The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1883-12-27

I'D come III the faStir 81 ION anu Ill
orphans. I've no doubt she's IL good
creature. Something vas simmering
on tho fender for their late supper, and
Il row Of nigh, garments were airing
close ny. One can fame, them. IL Bet
ty had been MI right. gathering around
the rickety table. le,onring the savoy
stew, rehearsing noi-ils the triumphs
Of the evening. kicking their tinsel into
the different corners Of the room. and
falling of to sleep with th. digestions ri
SO many ostrichcs. 1t il not their present
misery or lack Of cheer that arouses
my pity for this innocent child: Int Won
saw for Yourself how beautiful she was,
and remember What 4 life she will lead
as Tom Rattcrsbs's daughter"
will in,erpo'ate just here that the
Doctor was not the proper Judge 81
Tom Battersby's life and morals.
Toms cole OF proprietv went much
further than the Doctor had any idea
of. and he was As wat.hful and fierce
IA 4 bulldog over what he considered
his property. But habit i everything. |
He could think the world of his daugh-
ter, aud yet he procd to put her half
naked in the pattern Of Hover Of his
own d,vising. and give her over tri-
nmphantls to the loose stare Of two or
three thousand oilers AMI yagabonds. |
But tho Doctor had no time to think
ont this problem il it had been pre-
scented To him What l.. yearned to
do was to get Betty away from sur
rounlings that he honestly thought led
to infamv, and put her Young life in
the hands of his mother, to lead into
th, paths OF rlea~antne.s and peace
tina, surrounded their quiet home Mt
Shelbyville. lie coaSel his mother
over to- his desire, tho more readily that
she had long coveted something pref
tier and brighter than II iggins, the
housekecp,r. to while away her tedious
invalid hours, and philanthropy took
avery attractive shape in the person Of
Betty Battershy.
As for Betty. poor little Betty, she
chung to the Doctor MS drowning Great.
ures will cling to surl-hcat when the
had felt the cammy land ot death Mt
her heart, the breath oi the charnel
house clos. upon h,r cheek. These
had been put to ront hv her new friend
and benefa.tor. and something strange
ly sweet and wonderful crept into the
languil life lac had given her. II, told
her III the flowers nj Shelhvvil!e that
lay sleeping now beneath the winter
SHOWS, Int would awaken with the
breath of sprmg flowers whose fra.
GRANGE knew nothing OF the faint Of
turpentuc: OF the mild. delicious.
balmy mountain air that made the
pulses bound without the all OF malt,
and gave m honest bloom to the cheek,
finer and more to he depended upon
than rogue Putting false and fool
ish notions in the head of the
| child, said Aunt Pam. and slandering
the necessary devices OF as honorable
profession rs his own. How would
an ordinary Johnny-iump.up look upon
the stage. I'll like to know; and what
mountain air could furnish a bloom
that would properly stand the foot
lights And where ignorance is bliss.
tbs folly to I've wise The garden Of
| Eden knew no shame till the serpent
entered il with his wilv tongue, and
turned good to evil.
But there was no objection made to
Betty's trip to the country, rs they
We're scared out OF their wits. and
would do ANYTHING IL save the sweet
life of their darling and pride. They
let her 60, poor dear. without murmur
or complaint, though none Of Tom Bat
tcrshs's kin had ever been fond oil the
country. To ito justice to the Doctor,
he tried his hes, to save the whole
family, and IN the early spring got Tom
a job in the village, that would have
been the beginning of an excellent
business Mt Shclhy,ille. The Doctor
offered to build him Workshop
Toms original trade was II carpenters
and, with the cheap WAY Of living ut
Shelbyyille, tho Doctor said they could
all very soon become respectable mem
hers of society. The children were
delighted, and lived out-of-doors from
morning till night. wandering far aiield,
picking cowslips and daisies, building
dams in the running stream, robbing
birds nests, sticking pins into butter
flies, and ENJOYING themselves in their
own sagabond way. Aunt Pam gem
orally went with them, carving her
novel at the bottom of the lunch basket,
and told Tom ut the evening meal that
she wondered how those poor creatures
in town could ever get along with the
foul air and the dirty streets, and how
did they get along, anyway. And, for
the love Of Heaven, had he heard any
thing from their old friends? And she
leaned over the table with suspicious
eagerness to hear any Int Of news that
he might have learned of old times and
old cronie>.
One soft September night, when poor
Aunt Pam had heea more than ever
eager for news from town, Tom looked
up with CLEAN in his fine ewes like
Betty's, only Not so soft and glowing
and winked, and whispered behind his