Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1907-10-04
THE LOVE OF PEGGY ANN

Few who talked with Bonle called him
smart. The folks at Ponyquag fixed mis-
mental qualifications by the use of the
word short
But then they would add with a sig
nificance that covered many short COM
ings:
But he does love Peggy Ann"
Anyone who had watched the two. as
they went about the little hut of a house
they lived in down close by the beach
at Ponyquag, would know that this ex-
pressed just the exact relation which eX-
listed between Bone and his sister. 1t
was the love of a great animal for the
offspring Of his own body. You have seen
1t in the dog. 1t always touches the
heart Of a man, wherever 1t is seen: for
1t has something so deep, so trusting. so
abiding that we feel that here is a love
passing the love of mortal man.
Peggy Ann was worthy 20 be loved by
her stout-limbed brother. In her face
nature had set a rare beauty. That al
ways attracts And then, Peggy Ann
needed such love as he could give Once
there had been a mother, but after the
sea licked up the little fishing boat in
which her husband had for so many years
gained the living for his wife and the
two children God had given them and
swallowed it at one great gulp of its
greedy throat. somehow the sunshine
went out Of the poor home. and she too,
slipped away in year or two And then
Peggy Ann like a delicate vine torn from
its place on the trunk OF a great tree,
began to wilt and trail on the ground
As Bone watched this slow fading away,
he realized that something terrible Law
ahead of him; and he took his sister in
arms. both figuratively and literally. and
carried her there so tenderly and so faith
FUZZY that there came day when the
blossoms came back into her cheeks and
10 q n TIT, Il.
II may have been this sunshine that
made Peggy so attractive to John Layton.
! do not know 1t seems hard sometimes
to tell just what it H. about a woman that
gets hold of mans heart as she did of
his. From the first moment when he
saw her he knew that there was no other
woman in the world for him except her:
there never could be; and there was no
use trying to get away from her.
At first John tried to poke fun at him
self for losing his heart to this simple
girl of the fishing coast
What in time is the matter with me?
never felt like this before In all my
life! l have seen a million pairs of eyes
before, and a thousand girls back yon-
der are ready to give their lives for me"
In this way you catch the Unborn ego
tism of the heart of man. But John
meant It. He knew it was So and when
a thing is so. what is the use of mincing
ting on in the world first rate, and wo-
men are not fools when it comes to
things of that kind.
1T must be that the air down here
is not doing me the good 1t ought to-"
And he took a dose Of physic and paid
more attention to the morning strolls on
the beach. 1t was the worst thing he
could have done; for every time he went
that way he came face to face with
Peggy Ann. l do not believe he chose any
particula" hour because ne knew that this
would be the hour when she would be
most likely to be on the beach. John
would have resented this statement II II
had been made to him. / only state the
fact. Conclusions follow of their own ac-
cord.
But it came about just as if the hand
of fate had been in it. John Layton
lost his heart completely; and that sweet
| fishermaid was worthy of the treasure he
gave to her l wonder II there is anyone
who will not say that a pure, tTue-hear
ed woman, no matter whether she live
in town or desert, is worthy of the best
the heart of man can give? Pride does
not count much, either, when a man
comes face to face with a woman like
that
You can get some things from books.
but you can't learn the secret of a true
heart that way"
You can see what John was thinking
about. In pursuit of that thought he
set about educating Peggy Ann along
some lines that he knew she would need
to know in days to come. He brought
her books. He helped her to get the best
thoughts out of them. He hung the walls
of the cabin full of pictures. II she knew
what lay beyond all this she never let
John know It,
But there was one person whose eyes
did see beyond the simple counting Of
John Layton; and as he saw his heart
grew wild with passion.
Hes got to get out of here, or I'll"
Bonies fist drew down hard against
his palm. He shook that hand OF iron
across the stretch of sea which lay be-
tween HIS boat and the spot on the rock
at the head of the bay upon which he
| could catch the fiutter Of a white dress
| and the simmer OF cloud OF sunlit
hair rising and falling in the wind. He
knew that that other speck just beside
| her-so close that 1t almost seemed like
part Of her-was the man who was
stealing away the very heart OF his
heart.
What does ne want Of her? I'll make
him tell me that! And when he has told
me, I'll fling him so far into the sea that
he never will get backv"
And that is what Bonie fully intended
| to do the day when he met John alone
| not far from the rock that had been the
trysting place of the two. It must be
that he had been watching for John, for
when he first caught sight OF him from
his hiding place, Bonie gave a bound
that made one think OF a tiger and whls-
pered all to himself:
Now I have got him! I'll do II, as
sure as fate"
And the moment he had crept up near
enough to John. he caught him by the
shoulder from behind with a grip that
made it black and blue for three days.
"Bonie, man, what a start you gave
mel! he gasped, whirlng quickly so that
he could look in the red eyes OF the man
who had grappled him. II did not know
you were anywhere near here"
well, / be here sir; an I'm goin' to
stay here till I find out a thing or two.
Get yourself ready to tell me the truth,
If we ever did in your life! An If we lie
to me"
John laughed little at the expulsive
power the giant fisherman was putting
into his words, It was not the laugh OF
ridicule. Bonie knew that If it had been
that he would have hurled John Layton
from him as a cat would a mouse.
Lie to you, Bonie, man? Why should