The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1866-05-17
THE VERMONT PURITAN.
TOUCHING STORY OF 1868.

IdG vG6MONI EO III 1ANs .
AroUcH1Na STORY OF 1853.
1t was in the early part of October, that
the Rev. DR.. Allan started 10 walk to
farmer Owens over the hills. He had
to cross two low spurs of the Green
Mountains, and as he climbed to the top
of the second, rich valley of the Otter
creek lay spread out before him. At any
other time he would have stopped to ad-
mire the gentle undulations, its great
fiowery garden of forest trees, rich in ev-
cry color and hue; its silver threads
winding their way to the waters of the
Champlain, and the glorious autumn
light, which lay like golden mantle
over them all. But this afternoon he
seemed oppressed by the beauty which
surrounded him. He looked upon 1t
with eyes misty from tears. There was
dull, heavy weight tpon his heart-a
weight which even the long, fervent
prayers that he had uttered so unceas-
ingly since noon had failed to move. Be-
tween him and that landscape, we might
almost said moved u tall slight boy, with
laughing blue eye, clustering brown
hair, and lips al! ready with merry
pleasant word.
To-day there was Benny nutting un-
der The bare, brawny arms of the butter
nut tree; throwing his line into the
brooks that came bubbling down from
the steep mountain side; driving along
the narrow footpath, standing with
Blossom under the bright maple, and
laughing with JOY as she wreathed her
pretty face in the gay leaves.
'Oh, Bennie! Bennie!" Mr.. Allan
hardly HHncw he was calling the name
until it came back to him with such an
empty, mocking sound, from the heart
less echo; almost" Mr.. Allan thought,
starting himself by the seeming impiety
of the words" almost as if there was no
great, kind Father over us ALL"
AS he came near Farmer Owens
house, he saw his oxen yoked to the
plow. He knew they had been there
since the telegraph came. Mr.. Owen had
read it in the field, gone to the house and
forgotten them, and no one had dared to
put them up. He was man fully ca
pable of taking care of his own affairs
under any circumstances, never having
been known before to forget.
Mr.. Allan beckoned to an Irishman
who was passing, and asked him to take
care of them. The man came with an
awed look upon his face, as if even there
he stood in the presence of great sor-
row, and without the least noise he
obeyed.
Mr.. Allan walked OH slowly toward
the house. He had known Mr.. Owen
for many years, and he knew him well.
Indeed, there was peculiar bond of
sympathy between the two men. In his
large parish there was not one upon
whom the minister relied as he did upon
this strong, sturdy farmer. Many and
many an hour had he walked by his
side when he was upturning the brown
earth, and had discourscd with him on
topics which would have sounded harsh
and repulsive to common ears, but which
were fraught with deep and vital inter-
est to them. Mr.. Owen was direct de-
sccndant of the Puritans, and every drop
of blood in his veins was tinged with
as strong and true a "blue" as if he him
self had landed in the Mayfower. He
took naturally to the sterner doctrines of
religion, while Mr.. Allan, versed in all
the modern lore, questioned and doubted.
The keystone to Mr.. Owens theology
was the sovereignty of God:-"Shall not
the Judge of all the earth do right ?"
This was the man upon whom God had
now laid his hand SO heavily; and Mr..
Allan felt that if the trial brought no
murnanr, no rebellion, against that
mighty sovereign, the stern old faith
was rich one in which to live and die,
He knew that one element in this was
puritan. Sons Of the Roundheads filled
up the ranks Of the Northern army
They marched to battle to strains of the
old tunes that had fingered in the nurse
ry and the sanctuary from the day that
Cromwell and his soldiers had chanted
them on Marston Moor. All down the
aisles Of time came tramping to the mu-
sic, mailed men bearing on their shields
the two words, liberty and equality.
They trembled on Mr. Owens lips with
a parting blessing to his boy. Would he
remember them, and would they COM
fort and give him strength now!
Nhen there is affiiction in the house
the minister is at home. Mr.. Allan en-
tered without knocking, and made his
way to the large old-fashioned kitchen.
in which he was sure of finding the fam
lily.
There, by the table, with his arms fold
ed and laid heavily upon it, sat Mr..