Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1860-08-03

/ Ho'' ~ 10 SbaIley ring. lie Will,
probably, tell you love story that you
will prefer to NINE The bachelor looked
up-he had been talking to himself. He
was alone, and had been so since the first
touch of the door-bell "Wen, weH." he
murmured, 1T must be so. May God
grant that all goes well with her" He
piled more coal into the crate, resumed his
easy chair, and, with 1t, his thoughts of the
long ago, the village-school, the beautiful
Oswegatchie, and his happier days.
A. D. II.
GoDLL SHOW ME TIE WAY.
Yes sir, said the man, running his hand
through his shaggy locks, his harsh face
showing marks of unusual intelligence,
mining in this region IS hard life, but
think we've all been better since little
Pinky went away.
And who was little Pinky? asked the
gentleman, while the dark eyes of the la
dy by his side sparkled in anticipation of a
story ~.
Well, you see, it be something of tell !;
and If ye'd move farther On in the shade of
the old oak yonder, it'll mayhap be pleas
anter for the young miss, for the sun be
hot.
The lady and gentleman followed the
brown and weatherbeaten man to the cool
shadow of the oak, and finding seat for
the young lady on convenient root that
came squarely up from the ground, the
miner began with his usual preface:
You see Pinky were the son of Jesse
Pinkham, young man and regular good
one, as the saying goes. / reckon Pink
ham was the only man of US as ever said
the Lords prayer, or any other prayer
He was nice young fellow, that's fact
But we're rude set, sir, we of the mines,
and specially in this place: we didn't like
any thing that's what we call pious Sun
day, sir, used to be regular-well, might
say, DEVILS day, with us. 1t was nothing
but drinking and dancing, pitching. and
cards. and swearing.
Well sir, you see,-Jesse he got marri-
ed to regular lady-like girl, sir, and it
turned out pious one They didn't none
Of 'enl-that is, Pinkham, his wife and old
mother-jine us in our merry-makings on
Sabbath, but sometime the young man
and Bessy = that's his wife, sir-would
walk FIVE miles to hear parson preach
We was all down upon Jesse, sir-you see
the real thing was, he had made us asham-
ed Of ourselves by his goodnes, and | was
worse than the rest, trying my best all the
time to pick quarrel with him. Well,
sir, one Saturday night, what did we see
but notice stuck up on this very tree,
that there'd be parson from Frankstown
on the morrow, to preach to US. We didn' t
like the news, and we knew pretty well
where the move came from cause, you
see, we knew Jesse was pious. So we de-
termlned the most OF US, that we wouldn't
have any psalm-singing-no canting prayer
no reading out of the bible. BE- .,-..
Well, the minister came, and he found a
Babel. We all got together, and we raw
ed, and laughed, and pitched quoits, and
made such noise that the parson had to
give it up. He tried agin and agin, and
came right among us-he was plncky, I
tell ye-but We hooted in his ears, and
threw mud on his bettermost clothes, and
SO he was fairly driven off cause, you see,
we had liquor enough in us to set us all
crazy.
Poor Jesse how We ieered him after
that . but he bore it meek, sir, and ] was
often ashamed of myself, though I'd died
afore I'd confessed it. But | am sorry
enough for my part of it; for one day
there came rumbling, heavy noise, shak-
ing the earth, and then crash like rafting
thunder beneath our feet, and we knew
that somebody was buried alive. 1t was
in the working shaft where Jesse was, and
there didn't happen to be a soul in the
place, excepting him, poor fellow They'd
all gone into another shaft, where he didn't
like to follow 'em, cause they were such
wicked set; and as they were eating their
dinner and he his, the accident happened.
We dug him out, sir. He was awful
crusbed-all but his face-that looked
smiling and peaceful like, and we couldn't
bear the sight it made US think how we'd
a-tleated him. So we carried him home
to Bessy She didn't cry and take on, as
most the mems wives do when an accident
happens, but it were awful to see how still
and white she were Awful sir, and l
never want to see sight like it agin.
We all felt bad-for poor Jesse hadn't
never said hard word to one of us, and
he'd borne many an insult. 5rr.. a-
We couldn't see through it when he
were living, but used to call him weak
headed and tame coyey and as he lay
there in his coffin there came different
feeling over me, sir, you may depend upon
it. Oh if I'd heard then to the lesson
that telling of me, if I'd only listened to
the voice of God, speaking, as it were, from
the lips of that crushed dead body, I'd sa-
vel myself many days suferin --many
an hours torment. But didn't.
We all walked to the grave, and tell
ye it touched even hard fellows like US, to
see that young widder with her little child
in her arms, foller close to the coffin, never
crying, only holding her head down as ifit
were too heavy bowed with her sorrow to
keep it up.
Well, we had talk at the grave by the
same parson as we'd treated so badly. |
don't know what his good words would a
done in after days, if hadn't been a leader
in wickodness, a hater of pious people and
everything that had to do with religion-a
wicked, swearing, worthless sinner | say
it to my shame, | don't boast, sir-God
forbid. / wish could shut out of nv
thoughts all the years of my life that | ain t
I Z. d. ,l1