The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1891-01-22


mansard roof.
at is a shame" said one or two
'Such pity Barker did not make will
He must have had some intentions about
such a property. He never could have
intended all that wealth to go TO a-bol
he did not like enough to ask him ovel
for the summer"
The doctor felt sure he would have
& founded a-hospital and placed him in l
\ as resident physician for life, If the vii
e,had been made. - &ss
The clergyman knew he meant to dc
something for the church. The profes
sor had heard him speak of a free librar!
z and reading room. Every one knew
Y something, and all the far away cousins
8 had expected legacies. 81 .--.
Every one thought the arrangements
all wrong. but the heir and the auc
tioneer, who had made an inventory o
the old furniture-the tall clock, thu
andirons, the solid tables with leaves
the spinning wheels, big and little; thu
fiddle back chairs, and all those othe
possessions adored by the fashionable
to-day, but utterly despised 20 years ag'
,iE us ''old things not worth keeping.9
p Tho Young heir would, il he built hi
villa. furnish it with ''setso of the lates
style, with Brussels carpets with whit
grounds and bright wreaths of rose
scattered over them. .... .,...,, ..
Can't get much for the old sticks,
he said, "but I'd like to clear up and b'
done with it, .".- .. ".o
~. Miss Camiola Brown, sitting at tn
front up-chambeT window, cutting on
calico short waists for Mrs. Black nv
little boys, laid down her shears for one
in her life, and with her elbows on tn
sill, watched the people as they, walked
OF drove past and entered in at the gate
of the late Mr. BarkeT's premises.
AZ Poor BENJAMIN % she sighed, "IwOn
der whether up in heaven he remember
the day when he took me in and walked
me all over the housep" ..l.
"'The things are old fashioned, Cami
oda,' he said to me; but they we're moth
ers-md before that they were grand
mothers ! like them, but say the wort
and III new furnish NO, Benz says |
what your ma liked to have, | don
like TO alter. | like it all; it's gooC
stuff and then he kissed me-" l..
Miss Camiola felt for her handker
chief, rs she said this to herself. '"An(
we stood at the grand window and lookeC
off toward the mountains. We arr
going to be happy as ever folks were,
said he: here the tears began to fall
ny HOh, Bon,' she SOODeu,L 10 Jllllh wy
quarIcled after that, and didn't speal
when we met. But you never married
and / refused two ofGers-good ones
Ben, guess Wen meet up there som'
time and make up" .r.ts
Poor old Camiola put her head dow
on her arms aud cried softly amongst thu
purple blossoms of the wisteria tina
yelled the window. No one could SCI
her from the road. But her tears drieC
soon and she came back to the present
They were selling the old furniture a
auction. The claw-footed sidebOard, thu
settee, the big mahogany cradle in which
four generations of babies had beer
rocked-all these dear old things tina
once were to have been hers as Benjamin
Barkers wife; and she was poor seam
stress, an old maid going from house tC
house for her board and 30 cents day
looking forward to feeble old ago, anC
with an awful dread in her soul of be
coming town poor at last
If She had married Ben, how different
it would have been.
"Why. Miss Camiola! you've been {
cryin'!' said Mrs. Blacks loud voice
Just then in her ear. Camiola started
guilty, but she was too candid to com
plain of a cold or the sun in her eyes
1
Black said she. "YOu see we used tC
be friends, Mr.. Barker and |, and knew
his ma, and remember all that furni
turc, and it seems a sin to sell it and teal
down the old house, and maybe root III
the lilacs and strawberry shrubs, ano
perhaps cut down the trees. 1t was al
most like home to me in Mrs. Barker'S
day"
''Well, it must seem sin to any one
and more so to you, Miss CamiOla,' said
Mrs. Black. But don't you want to &c
over and see the place and what is going
on? You might just as well take day
or the rest of it. I'm in no hurry, and
you look tuckered out"
Mrs. Black was kind in her way, and
felt certain pity for Camiola. She had
heard that Camiola was once engaged tC
Mr.. Barker and might to-day have been
a rich and important widow, instead of a
poor, lonely sennstress. a .8
go along, CamiOla," she added, 81
know you want to-
Did she want top" Camiola asked her
self, and her heart answered "Yes.n
She would see the old home once more,
see the old furniture, and when she
. could get a chance she would 90 up gar
ret and stand where she stood with Ben
that day. Her old elbows would lean
where her young ones had pressed; she
would look over the mountains, and
fancy herself girl again, with Ben be-
side her, and his engagement ring on her
finger. |..... Itt
And Miss Camiola thanked Mrs. Black,
put ON her show bonnet with the washed
ribbons, and the shawl that had been so
good once, but was faded, and even
mended now, and walked up the road,
and turned into the lane, and entered the
Barker garden. ...... ..
The smell of the shrub came to her:
the lilac flowers were gone, but the will
low branches kissed her bonnet as she
passed under them
The ncighbOrs who saw her nodded OF
spoke, but they were selling the tall
clock, and there was some excitement.
CamiOla stood at the door awhile and
listened to the bidding. Deacon Hicko-
~ got the clock; Mrs. Amos Mole the
clawfoot sideboard A Jewish lady from
the village bought the trunks of women's
clothing sold unopened, for next to moth
ing. Ann Banaby, the washerwoman
got the tubs and irons cheap in lot, and
so on and so forth.
To Camiola it all seemed tragic. She
went up stairs where people were poking
the beds and pillows, and examining the
toilet sets and curtains, and she began to
mount the garnet stairs. 't.'a
'NOthin' up there" said a well mean.
ing person who was descending. " Ii
ain worth while to lose breath a climb
ing" ..-..--... - .Hr 4
u y Canliola did not answer. u
Nothing up there! How little people
knew! There was the window at which
two lovers had plighted their VOWS.
There, perhaps, fingered some ghost of
her dead past, and his who had died
elderly and a bachelor.
As her head rose above the floor
she gazed eagerly about her. From the
fafters hung some branches of withered
Z herbs and some ropes of onions The
trunks had been carried down and an old
bureau. AacOat hung upon a peg; over
it hat. Camiola went to the window,
She would not cry, for she must face
.those, people down stairs again; but she
: ihtteHfl little means of ai1glished as she
stood there. She realized what life &C.
tually is at that moment, and it seemed
very cruel to her-once young, beloved,
pretty aud hopeful now old, unloved,
swrinkled and nothing to wish for.
No wonder that she suffered. -
At last she turned her back on the
eternal mountains = unchanged while
lives were lived, and while youth fled
and love depart, and graves were dug
and saw Ben's coat upon the wall; Ben's
cOat--an old mans coat worn long and
careessly; a big, broad brimmed, soft
hat. The woman bent closer. She
nestled up agalnstth the coat, and caressed
it, and talked to il, and she took the hat
in her hands and kissedit. twas worth
/. n "a