.ll, Il
themselves, buff the truth must be
tOld-to make ''that hOrrid woman"
uncomfortable as well. And Jack, who
in his normal state, was so bright and
breezy and genial that he was univer
sally known as "Jolly Jack, even Jack
was cross, and had torn himself from
the only home he had ever known, and
actually seemed in a fair way to be-
come IL bear in the Businesses of the
club to which he had relegated him
self For Jack, although a very club
able sort of youth, was one who also
required the tender ministratiOns of
gentle women. By his friends of the
male persuasion. he was pronounced
the best of all good fellows aud yet
he somehow showed to better advant-
age in the home circle than anywhere
else. He had been so happy with his
/ sisters whom he adOred, and his grand
| father whom he loved and Venerated,
that he had never yet thought of set
ting up any especial private Lares and
| Penates on his own account. Not that
| Master Jack was not sufficiently sus-
ceptible for all matrimonial purposes,
but he had hitherto been so thoroughly
satisfied with his sisters that he had
never thought seriously of a sweet
heart.
Well, as we have said, Jack went
away and what was more, stayed
away, at least for a considerable time.
His business trip stretched over three
or four weeks and, as he was jumping
from place to place i'll rather hap
! hazard manner, he received no letters
from the girls during his absence.
When he came back to town he went
to his rooms at the club, and twenty
four hours there were enough to con-
vince him that bachelors ''den" was
anything but the paradise it was
cracked up to he. He realized for the
first time what he had done i'll break
ing away from his home, or what ''that
wOman"-creature, | am afraid Jack
called her in his own mental vOcabu-
lary-had done for him. OF course,
while he was travelling it had not
troubled him much but to come back
and settle in this ''den" made him as
homesick as Il schoolgirl.
The following day came a note from
Fanny, short, sharp and decisive, like
that piquant young person herself,
Darling old Jack" it ran ''cOme the
minute you get back. Don't dare tC
disobey, or I'll kiss you to death when
: | do get my hands on you. Fanfan."
II suppose | must CO." soliloquized
Jack, with an air of sacrificing himself
tC duty but the moisture in his eyes
told different story, and he started
off, looking almost jolly again.
When he got to the house, he lei
himself in with his latch key-whicl
he happened to have still in his pOck-
et-thinking to give the girls sur
prise, and altogether forgetting til,
: fact that the "dragon," as he sometime.
dubbed the newcomer, might possibly
object to having nOn-residents entel
her premises i'll that unceremOniOu,
manner. His ears were greeted will
peals of girlish laughter that made hin
grin in his best old-time fashion, anC
he thought "Aha the girls are hav
! ing good time-the dragon must b,
! away-that's luck, anyhow ~ and II,
=, cautiously opened the door of the room
from which the merry sounds proceed
ed, and peered i'll.
"Jovel but that's pretty little girl :
, he exclaimed, just as his sisters discov
t. cred him and came forward, fOllOwe,
= I,X- tl,. sEnrattN littIa ,rirl -
;, go Jack, you dear boy ~ and Fam,
and Sue were in fair way to eXecut
the formers threat of kissing him t.
! death.
The ''pretty little girl" stood back
;, and pretty she was and no mistake
Young, so young she was that sh
= seemed mere child, and arch an,
" sweet with reddish brown hair an,
!, large dark eyes. She stood looking IL
- Jack with her head on one side, lik
= some inquisitive little bird, as Fan AN
Sue cried in concert
y 40 Jack, this is grandma ~
"The devil -
= 81 hope not - laughed the stranger
! as she put ont a welcoming little hanC
| ''l'm sure beg your pardon, miss
ma 'am-gran-"
- "Grandma,' suggested she.
.r "Grandma," replied Jack, covere
! with confusion and bushes, "but
thought thought you we're"
/ "Not what you said just now, hope
: 80, Jack Jack Isn't it just to
- utterly splendid ~ and Fanny absC
Il lutely shrieked with delight, thong
80 whether she meant that her new rel;
m tive was dangerously refulgent or thu
~ her beloved brothers discontinue W;
,e the object of her jubilation did NJ
clearly appear.
=. "By Jove, this is a sumner mu