Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1845-1854, 1853-11-09
:, :, From Gieas6n,g Pictorial = -
t,....!fqE11{E3. EI'lIth. O(B5D]t..:C(ORPORAL.

..ssaffHf1Ga LII LII UbDsGURPURAL,
.ssIfia i:saa1y mrs. s. Vwrnra1mosr. i ELL
"You shall be rich, dear, arter I'm gone; you re
4 good girl, Winnie, darlin'!'' And the little
wheezy old man doubled up, as Winnie shook his
spiilow, and went about the pleasant room ssset-
zsing il to.ffghts.a a'sa.-A $50 ,@ss2'
"Dust him kerfu', kerfu, Winnie he contin-
ned. half tarnpggs hiasqueer little head, as the
pretty girl wound her dusting cloth round the neck
of stuffed image, "and think jest much of him
arter your old grandfer's gone you do ofme;
there ain't.no friend SO true as him. s~-. i
Except me, granfer," said Winnie, her sml e
Frightening the withered old face that raised
fondly to her.
"Bless your mothers blue eyes, he answered,
'syes but mean kof my own kind. He don't
trouble me with clatterin'--he neither eats my
bread nor borrows my money. He dontwish me
well with his tongue, and my old bones in the
dust with his heart I'm a strange old man, Win
ME, as mdyhaps everybody thinks. But let your
grandfer alone for knowing the valy of friend
like him. H15ts 2as
-apWinniescast a furitive glance at at the mock
cry of manhood, and laughed, as she had hun
dred times, to see the. whimsical oddty, done up,
in rags aadthe wreck of a uniform that had once
been the pride of her old grandfather when parade
day came. For then, in all the glory of corporal,
he marched to the soul inspiring drum and the
cracked fife, that made dubious music for the
tone-hedgezLght Infantry
Catching the glance of her grandfather, she
,ot;o,J nocnI;ar, f.,;nLlo that ,y,c mt DlauS
anf.snd yet it puzzled her sometimes, it seemed
SO very seunning. But Winnie was too thought
less and ight-hearted to for anything of that
kind She was willing to humor all her grand
fathers strange little ways; SO every day she
carefully cleaned the old uniform, bursting into
tatters at the knees and elbows, and in which the
aged veteran, now nigh to a hundred years, seem
ed to centre al! his pride.
Winnie Winter was beautiful-beautiful with
soul beauty. Winnie was rustic belle-gentle-
hearted nohle-minded, and seventeen. For five
years she had been an orptan,and for nearey that
time she had had two suitors fer her hand, first
school-boys, then as promising robust young men
One was Hal West, the son fthe village school
naster-frank, roguish, handsome and-poor.-
The other Rodney Barker, dark, dignifed ii
manner, sufficiently good-looking. and wthal the
heir of the richest man in Stonehedge or for fifty
miles round. a. --~'
Which did Winnie Winter love Why. to bs
sure, the sunny Hal, whose open heart might b'
read clearly in the undropping hazel eye; who il
known and priced in the village as the king of dar
ingSand the "noblest Roman of them ALL" Ha
and Rodney hated each other. | am wrong; Rod
Aod oil tho al tC win
prize, could afford to be magnanimous But
quite set pretty Winnie trembling, when some
times, as she stood breaking the crisp leaves from
the woodbine, and coquetting little with Hal,.t
see Rodney approaching, for his eyes were Sc
on his rival, sharp as .daggers; and by the mo
ton of his teeth, it seemed as if he were grinding
them.
One morning, the old grandfather called Win
ME to his bedside. t'I can't last long, now," h
said, with failing breath; and his tone and man
ner made Winnie weep. 81 feel" he continued
''as if old grandfer's going from his poor littl
one, SO Winnie make haste and get HUSBAND
child, for T. don want to leave you alone in tn
world. And Winnie, p he repeated, with empha
sis, stake care of my little corporal. l chars
you, child, let it stay just where it is and unles
hOSS
don't touch him. Now, Winnie, I charge ye re
member an old mans dying words
Day after day did Winnie watch after that b
the old mans bedside till he died. Nor did tt
possession of the house, which fell to her after
decease, nor q small purse containing few hui
dred dollars, console her much. She mournt
long and sincerely, for the old grandfather hi
beer, all the father to her she had ever known.
It.m,ght have been six. months he had slept
his gresS grave, and Winnie was regaining h
lost roses, and her accustomed vivaety. Hal hi
beenvery constant in his attentons--as consta
as heawell could be, for he was now employed
old Squire Barker in experimenting the erectit
of large, new building, which was going up
the suburbs. Hal, considering his youth, was e
trenely capable, aed this the first time he h
beenaentrusted~ with a job SO valuable. Much
pended on it; indeed, all the business of his