Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1906-12-13
Little Mary's
Bachelor Father.
BY CLARENCE @. cHFAnr.F

fAtN - tNhN NuWH from IL
neerschaum, and smiling al his con
panion, began;
You know me, Tom. You knos
blamed well that never was yer
tond OF children; as a rule bachelor
never are; and when fellow IN
me. without kith or kin. gets sue
letter as | received, WIZ, il nat
arally takes his breath away. He,
Is the precious pissiye itself.
simmons presented erumple
sheet Of paper from which he read
Dear Papa; want 10 Sc you s.
bad | can't wait no longer SO | an
coming 10 sc you tomorrow mite
Peas stay at home and will con
about I o'clok, With lots of lov. }
remain. Your little Mary.
How would you like to get some
thing like that, Tom, old bow
Wouldn't IL kind OF make your breatl
come short for a few seconds? Wei
| wonder! Sure, you'd stop to think
and more than that. you'd begin fic
uring what TO do with that kid whe,
she showed up to see her papa.
"Of course you'd think OF geltin
a detective TO look after her whel
she showed up. That's Just what !.
thought, but, then. detectives some
times have the habit Of telling thing
that the newspapers get hold OF, an
! had no relish for seeing a farm
headline proclaiming that: John
George Simmons Spurns His Bah,
daughter or any such. tell you.
did some pretty hard thinking.
Tom. you old numskull. certainly
thought OF going to see her and pre-.
vent her coming; but this was a wise
little girl. and she forgot to put her
address on the note.
"0h. your suggestions are all right,
Tom. but thought OF all Of them. But.
lers and babies don't mix well. and
you can imagine what a nice spec.
tacle IL would have been to have that
kid standing on my front step yelling:
1 want to see my papa and the but
Ter trying TO argue her out OF It,
Say. Tom. you know how a fellow
feels the morning after; well that
was me the day after got that note;
was simply yelling for help. And
the worst feature OF the whole bust.
ness was that | had invited a few
OF the boys up for a quiet game that
night-that tomorrow night in Mary 5
note.
well. by afternoon was most all
in. and the more | thought of il the
hotter | got; until | decided to go
ahead with that game, II all the kids
in town came tearing into the house
yelling Hello, papa, we've come TO
see you
When II got to be half-past seven
O'Clock and that kid had not shown
up, was about as near a crazy man
as ever want to be.
Later on the boys began coming.
and every time one OF them rang the
bell at the front door 1t was like pour
ing a pitcher of ice water down my
back. You know. a fellow can't tell
what woman win do. and it occurred
TO me that maybe Mary had decided
to call later.
Talk about troubled I'd got my
self in such a devil of state that
the boys took it up, and the way they
handled me during the evening was
nothing small.
when they had all gone, and |
finally went to bed, lay there hoping
and praying that as Mary had not
put in an appearance that night, she
never would; and easing myself with
that. | dropped off to sleep.
"Of course, heard from her again.
| Heard from her again-well, J
should say | did. The first thing
| that caught my eye when ! got to
| the Office next morning was lette-
addressed to me in that same big,
round, uncertain hand. Everything
of the past two days came rushing
back to me in that second, and, say,
! Tom. | guess the Office boy thought
ia gone cranky the way | grabbed
that letter and ducked, Once outside
and alone. | concluded to face the
worst and tore open the envelope.
Here It is:
"Dear Papa: | couldn't come last
mite becaus | was six. | am not well
vet and so. want you to come and Sc
me. Hoping to Sc you tonite, | am,
Your little Mary.
'''No. 7S6 Blank St
"Yes. and down here in the corner
she had a bunch OF crosses and the
information that they represented
kisses for me.
"Tom. did | go? OF course | did.
made up my mind to say some
things that a gentleman ought really
not say to a lady: but, then, IA
Their has some privileges, and | pro
posed to teach this unknown daugh-
ter of mine something before | got
through with her.
"Old pal, have you ever, as BOY
been promised that you could &c
somewhere-some place that you had
always wanted to go to-and yot
could hardly wait until the time had
come to start? That's just how | fell
about that kid.
1,,'t