Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1883-12-20

ahu IelnsnDeT WHAT u lie 5ne VIII lelu
as Tom Battersby's daughter"
] will interpolate just here that the
Doctor was not the proper judge of
Tom Battersby's life and morals.
Toms code of propriety went much
further than the Doctor had any idea
OF, and he was as watchful and fierce
as a bulldog over what he considered
his property. But habit is everything.
He could think the world of his daugh-
ter, and yet be proud to put her half
naked in the pattern of flower of his
own devising, and give her over tri-
umphantly to the loose stare of two or
three thousand oilers and vagabonds.
But the Doctor had no time to think
out this problem if it had been pre-
sented to him. What he yearned to
do was to get Betty away from sur
roundings that he honestly thought led
to infamy, and put her young life in
the hands of his mother, to lead into
the paths of pleasantness and peace
that surrounded their quiet home at
Shelbyville. He coaxed his mother
over to his desire, the more readily that
she had long coveted something pref
tier and brighter than II iggins, the
housekeeper, to while away her tedious
invalid hours, and philanthropy took
very attractive shape in the person Of
Betty Battersby.
AS for Betty, poor little Betty, she
chung to the Doctor as drowning Great
ures will cling to a surf-boat when the
waves are surging around them. She
had felt the clammy hand of death at
her heart, the breath of the charnel-
house close upon her cheek. These
had been put to rout by her new friend
and benefactor, and something strange
ly sweet and wonderful crept into the
languid life he had given her. He told
her Of the flowers at Shelbyville that
lay sleeping now beneath the winter
SHOWS, but would awaken with the
breath of spring-fowers whose fra
GRANGE knew nothing of the faint of
turpentine; of the mild, delicious,
balmy mountain air that made the
pulses bound without the aid of malt,
and gave an honest bloom to the cheek,
finer and more to be 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
a profession as his own How would
an ordinary Johnny-jump-up look upon
the stage, I'd like to know; and what
mountain air could furnish a bloom
that would properly stand the foot
lights? And where ignorance is bliss,
It's folly to be wise The garden of
Eden knew no shame till the serpent
entered it with his willy tongue, and
turned good to evil"
But there was no objection made to
Betty's trip to the country, as they
were scared out OF their wis., and
would do anything to save the sweet
life of their darling and pride. They
let her go, poor dear, without murmur
or complaint, though none of Tom Bat
tersby's kin had ever been fond of the
country. TO do justice to the Doctor,
he tried his best 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 at Shelbyville. The Doctor
offered to build him work shop-for
TOMS original trade was a carpenters
and, with the cheap way of living at
Shelbyyille, the Doctor said they could
all very soon become respectable mem
bers of society. The children were
delighted, and lived out-of-doors from
morning till night, wandering far afield,
picking cowslips and daisies, building
dams in the running stream, robbing
birds nests, sticking pins into butter
flies, and enjoying themselves in their
own vagabond way. Aunt Pam gen
orally went with them, carrying her
novel at the bottom of the lunch basket,
and told Tom at 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 bit of news that
he might have learned of old times and
old cronies.
One soft September night, when poor
Aunt Pam had been more than ever
eager for news from town, Tom looked
up with CLEAN in his fine eyes like
Betty's, only not so soft and glowing
and winked, and whispered behind his
hand that he'd tell her something if
she was sure the children were asleep ;
that, in fact, he had got an offer for
himself and Betty that day that was
was not to be sneezed at OF course he
didn't want to interfere with the health
and happiness of his family, and though
it would be dreary business, he would,
if it was better for him, leave them all
behind
Leave us behind" echoed Aunt
Pam, raising her hands in protestaticn
to heaven-"leave Us behind Oh,
Tom Battersby, think of all have done
for you and the children, and what I'd
do ten times over; and you can have
the heart to talk of leaving us behind.
Never Tom, nothing in the world
could keep me here five minutes after
you set your face cityward. I've stood
it as patient as one Of the lambs bleat-
ing Wonder this minute. l suppose it's
lost it's mother, God help it, and can't
find her in the pitch darkness and .e
wide waste of the field. How dreadful
to be lost in the bowling wilderness,
with miles and miles of green and
dusty monotony to blind and bewilder
the senses just think of one of the
children going astray, and no police