Middletown transcript., 1886-09-09
breakfast, giving no further thought
to Miss Polly Dowd.

Meanwhile the young woman wa
sending her boat along with as cleal
and strong strokes as one would wisl
to Bee. For if she would row her thre
miles before breakfast and be at tn
factory on time there must be no lag
ging. But all the while she wal
thinking busily, and chiefly, be it said
Of this same young fellow, who woulc
probably have felt a little annoyed
had he known it.
For Polly was not exactly the per
son whom he would have chosen for 8
sweetheart, even had he not been al
ready provided with a satifactory one
She was extremely pretty it is true
albeit with rather large hands anc
feet; and she earned her six dollars 6
week regularly at a great tobac.
co factory in the city; and her father
was said to have SO, 900 in bank and
owned one of Bummerhook's most i'm
posing shanties, paying his $5a month
ground rent like man-no common
squatter, he. But alasl to poor Polly
a theatre was ''teayter," and to her
16-year-old mind the Summer night
picnics" of the "Violet Social and
the "Gowanus Coterie" represented
the highest forms of social enjoy
ment.
All the same, Polly has grown to
think a great deal of this good look
ing, pleasant-spoken young yachts
man, who gave himself no airs, but
was SO courteous and agreeable to all
whom he met. In Bummerhook men
of his class were known as swells, and
Bummerhook did not approve Of
swells as rule, but it had seen him
almost daily for some time; had first
tolerated, and later, in the persons Of
its watermen and dogs, had cordially
approved Of him.
Moreover, Polly had her own es-
pecial grounds for liking him. Had
he not once, at the peril of his fingers
saved her 'yaller dawg"-a poor
thing, but her own-from the fangs of
a notorious 6ghter2 Had he not, upon
occasion, paid her brothers fine, when
that gentlemen was offered the tempt
ing choice of 1910 or ten days" at the
local police courti" Growing feat of
goodness Had he not, the week be-
fore, when her boat was swamped by
a steamer swell, luffed and come about
to pick her up, thereby giving a race
to Flo's hated rival, when he would
otherwise have beaten? Indeed, he
had done all these things and more;
and, as she thought over them, her
heart swelled with gratitude. As she
herself would have said, she wanted
to get square with him.
And so Miss Polly, returning from
her row, went to work, still uncertain
as to how she could best reward this
evidently eccentric young man, Now
it happened that this was Saturday,
and in the afternoon, Lawrence,
with a friend from Philadelphia, came
rather earlier than usual. So that
when Polly returned from work and
cast her customary glance first at the
float stays and then out over the basin
she saw that the yawl was missing and
the sloop not at her moorings, and
rightly concluded that Lawrence had
gone away for the night. She stood
BY the window for a, while, watching
the boats and listening to the clamor
Of the small boys who swarmed about
the lighthouses and the great timber
RATS and then she wonderd if there
was breeze down below and if the
Flo's crew were having a good time.
She wished that some time sor' other
Mr.. Lawrence would ask her to sail
with him. He did take young ladies
out sometimes. She had seen them
tall, stylish girls, but not half SO
pretty as she. She had never been
on board the sloop, and thought it.
must be a real nice boat. She would
like to know. too, what the crew did
with themselves when at anchor.
On last Fourth Of July young Dowd
and Jimmy Sullivan and his crowd,
with two kegs of beer, had gone off
for the day in "jib and mainsail," "
and Jimmy had come home with
lump on his head as big as an egg,
and her brothers eye had been black
for week, but she had never seen
beer kegs taken on board the Flo, nor
noticed a black eye on Mr.. Lawrence.
And then old Dowd came in and de-
manded his supper, and Miss Polly
fetched his beer from saloon near by,
and turned her thoughts to corn beef
and cabbage.
But the evening was very warm.
So, bareheaded, after the custom of
the country, she went out when
her work indoors was done, to
seek some cooler spot. She took her
way over the long dilapidated cause
way of the old ships planks, which led
to the landing stage, and fingered for
a while to chat with an acquaintance;
n