The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1895-12-04
The Story of Lois.


Its very pretty, my dear" said
Miss Mahala, "and don't see but you
write as well as most of them. But
can't help thinking how times have
changed in my young days it wouldn' t
have been considered proper for an UNI
married girl to be writing stories and
selling them TO the magazines. Miss
Pettingill was very particular about the
training of her young ladies, and l don't
believe there was one in her establish
ment who would have thought of doing
such thing"
Margaret Dillingham; looked up at
her stately great aunt with smile and
wondered why this ''story writing" was
more to be dcspised than the binding Of
shoes, which, in Miss Mahala's child
hood-before the excellent training of
"Miss Pettingill's establishment'-the
brave women Of the Dillingham; family
had not disdained to do during those
long, hard winters when the men of
the family were absent ON their hazard
Gus whaling voyages.
Meanwhile Miss Mahala had folded
her delicate, wrinkled hands over her
smooth silk apron and was eXpatiating
upon the high feelings of the Dilling-
hams of her youth.
The two were on the little front porch
together before the open door. Miss Ma
hala was rocking gently in her shaker
chair, while Margaret sat ON the step,
with the magazine from which she had
been reading upon her lap. The air was
fragrant with the perfume of roses, and
the sweet, old fashioned pinks in the
border were all in bloom.
"But you had some celebrated women
writers then, said Margaret. "There
was Mrs. Sigourney, for one''-
My dear, is it possible that you COM
pare yourself with Mrs. Sigourney?"
exclaimed Miss Mahala in shocking sur
prise.
ooh, my, mol / was only wishing
Miss Pettingill' S ideas hadn't been quite
so--restricted, said Margaret, with
spice of mischief "You write SUCH
beautiful letters, Aunt Mahala, that you
might have rivaled even Mrs. Sigour-
ney herself had your unmstakable talent
only been cultivated in time"
my dear in those good old days
young ladies were taught the strictly
feminine accomplishments We learned
to sew, and to knit, and to do the finest
embroidery, and the most beautiful lace
stitches. There's nothing like it done
nowadays" Miss Mahala said primly.
Margaret thought of the exquisite nee
dlework she had seen at the decorative
art rooms the winter before and smiled.
"There is something very quaint about
your good old times Aunt Mahala
They always make me think of-Dres-
den shepherdesses and sweet lavender "
'Sweet lavender-ah, that reminds
me of Lois Pettingill, and that last year
at school! Poor Lois was so fond of
lavender, and she did have hard time ~
unused Miss Mahala "Her aunts were
both plain, hard women, and they didn't
realize things We're different when a
girl was pretty, like Lois, and full of
life and spirits They had been teaching
for 80 years, and they had brought her
up to teach, but for all that Lois was
only merry, unthinking girl.
"Ill never forget that last night she
took us out TO prayer meeting alone. On
her way home some nonsense of Hettie
Bradford IS set her off laughing, like all
the rest of us, and who should open the
door to us but Miss Pettingill herself
Lois Pettingill, she said, you amt fit
to be trusted with young ladies, and
after all the pains l have taken! I'm
ashamed of youl Lois said nothing but
the next day her eyes were red with
Anvil, a,,I clio al 30, 10
with us girls again without either Miss
Pettingill or Miss Jane was by. That
went on for may be month or more,
and then one morning-she was gone %
Eyes Aunt Mahala, and they thought
she had run away to her mothers fam
lily i'll Hartford, and they were angry
and never wrote nor ever asked a
world
Her name was never mentioned aft
erward," Miss Mahala said solemnly,
Except in whispers between us girls,
and the Miss Pettingills just grew stiff
fer and were more watchful than ever,
for it was an awful scandal for such a
thing to have happened in a select es-
tablishment for young ladiesp
at never would have happened if
they had been less severe with their
pretty niece" laid Margaret
81 suppose rot, " assented Mas Ma
hala, "but anyway that was the last Of
Lois until the winter had gone and the
flowers she loved were all abloom IN
the garden. Then. as | was sitting here
just about shutdown one night-the 9TH
OF girls we're out walking, l had been
eXcused-I just heard a low sobbing
moan from behind the little gate, and
there | saw what | thought was the
ghost of poor, pretty Lois and limped
into the house, screaming out what |
had seen in terrific sort of way. Miss
Pett1ngill up and ran out, all in n flur
ter for once. She opened the gate, and
there it was Lois herself, hut, oh, so
weary and wan and changed from the
merry girl she used to bel