Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1883-07-06

" AT \ y OLD I'm HORN DID,
Miss Abigail Burr VAS little
brown old maid. who lived in Il little
brown old house with her cat. Debby.
and her womau-of all work, Prudence,
sharp of tongue, lorg of ,lsage
brow ucr and Older than the mistress
herself l there vas nothing Of grace,
nor beauty, nor sweetness about Miss
Ahicail,s iIfe everything MAS dry, and
hard, and husky. Indeed, some people
were so uucharltsbIe as to say at
Ter heart as like very much dried
up kerntl IN a nut she'll, ard would
rattle Il she stIe 10 lie shaken hard
enough. But | rtysr quite believed
that. ! ALWAYS sasd that there vas "a
soit sp.t IN Miss Ab,g AL : heart, TO b.
f,urd hen the time came to tiud il
One sTrirg tWillght a 10y oIered
Miss AbigaIi's gaic den gate aid walked
mp tbs Path tttNrtn tie rows Of sitsg-
eiing lIiacs. He wss hot 10y " ho
lIV,d atout taIcIsio~n or he would
Lot have dared venture, | am sure,
fr PIuGerces SAKE. b,sidts having
nothing to s,nturc fer. lie Was al
unktmrr, starved locking little sr,ci
men OF humanity. His CCat VAS a
world 10 lug sud Ia eh,d at The q.
bows; aud his trousers sere u world
too short aud patched at the knees.
Ills lat Was guIltless Of tr'm aud
Though hole in the crown hobbed a
little tuft of hair which had once
been brown, but was now @oiuily
faded. He went straight up 10 Miss
Abieail's porch steps. Miss Abigail
was sitting on the porch IN her high
backed rocking chair so intent on
binding of her stocking heel that she
beard neither the click Of the gate
latch nor tie footsteps on the hard
ircddeu path, and she did not look W
until the boys figure interposed itself
between Ter work and the fading sun
set light
lie dotled his latter, d hat crown.
"lf you please, ma'am, will you
may | have s. meihing TO eat:
Ii was not at all tramps manner
of isking; there was manliness in
the voice which Miss Abigail could
not help but notice. Perhaps that
was the reason she looked at the boy
sharply for a moment before she an
ssertd In that moment, Prud, nee,
tall and angular, stood in the door,
with a shawl thrown over her head.
and her right hand swathed with soft
cotton.
iii have TO git Jonas Barrow naa
TO do the milkin'," said she. / can't.
I've lurn,d my hand that bad,
The boy looked up quickly. Cant
ecu | milk for you:'
As have iutin atcd, Prudence did
not like toys; and that she sometimes
express, d her dislike in very iorci-
lie manner many Of tie village uIchns
could testify Now, sic surveyed this
boy, stal ding BY tie porch steps, from
his bare brown feet his brown head,
not forgetting the lit, tuft, in dumb
astonishmen'.
you might let him try, Prudence" !"
said Miss Abigail, thinking rather
obviously Of tie uelvous, mouse, color
ed Alderney in the yard.
81 chortd on II irlm all last sum.
mer,' explained the Toy, eagerly.
glancing from mistress to maid. II
want some supl er, and I'll te g'ad to
do something to pay for 1t.
"Well you Kin try it," said Piu-
dence, after momentary dellberatlon.
It's better'n begging favor, anyhow" "
She led the way TO the kitchen, and
took shining tin pail fr' m the dies
ser.
"Here's the milk paiI,.' she said TO
the boy, who stood waiting; "an' The
cows IN the yard yonder. Pay day
comes when the works done
And Prudence smiled grimly as she
went about setting out lunch OF
brt ad and butter and cold meat. She
telt morally certain that the fighty
lAlderney heifer, used only to woman,