Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1894-01-26
MISS SUSAN'S TELEGRAM.

TOT IlllIlN years hIlt lldNl odi llltlt tNtl al
ternoon, Sundays excepted, and the yards
of tatting which had passed through her
slender fingers no one in Slumbertown
dared to count No one outside of Slum-
bertown would have believed it. 1t did
not matter to Miss Susan that tattng had
gone out of fashion years ago. She had
learned to make it sitting by her mothers
side when she was a child of ten years
Her mother had always worn it,, and what
was good enough for the one satisfied the
other.
Nothing about Miss Susan was in the
fashion. She was a quaint old-time figure
as she sat in her stiff rocking chair, look
ing out now and and then across the little
garden and the dusty road to the shady
river bank and the water which flowed
deep blue under the late afternoon sun.
Her dress was of gray gingham, straight
waist and straight skirt, which hung limp
to her small feet A narrow linen collar
turned over about her neck, and was held
in place by large painted brooch set in
gold, representing n lighthouse with i'm
possible waves dashing against it. 1t was
brought from foreign parts by Miss Susan's
grandfather, who had been sea captain.
Her gray hair which was silky, and would
have curled if She had let it, was drawn tight
from her face and knotted into a hard little
knob at the back of her head. She wore
broad felt slippers, and a large white apron
covered the front of her gown; "To save
it, she explained, when the more frvol-
GUS minds in Sllmbertown inquired its
use.
Young people nowadays do not know
how to take care of their clothes" she said
day, when unusually reused by re-
STRANGE from a young cousin on the
sion of her having tied on two aprons,
,tlicO one over the white, in order to
-erye the freshness of the latter. at
favorite saying of my grandmother
cleanliness came next to godliness,
and you could put it before or after, Just
as you pleased"
Upon this white apron her tapered fin
gers now fell, while, dropping her work,
she looked through the window with lines
ofanxiety in her delicate old face.
Miss Susan, despite, nay, perhaps be-
cause of, her conservative ways. was an
aristocrat of the New England type, which
is found nowhere else in the world. Her
ancestors all came of good stock" but it
did not in the least prevent them from
sharing in the homely duties which were
common to all settlers of the new country
who did not live in the cities. Her grand
father, when returned from the charge of
Indian cargoes valued at thousands, scru-
pied not to lend hand at a neighbor's
ploughing: her father though member of
the state legislature, chopped his own
wood and shoveled his own paths.
Miss Susan had been born in Slumber-
town and had lived there all her life. 1t
had once been thriving place, when
vessels had sailed up the broad river and
unloaded at the wharves opposite her win
dow, which were now grass-grown and
falling to piece with decay. But its early
promise was unfulfilled Trade had drift
ed in other directions. The young men
of the village had moved away, finding
their energies cramped III the correct but
slow life of the place. The
old people had died, and all the remaining
of Slumbertown was swallowed
up by another town which sprang I'D like
magic ten miles away, detestable in its
manufactures and its newness. A hand
full of the old inhabitants still lived on in
the old way, ruling their farms and going
on Sundays to the white church, with a
steeple which had been crooked from ear
lest memory.
In the little group of elite Miss Susan
and her sister, Miss Lettice, who, though
forty, she still ruled with unhinching des-
potism, stood foremost. Their opinion
was humbly deferred to by their neighbors.
All codes of etiquette emanated from them.
When Miss Lettice, by order of her sister.
draped the beautiful old furniture in Hol-
lands, as being both chaste and elegant
nothing was said of the frayed edges thus
the neighbors Obediently follow
ed suit and Wed with each other in MAKING
their once quiet "best rooms" brilliant
with indigo peacOCks and scarlet famingoes
on a yellow ground.
But, although Slumbertown ignored the
factory town of Steam Mills as much as
possible, it felt its influence strongly. and
it was for this reason that Miss Susan look |
ed across the river this afternoon with sucb |
anxious eyes. Birth, tradition and esteem
are all good things and bring a rich gift to
their possessOrs, but none the less the body |
must be fed and clothed, and this is none |
The easier to accomplish when the customs |
of gentle blood must be maintained. Re
yond a name of good repute, the old farm
and number of worthless shares in AN /
Arkansas mine, little had been beaueath- |
ed to the sisters by their sea-faring ances- |
tors There was hardly even this. for |
before their fathers death MORTGAGES had |
been placed on the estate, and since that |
event the hand of the creditor at Steam
Mills had pressed more heavily each wear |
"Ihe land slOped well. There was water |
power close at hand, an excellent place for
factory of rubber web. OF course if
was out OF the question for two women to
make the farm pay, and it would be wiser
10 sell at once.' So urged the LAWYER who |
was sent to confer about the business and
he could not understand why, after each
visit, Miss Susan bowed him from the door
yet more haughtily than she had done the
line before. But alas those DAYS were
nearly over. The time had come when
she could no longer pay the interest mon
~, and Miss Lettice had gone this after
noon TO Steam Mills in a neighbours wac
IN to see what she could do towards soft
ming the heart of the man who now held
heir home in the hollow of his hand.
Miss Susan strained her ears as the clock
truck five to catch the sound of wheels
Yes, they were coming, and she caught ND
Ter work and moved the thread hastily. as
Ifraid now to hear the result as she had
,een anxious moment before. Miss Let-
ice opened the door and came i'm slowly.
'he unpinned her shawl and took off her
'lain bonnet before she spoke. She was
weaker, prettier counterpart of her sis
er.
Its of no use, sister, The man is 90
lg to foreclose."
One glance told Miss Susan the same