Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1883-12-02

II shouldn't be surprised any day
Dolly, to See David Wiggin tying bis
horse at your gate" said Mr.. Blount
roguishly, gathering mp the reins.
Nonsense, brother. Anything the
matter with his own hitching post" re
torted Miss Dolly, turning around III the
doorway.
Mr. Biount laughed. Everybody Eel!
bound to laugh at Miss Dolly's crisp say
ings, which had KEEP. her friend In good
humor these forty years.
And when David does call on you. y
pursued Mr.. Blount, more seriously, I" ]
do hope. Dolly, you'll give him chance
10 do his GRAND. Ihat'll be no more
than fair, and the man won't be easy
until he has freed his mind"
"What mischief are you the forerun-
ner OF now James Biount" cried Dolly,
facing about like "A soldier on drill
"What on earth have to do with Da-
vid's errands!'
"Well, his wife has been dead year
or more" said Mr.. Biount, suggestively,
shutting one eve and sqninting with the
other down the length Of his whipstalk,
"and lately he has been asking out
you. You can put that and that together
to suit yourself"
"Fiddlesticks.'' exclaimed Miss Dolly,
energeticaly.
II shan't SAY have him or don't have
him, though there isn't llkelier man
living than David; but do say, Dolly,
you ought to give him a hearing" and,
having convinced himself beyond n rea-
sonable dou.t that the whip was all right,
Mr.. Blount tickled his horse with it and
drove off.
"Oh, my sorrowsm circulated Miss
Dolly, closing the door with an afflicted
countenan 80, and sitting down 30 quietly
for once that a photographer might have
copied her then and there. Not that he
could have done her Justice, for her OK
preston was too quick and varied 10 he
caught by trick If chemicals, and
without it Miss Dolly's physiognomy
would have been rather characterless
but for her prominent Roman nose.
This organ gave tone to her face; by
which | would not be understood liter
ally as saying that she talked through
nasal whine. | mean simply III meta
phorical sense this bold feature spoke
loudly of energy. And Miss Dolly had
abundant need OF energy-else why the
nose? Every two years during her child
hood she had been tiptoed into the east
bedroom to sec II now baby, till At her
mothers death five little brothers fell to
her charge to be coaxea and soolded into
manhood.
"You can't bring up those boys" said
a dolorous auut. They'll rpm square
over you, Dorothy Almeda."
Let them run over me so long a. 1t
does not hurt 'em;" laughed Miss Dolly,
skewering her tiaxen hair with goose
Quill and tying a calico apron over her
calico longshort, preparatory to bringing
up said youths.
From that day forward she went on
cheerily, making the best of everything,
though it must be confessed she Often
had odds and ends to work with. as peO-
pie usually do have who are born with a
faculty. Somehow sine found time for
all her duties except matrimony. Ii that
was a duty, 1t was one she wouldn't and
couldn't attend to while her father and
children needed her. Divers young men
thought this a great pity, among them
David Wiegin.
Don't be silly, David" said Dolly,
when he histed AS mucI To her; where
upon David went off and married Olive
Searle, the piainest looking girl III the
parish.
This happened thirty years ago. and
David was again wifeless, and again the
current of his thoughts turned toward
Dolly, who still lived at the old home
stead at the foot of Bryant's Falls. Her
father had died some months before.
OF tho boys, James and Ezekiel had
settled on neighboring farms and the
remaining three had gone west. David =
heart warmed with compassion as he re-
membered Dolly's lonely condition. and
he felt that il would be exceedinglJ kind
in him to offer her home, especially as
he owned AS good place AS can be found
on the river, while the Blount cottage
WAS falling into decay.
He wouldn't let her fermer refusal tell
against her, for. rs he looked back, he
couldn't really see how she could have
married any one at that period. She
ought to be rewarded for the devotion
she had shown to the family. and, for
his part, he felt maananimous enough
to give her second chance to accept
him. Such WAS the worthy widowei' 4
state of mind when he asked james
Blount whether il would be- of any use
for hin to try and make n bargain with
Dolly.
That's more than / ON tell" Mr.
Blount had answered. "Dolly's puz
zle; you'll have To find her out your
self"
Mr.. Wiegin smiled in compliment an
ticipation Of acoeptance: indeed. II II
might not seem like reproach 10 the
memory of his lost Olive. shoald SAY
the kind hearted man rejoiced In this
opportunity of making Miss Dolly hap
py. Benevolence was III his face, benev-
olencs was ia his spirit, as he sailed
forth at An early day Ia acquaint her
with her good fortune. The broken har-
row which he had strapped into the
wagon to give the neighbors plausible
reason for his trip 10 the Falls WAS by
no means typical of mental laceration
to its owner. His feeling as he neared
Miss Doliy's moss-covered cottage WAS
purely one of thankiulness that IT was IN
his power to provide her better home
Not that he WAS grateful 10 his dead wife
for leaving vacancy there. Mr.. Wig
gin had mourned faithfully for Olive q
year and day.
Miss Dolly WAS out in the garden gath
ering catnip. She had built chip iire.
under the tea ketIle and then whisked OF
to pick an aprouful of the pungent leaves
while the water Was boiling. There sh,
WAS stopping beneath the caves OF a log
cabin sunbonnet, and humming hvel,
tune when Mr. WigSin drove up.
"Come, my beloved, haste away,
piped Miss Dolly, cheerily. swapping a
the stalks briskly.
"Cut short the hours Of thy delay;
Fly like youthful"
Fly like youthful" struck in {
wheezy bass.
The sunbonnet tipped back like a cart
body.
"Sakes alive cried Miss Dolly, no
in the words of the hymn, as Mr.. Wig