Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1857-07-24

| Mother knew, by sal experience, the con
sequence of bcncvolcnco to tho corpor-col-
orcl vagabonds She knew that after they
were asleep, Pcol, if hc rcmaincd would
| open the door to some Of his brethren. who
! were always lounging about the groceries
and usually more or less intoxicatcd. They
would fight. making night hideous with
| their grun's, wells and curses twisting
| their hands into the unshorn lock of hair
upon each others heads. thov would crack
| the ycrtcbru with Il sound that could he
| heard some distnncc-a horrible. ludicrous
performance. She remembered that the
snow in our yard, as in those Of our neigh
bors, bad often been hard-prcsscd hy the
rolling scunlrs of these srrccciing scrcnad-
crs while people within were passing Il
wrctrhcd night She well know the dan
g,r of offending them and arousins their
revenge.
While deciding upon her course, mother
was stirring the hot cmbcrs, and drawing
them to the mouth Of the oven with the
long handled iron shovel. Peol stood at
her left hand ntdrly half way from tine
oven to the door where hc had entered, and
which remained open. His face was turn
ed towards her as if waiting her answer.
Her decision being made, she said firmly
'Peol, | cannot and will not let YOU stay
n
Instantly he pared his knife. 1t glitter
ed hrt nnt :, torrii,v ns RI. ,,;rsad rror,
IL ,ht tlut shot ant rrI,n un.l.r tbn -L',...,,,.
br1,y ol its n,,r,,,,l ,,ynnr
,It il war tim. ha ,,r,,yl,d Il v,uld
scaln Won for n ninnnnnrc -
The instant the knife flashed in the fire
LIGHT. mother. with n dext,rous movement
drew out theired hot shovel. rull or ,,lnw
int Goals. and withuut mnvinr a ston sud
d,,nIv synn,, il rlosn unJnr hi rIin c,Ilin,
out
Run peol or will nut them i'm YOUR
bosom will burn YOU to death
lie hcsitated and stcppcd back. She
followed. lie could not touch the shovel
without being burned 1t was useless to
dodge. for he had watched from infancy the
little, swaying lulm before him slender
and graceful, but tough as white oak sap
ling-his equal in agility, If not in strength
lie knew the power and PASSIONS in that
light form. which now made her eyes glow
and sparkle almost like the burning Goals
before him,
lie wavercd moment. and syrang into
the entry. In the same instant the shovel
and its contents flew into the fire place, and
mother, brnced against the door, was hold
ing the savage at bay alone, pressing down
'ne t'tc!l VITA p"'h hahuS' itESy' WIN
IuI'H w. 'tuS,l' d I'rh from 'nG ln'l',
H'" u''I" IL oNri '''c i''c"' Mo'n'r u'lU
1t while Peggy placed her stout shoulder
against the door
roarruIIv Lnt tho dNor ,yis tr"a ",'' =, ;t1
,rnst
silence re,,ncd vit,,i, Fr,,k ,,,.
asleep in the cradle Nnnie. t,o lrI~htenrd
to crv, and |. with ewes vida onrn WAS
WATCHING to see how il ,y,miJ c,J
Mother whispered to prrry
spoke Pcol ran out Of doors to Il window
that was fastened. Mother had been
hoping Tor this. and drawing the fork. she
darted into the entry and bolted the out
side door. lier castle was barely secured,
when back came the Indian, Desperately
furious at finding himself loll-d.
Mother returned to the kitchen, and
poured pail of water on the fire Peggy
| al tip Sntun titnn blsu aut tbp lrrup and