St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1911-02-01
WHITTAKER'S
PLACE
By JOSEPH C. LINCOLN


One winter there was to be a party
In Orham given by the Nickersons.
wealthy people with a ffteen-year-old
daughter 1t was to be a grand af-
fair, and most of the boys and girls in
the neighboring towns were, invited.
Cy received an invitation and. for a
wonder. was permitted TO attend The
Bayport contingent went over in a big
hayrick on runners. and the moonlight
ride was jolly enough. The Nickerson
mansion was crowded. and there were
music and dancing
Young Cy was miserable during the
dancing. He didn't dare attempt it
in spite of his lessons in the barn. So.
while the rest of his boy friends sought
partners for the Portland Fancy" and
"Rulrs Victory. he sat forlorn in a
corner
AS he sat there he was approached
by young lady radiant in muslin and
ribbons She was three or four years
older than he was, and he had wor-
SHIPPED her from afar as she whirled
up and down the line In the Virginia
reel She never lacked partners and
seemed to be a great favorite with the
young men. especially one good looking
chap with a sunburned face. who look
ed like a sailor
They were forming sets for Money
Musk" 1t was ladies choice" and
there was a demand for more couples.
The young lady came over to Cy's cor
ner and laughingly dropped him a
courtesy.
eff you please she said, "I want a
partner Will you do me the honor?"
Cy blushingly avowed that he could
not dance any to speak of.
ooh, yes. you can. I'm sure you can.
You're the Whitaker boy, aren't you?
I've heard about your barn lessons.
and 1 want you to try this with me.
Please do! No, John,' she added. turn
ing to the sunburned young fellow who
had followed her across the room,
''this is my choice, and here is my
partner. Susie Taylor is after you,
and you mustn't run away. Come. Mr.
Whitaker
So Cy took her arm, and they danced
money Musk" together. He made
but a few mistakes. and these she
none noticed. His success gave him
courage, and he essayed other dances.
In fact, he had a very good time at the
party after all.
On the way home he thought great
deal about the pretty young lady, whose
name he discovered was Emily Rich
ards. He decided that if she would
only wait for him he might like to
marry her when he grew up. But he
was thirteen, and she was seventeen,
and the very next year she married
John Thayer, the sailor in the blue
suit. And two years after that young
Cy ran away to be sailor himself
In spite of his age and his lifetime
of battering about the world, Captain
Cy had a sentimental streak in his
makeup. His regeneration of the old
home proved that. Betsy's letter in
terested him. He had made guarded
inquiries concerning Mary Thayer,
now Mary Thomas, of others besides
Asaph. and the answers had been sat
isfactory so far as they went. Those
who remembered her had liked her
very much. The captain had even
begun a letter to Mrs. Thomas, but
laid it aside unfinished. having since
Bailey's unfortunate experience with
the widow Beasley a prejudice against
experiments.
He meditated and smoked for an
other hour Then. his mind being
made up, he pulled down the desk lid
of the old fashioned secretary, resur-
rected from a pile of papers the note
he had begun to Mrs. Thomas, dipped
a sputtering pen into the ink bottle
and proceeded to write.
His letter was a short one and rather
noncommittal. AS Mrs. Thomas no
doubt knew, he had come back to live
in his fathers house at Bayport- He
might possibly need some one to keep
house for him. He understood that she.
Mary Thayer that was, was a good
housekeeper and that she was open
to an engagement if everything was
mutually satisfactory. He had known
her mother slightly when the latter
lived in Orham. He thought an inter
view might be pleasant, for they could
talk over. old times If nothing more
Perhaps. on the whole. she might care
to risk a trip to Bayport: therefore he
Enclosed money for her railroad fare.
You understand. of course" so he
wrote in conclusion. that nothing may
come of our meeting at all. So please
don't say a word to anybody when you
strike town. You've lived here your
self. and you know that three words
hove overheard in Bayport will dredge
up CAB enough to sink a dictionary
So just keep mum till the business is
| settled one way or the other"
| A week passed. and he heard moth
| ing; then three more days and still
| no word from the New Hampshire
widow. Meanwhile fresh layers of
| dust spread themselves over the Whit
taker furniture, and the gaudy pat
| terms of the carpets blushed dimly be-
meath grimy fog.
The eleventh day began with a pour
Ing rain that changed later on to a
/ dismal dFiZZlo The silver loaf troo in