The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1886-07-28


great hotels on the heights beyond.
What of them?" said Meta eve
shall not interfere with their custom
ers. We are appealing to an entirely
different class-the people who abom-
mate bands and Germans, the people
who come here for rest and quiet.
Why, there must be fourteen or fifteen
rooms in this delicious old cubby-hole.
And such view of the seal Count
the light-housesl Look at the signal
service building! Lii, / already see
ourselves shoveling gold pieces into our
pocketsr'
I" / wish / could be as hopeful as
YOU" said Lillian, softly.
So the brave little brigade went to
work on the wave-washed beach of
Watch Hill.
Miss Dagget proved herself not only
an adept at repairing old furniture, but
she went valiantly out with hammer
and nails and mended the fence, put in
new panes of glass, whitewashed the
ceilings, and, with the aid of young
Rhode Island carpenter, actually put up
a row of cow-sheds and hen-houses in
the rear.
Rosa Nixon reduced the kitchen de-
partment to working order, and drove
sharp bargains for a supply of pro-
visions from Westerly to Stonington.
{" 1t isn't the kickshaws that trouble
me-" said Rosa. | can make ice
cream equal to Madame Habenstein
herself, and nobody can beat me on
jellies. But the gardens here are so
late. And city boarders want green
peas and strawberries, and all that sort
of thing, just the same as if Watch
Hill lay on the edge of the tropics.
People are so unreasonableW
In the course of business affairs,
Meta had made the acquaintance of the
editor of a New Haven newspaper.
my dear sir" she said, with charm
ing frankness, {" Pm going to advertise
in your paper. Nothing can be done
nowadays without advertising. Now,
don't you want to give us a puff? The
least bit of one will do"
"Pm always ready to commend
genius" said Mr. Fordyce, CALAMITY
{" In fact, was going to speak of en-
gaging three connecting rooms-with
view of the ocean, of course-for Mrs.
Fordyce and the three little ones and
their nurse. Just write your notice,
and we'll try and edge it,"
You are so kind" cried Meta,
who felt just trihe disappointed when
Mrs. Fordyce and the children were
mentioned, though why she did not
know.
Cuisines is business" said the ed
itOr serenely.
Almost the earliest arrival was the
ne'er-do-well cousin from Kansas, with
his wife and sons. He had settled
down into portly, middle-aged mer-
chant, and his appearance lent a solid
sort of responsibility to the place.
"Never believe what you hear" said
he to Meta. " l was rather wild as a
lad, but 1 am soberer than twenty
judges now. Ask my wife. | came
here because my boys like the sea.
Never expected to find a relative on
the premises"
Do you call those six-footers boys?"
said Meta, laughing.
Sea Cottage throve under its vigorous
new administration. Clara Dagget kept
everything in apple-pie order. Rosa
Nixon worked like bee in the kitchen,
aided by little Fanny Hoyt and bare
.. footed son of the soil, who dug clans,
caught bluefsh, turned the ice-cream
liSSbSi ohu ldh Clldhuos
else was done by Nettie and Lillian
selves on the billy, and we'll done, Also
And early in the morning, before any
of the boarders were up, they ran down
to the fringy edge of the sea and had
their " dip "-the delicious tonic that
gave them strength and courage fol-
their days work.
6 It's better than drudging at old
, Bobinet's, isn't it, Lill?' said Meta.
" Oh, a thousand times better"
In the second week the editor arrived
with dashing young woman, colored
, nurse, and swarm Of little ones.
d" There she ISL said he, as Meta
came out to greet them. {" Miss Car
,, stairs, let me introduce my step-mother
!, and three little brothers and sisters"
Metals cheeks famed; her eyes
sparkled.
y I" They are very welcome to Sea Cot.
tage," she said, gracefully.
y Mrs. Fordyce afterward complain
ingly remarked that " if Miss Car.
stairs had been a duchess she could
, scarcely have assumed more gracious
! airs. Not but that the house was well
kept and the table really excellent But,
, after all, the young woman was only a
clearinghouse keeperr'
And her amazement may be mag
ined when, at the end of the season,
her step-son calmly announced his en-.
t gagement to Miss Carstairs.
Miss Dagget, it presently transpired,
, had been plighting herself to one OF
, the tall Kansas boys"
t g He says the West will be the very
, climate for me-" she said. "And you
won't mind, Lilly dear-will you?-but
Rosa Nixon has promised to marry the
| young man who keeps the books for the
Triton Hotel. l do think the air OF
Watch Hill promotes weddings"
Lillian Hand laughed. % You are all
typical women" said she. Well,
well, go and fulfill your missions-make
home happy, and all that sort of thing.
/, But | mean to stay here and keep Sea
Cottage, There are plenty of half
starved and overworked city girls who
will come out and help me- and rather
like the business. Of course l shall
spend my winters in Stonington. There
is always new house linen to make and
old to mend, and plenty to keep me
busy; but l really think have found
, my vocation at last"
And tbnc tr;, Al o1oool Al