The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1889-10-17

1
turned into sort OF cabinet of torture
that the little beauty who had left board
ing'school to marry him-and whom h,
had thought perfect--was spoken of as
"stuck-up, "as thing of airs aud graces
as one who "put on airs" The famil,
wore the air of having been through /,
frightful trial, Sharp things were SAID
bitter ones, also; and his amiable parents
his cheerful old aunt, aud his lively it'll,
sisters were changed into beings as solemn
as grand Druids.
The change had been brought about b,
his giving them what he supposed would
be pleasant surprise-in marrying Rosa
He had quarreled with them; now he wa.
lecturing his wife, She was wiping away
a tear when Jane, the general servant,
knocked at the door, and brought in I
batch of letters.
"Speers's folks fetched them from the
office, she said, as she dumped them on
her masters desk, and showed by he,
glances that she plainly saw that his wife
had been crying, and that he was the
cause; and he bent over the letters, pre-
tending 10 examine them.
Rosa, however, was forgiving. She
ran to the table.
"Two for me-" she cried. "This is
for mamma, and this is from Lilly Grey,
know. And what pretty envelope
you have there, John--the goddess
Pomona, is it not, amongst her fruitsln
"a notice from the managers of the
Agricultural Fair" said John. "Father
got the prize for pears last year. We
generally get prizes"
He handed the document to his wife,
who perused it carefully, and the little
tiff was over.
Still was not what it used to be in the
old farm house. You can imagine it all.
The detail Of days of chilly GOODNESS, of
evenings once spent in the general sitting
room passed in upstairs bedrooms, of
formal meals and naughty politeness.
John often thought that regular
quarrel, like those that took place
in the cabin of Mike Granburg, on the
railway borders, where plates and glasses
and chair-legs flew about, would be pre-.
ferable. He went out as much as possible.
And Rosa had asked him for a little
piece for garden of her own. He had
given it to her, of course, and she spent
much time there, but she never asked
him to look at it. His sisters avoided it
carefully. The spot chosen was an out
of the way one beyond the corn field.
They worked in their own as usual; and
even over flowers these girls did not
meet on friendly terms.
His mother rather ostentatiously read
the more severe of the religious works in
the library in her armchair on the porch.
His father talked of his time being near
ly over. His aunt knitted as sternly as
though she were one of the fates in
charge of the web of destiny and no.
body called him Jack any more.
He was aware that the ladias spoke of
Rosa's remote little garden as the open
air conservatory" or the "Garden of
Eden, and once when he asked them
why they did not go and look at it,
Edna replied:
ooh, our glances might blight it."
And Ruth added:
est is too, too utterly, presume. We
country girls could not appreciate it,"
Whereupon he called them ''ill-na-
tured idiots" aud they began to sob
violently, and alluded to him as ia
brute" And really Rosa did carry her.
self in stately fashion, and met their Ro-
land with an Oliver, as far as GOODNESS
went.
1t was not pleasant August, and it
was a more unpleasant September. His
only comfort was in bis grapevine. He
hoped TO get prize for grapes at the Ag-
ricultural Fair. His father was doing all
he could with his pears for the same pur-
pose. They would have other exhibits,
also, and the Parmalees had never failed
to get prize of some sort yet.
The evening of the third day of the
fair came at last The Parmalees were
all going--the family Ia the carriage,
John and his wife in little vehicle of
his own. She looked very beautiful,
and her dress was perfect. Her sisters
Ai"" nao NOV ulsuaineu 70 make sort
OF rival toilet, and Mrs. Parmalee was
very grand, but John felt that he was
lett out In the cold, and Rosa was rather
pale and silent; but they all warmed up
a little when they entered the hall.
A sort of proscenium surrounded the
stage at the end of the great room.
Vines clambered over it, water played
amongst rock work, and pots and tubs
of rare plants filed in the foreground.
A miracle of the scene painters art
arose at the back of the stage, where the
sun was setting over distant mountains,
and In the midst stood Pomona amidst
a wealth of the fruits of all countries,
while at her feet Law Yankee nnmnkin
"a veritable miracle-so large. so flaw
less, so golden, so perfect, that it was
the object on which ali ewes fingered. It
dwarfed every other pumpkin ever seen
by the oldest farmer present.
All the tables were loaded down,
however, and the Parmalee exhibit looked
well, Peonle walked and talked and
the hand n]aved and ar last .nneared