Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1895-08-02

1
three men had seated themselves In the
coach, the old man, commanding the
driver TO wait moment, walked up to
the door and said:
II am the mayor of this town"
"Sorry for you," one Of the men re-
piled.
! well, by Satan's hoofs, like that.
but excuse the expression for it's the
strongest / ever did use; but what do
you mean by sneakin' in here without
lettin' anybody know you .sa. eou.Ia'
an sneakin' out again without lcttin'
anybody know why you did Gomez
Now what have you got to say?"
| shut the door, old man. Trn loo"
! WATT" the old man commanded.
WHO are you and what did you want
with this young womanP" !
go on. driver. So long, old top"
And off they went. q.
Miss Polly" said the old man, turn
Ing toward the editor, what do Il
mean?"
Your shirt collar is unbuttoued
again. was all she said
CHAPTER II.
That evening in the house of old man
Aimes there was q silent supper party.
Nelrs flowing friendship had been
rudely checked and a sharp heel had
been set upon the old mans dignity.
And it looked us though GOODNESS
must necessarily follow. The strangers
had brought mystery with them and
! had left it in the village, and in this
mystery stood Polly Lopp
| Not a word had been spoken. Polly
arose to leave the table. Nell looked
up and her countenance was sorrowful.
not so much that there might be
compromising mystery, but that it was
kept dark from her.
Coin, Miss Polly?" Aimes asked.
! "Ycs, l am through with my sup
! per-"
! But wait moment. Now there's
no need of foolishness between us; we
are your friends and you ought to
! speak out. Them men comm hero
and bein' so familiar like with you will
cause scandal, and it's for me to de-
termine rs the mayor Of this town
whether or not ] can stand by you.i
But first you must tell me-never mind
about my shirt bein' unbuttoned and
all that sort of thing-you must tell
me somethin' about them men. Now
will you?"
Eyes. They came and they went
away. That is all you need to know"
Not be slatherin' - excuse nv
strength-no, it amt. Where did you
know them?"
II might have met them in city,"
"Hah, what's that? Might have met
them in city, but why? That's what r
want to know. Didn't you hear one of
them refer to me as old top and I've
been ten years mayor of this town.?
1Iah, didn't you hear that? And why,
then. should You have met them in
city, or anywhere else?"
when / probabl- met them years
ago perhaps | was NOT aware that they
were going to refer to you as old top"
Nell laughed, and the old man
scratched his head. "Well, now, we'll
say that You couldn't help meeting
| them," he went ON, but we can't say
that you had to become so well ac-
| quainted with them as to let them call
You Polly. CAD, don't call you Pol
ly, and I'm the mayor of this town and
have been for ten years this comm
July, CAD. Hope the Lord will in the
meantime excuse both l gads. Hah,
now answer me that, will your"
"All that you need to know, Mr..
Aimcs, you shall know in time"
'Hah, in time? But what will the
people of this town think when they
come to me to find out and put them
off with your sayin' that they shall
know in time? CAD, miss, when the
people of this town want to know q
thing there amt no SIGH thing rs time
the whole scheme is an eternity until
they find out, and unless they find out
before the next election I'm beaten as
sure as horn, and I've been mayor SO
long now that l can't quit. Set down
here now and tell us, won't you?"
Not this evening. Nell, I'm going
out into the garden"
Polly was sitting in the summer house
when Nell joined her. They were ST.
lent for n time and then Nell said: II
am so sorry that anything should have
happened. was as happy as could
be until then. Tell me, dear, what It
all means, and I'll promise to stand by
you, no matter what it is, for do think
SO much of you. do, Polly, love You,
in fact, and now 1t does gricve me so to
have anything come between u.s."
Polly took her hand and, holding Il,
replied: "There are many features of
life in city, and some of them might
seem strange to you. That l should
have become acquainted with those
men was happening; that they should
have come to this place is another hap
pening, and neither happening amounts
to enough to cause any real uneasiness
on the part of my friends. So beg Of
you not to let it worry you"
''Oh, it doesn't worry me SO far as I
am concerned. Out what will the peo-
pie say? Indeed, what won't they say?"
"NeM, the view and the opinion of q
village are necessarily narrow; here
people are suspicious of strangers and
are ever on the lookout for an oppor-
frJnffv tn c,tc 4