Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1884-04-04
"OLD MR.. BLNNEY."

All their friends had said, when Mrs. Bin
ney died: Now what good thing it would
be II old Mr.. Binney would marry Miss
Bright"
Miss Bright had not been without her
troubles, and very hard ones they had been.
too, but she bore them with a brave heart,
and carried a smiling face, and had thank
full spirit within her, striving always to re.
member her blessings and how much they
outnumbered any evils she was called upon to
bear
Indeed, to listen to Miss Brights showing.
you would have counted her as one of the
luckiest persons ever born. She had had the
kindest of friends, the most comfortable of
situations, and the girls she had taught were
endowed with an amiability of disposition
which made it positive pleasure to bo with
them. The only accusation she could bring
against them was that they were all in such a
terrible hurry to grow up and get married.
and then Miss Brghts occupation was gone,
and she had to step out into the world and
find fresh field for her labors.
Aa years rolled on, each one adding to the
score of Miss Brights age these hunting
grounds OF instruction became more and
more narrowed. Children Of eight began
now where girls Of eighteen used to leave of,
and history and geography, to say nothing of
the parts OF speech and grammar were all
so altered that poor little Miss Bright had to
acknowledge that at times she really did feel
quite confused. VERY soou | shant be left
with anything to teach" she used to say, pa
thetically, and then Mr.. Binney's nephew,
Joe, or some other good fellow who heard
her, would declare she should set up school
for wives, for there never were such wives Us
the girls whom Miss Bright had brought up
She had taught Joo's wife, Sally, and her sis
tor md tbppnb gipr. fba,, oh ~ L.
situations, at holiday time, or whenever she
was seeking employment, she always re-
turned to the house of Dr. Brcndon, their
father
When Mr. Binney dropped in, as he fire.
quently did, TO inquire after his old friends
the Brendons, he from time to time found
Miss Bright there, and happening in on the
occasion Of one of her visits there, TO bring
the news that Mrs. Binney was i'll, with no
one whose business it seemed to be to look
after her, nothing was more natural than that
Miss Bright should volunteer and great
comfort they found her.
So sprghtly yet unobtrusive was the CHEEKY
little woman, that Mrs Binney herself was
influenced in her favor, until, with an eye to
their mutual comfort, Mr.. Binney proposed
that Miss Bright should stay with them alto
gether.
why not ?" he said "we could well af-
ford TO pay her a salary"
But this word salary, acting like magic on
Mrs. Binney. seemed to bring her to her
senses Immediately. She would be very glad
to have Miss Bright MS a visitor, as long as
she liked to stay, but Rs to living with them
altogether-nO, she would not give her con
sent to that; she had always objected to hay
ing in her house sthird party. 1t WAS then that
Miss Brghts friends put on very long faces
indeed. What would she do ? they asked
her.
"Oh, something is sure to turn up" she
would say, hopefully. whenever have
como to my last ebb an opening has always
been made for me and ! am not going to
despair now"
And she said this all the more emphatical-
ly, because, in spite of her confidence, she
could not help feeling that a voice, which she
could not still, kept repeating: What will
you 90 when you grow olderY Teaching
will get harder than ever" That was true
enough, but what else was there for her to
do?
When Mrs. Binney died, which happened
quite suddenly about year before, there had
been some talk as 10 Miss Bright going TO
Mr. Binney's as hOusekeeper; but this prop
osition had been made without the knowl-
edge or consent of the principal person con-
cerned, who, as soon as the hint was given,
negatived it,
Mr.. Bnney thoroughly appreciated Miss
Bright, but he had lost his taste for matri-
mony. He remembered that he had spent
forty excellent years without wife, and, not
withstandiug that he was now q widower, he
could not conscientiously say that he felt his
state to be 80 very unhappy.
Susan, the cook, respectable and staid,
would, he felt sure, manage his household
properly, and il it proved that she should
give way to extravagance, as people seemed
to say she would, Mr.. Binney fancied that he
could better put up with that evil than with
too much of the economy from which he had
suffered already.
So all the hopes, that, on the death of Mrs.
Binney, Joe and Sally and the Brendons
had cherished for Miss Bright, were ruthless
ly dashed to the ground. Evidently Aunt
Binney was not to have a successor.
"If we could but have got her there as
housekeeper," said two of those arch con-
spirators, "the rest would have been easy"
But though they returned to the attack sew
eral times, no good came OF it. Mr. Binney
shared in their regret at the loss of Miss
| Bright's pupils, wondered, as they did, what
would become of her, and, his visitors gone,
to make his sympathy apparent, he sat down
and wrote kind little note, with check for
GlO folded within it,
abb MI Olu hluplu hhlu Dhllyt huu
| now she's going away altogether, ever so
far"-for Miss Bright had had another piece
of news to tell. An old pupil of early days,
| had been recently left a widow her health
was as delicate as her heart was kind, and
when she made the proposition that Miss
| Bright should come and spend the remainder
| of her days with her, it was not entirely OF
her own comfort that she had been thinking.
Miss Bright had readily accepted her offer,
and she had written to tell Sally that the next
week she should come up to see them.
She could only stay few hours with them
when she came. The farewell visit was to
be paid later
''But l think" she said, as she was going,
"thst will call on my way home, and say good
bye to Mr.. Binney, in case might not have
another opportunity"
"Do," said Sally, and away she went.
Mr.. Binney was at home. He had moi
been quite well lately; nothing more than q
cold, but it had kept him prisoner. To
| day he might have gone out, but he had not
felt inclined to, and he CALAMITY said he waf
glad to be in, as he should have been sorry
indeed to have missed seeing Miss Bright.
"And 80 you are really going to leave us 2
he said, and almost regretfully, too. We'll
| you will be very much missed. don't know
what the Brendons will do"
''They will not miss me more than shal
them, and the brave little woman made an
effort that her voice should not sound shaky
'but you know, Mr.. Binney, am not grow
| ing younger, am / 2"
"No," he said, that is true. l was saying
the very same to myself of myself, only to
day"
"Yes, only with men it does not seem X
matter, but with women the thought Away
comes with little shudder that when we ge
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