Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1883-09-27

THE ARRIVAL OF MRS. vICKORY-A MYsTE-
RIoUs BoARDER AT THE CORPORATION"
BOARDING HOUSE.
On the day following her arrival home
from Bellville Park, Gertrude found her.
self, upon appearing at breakfast, seated
beside an old body to whom she was in
troduced by Mrs. Moriarty, as new
boarder, Mrs. Vickory.
Our heroine nodded slightly to the lady
and smilingly hoped she would like her
new home, and continued, during the pro-
gress of the meal a desultary converse
tion during which she regarded with some
curiosity the odd figure beside her.
| To Gertrudes remarks the old lady an
swered in low, hesitating tone of voice.
all the time keeping her face bent over
her plate in a seemingly absorbed and diff
| fident manner.
| Indeed Mrs. Vickory was an odd look
| ing and very curious sort Of parsonage
She was apparently about sixty years of
| age. Her hair. almost rs white rs snow
was very abundant. She wore spectacles
| of green glass; and high old fashioned
rufiies about her neck which gave to her
appearance an air of some antiquity
Her brown hands were covered with rings
and there was quaint shipper about her
L
face of an old fashioned frt.
But the eyes of this old lady, as far as
| they could be seen through the colored
goggles which she wore were large, bright
and flashing; though their color it was
impossible to discern.
| When she arose from the table she was
| greatly bent; in fact, so much so that her
! back seemed Of the humpish order; ev-
cry one in the house seemed to have taken
a great fancy to her; for she, though very
quiet and unobtrusive in her ways, was
cheerful and accommodating.
| Gertrude Weldon liked the old woman
| from the first moment she beheld her,
though strange to say Madge Holley's
feelings regarding Mrs. Vickory were of
a nature directly opposite.
| Madge was quite character in Mrs.
Moriaity's boarding-ho house by this time,
| for it was known to all in the establish
ment that handsome John Sanborn was an
accepted lover, and when a young lady
arrived at that stage she became almost
an object of reverence among her associ-
ates and was referred to and looked up to,
| and in certain sense taken under the
protection of the less fortunate members
| of the household.
Madge wore her honors with becoming
| meekness, and could not help cherishing
an underlined dislike to the venerable Mrs.
Vickory.
Mrs. Moriarty had found an unoccupied
| side-room in her house, adjoining Ger
trude Weldon's, and she, from her great
abundance of furniture, had fitted it up
for the old lady and there she spent the
great portion Of her time busy apparently
| with her knitting-needles.
There was rumor about the house that
| Mrs. Vickory was quite wealthy; though
| whence it came, or what its foundation it
| would be impossible to trace. Upon COM
| ing there she had merely remarked to
| Mrs. M. that she had an abundance of this
| worlds goods and might be with her for
some months, all of which was satisfacto-
| ny to Mrs. NJ, who never refused a board
| er if she could help it.
Things went on comfortably for several
days, and in that time it became noticea-
bic that Mrs. Vickoiy was very early
| riser, and always the first at the breakfast
table. Indeed she had so progressed in
the good graces of the jovial landlady,
| that she had the entree of the kitchen,
and was sure to be in her place 10y Ger
| trude's chair, some minutes before the
breakfast bell rang.
1t was sometime however before this
| fact was generally noticed, at first only by
the servants in the culinary department.,
| and then the practice became so common,
! and her visits to the kitchen so frequent,
and her conversation was so interesting
as to make her welcome, that finally no
| notice was taken of it by them, and it was
| sometime before the boarders, as class,
took cognizance of it.
One morning about two weeks after Mrs.
Vickory took up her quarters at Mrs. Mo-
| riarty's, Gertrude Weldon was brought
home in a fainting condition. She had
| suddenly been overcome while standing
near one of the looms and had fallen to
| the floor in dead faint.
When consciousness returned to her.
her face was white and CHASTITY. She could
| not resume her work, and was carried
home, where Mrs. Vickory paid her every
| attention, assisted by Mrs. Moriarty, who
| felt really bad as she had taken great
fancy to our heroine.
However, the next day she was suffi-
GENTLY recovered to resume labor and at
tended industriously for three days to
| her duties, when she was stricken by an
other attack, and seemingly more for
midable one. Mrs. Vickory as usual was
| on hand and attended to her assiduously;
the doctor could make nothing of II, but
laid IL to overwork. The attack did not
last long, however. and Gertrude was
again busy in the mill.
| Before the end of the week, came an
other and still severer attack. and this
time she was confined to her bed for near
ly three days, during which time, Mrs.
Vickory by her constant attentions and
kindness had greatly endeared herself to
her; for Miss Weldon would not allow
Maize to ~ home to wait upon