The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1883-04-05

QIlll Oui iHith'
Then they sat down and took mental
gauge of each other. From German
philosophy they drifted to poetry, from
poetry to history, from history to science.
"Uncle John has not found business so
absorbing that he has not take IN time to
read. Perhaps his devotion to books
caused him to fail, thought Jd dnnie.
"The little Samaritan has not allowed
poverty to interfere with the develop
ment of her higher nature. She is thor
ough III all her intellectual attainments, "
thought Uncle John.
Before a month had passed, IA stranger
would have thought that Uncle John was
the master of the house. so gdniaIly had
he fitted into the lives of the two girls.
Left mostly to himself, his cbmpanions
absent at their daily tasks, he became
absorbed in the chemical mysteries of the
kitchen. 1t is said that Dumas the elder
was The best cook iii franJt Uncle
John did credit to his short experience
in culinary affairs. When the cOntentf
Of Jennie's little bookcase became too
familiar, the public library was at hand ;
and, after an early tea, in tho soft June
twill ght, Uncle John would + ead to the
two girls, and he read with that appre-
clative feeling which made it al areal pleas
ure to listen to him.
Two months swiftly sped away and
the school year drew to its close. Teach
ers and scholars were alike dispersed,
and Jennie had settled down for the hot
summer months in the little brown cot
tage. 1t had not been so hard as she
anticipated. Uncle John hhd proved
such a pleasant companion, and, though,
from his coming, she had been compelled
to torego a few personal luXurEeS she did
not really regret them.
She was sitting in the little Iparlor, the
shades mostly down, to keep put the hot
july sunshine, herself IN keeping with
the dainty yet inexpensive furnishings
which surrounded her, when ncle John
entered, carrying an open let Ter and eN-
claiming:
On luck, in luck, at last little Girl,
1 Here is one of my old customers. who
/ has long been indebted 10 M and from
whom never expected to realize pen
ny, at last taken pity on me, and sent me
draft for five hundred dollars. Come.
little girl and Uncle John snatched
some article of sewing from her hands
and threw it into one corner "no more
work with the needle this hot weather.
Pack your boxes and we will away to the
White Hills. | know you v Would have
made the journey if had not come, and
now, with Sue. and myself as baggage
master, we Will see for ourselves how
much of truth and how much of poetry
there is in Starr King"
1t was needless for Jennie I'd indulge in
remonstrance She could not tell Uncle
John it would be much better to put the
money aside, against future contngen-
cies, without causing him to feel that his
presence was a burden to her; and 50 it
was arranged that the White Hills Should
bt visited.
Uncle john at once put hin nlself in the
hands Of d tailor. Was it J tnnie's i'm
aeination. or did the pertd dctly fitting
clothes and the possession ot we'll
filled purse make a ditlerend de in Uncle
Johns personal bearing H + certainly
had little difficulty in assuming the pol
ished and courtly bearing hat comes
from mingling with the best of humanity,
and the two girls grew to be VERY proud
Of their escort. The pert hbtel clerks,
the obSequlous walters, seemed to know
that they had to do with a man of the
world, and everywhere the best rooms,
the choicest service was eNacted and
rendered. Before starting Uncle John
admonished his companions:
Nov, little girls" he said, Eve are to
consider this five hundred dblars as 50
much mamma dropped into our mouths. |
know that you, Jennie, have an uneX
pressed idea that the old padper," (here
his mouth was suddenly covered with i
little white hand) ''Well, then. that
your Uncle John might better put it
aside, against the unknown demands Of
the future: but | want to TAX / one more
journey, and don't want AMI thoughts
Of the past or fears for the tu ture to mar
its pleasures. In days age dne, (More
fortunate Well, as regards G cpmpanions,
certainly not more fortunately used to
take long journeys, and how all the
ins and outs OF travel. Now you, little
girls, are not to Worry, not even about
! your baggage. | carry the rhecks and
the pocket book, and for once am going
To pId! the autOcrat. | haYe put fifty
dollars one side for the fare home. When
the balance is spent, we will come back
to Ritletown, and. well, we will hope that
many more of my delinquent customers
Will remember me-"
And so they started They went to
Springfield and up the Connecticut. They
stopped at Northampton bat Jennie
might visit the female college there; they
passed a charming day in Rrattleboro
they loitered everywhere. Ait Haverhill
they engaged an open carr hgc, drawn
10y a span Of black horses that made light
OF mountain roads. They put up at
cross-road hotels, and, tutorf I'd by Uncle
John, the girls drew from the clear
mountain streams many d speckled
beauty. Finally they reach I'D the en-
chanted land, and then it trahspired that
this was not Uncle Johns first visit He
was familiar with every desirable drive,
not even Starr King knew better the best
points for studying the charming scenery.
And then Jennie discovered new treasures
in her pauper Uncle. If he was fairly
familiar with every branch of literature,
he was equally at home with the feral
life of field and forest. He read the for
nation in the contour of the hills he
named the birds from listening to their
songs; not a flower on the mountains or
in the meadows was unknown.
And SO the weeks sped bt in happy
content. From the White Hills they
dlilted to Portsmouth they shied out to
the Appledore; they staid Sd fvera days
at the big hotel, and Jennie delighted her
eyes with a good long look at Celia
ThaNter. They stopped at NeWbury-
port, rode along within sight pf the Mer-
rimack, passed the house on the island
which shelters Mr. Spofford and her
sister; and in little side street, leading
off the long, rambling thorpughtare of
AmesDury, found the home of the Quaker
poet BY and 10y they reached the Hub,
stopping at the Brunswick, and Uncle
John seemed as familiar with Boston, as
with the White Hills A wdek passed,
and still the five hundred dollars held
out, and Jennie began to think the purse
that held it was like the one so famous
in myth. At last August drew near its
close; they had been away from home
seven weeks Jennics school would soon
recommence, and Sues customers began
to think of Fall styles Was not the five
| hundred spent