St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1891-10-29
MISCELLANY.
ROGERS VICTORY.

Rxeat era wing of his life was to be APP
peased. Up to this time, the name
Eo4 mother was only connected in his
end with a lofty tombstone over
at Mount Auburn; but he could see
f<T himself that, to most OF boys
tn whom he played, it meant a
zforld of love and comfort, SO, now,
nee it was to be associated with so
5eautiful young lady as the one who
vas to be his fathers wife, he had
zlo doubt whatever but that he, too,
would come into like kingdom
Without dispute or difficulty. Since
nc new Mrs. Denton really had
u uite strong capacity for affection.
III he poor little fellow might have
AIMED his desire as he expected, had
lot circumstances been against him
Tom the beginning.
In the first place, on the day of the
new mothers homecoming, he made
a mistake at the hour of the arrival,
Ind instead of being ready to meet
her arrayed in his best, went off on
Il his bicycle, and, getting upset, came
hpme muddy, tattered and general
5I7 disreputable in appearance. Then,
Iinstead Of stealing away for repairs,
be must needs forget all about him
elf when catching sight of the new
! arrival, and, plunglng unanimously
#forward to greet her, stuck his mud
q dH boot through the skirt of her lace
dress, tearing a huge rent therein by
q nay of Introduction.
"RogerI" Numbered his father,
will you ever be anything but a
8clown? Take yourself off at once,
Il Sr. We will dine without you
low"
Even then, boy with tact would
4 Dave retrieved bad situation by
: d uietly doing as he was told, but
Door Roger had no tact, and he had
i hot temper, which he at once pro-
Fl seeded to display by rushing from
4 the room and up the stairs in so un
y nnistakable a rage that his step
b mother felt her heart sinking within
Der. At the same time he heard her
Jay, appealingly, to his father:
"Oh, Stanley, what am to do if
Your boy is often like this ~
In the days which followed, Roger
vas very often like this so, grad
y uallv, Mrs Denton abandoned her
4 IDEAS concerning him, and tacitly
Il acknowledged defeat by having her
4 refractory step-son removed. Roger,
n With the starving heart which no.
Fl Body seemed to understand, was
y sent away to school, and peace
reigned in the Denton household.
By the time of his return he had a
little sister, the loveliest mite Of a
baby his eyes had ever beheld, and
Snow-now, surely, he thought, a
#litt1e love would be poured into the
Hcup which he had held empty all the
#days of his life But his awkward
ness had grown with his growth,
n aud, though free to the caresses of
EVERY one else, a barrier seemed to be
erected around baby Genevieve
everv time he came near her.
NJ Roger, Roger, you will brighten
her" was sounded in SO many vary
ing notes by father, mother, and
nurse that, quite seriously, the child
looked in his glass, wondering what
4 manner of boy he must be.
When Genevieve was in her second
A GUNNER, the doctor ordered sea air,
and, accordingly, they went to a
lovely, lonely village on the coast of
Maine. Roger went, too, though
& again, in the interests of truth, [
a must say that Mrs. Denton would
have preferred him to do anything
else. She was by no means the
Crude step-mother of the story-bOok,
but she had never overcome her first
n misapprehension of the poor boy,
and her real motherhood seemed
only to warp her judgment still
NJ further Roger went, cherishing a
n hope that when his father would
n have left them-when only she and
II he and the baby were left together
he might in some way gain the place
so long coveted. 1t was Stalwart
II hope enough, in spite of frequent
E disappointments; but, as one week
Y followed another, it did not get food
II enough to nourish it into fulfillment.
In fact, it had begun to lose its hold
NJ on existence, when one day, Mrs.
Denton happened to say she was
longing for some water-lilies, where
upon that poor little hope again
4 4 flickered up.
III get some for her." Roger
whispered exultantly to himself.
''I'm dead sure of pleasing her this
time, anyway"
Like a veritable knight-errant, he
started off, but the pond was some
distance away, and by the time he
returned, wet fog had come up,
Fl aud Mrs Denton who had been
chatting on the piazza with some
acquaintance, was already damp
and cold enough without the huge
armful of wet lilies which her poor
E young knight threw impetuously in
her lap. Rising drenched and startled,
Il she exclaimed:
Roger, this is a downright i'm
u pertinence What do you mean by
# startling me so? Pick those lilies
E up at once"
With an angry scowl, he picked the
4 lilies up and flung them out in the
road, muttering: