The Melting of Molly

The Melting of Molly

The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Melting of Molly, by Maria
Thompson Daviess, Illustrated by R. M. Crosby
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Title: The Melting of Molly
Author: Maria Thompson Daviess
Release Date: May 12, 2005 [eBook #15817]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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THE MELTING OF MOLLY
by
MARIA THOMPSON DAVIESS
Author of Miss Selina Lue, The Road to Providence, Rose of Old
Harpeth, etc., etc.
Illustrated by R. M. Crosby
Indianapolis The Bobbs-Merrill Company Publishers
1912

[Illustration: Melted]

MOLLY CARTER AND I DEDICATE THIS BOOK TO OUR GOOD
FRIEND CAROL KING JENNEY

LEAVES FROM THE BOOK OF MOLLY
Leaf First THE BACHELOR'S-BUTTONS
Leaf Second A LOVE-LETTER, LOADED
Leaf Third MONUMENT OR TROUSSEAU?
Leaf Fourth SCATTERED JAM
Leaf Fifth BLUE ABSINTHE
Leaf Sixth THE RESURRECTION RAZOO
Leaf Seventh DASHED!
Leaf Eighth MELTED

LEAF FIRST
THE BACHELOR'S-BUTTONS
Yes, I truly think that in all the world there is nothing so dead as a
young widow's deceased husband, and God ought to give His wisest
man-angel special charge concerning looking after her and the devil at
the same time. They both need it! I don't know how all this is going to
end and I wish my mind wasn't in a kind of tingle. However, I'll do the
best I can and not hold myself at all responsible for myself, and then
who will there be to blame?
There are a great many kinds of good-feeling in this world, from
radiant joy down to perfect bliss, but this spring I have got an attack of

just old-fashioned happiness that looks as if it might become chronic.
I am so happy that I planted my garden all crooked, my eyes upon the
clouds with the birds sailing against them, and when I became
conscious I found wicked flaunting poppies sprouted right up against
the sweet modest clover-pinks, while the whole paper of
bachelor's-buttons was sowed over everything--which I immediately
began to dig right up again, blushing furiously to myself over the
trowel, and glad that I had caught myself before they grew up to laugh
in my face. However, I got that laugh anyway, and I might just as well
have left them, for Billy ran to the gate and called Doctor John to come
in and make Molly stop digging up his buttons. Billy claims everything
in this garden, and he thought they would grow up into the kind of
buttons you pop out of a gun.
"So you're digging up the bachelor-pops, Mrs. Molly?" the doctor
asked as he leaned over the gate. I went right on digging without
looking up at him. I couldn't look up because I was blushing still worse.
Sometimes I hate that man, and if he wasn't Billy's father I wouldn't
neighbor with him as I do. But somebody has to look after Billy.
I believe it will be a real relief to write down how I feel about him in
his old book and I shall do it whenever I can't stand him any longer,
and if he gave the horrid, red leather thing to me to make me miserable,
he can't do it; not this spring! I wish I dared burn it up and forget about
it, but I don't! This record on the first page is enough to reduce me--to
tears, and I wonder why it doesn't.
I weigh one hundred and sixty pounds, down in black and white, and it
is a tragedy! I don't believe that man at the grocery store is so very
reliable in his weights, though he had a very pleasant smile while he
was weighing me. Still I had better get some scales of my own, smiles
are so deceptive.
I am five feet three inches tall or short, whichever way one looks at me.
I thought I was taller, but I suppose I will have to believe my own
yardstick.
But as to my waist measure,