Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1862-01-03
'RIDAY, JANUARY 8. 1862

bat by the rvsd side. Win doks wortby OF
their pruw-.s--for small dogs excited only
ihsir contempt, which TO tho keen ohservsr
Of canine nature. wss Of the most wisher.
lag description. AL this gave poetic ~.
pcc,. life and ssisty TO the road then.
which have disappeared before the locouo-
tive whistle aud the canal bost horn Of To-
day.
had been left with Mary and her grand.
mother. sn old woman Of eighty. and Mary's
little brother, aged three. There was no
work in the mill Tor mo To do. szccp, TO
pack some three hundred pounds Of powder
in kess for . psiehborine quarry owner,
who wss to call for u that afternoon. Thi.
had completed. aud then pror-ded To
patch Oh, mill roof. the shingles Of which
had become rotten and let In the rain. Il
uss about thres 10 the sf,ernoon-l had
been working away. In an absorbed manner.
90 that ! hsd hardly n,hced any ebangs in
the aspect Of the .ty. and % h.sh Of light.
ming came followed BY few drop Of rain,
I vac . i'itle surprised. but did not hurry
nys'li very much to get to the other end
oi the rooi, where my ladder Was, the n
ccnt being from the ot.'ds-~bsa . more
vivid e.'h and . sharp quick crash followed,
aud knew no moro.
The rect oi the story VI courss eomes
from nv wife.
when che heard tho r,por, and saw the
Cash. shc started up and lojt.d toward the
mlIl. Expecting my return. hut no, ling
the. ihouch hsd taken reiugs in ih. mil =.
Tie lightning 40. cell playing Gsrc"ly, and
might strike u, aud there ~rrr three hun.
drrd p,unis oi po~d'r tb'r She knew
/ that the lightning had struck .,tncwhrrr.
nat rhcr. w,r. ~ .,gns ,i.lbls as l., the pre-.
ei'e 'pn'. and /, I. ea.y Ia he mistaken in
regard to electrical ph-oo@s"s. The crash
s,mr,'rne' '-cms at your very ieei. when
the auid has taken eject qusr.sr oi a mile
or even farther. Bat there ~.s no sai-ty
IN delay. The thought struck her that
vas remaining with foolhardy c,nhicncc
+. Tor the rain to stop. 40 that could cpm- IN
dry. Ihs thought made her halt angry.
but she resolved that my inpruiencs should
not bring ms to harm n she could bslp IL.
ss,r,ng sn old umbrella that, ike all old
umbrellas. Was never lost and always In tho
way. she threw her dres, over her head
alter the manner OF rustic wJmcn, and
made run Tor the mill The path towards
/ It VAS slightly curved, and IN soin. along
it she caught q glimp-s of the snd Of the
building at which ~S. Goot Heavens
} what = s,ekening so.s,ion ~as hsr, when
che saw an arm dangling over the edge
oi the FOOT. and the rain trietlins IN =
.,ram lrvm the hng~rs. The lightning
must have struck aud killed ins there was
/ h,r hr-i ibOusht sh, ~ouid have ianrrd. /.
bat the r,ilgcIiJn cau,e =. quick -. the Hash.
-. lighting Up her pale. berUic face,
that II wsr. struck the mill mu.t b. ~.
too. and u therc--ii there should be ere in
the mili Po~s'bly mighI not 10 dead
people were often only struck seu,eless. and
II ! could bs saved I should be. Another
moment che Was in the diary -called 10
thus reg'sns the spring house -.rird d
~, large milk pail. tha, bad bren LEI, full
OF the morning. milk for som, domestic
reason. and rushed back TO the mill. she
knew where the powder was kep,-it Was
the -ud f.rthes, away from me. and she
hoped II there Ma. any IRE it would bs ~
point remote IRON she kegs But light.
ming 10 - ecceutr,c a. it 10 potent. Some
time. ii will set huge building sblais IN
an NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. it kills and stans all
within house. and leaves scarce any other
tracs oi i,s visit. At other times Il appar.
emily delights 10 knocking furnituro sod
buiiding' into tootbpieks. bot touches no
creature. an! someiimes it leaves merely .
.uall fame behind it, ~ . sort oi card alter
iia call.
"It did something like the latter 10 chi.
ca.e, only sha, instead Of marching straight
down IRON my stunned body on tho roof. IL
had taken = eur,ed direction along the side
oi the mill. and %, A.blAIe the other col VI
il. Or perhaps, u Was tho re'eDe-l nov
think u ~as-'hs lightning struck the end
farihssi IRON mo. Was stunned by tho
cJncu.'on. When Mary borst in At tho
door. she saw the ire within ab''ut eight
ieet oi the posdsr. and making rapid head.
way. The t~o buckets ot milk would no
more have suticcd 10 eIiingu,sh the dance
than would = halt pint oi tho SAN. maleri
al. The kegs weighed . hundred poonds
each. Her fs, thought Was ~ ro!l them
Out. bot while she wa- rolling one. the trv
might have reached the other. The dry
wood b-gan To craekie aud to give od spaik'.
In q moment her resolution MAS taken, |
must remark that when che had Ioos " the
,pring house, she had deliberately shut the
umbrella, quite oot Of mere habit. Ssslng
what she had done. che smiled bitterly at
herself for wasting ~ much tims IN that
op ration: and then, With curious eonira.
diction VI herself. tucked 1t under her arm
because f" il might BE- Si use, and ,t wouldn',
hinder u take u At any rate" SO che had
the umbrella with her. First che placed
her-elf between the 6rs and the powder
then she opened the vet umbrella over the
kegs-thsn she united her apron. dipped u
in one Of the buckets Of milk. and laid Il
over the Two kegs fsr,hess IRON the nfs-
then che ,lowly. and With her nnGers, pulled