BIDDY AND MISS DOTTZ.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 706, 27 August 1870, Page 3

BIDDY AND MISS DOTTZ.

i Miss Dottz waa a middle-aged lady, who ■ had the reputation of being very clever. She ! had ample pecuniary means, and was making - a tour of the Australian colonies for the I avowed purpose of gathering material for a ; book of travels which she intended to publish > on her return to London ; not so much with an eye to profit as for the eclat of authorship. ; She had lodged for some months in the same house with Ben Goldstone, and through him i she was introduced to the Stubbles, and api peared to take quite a lively interest in the 5 family. She had a happy way of making i herself at home wherever she went ; and was, , upon the whole, an agreeable companion, for I she was very well informed, and had a plea- , sant communicative manner. Her unrer served use of a note-book sometimes made r casual acquaintances dread that she was taking their portraits to embellish her forth- • coming volume ; but it is only fair to say - that she was too well-bred to be guilty of such rudeness, and no one who really knew ' her was. afraid of such a thing. She was i 'generally on the gui vive for any little bits of i useful information, or amusing incidents, i which nobody could reasonably object to her i appropriating ; but it would have been in better taste had she kept her suspiciouslooking note book out of sight, and then even : strangers would, have enjoyed her cheerful ; society. . Miss Dottz had been invited to tea that evening,.. and it occurred to her ) that she might take her tatting-bag and go an hour or two earlier, for the

sake of a little pleasant gossip with Mrs and Miss Stubble, who, she knew, would be glad to see her. As I have before stated, Biddy Flynn had a great repugnance to answering questions respecting her earlier history ; moreover, she had a settled idea that Miss Dottz was going to put her into her new book, for whioh honoured position Biddy was not at all ambitious. She was, therefore, particularly taciturn when that lady was present, and usually returned evasive answers to inquiries when they directly referred to her own affairs. Biddy showed Miss Dottz into the drawingroom, and was about to retire directly, when that lady detained her by asking a few questions respecting the health of the family. " They're all hearty enow, ma'am, thank God," replied Biddy, shuffling towards the door. " And pray, how long have you been in this colony ? " asked Mis 3 Dottz, with a persuasive smile. S " Close up thirty years, ma'am." " Thirty years 1 Bless me, that is a long time. You must have been a mere girl when you came." " That's thrue for ye, ma'am." " Did ye come with your parents, Biddy? " " I did not, ma'am." ' Came here all alone, did you ? " " Shure, thin, I didn't do that naythir, for there was lots ov gals came in the same ship wid me. But iv ye won't be aizy till ye know all about it, whisht till I tell it yez. I was sent here a prisoner, same as hundreds of betther galls nor meself wor in them unlucky days." " Uear, dear me I sent here as a prisoner, were you ? Poor thing ! What a sad blow it must have been for your parents." " It was worser for meself, ma'am, a pritty dale." " Yes, yes ; I daresay it was indeed. May I ask you why you were sent here so young, Biddy ? I feel interested in you, and that is why I put the question ; but perhaps you don't like to answer it." " I'll tell ye all about it, an' more too, ma'am; so git ready yer pocket-book, an' dot it all down cleverly. Thiß was it, ma'am, wid respect to yez. I was mortial hungry ene day as I was tramping through one of the back slums ov Dublin, looking for tater palms, an' I seed a purty little boy sittin' on a door-step, nursin' a kitten. I was innocently goin' to take the pussy from him, to ate it up quietly, widout killin' it, but whin I took hold ov the little boy's arm, it felt so nice and tender; so I did— shure, I cudn't help it, ma'am ; hunger is a savage feelin' " — " Mercy me 1 do you really mean to say you bit it off ?" "Hold on a bit, ma'am; don't ys be so awfully skeered; see, I saved the bone — ha, ha ! Here it is, ma'am," added Biddy, taking from her pocket an old-fashioned ivory needle-case, and offering it to the old lady; " ye shall have it for a kape-sake, as ye're so mighty fond ov me, ma'am." " TJgh I Yah ! Get away from me, you dreadful creature 1" shrieked Miss Dottz. " Arrah ! take that wid yer. Go an' print that in yer new book, ye pryin' ould pen-an'-ink monger," muttered Biddy, as she hurried down to the kitchen. " Oh, dear me ! Miss Stubble. I have just had such a terrible shock to my nerves 1 Do get me a glass of water, love I" gasped Miss Dottz, when Maggie entered the drawingroom a few minutes afterwards. " Whatever is the matter, Miss Dottz ? You are looking as pale as death. What has alarmed you ?" " Oh, mercy me 1 that wicked old servant of yours has given me such a turn. She has got a little boy's bone in her pocket, and " — " A little boy's what ?" exclaimed Maggie; then suddenly surmising that Biddy had been practising some of her comical freaks on the literary lady, she burst out laughing, which further shocked Miss Dottz's sensitive system. "I humbly beg pardon," said Maggie, handing Miss Dottz a glass of water. " But I could not help laughing at the idea of your being so much afraid of poor Biddy, who is the kindest old soul in the world. lam sure she would not hurt a cat." '• Why, she told me only a few minutes ago that she was once going to actually eat a live kitten; and, oh, it's too horrible to repeat] what she said beside 1 I was nearly s wooning when you came into the room." " Ha, ha, ha," laughed Maggie again. " Pray excuse me, Miss Dottz; I am ashamed of my rudeness. I think this is the explanation of Biddy's strange conduct. She has a silly idea that you intend to introduce her in your book of adventures, and she is afraid of you on that account. Though she is a crotchety old creature, and sometimes says the most extrordinary things, she is as goodnatured, honest a soul as ever lived; and I am sure you would like her if you knew her better." The explanation seemed to revive Mias Dottz a little; but it was some time before she resumed her usual vivacity; nor did she seem to make rapid progress towards liking Biddy very strongly, for whenever she entered the room during tbe evening Miss Dottz eyed her as suspiciously as she would have eyed a mad dog without a muzzle.