The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1854-07-20

ly advisable to begin. He almost saw his way
as soon as fate or fortune should remove one O
two FOOLS he knew of, he really meant to begil
life in earnest. So the fences went down, ant
the thistles went up; tho orchard tree-top
grew tangled together for the want Of pruning
and the sheep gathered so many burrs as :,
render worthless tho wool, Martha said; 6,
what we required must be bought of our-neigh
bors. Small things these may appear, bu
they were sufficient for tho discomfort of
family
"There are women, and Mrs. Halstead wa
one, who enjoyed abroad high reputation fol
amisbiiity and Christian piety, whose hcme
are no sanctuaries of peace. There are per
sons and she Yves one, who can bestow vaguely
great amount of sympathy, bot who seldom
concentrate the smallest portion upon its i'm
mediate claimants
| remember, on one occasion, there was
donation party at the house of Parson Good
man, and such making and baking as went on
at home, for the previous day or two, | haG
never seen. Cakes, pies, butter, and custards
were prepared in the best manner, beside many
other things-I know that Hetty and anc
Doke were all required as basket-bearers.
"Parson Goodman met us at the door of the
parsonage, and, smiling benignly said, as ht
relieved us of the baskets IL we cast our bread
upon the waters, after many days it would re
turn | received the meaning Of the word:
but imperfectly; however, | betrayed no igno
rance, but Doke replied, boldly, 'if he had any
bread for to cast anywhere, he would cast il
into his mouth-there was where he would for
to cast it.
" AS we were turning away, loud maScu-
line voice called to US to wait q moment, and
looking round, we recognised the widow VIII
kinson, as she was called by her neighbors--a
shrewd, managing person, who was then lately
become the occupant Of cabin divided from
our house by a narrow strip of woodland, and
who supported herself and her daughter Lu-
cretia by doing that which her hand found
to do-sometimes nursing, sometimes by the
making of mems clothes or by knitting. She
always looked smart and tidy, and on this day
she appeared especially 80.
"Since Martha became Mrs Halstead, she
had not visited at our house; moreover, che
had refused to mako my fathers wedding pan
falcons, on the plea, to be sure, that che had
her hands full; but there were people who said
she had other reasons for refusing. know
not, but know she moro than once called my
father 'old Halstead,' after his marriage, and
that she had previously been moro polite. She
dressed in mourning apparel, not so much,
perhaps, for the late lamented Mr.. Wilkinson,
as to pay tribute of respect TO her widowed
state; and she often repeated, that she would
never take off her mourning, and never marry
again mo the best man in the universe
Doubtless she was perfectly sincere in the ex-
preston Of these sentiments nevertheless, she
wore her mourning in the most stylish fashion,
and affected the indiscriminste society of gen
tlemen more than most widows who take off
their mourning and profess no matrimonial
She was tailor than Martha,
and straighter, and stouter; but her face was
terribly freckled, and she wore her red hair in
great pufs along her checks in the fashion of
another generation.
If she had any private grief size manifested
no s. mptom of it on the dsy | speak Of but
shook hands with Martha aud though she
did not address her os A4re. Halassnti, r;.o-
called as her children, and inquired if our ia
Their were well.
How well you arc looking! exclaimed
Martha, cycling the big red puffs Of her friend,
and tho Grape frills on her sleeves.
$50, you arc go good,' replied the widow
Wilkinson but you look nicer in your plain
dress, and with your hair put back SO Quaker
Ike, than can DO, if try ever SO hard
martha wore her black hair c0mbed
straight away from her forehead-her dresses
in the plainest style, and the plainest possible
ribbon, crossed in the plainest fashion over her
bonnet She had probably seen her grand
mother so attired some time, and adopted the
costume, without consulting her style of beauty.
Many q time the widow Wilkinson bad
said Ma1ha was as plain as a pipe stem, and
many time Martha had said the widow
looked like airt; but as they cordially shook
hands, and congratulated each other on pretty
looks, it would not have been suspected.
"'And 80, Young ones, said the widow, after
che had closed the conference with our mother,
{ | have got to SOC you g. last and she esressed
Va as though the great aim of her life were ac-
complished-that is, she pulled us roughly by
the ears, and slapped our backs as mothers
sometimes do their choking babies. This was
her method Of showing fondness
"ln all that makes womsnhood, except
years, was child and every one called me
so, and treated me IS such. II was the con-
slant aim Of Martha to keep me in my place,
as she termed the restriction placed upon me,
not allowing me to wear fine leather shoes,
nor long dresses, nor my hair as young ladies
wore theirs. Charley was not alone in calling
me child.
III did not, at the time so well understand
the widows fondnesses as | now dO--for she
not only boxed my ears, but said | was grown
to great, gawky good. for-nothing; ard that
if were her child, | would SEQ pretty hard
times-all Of which, being interpreted, signifed
that found favsr in her eyes.
awe must not go home, she said--our
house was "a fool OF a place. compared with
hers--we must go there, and visit Lucretia-
and afterward come of evenings and visit her
again, and bring our brother. We said We
should like to go, for it was not often our priv.
ilege to visit our neighbors and Martha reply
ing that it was nothing to her where we went,
we accepted the invitation.
G'ThaRs right, Sass-boxes, replied the widow !;
trot along, but mind you don't tear the house
down, for / want you to come again aud Witt
brother
awe answered, wo should be very glad to
visit her Of evenings with our brother upon
which she inquired if VIC had not some new
neighbors, quite incidentally, as it appeared
1--WE had new neighbors, we replied where
upon she asked what kind of family they seem
cd to be, and especially if we had noticed any
women folks.
ave didn't know much about the new FAM
ily, but We had seen women folks going in and
out.
"Well,' said the widow, Il don't believe
they are connected with the owner of the white
house, for they say be is o widower, and has
one child that is sickly, and one of the women
is likely nurse, and one girl flor whore
we lived all hired women were called girls; j
and che added, Il expect either Of them would
be glad to inveigle him, if they could
awe did not know about the probabilities
whether Our new neighbor was likely to be
sinyeigIed' or not-and, after moments 81
lence, the widow exclaimed, compassionately,
Poor Henry Richards
Henry Richards was the name Of tho new
proprietor Of the white house, as she informed
US. Presently, she inquired if we knew how
old he was-and when we said VIC didn't
kaoxv bnvU old ba vyas sba asked if we had not