Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1883-03-30

whose nhtIOW lOOL-p phlu lehuluB lOuhu w 10 !
back door its master would never tread
again.
In Que of these lived Widow Martha Brew
ster and her daughter Maria Their cottage
was one Of those which had its piazza across
the front. Every summer they trained morn
ing glores over it, and planted their little
garden with the flower seeds popular in Ley
den. There was not cottage in the whole
place whose surroundings were neater and
gayer than theirs, for all that they were only
two women and two old women at that for
Widow Martha Brewster was in the neigh
borhood of eighty, and her daughter, Maria
Brewster over sixty. The two had lived
alone since Jacob Brewster died and stopped
going to the factory, some fifteen years ago
He had left them this particular white cot
tage, and snug little sum in the savings
bank besides, for the whole Brewster family
had worked and economical all their long
lives The women had corded boots at home,
while the man had worked in the shop, and
never spent n cent without thinking of it
overnight.
Lsvden folks all thought that David EN-
mons would marry Maria Brewster when her
father died. David can rent his house, and
90 to live with Maria and her mother" said
they with an alTectionate readiness to arrange
matters for them. But he did not. Every
Sunday night at eight o'clock punctualy the
form of David Emmons, arrayed in his best
clothes, with his stiff white dickey, and a
no,egay in his button-hole, was seen to ad-
vance up the road toward Maria Brewster's,
as he had been seen to advance every Sunday
night for the last twenty five years, but that
was all He manifested not the slightest in
tention of carrying out peoples judlclous
plans for his welfare and Maria's.
She did not seem to pine with hope defer
red people could not honestly think there
was any occasion to pity her for her lovers
tardiness. A cheerier woman never lived.
She was literally bubbling over with jollity.
Round faced and black eyed, with funny
little bounce of her whole body when she
walked, she was the merry feature of the
whole place.
Her mother was now too feeble, but Maria
still corded boots for the factories as OF old.
| David Emmons, who was quite sixty, worked
| in them, as he had from his youth. He was
a slender, mild faced old man, with fringe
of gray yellow beard around his chin his
head was quite bald. Years ago, he had
| been handsome, they said, but somehow peo
pie had always laughed at him little, al
| though they all liked him. The slowest of
all the slow Leydentes' outsiders called him,
and even the ''slow Leydenites' poked fun
at this exaggeration of themselves. 1t was
| an old and well -worn remark that it took Da-
| vid Emmons an hour to 60 courting, and that
he was always obliged to leave his own home
at seven in order to reach Maria's at eight,
and there was a standing joke that the meet
ing-house passed him one morning on his
way to the shop.
David heard the chatting, of course there
is very little delicacy in matters Of this kind
| among country people but he took it all in
good part. He would laugh at himself with
the rest, but there was something touching
| in his deprecatory way of saying sometimes,
| "Wel | don't know how it is but it don't
seem to be in my natur' to do any other way.
| | suppose | was born without the faculty OF
gittin' along quick in this world You'll have
to git behind an push me leetle, reckon
He owned his little cottage, which was one
of the kind which had the piazza on the
right side. He lived entirely alone. There
was a half-acre or so of land beside his house,
which he used for a vegetable garden. After
and before shop hours, in the dewy evenings
| and mornings he dug and weeded assiduous-
| " between the green ranks of corn and
| beans. II David Emmons was slow, his veg
| etables were not. None of the gardens in
Leyden surpassed his in luxuriaut growth.
| His corn tasselled out and his potato patch
was white with blossoms as soon as any
body's.
He was almost a vegetarian in his diet the
| products of his garden spot were his staple
|
the gentle old bachelor set his pot OF green
things boiling, aud dine gratefully at noon,
like mild Robert Herrck, on pulse and herbs
His garden supplied also his sweetheart and
her mother with all the vegetables they could
use. Many times in the course of a week
could David have been seen slowly moving
toward the. Brewster cottage with basket on
his arm well stocked with the materials for
an innocent and delicious repast.
d. tn la laxy her
old lover in kindly deeds. Not Saturday
but goodly share of her weekly baking was
deposited neatly covered with white crash
towel on Dayid's little kitchen table. The
surreptitious air with which the back door
key was taken from it's hiding place (Which
she well knew under ths kitchen blind the
door unlocked and entered, aud the good
things deposited, charming although
highly Intellectual There goes Maria with
David's baking" said the women, peerng
out of their windows as she bounced, rather
more gently and cautiously than usual, down
the street And David himself kuew well
the ministering angel to whom these benefits
were due when he lifted the towel aud dis
covered with fearful eyes the brown loayrs
and tlaky pies-the proofs Of his Maria's love
and culinary skill.
Amongst the younger and more irreverent
portions of the community there was consid
erable speculation as to the mode of court
ship of these old lovers of twenty five years
standing. Was there ever kiss, a tender
clasp of the hand those usual expressions of
affection between sweethearts
Some of the more daring spirits had even
gone so far as to commit the manifest imp-o-
priety of peeping in Maria's parlor windows
but they had only seen David sitting qu ct
and prim on the little slippery horse hair so
ia, and Maria by the table, rocking slowly in
her little cane seated rocker. Did Maria ever
leave her rocker aud sit on that slippery
horse. hair sofa by Davids side They never
knew but she never did. There was some
thing laughable, and at the same time rather
pathetic, about Maria and DAvid's courting
All the outward appurtenances of keeping
company" were as rigidly observed as they
had been twenty five years ago, when David
Emmons first cast his mild blue eyes shyly
and lovingly on red-oheeked, quick spoken
Maria Brewster, Every Sunday evening, In
the winter, there was a fire kindled in the
parlor, the parlor lamp was lit at dusk all the
year round, and Maria's mother retired early
that the young people might sit up The
'sitting up" was no very formidable affair
now, whatever it might have been in the first
stages of the courtship. The need of sleep
overbalanced sentiment in those old lovers,
and by ten o'clock at the latest Marias lamp
was out, and David had wended his solitary
way to his own home.
Leyden people had a great curiosity to
know if David had ever actually popped the
question to Maria, or if his natural sowness
was at fault in this as in other things. Their
curiosity had been long exercised in vain, but
Widow Brewster as she waxed older, grew
loquacious, and one day told a neighbor, who
had dropped in in her daughters absence,
that David had never reely come to the
pint She supposed he would some time
for her part, she thought he had better; but
then, after ALL she knowed Maria didn't care
and maybe twas jest as we'll as twas, only
sometimes she was afeard she should never
live to see the weddin', if they wasn't spry.
Then there had been hints concerning Ger
/ tain pearl-colored silk which Maria, having
good chance to get at bargain, had pur
chased some twenty years ago, when sh'
thought, from sundry remarks, that DaviC
was coming to the point and it was furthe
J intimated that the silk had been privately
> made up ten years sincei when Marie haC
? again surmised that the point was about be
ing reached. The neighbor went home in
state of great delight, having by skillful ma
r neuvring actually obtained glimpse of thu
pearl-colorsd silk.
l 1t was perfectly true that Maria did no