The Florence daily tribune., 1899-01-10

seen TO exchange glances. for IL was
quite well known in he village ;hat the
eldest son of the Widow Ienkins had
been refused by Miss iebesca the week
before he married Marindy Flint.
BY this time, although no vote had
been taken. il was plainly demonstrat-
ed that Miss Rebecca Blythe was to be
summarily relegated to the ranks of
the elderly unmarried ladies OF Pim-
lico.
The presidents heroic face fairly
beamed. Despite the readiness with
which the sisters Of the sewing society
always responded o her calls. she had
counted on some opposition. Miss
Blythe was a popular young woman.
We'll" she said with a self-sstisfied
smile, Mrs. Tracy an me talked IL
all over some days ago, an we decided
/ then that Miss Becky has been behav-
in like a CHI. in her teens long enough
an we are going TO give her hint she
can't help takin'. Squire Larkin's sis
ter. Jane Best, has a stepson a-comin'
here to visit the squire: an the squ;re's
wife bein' hut poorly, she wants we
an the girls TO ge, up party for him.
l don't know whether you've ever
heard Mis- Larkin speak o. DR.. Sum
merton. He comes from out west, an
this is his first visit. They say he Il
| doin' real well out west. Bette an
Evvie are goiu' TO give big dance feI
him in their pas new barn Thanksgivin'
| night. Ali the young peoples to get
invites tomorrow; but l just told the
girls to leave out Miss Becky. an they
/ done So"
81 guess Miss Becky's pretty apt TO
| tex hint. Becky aiu't been much OF
a fool ez Kin see" This time il was
| the owner OF the musical scissors who
spoke, We'll. good lapd alive! II there
amt Miss Becky herself a-eomin' right
| in; an she's got strange man await
in fer her at the gate. Wonder who
it can bel"
And then Miss Rebecca blythe came
in, looking happy and rosy, and not u
day over 25. She wore trim winter
coat, and two bright yellow wings
were sticking straight up in the lit;le
jaunty felt hat that perehed defiantly
above the wind-blown waves of Miss
Rebecca's shining black hair.
81 cant stay to-day" she announced,
"I am sorry, for | know how much
there is TO be done; and mother was
not well enough to come. But. you
know. Squire Larkin has nephew just
come TO town TO spend the holidays.
We did not know him; but i, seems he
met brother Tom out west, and 50 he
came to see us as soon as he had seen
his uncle and aunt. Nothing would do
but that | must take him around this
afternoon TO see his old friends
Mrs. Parkinson's face was a study.
She said nothing; but Miss Flint had a
malicious light in her eye as she asked:
what air ye goin' to do, Becky, on
Thanksgivn'?"
at is our turn to go to Sister Mar
tha's this year. Wen take the train in
the morning, you know, and come back
the next day"
Then Miss Rebecca laughed merrily.
as she added: "Oh. just let me tell you.
Brother Tom actually made that man
promise to spend Thanksgiving with
| Sister Martha to taste her cake. You
| know what a famous cake-maker Mar
| tha always has been. But must hurry
away. You all look SO coy in here, and
so Industrious; II makes me feel quite
| good for nothing
Miss Blythe left; and n hush fell up
| on the assembly.
| Then there was n rush for the win
dow. Various complimentary remarks
were made about the personal appear
| ance of the doctor from The west. and
| few uncomplimepiary things said
about the deep-laid scheme of his de-
signing companion. These last did
/ Miss Rebecca great injustice; for she
had never even heard of the existence
| of the doctor from the west, until his
urceremonious entrance into her
fathers house an hour before.
! Mrs. Parkinson and the meek-look-
ing lady scorned to put themselves
out by going to the window Tor n peep
a' Miss Blythe's gallant escort The
announcement regarding the DISPOSE
| tion OF the village guest on Thanks
| giving had so broken into the plans of
the good president that anna cement
and Indignation stilled her voice; but
! there was a heightened color in her
! cheeks. and the accelerated speed of
her needle told its own story.
The meeting adjourned al an earlier
hour than usual. much to the relief of
| he ladies. On the whole. the afternoon
had been an uncomfortable one.
! But Mrs. Parkinson did no, acknowl-
edge defeat. Early The following morn
| ing she ran in" 10 consult with Mrs.
Tracy. one of her stanch supporters.
| As a result of this conference the
Thanksgiving dance wasrostponed for
several days, and the doctor received
an invitation. which. however, he did
not accept. The young people on their
way to the party saw him walking
with rapid strides in the direction of
Deacon Blythe's; and il was known
that Miss Rebecca had new silk waist
and large knot of pink ribbon for her