The Dillon tribune. [volume] (Dillon, Mont.) 1881-1941, 1885-10-17

A'kM' ESTLING halfway down tn
|AN slope Of one Of our low hills
lK:.I stands . small farmhouse.
| which il my memory lay Va.
| aA, r. man; years
often wore erel how it came to pass that
he house lay empty SO long that it began to
I'll into decay. But decay was the word.
"net mes rowing boy, seeing nobody
about, would shy stone and smash . win.
dow; or half dozen would play Aunt sally
with the red chimney pot, or rush and scutae
about in the little garden. And in the grow
ing weather the weeds came up around the
door, and the moss would quietly steal into
crevices Of walls and roof. And in the win
ter rain would beat in the windows aforesaid,
or the snow would melt on the roof and drip
through, carrying the ceiling down and laav-
ing the skeleton of the house with no flesh on
its bones. So garden and house, windows
and ceilings were all going to the bad to-
gether, and at last we called the place Tum-
bledown Farm; and we used to say that even
the rats knew better than to live in Tumble
down Farm.
One day, however, my boy, who was up to
his eyes in gossip, came rushing in, basket in
hand. and called out, 1.-THE farms taken!"
''Tumbledown FarmF' I said. "Never!'
"1've seen the people," cries he, tan old
fellow in nightcap and spectacles-
and young lady in. Oh, my!'
mo more than two in family, BobY"
asked.
'Only two," he replied. 'And to see him,
Hcoray! And to see her! Oh, my!
Heard the name, Bobr'
Hardware"
"And have you heard anything else,
Bob"
Nothing else, sir.''
"Bob," said I. ''what business is this Of
yours: Attend to your duties and deliver
your medicines. Can I ever teach you to
think about your work and leave other peo-
pie alonel Bob," I said, ''you will never
rise. But It your profession was anything
sinful. you would take to it, and work your
way up"
For, you see, the boy was an orphan; so
used to talk to him like a father, and hear
him his catechism ON Sunday afternoon
besides)
/ Mysterious tenants these nav corners
turned out. As for the old man, he scarcely
ever went outside his little garden, and all
we knew about him amounted to this: hs
was tall, decrepit, with long white beard
and heavy spectacles, and seemed in wretched
health. But his daughter came into the vii
Iage almost every day, and soon became a
| well known character.
She was a striking young woman. From
what afterward learned her age can hardly
have been more than twenty. two, but she
looked six years older. Her figure was that
| Of one in the fullness of womanhood, her bust
| the most shapely ever saw, and her neck
! and head wonderfully graceful. She was
mindful OF the beauty OF her figure, aud worc
| her shawl clcverly so as to sec herself of;
| and she knew that she had pretty pair Of
feet. and let other people know it, too Her
step was quick, and her carriage lively and
alert She had the whitest skin possible. a
handsome face, boldly cut, and two dark
eyes easier noticed than forgotten Nodoubt
| you will say this catalogue would SET up half
dozen women in the beauty business, and if
| were painting heroine might be satisfied
with something less; but soberly assure
| you that time after time, when she went hy
my store, have said to myself, II have seen
| handsome duchess, and score Of handsome
dairy maids; hut, duchess or dairy maid,
your like never saw. And how is it, miss
or ma'am,' would think, that, living in
that shabby home. you can afford to wear
| boots as spruce and new as il those feet Of
yours We're shoemaker's patterns set out IN q
shop Window
! Remember, admired this young woman's
appearance, and that was all. Something in
her manner gave me u turn against her.
There was wickediless in her eycs--l express
| myself awkwaully. but my way of putting
1t is this: her eyes seemed such that, when
you looked into them, your own were fas.
tened for moment, and in withdrawing
your glance You seemed to draw the wicked
eyes after yon. Not that she tried any arts
on me, gray beard as was; hut could seq
how she laid herself out to fascinate others.
and succeeded. Upon consideration, / nut
her down for an actress. Evidently she had
been at some work that had made her easy
and familiar, and had rubbed the bushes oil
| her cheeks. Perhaps she never crossed the
line that divided propriety from impropriety,
but she was pretty well used to skating Gloss
to the thin ice. it may SO speak
| Our rector. who made point Of calling on
| every new Parishloner, poor or rich. very
soon found his way to Tumbledown Farm.
Rector, gentleman born, never asked in,-
pertinent questions. but had such kuack of
| extracting information that. without any an
| r"arance Of curiosity. he would find out all
s'~n's man-fionl his own lips, too. In
! this case. however, he came home as wise as
| he went. md no WISER 1t had slipped on -
| through. til" postmaster, I believa--thut the
| new Corners name was Har lwarp; aud
! when. by way vi commencing conversation
about them. | asked the rector one morning
who they Were. all he could tell me was the
name, which knew already. / said oil;
! but he had one bit Of news.
THE ym,''- woman is his daughter, sun.
! l'oseT said
'She Is: h" calls he: Vanity" replied the
| rector.
! what" cried l.
| Vanity
| "Strangest name for a Christian l ever
! heard l remarked Miss Vanity Hard.