The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1892-08-05
THE RARY CARRIAGE.

said his mother, YEARLY. ''Mollie has
fretted and have had no chance to do
my mornings work. l wish you would
take her out in the carriage for an
hour"
"All right, mamma" said the cheer
full redcheeked brother who had come
in whistling.
In few minutes he had the little one
in the street, her teething pains quite
forgotten and the blue eyes bright with
pleasure.
"Afore I'd be a-taggin' a young one
around in cart" called out loud,
rough voice, as Clay wheeled the pref
ty wicker carriage under the shade of a
tall elm. 'Mammy's nuss gal, that's
what he is"
'If you had such dear little sister,
perhaps you would like to be nurse
girl too" Clay replied spontaneously.
He knew the owner of the coarse voice,
big Dan Barrett, who was always trying
to provoke quarrel.
''No, wouldn't. Bet yer boots on
that. Catch me nussin' squallin' baby
for nobody. Hey there, get out of the
road if you don't want to get tipped
over"
He iostled the carriage rudely as he
went past, then looked back under the
lace canopy hoping that he had fright
ened the little one, for it was his delight
in teasing anything smaller and weaker
than himself.
But Mollie was not frightened. She
had been used to loving words all her
life, and she looked up into the coarse
face with one OF her sweetest smiles
Something in the confiding face lifted so
trustingly to his touched Dan, and he
met her winning advances with look of
surprised admiration.
"Say, that little kid o. yourn is pretty,
hain't she?" he said turning awkardly
to Clayton.
"And just as good as she Is pretty.
Don't you wish you had such little
darling to wheel abOut?'
How dye know but what have?"
His thoughts flew back to his own
poor home, where baby spent the most
of her time in battered, wooden cradle,
her face bearing that prematurely old
look of neglected, pinched childhood so
pitiful to see. Nursed by hard-work-
ing half-fed mother, the baby was dull
eyed, lifeless and more often than other
wise, dirty and ill-smelling. Her only
name in the family was the 'young I'M
or the "kid." Some sense of the con-
| ITdSU DGJWGGU Ull6 IWO lldSlltu luIO Dlll ,
mind, and he wondered how his own
and under the shade of a silken canopy.
81 have never seen you out with her,
returned Clayton.
Didn't [ tell you l wasn't nobody
nuss gal?' Dams voice had lost much
of its coarse, jeering tone, and he added
slowly, "Mebbe, though, if man had a
kerridge and nice clothes for our kid I'd
take her out sometimes. But she hain't
pretty like this one.
"If you loved her more and made her
happier, perhaps she would grow pref
tier"
Dan made no reply and walked off
with an unusually thoughtful air and
strolled down to the dock. With his
hands in his pockets he stood watching
large steamer come. A sense of long
ing had been awakened in his heart for
something which he could not define, a
vague wish that he and his were more
like the well.dressed and respectable
humanity which he saw all about him.
"B'lieve I'll run away some day. Pap
an nam amt no help to Teller"
Just then a gentleman and lady with a
beautiful baby boy in the fathers arms,
walked down the plank from the
steamer, the porter following with two
heavy valises. Dams eyes were fixed on
the sweet face of the child with an
admiring gaze.
Here, boy" said the man, don't you
want to earn half dollar?. Carry these
valises up Fifth street for me and I'll
| give you a quarter each.n
Dan started. Ordinarily he would
have returned some pert or slangy reply,
but the advent of these two beautiful
babies into his days experience had
strangely softened him.
He trudged ON behind them, drinking
in the little face, which, in change of
position now looked over the fathers
shoulder. Awkardly, for Dan was not
in the habit of making himself agree
able to infant humanity, he puckered
for a low whistle. at which the baby
smiled. Then Dan smiled and gave a
skip and dance as well as he could
with his heavy valises, and the child
laughed aloud-a merry, tinkling laugh,
sweet as the music of silver bells.
''Hear Claudio laugh" said the
mother, turning quickly and catching
the little by-play behind her. "You like
babies, do you'll
'T-I-dunno, MAMA" Dan hung
his head sheepishly. "This one is such
pretty little chap"
"And as good as he is pretty" the
mother replied fondly.
On reaching home at noontime his
mother said impatiently, 81 wish you'd
take the young one, Dan, while get
dinner. She's ben a-frettin' all the fore
noon, an it appears like 1 can't do
nothin' with her in my arms"
Yesterday Dan would have met the re-
quest with an oath, but to-day he took
the little creature from his mothers
arms without word and sat down upon
the doorstep. The child was unusually
clean, as Katy had dressed her in the
only whole and tidy slip she possessed.
Having always heard only rough words
from her brother before, she looked up
into his face with pitful uncertainty
whether to laugh or cry-a look so diff
feIent from the smile of happy confidence
which Mollie and the stranger baby had
given him that he was touched by it. He
smiled and whistled as he had done to
little Claude, and she smiled back at him,
showing four tiny white teeth and look
ing really pretty. The half dollar began
to burn in his pocket as he chirruped
and whistled. He had intended to buy a
big watermelon and bag of nuts and 90