The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1907-11-15

S's''s''''s''t'Ss''s's
sT wonder unused Wilful Pansy,
the mill maiden, 'if he will notice
me?
And the most beautiful girl OF all
the thousands of female employees OF
the vast carpet works tossed, her pref
ty head and felt of her immense vam-
pire shaped back hair ribbons in an
arch sort of way as she bent over her
looms.
.They say" she went on musing,
despite the fact that the bare armed
and scar faced foreman was looking at
her disapprovingly from the nearby
doorway in which he stood framed in
all his ugliness-" they say that he IS
very handsome-like Greek god. Oh,
isn't that lovely-'like Greek god?
Now isn't that original. really Won
der, though, if it is original or wheth-
er made it up myself"
Pleased at her little fancy, the dain-
ty Pansy- dainty despite the fact her
shoes looked to be three sizes too large
for her and Topped around and ran
over the heels in way that was ex-
ceedingly notifying to the poor, sad
souled girl-the dainty Pansy, called
s.wilfur' by all of her companions at
the mill because of her pretty, pout-
ish ways, smiled to herself.
Handsome" she continued musing,
land they say, too, that he has been
hawbly dissipated abroad. Oh, these
gay, care free, debonair men-how lit
tie do they understand the souls OF
we women!" and she sighed little
sigh. .But he is so young-only "a
and they say that young men must
sow their wild oats. And yet, if girls
attempt to sow any wild oats"
And again the hapless mill girl,
saddened and sobered before her time
She was only IS, but both her father
and mother were village drunkards,
and were doing 80 days. bits in the
workhouse most of the tipe-again
she gave little sigh.
"Oh, it is foolish" she went on.
rejecting, after that last sigh, ito
suppose that he would deign to SO
much as cast his glance upon poor lit
tie Wilful Pansy, the loom girl. The
lovely girls with the fine clothes and
educated at Vassar and all like that,
up at the old manor house where he
will live with his people, they will at
tract all his attention, and he will new
er so much as see poor me-"
She dabbed at her eyes with her
cheap little handkerchief as realiza-
ton of the heaviness Of her life came
sweeping over her.
HE will be home tomorrow" she
went on saying to herself, .'and he
will be feted for days, and all of the
tenants of the old manor house will
go up there to do him honor; and he
will make his fine and pretty speech
es to the girls visiting his sisters up
yonder on the hill, and then-per-
haps not until two or three days have
passed will come down here to the
mill to take charge-and here I am
on in corner, put here a-purpose by
that mean old foreman, the hateful
thing, so that none of the many visit
ors who come here can so much as see
me at ALI and the downtrodden mill
girl, feeling the rebellion rising within
her pretty bosom, took on an air of
pputing that was exceedingly becom-
ing to her.
"And yet" she went on, after lit
tie while, "if he could only see me
well, they do say that / have pref
ty skin, and nice eyes, and that my fig
ger is as good as anybody's-if not
better-I wish could wear my straight
front corsets while working here at
the mill, but, of course. can't-and
l guess my hair is nice to look at,
even If it isn't marcel waved, and
but, how perfectly silly am! There
isn't chance in the whole wide world,
suppose, that the dear, handsome,
dissipated thing will so much as see
me, and here l am building castles in
Spain-but how beautiful them castles
are-how bee-yu-ti-ful!
The reader will have apprehended
long before this that our heroine, the
pretty. pouting Wilful Pansy, wac co.
gitating to herself over the expected
arrival home that day from the Uni
yersity Of Heidelberg, where he had