South Branch intelligencer. [volume] (Romney, Va. [W. Va.]) 1830-1896, 1885-02-27
POLLY.

4 = w s"uhus kWVuhUs OH the
VI lis. and the books. i'm costly but
worn blndh gs, on the centre table
did NOT conceal he general shabiness
."f the furniture aud prevailing air
ut mn effort at making the most of
very limited means.
Two Young z rls and a lady past
middle age were iu he room. The
latte had very white hands and a
dissatisfied expression of counieu.
ance; Ynd the girls, who We're pretty
and ldy-like. were occupied i'm paint
ing "A very costly fan. and th.. other
IN a very difficult task OF darning old
| linen -.ii..i,2 -.
Il really think said TIE lady, with
considerable emphasis. that it was
excessively mean in Cousin Lydia
not to have lett us ANYTHING -know,ug.
tn. how changed our circumstances
are. But at course 1t 10 OWING To
that deceltfnl aud avaricious old maid
whom she called her coml,anlop. and
who inveigied her into making "A will
exclCsivel, in her favor
'It she had ~ little 10 leave MAN.
ma, said the Younger girl, glancius
up from her p hitting and you know
SIZE depended almost entirely upon
Der quarterly allowance from her
brother IN California s
She had handsome old furniture
and some silver. which l,elon yed to
our grandmother, and which should
have been glad 20 get To think OF
those things going to a. s,tang,,!'
Perhaps she saved something from
allowance, said the elder girl, who
had grave. practical look about her.
Her brother made money. You know
aud no doubt provided literally fot
her a.r
Not he Cousin Charles alwavr
WAS mlser. ever in his youth. re-
u ember People used to Y that he
would have offered himself to me.
bnt for considering my tastes too eX.
travagent for the wife of a poor man
And Mrs. Dalton tossed her Leau
disdaintuliy.
he elder girl half sighed az che
threaded her needle. .....
Perhaps she was thinking that
Cousin Charles had been right, and
that but for those ex,ravagant tastes.
which had led molher into living up
to-. and beyond her late husband .
me: ns, she might moi now have found
her eft 40 unfrovided for.
AndperEaps. too. she herself would
not have been comp eIled to wait, for
years II might be. until her POOR.
brave llarsy conld work hiu,selr ~
int" a sitLa'ion which would enable
them to marry .-7i'
| And just a. her thoughts reached
This point, the, were interrupted by
the clang of the iron street gate. e l.
io" cd ty the sh ,rp ringing OF the hall
bell.
| A moment after, an overworked
Looking servant girl ihrust her b, ad
iuto The parlor.
'PIease'u, there's an ex ressman
wants you. lies got something for
you in his wagon
For me! said Mrs Dalton. i'm eur
PRISE. lit must be mistake she >
added. ls she rose and went into the
hall
But il Was no mistake. There
were two packages deposited on The
door sill, distinctly directed To Mrs
Caroline Dalton, No. IL Warner
street
Mechanically obeying the man 8
buried directions, sh. signed her
name To receipt in his book. aud as
he rushed otf found herself standing
hall bewlidereo, with the mysterious
parcels at her feet
What can they beY said Laura.
stopping aud lifting the smaller OF the
two bundles. 'Wby, it Ia a book!
ANA, mamma. the ex ,ress mark i.
from Greenvile-Cousin Lydia's
town. Perhaps it 10 something she
lett you, after all.
1T Is no doubt the silv, RI said Mrs
Dalton IN some excitement. Bring
them into the parlor, Carrie. WIZ
what can that be?' as "a strange moi c
was heard from the coarse canvass
which, like an inverted bag, envel.
oped the large parcel.
Carrie stopped, aud, lifting the
edge OF the cover, Ieeped tlnidly
under.
oh, mamma, it is Cousin Lydia's
gray parrot
Mrs. Dalton walked into the par.
Tor AID without word sank heayIl,
into rocking chair
LAMA was lOOklng astonisied. and
Carrie with difficulty suppressed a
laugh. To concea the II-tlmsd
mIr,h she began to unite the other
parcel.
'lbe Tracy family Bible she said
, displaying welI-woin volume i'm .
lealhern cover; 'and here is mote
fastened to it,
The note was from the late Mis-,
Lydia Tracy's companion aud house.
Keeper, 10 whom she had bconeatbac