Year: 1874







Captain John Jones owned and sailed
the Mary Ann. Captain Jones had COM
menced life with nothing but strong
frame, a stout heart. and immense deter
mination and these had borne fruit, and
now. after many years of hard labor he
had his reward. Heowned and command
ed the two Mary Anns-one of the best of
wives, the other the finest boat on the line
of the canal. For like sensible man, he
had married sensible woman, and as q
mark of his appreciation of her sterling
qualities, he had named his chief posses
sion after her. And, besides wife and
boat, he had as bright and pretty daugh-
ter as ever gladdened the heart of par
ent. c


If he ever had an uneasy thought it was
in regard to his daughter Dolly. Dolly
was the light of his eye and the pride Of
his heart; and well she might be, tor there
were few pleasanter things to look upon
than Dolly Jones. She had bright eyes,
and little roguish. rosebud mouth, and
great. t.masses of brown, waving hair, and
cheeks like peaches with dimples in them;
her form was round and plump and per-
feet as partridge's and as musical, and
her heart as light as any birds; and she
had, withal. a bright, impulsive, loving
way about her that was quite impossible
to resist. Though born and reared on the
boat, she had been there but little for the
last three years. but was away at school
in the village where the Mary Ann ..laid
up" in the winter For John and his wife
not having much "book-learning. !" as they
called it, themselves, were resolved TO
make up for it in Dolly's education and
as she was quick and bright, she had long
ago been able to astonish the good couple
with her fund of erudition.


1t was vacation now, and Dolly had
come on a visit, and was going to the city
with her parents to get a supply of new
dresses, and hats and ribbons: for Dolly
liked 10 look pretty and be in the fashion,
and the old captain was so proud of her
that, saving and economical as he was,
on his own account, he never dreamed OF
that She incurred


The only other persons attached to the
Mary Ann were the boy who drove and
Joe-the latter youth, who, like his mas
ter, the captain, had risen in life from the
very humblest beginnings.


Half dozen years before a barefoOted





mense pair of old trowsers that almost
swallowed him up, they were so large and
he so little, had applied to the captain for
work. and after good deal of cross-ques-
tioning, had been taken on trial as the
driver of the Mary AIMS mules This
was Joe; and Joe had driven so we'll, and
shown him self so quick and bright, and
good-natured withal. that at the end of the
season. instead of turning him adrift to
shift for himself, as is customary in such
cases. the captain took him home to his
house, and sent him to school during the
winter with Dolly. s-of#


The next summer Joe proved himself
still more useful, and in the winter again
went to school with the captains daughter.
She had been longest in attendance, and
was the most advanced, and often bent her
help him out of some knotty problem in
arithmetic or grammer; and in return he
carried her satchel of books for her. helped
her on with her overshoes, and over the
snow-dIifts, and was devoted cavalier in
hundred other ways. So it went on un-
til Dolly was promoted from the public
and henceforth Joe had to do his ciphering
alone, and Dolly had grown such little
beauty that she had many beside Joe to
carry her books for her.


In the mean time each summer so adj
vanced the latter in the art of canal navi-
CATION that he had become the captains
right-hand man, and was, in fact, almost
indispensable to him and the Mary Ann.
AS his knowledge and efficiency became
known he had many offers of other places,
with larger wages and better pros
poets, but he refused them all. Whether
his determination to stick by the Mary
Ann was due alone to his regard for her
sturdy old owner we may well doubt.
Certain it is that the bright eyes and red
pouting lips of Dolly Jones often troubles
poor Joe's dreams. We say troubled, for
Joe looked upon his love as something al
together helpless. Dolly was so bright
and handsome that she had troops of adj
mirers; and. more than this, she was his
masters only daughter, and heiress not
only to the Mary Ann, but TO little for
tune besides laid away safely in the saw
while he was a mere depend
ent. He only saw her at rare intervals
now and then, usually accompanied by
some smart young clerk. or other stricken
youth from the village; and she had
STOWu 81 tai anu WOtlduly, anu WOiC
such pretty dresses and bright scarfs and
jaunty hats, and was altogether so be-
witching and lovely, that Joe was sure the
whole world did not contain such another
beautiful being.


Dolly's going with them, therefore, was
a great treat to Joe. And so soon as il
was decided upon he set to work and tore
down the old sail cloth that had been
good enough until then. and out of his lit
tie savings bought and put up a gay bright
colored awning over all the after part OF
the boat, and re-arranged the cabin, and
and festooned it with evergreeps
and flowers, and in dozen other ways so
beautified and adorned the Mary Ann that
she looked more like bridal bark than q
sober craft laden with freight for tue Al.
bany market. Her little after cabin was
wonderful example of the amount o.
comfort and convenience that can be
crowded into the smallest space. II had
two tiny staterooms opening into II. and
was surrounded with innumerable drawers
and closets, and was in all respects as
neat and bright and dainty as possible.
All Joe's labor was expended here, Tor