Prescott journal. [volume] (Prescott, Wis.) 1861-1871, 1866-09-29

late to recall them.
UFWell, what is to be will be- solil-
oduized Jack, endeavoringto find conso-
Iation therein; but Nelly's the only
woman that shall ever be my wife.
"When Jack was gone, Nelly went
very often to see the widow Bligh, and
was a great comfort to her; and their
conversation always turned upon Jack.
"a year passed away, and no tidings
came of him. Then another, and the
two women did not talk so much now,
but they sat quietly at their work when
Nelly could spare time from the dairy,
i and 1t was consolation TO them to be
together.
@At the beginning of the net year
Nelly was summoned to her home in
distant county. Her mother was dy-
ing, and She did not come back, the
widow Bligh was left to bear her troub-
les alone; aud through the Spring and
Into tie Summer she watched and
watched; and every morning as she
opened her shutters and let In the day
| light, she wondered whether that day
would bring her son home, and every
evening, az the daylight faded away,
she said, lie may come tomorrow
''And at length the tomorrow came,
and a handsome sailor walked up the
village street into his mothers cottage;
aud soon the news spread abroad that
Jack Bligh had come home with bags
of golden gnineas..
.sBnt this was not, of course, true.
The first person that Jack asked after
was Nelly Giles, but he could hear moth
ing of her.
I" Never mind, Jack, said the widow,
who was quite ccntent, now that she
had her son, and indeed did not care
much for rival, she's net worth think
ing of, sud the widow Bligh.
ssBnt Jack was not of his mothers
opinion, and he was scarcely sorry to
90 away again, for the old place seemed
very dreary without Nelly. -
This time he was .tble to write TO his
mother occasionally, for he had brushed
ND his writing, and it was proud day
| for the widow when the schoOlmaster
came In TO read her sons letters.
"a second time Jack Bligh came
home; and this time hired carriage,
laden With boxes and packages, stopped
at the widows door, for Jack was pros
pering.
.'Bnt nothing had been heard of Mel
ly, and Jack could not bear the fine
things he had brought, for he had in
| tended the most OF them for her.
Its all through those beans,
thought poor Jack, that L came to go
away -E.. ss3
''Yet would he have been any nearer
had he stayed at home IN idleness?
Fifteen years had passed away, and
Jack had prospered so well that he de-
cided upon giving up his sea-life and
settling in his native village. So he
took the jolly old farm and filled it with
his foreign curiOsities, and the Widow
Bligh presided over 1t in great taste. ="
''And did Jack marry?" | asked.
''Don't interrupt me, said my friend.
''For long time he did not, although
his mother pointed out more than one
| girl in the neiGhborhOOd who would
IN Ike him "A good WHEAT last he did. i"
ooh" said /, with kind of sigh.
"Wait," continued my friend.
Gone morning n pale, thin woman
entered the village, and when she was
opposite the old, black-timbered house,
she asked of WAGNER who was pass
ing, whether the Widow Bhgh was
still living. .....
:. .Ay.' replied the man, SHE be-
"'And has Jack come home?'
Jack, indeedr said the man.
Squire Bligh's come home and he
lives IN that house there
"The poor woman looked up at the
substantial dwelling OF the lad to whom
she had gwen the hatful of beans, and
her heart died within her.
"'Hell not care FOR the like of me, ,
said she to herself, as she turned to so
laway again. tttt
"But the shock had been too great
for her toll and travel-worn frame, and
she had not taken many steps before
she sank down ON the ground.
1.-The wagner ran to her assistance.
He raised her head, pushed back her
bonnet, and shouted to the astonished
squire, who happened to be returning
from his mornings stroll:
"'Measterl measterl if here beant
Nelly Gilesr
'''rhis was ON Saturday, and how it
all came to be arranged SO soon, or
whether the Squire even asked Nelly, L
don't know; but the next Sunday at
church the bans were put up, and In
less than three weeks the Squire ami
Nelly we're married. And they live at
the farm house to this day, and the
Squire changed its name to the Bean
Farm, and so it has been called ever
since. And they've one daughter, as
bright a lass AZ need be. She does not
wear little white linen caps and short
pettieoats, as her mother used to- do;
but, for all that. the Squire says she Is
the very image of what Nelly Giles was
when she gave him the hatful of
beans. f|.
''And where lad Nelly been all these
years." said l.
sup far in the north with her father
He was a poor, weak body, and she
couldn't leave him till he died, and
then she came down to see if Jack had
come home; for, of course, she knew
that JACK liked her, and would never
marry any one else. Only, you see,
she never expected him to prosper as
he had done.
And this was the story my friend
told me, and somehow, it wove itself into
my very mind, in connection with the
fairy legend which the little ones in
the fair haven were pouring over, and
mingled fiction with fact until L
brought myself to believe that / had
seen the hero of bean-stalk celebrity.
For did he not owe mis- prosperity to a
hatfull of beans? And had he not lett
his widowed mother in her little cot
tage, while he went into far-Off lands to
bring home gold and treasures? And
did they not end their days in atfiuence,