The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1886-05-05
" There are no butts in the case"

Glove never does no such thing"
said Liz, who was never known to be
grammatical, save in the moments of
excitement.
The trembling girl commenced again
GO Dear friend Hiram Now don't
speak again, please, Liz, till l finish,"
as the strange woman gave unmistak-
able indications of inward rebellion.
1t is the wish of my parents that l
write you, and say that it is their de-
sire l should accept you as my future
husband. l don't love you one single
bit, and l am sure / never shall; but if
you want me under those circumstances,
| have nothing more to say, save that
utterly refuse to receive any especial
attention from you preceding our mar
rage"
Wall, now, VOW, Flory Avery, l
should laugh if everybody in the house
was laying dead. Tell man you've
made up your mind to marry him, and
at the same time inform him that all
the counting has got to be postponed
until after the wedding. Do you sup
pose that because a minister has num-
bled over few words-nothing in the
least disrespectful TO the minister in
tended-that on this account kisses and
counting will be any more welcome than
now?"
emo, Liz, mol The thought of it
drives me wild; but there is nothing
left for me to do. Mother is crying up
stairs, now; and father has hardly
spoken to me for whole week, be-
cause of my wilfulness. l have been
reading the Bible for an hour, Liz,
dear, and that is what has decided me.
The command is: children, obey
your parents!' And there is no way l
can dodge it,"
Just like the rest of edicated folks,
you have choked yourself to death with
the letter and thrown the spirit over
board. Now my common sense tells
me that you don't understand the mean
ing of what you've been reading. 1t is:
Wives, obey your husbands in the
Lord;' and it is: Children, obey your
parents in the Lord Now, the Lord is
love, Flory dear, and he give you these
very feelings of like and dislike-this
liking to be with a person, or hating
to be with a person, to guide you
through life. They are weapons that
the poor carnal flesh couldn't get along
without. Now, if you take the pistol
that God put into your hands to keep
off wild animals with, and lay it down
side of you, and let the critters come in
and devour you, whose to blame,
wonder? You mustn't think that your
Father in heaven didn't know what
kind of timber he was putting into you
when he got you up. AS far as I've
observed-and / haven't lived TO be
thirty years old without learning some
things-there is nothing that brings so
much misery with it as a marriage with
out love. Don't you do it, Flory dear
don't you do it,"
"But, Liz, you know that l never
shall love anybody. OH why did he 90
and get married?" And again the
beautiful head was bowed upon the
panion.
Why did you cut up so with him,
Flory? Why did you grieve him by
flirting with fellow you could hardly
bear in your sight? How long do you
suppose man with ordinary self
respect is going to stand that sort of
work? Sow the wind and reap the
whirlwind!' There is nothing truer
than this between the covers of the
Bible. If he has married without love,
he'll have the same kind of crop"
"What shall l do with this letter,
Liz"
Burn it up!
"What shall 1 do with father and
mother?"
"Let 'em pet'
"What shall 1 do with my own
aching heart?''
"Put rousing big poultice of faith
and love on it, and then make yourself
as useful as you can to other folks.
There's nothing like helping another to
forget yourself. You have made mis-
take; that is, if there is any such things
as mstakes-sometimes l amt quite
clear on that p'int-but anyhow, it
won't help that to put your foot in ii
again, so long as you know better, you
see. There can't be no real sin, l sup
pose, until after knowledge is born.
Give me that letter"
Flora, with a wistful look in her
brown eyes, passed over the document,
and in a moment more it was ablaze
under the boiler.
1t was very plain to the watchful Liz
that a storm was brewing, which threat
ened to bring things to crisis without
loss of time. Never was work got
out" with such speed. The day passed
on, dinner and tea were over, LIS
clothes had been brought in and nicely
folded down, when Flora ran hastily
into the kitchen, saying:
Liz, father has sent for me in the
sitting-room, and l do wish you could
come in some way. Pm so afraid
shall give in if you are not there tc
strengthen me-"
"I'll dodge in after awhile,' sale
Liz. Keep stiff upper lip and make
a good fight. No father and no mother
has any right to command child tC
marry man she don't love. The Lore
is on your side, Flory Avery! Now
go long and behave yourself"
Ay, that was stormy scene. Farmer
Avery, who had firmly decided that his
daughter should marry the man he hat
selected, was as hard and cold as {
stone. Bitter words, haunting words
fell from his lips-words that Flora
never supposed he could utter.
"Do you think" said he, " that
am going to permit you to go pulling
round the house like sick kitten, be
cause you are wicked enough, NEAR
enough, to be in love with married
man2'