The weekly mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado County, Calif.) 1861-1862, 1862-11-22

bed out of her eyes the pattern Of wid-
0w's bonnet that had been submitted to
her in her sleep. She took care, hOwev-
er, to give the fowls liver at dinner to the
doomed man, considering that when he
was dead and gone, she could have them,
KS. she pleas5d, seven days in the week !;
and the farmer, on his part, took care to
help her to many tidbits. Their feeling
toward each other was that Of an imra,
tient host with regard to an unweIcomc
guest, showing scarcely bare civility
while in expectation Of his stay, but over
loading him with hospitality, when made
certain Of his departure.
In this manner they went on for some
six months, and though without any ad-
dition of love between them, and as much
sclfishnesS as ever, yet living in sub
servicnce to the comforts and inclinatious
Of each other, sy,In|JjDorS not TO be found
even amongst couples Of sinccrcr affec
fP''sy 22ts-@> rsessn DC -Dl3Dy sraUSes for
quarrelS as ever, but every n6y 1t-oecunc
less worth while 10 quarrel; so letting
by-goncs be by cones, they were inditItr-
ent t o the present, and thought only Of
the Guture, considering each other, to
adopt common phrase, as good as dead.
Ten months wore away, and the farmer s
| birth day arrived III its turn. The dame,
who had passed an uncomfortable night,
having dreamed, in truth, that she did
not much like herself in mourning, salu-
ted him as soon as the day dawned, and
wished him mary years to come. The
! farmer repaid her in kind, the sigh inclu-
| drI ; his own visions having been of the
painful sort, for he dreamed Of having n
headache from wearing black hat band,
and the malady still clung to him when
awake. The whole morning was spent
in silent meditation and melancholy on
both Sides and when dinner came, al.
! though the most favorable dishes were on
! the table, 'thcv could not cat. The farm
cr, resting his elbow upon the board, with
his face between his hands, gazed visit
/ fully on his wife scooping her eyes, as
it were, out Of their sockets, stripping the
flesh of her checks, and in fancy convert
ing her whole head into q mere Caput
MOrtuum. The dame, leaning back in
her high armchair, regarded the ycoman
quite as rucfully-by the same process OF
Imagination picking his sturdy bones,
and bleaching his ruddy visagc to the
complexion of plaster cast. Their minds,
travelling in the same direction, and at an
equal rate, arrived together at the sanc
reflection bat the farmer was the first
to give it utterancc:
'Thoe'd be missed, danc, If thee were
to die"
The dame started. Although she had
nothing but death at the same time be-
fore her eyes. She was tHi from dreaming
Of her own exit, ami, at this rebound Of
her Thoughts against herself she felt as il
an cXtraf6id cotiin-plate had been sud.
denly nailed on her chest; recovering
however, from the first shock, her
thoughts flowed into their old channel,
and she rctortrd in the same spirit:
Il wish, master, thee may live SO long
as !"
The farmer, in his own mind, wished
TO live rather lnngcr; for, at the utmost,
he considered that his wife's bill of NOR.
taiity had but two months to run. The
calculation made him sorrowful /; during
tic last few months she had consulted
his appetite, bent to his humnr, aud dove.
tailed her own inclnations into his, in q
manner never to be supplied; and he
thought of her, if not in the language, al
least in the spirit, of the lady in Llla
uoG!.l