Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1868-06-05

tommy opened the door, peeped III,
hesitated, looked into another car,
came back, gave his little fiddle a
shove over his shoulder, and walked
in.
"Hi! little Tommy Tucker
Plays for his SUPPER"
shouted a young exquisite lounging on
the platform in tan cOlored coat and
lavender kid gloves.
40, kids, you're there, are you p
/ Well, I'd rather play for it than loaf
e.. - I 10 i - ID UN~---~s- -+>.-4Is,
The"merchant shot careless glance
over the top OF his paper, at the sound
of this petit dialogue, and the old lady
smiled benignly; the man in the cor
ner neither looked nor smiled.
Nobody would have thought, to look
at that man in the corner, that he was
at that very moment deSerting a wife
and five children. Yet that is pre-
cisely what he was doing.
A villain? 0, no, that is not the
word. A brute? Not by any means.
Weak, unfortunate, discouraged, and
Selish-aS weak, unfortunate and dis
cOuraged people are apt to be; that
was the amount Of it. His panoram-
as never paid him for the use of his
halls. His travelling tintype saloon
had trundled him into a sheriff. hands
His petroleum speculations had crash
ed like a bubble His black and gold
sign, J. Harmon, Photographer, had
swung now for nearly year over the
dentists rooms, and he had had the
patronage of precisely SIX old women
and three babies. He had drifted to
the theatre in the evenings-he did
not care now to remember how many
times,-the fellows asked him, and it
made him forget his troubles; the next
morning his empty purse would cape
at him, and Annie mouth would quiv-
er. 1t will be seen at once that it
was exceedingly hard on a man that
MS wite's mouth should culver. 'Con-
found it! Why eouIdn't she scold, or
cry? These still women aggravate a
fellow beyond reason
Well, then, the children had been
A sick: measles, whooping cough, scar
latina, mumps, he was sure he did not
, know what not; every one of them,
from the baby up. There was medi-
cine, and there were doctors bills, and
. there was sitting up with them at night
the nJn sne m8tRfirn a9i rndESas dESaHaS pSed dd ow her
self like a poorly finished photograph
all her color, and roundnesS, and spar
y kle gone; and ii ever a man liked to
have a pretty wife about It was he
9 Moreover she had a cough, and her
shoulders had grown round, STOPPING
f SO much over the heavy baby, and heI
breath came short, and she had a way
of being tired. Then she never stir
Z red out Of the house-he found GU
about that one day; she had no bon
IS net, and her shawl had been cut ~
iuto blankets for the crib. The chill
~ dren had stopped going to school
e they could not buy the new arithme
tic,' their mother said half under he
II breath. Yesterday there was nothing
for dinner but johnny cake, not > larg
IT one at that Tomorrow the salOoI
rents were due. Annie talked abou
-. pawning one Of the bureaus, Anni
= had had great purple rings under he
eyes for six weeks.
!. He would not bear the purple ring
H. and quivering mouth any longer. IL
hated the sight Of her, for the sigh
=. stung him. He hated the corn cak
II and the untaught children. He hate
the whole dreary, dragging, need
I'd home. The ruin of it logged bin
like a ghost, and he should be the rui
oo of it as long as he stayed in it. Ono
fairly rid of him, his scolding an
drinking, his wasting and falling, Al
10 ME would send the children to worl
and find ways to live. She had enc
Us gy and invention, plenty of it, i'll he
young, fresh days, before he cam
across her life to drag her down.
- Perhaps he should make a golden 70
tune, and come back to her some sun
Ia mer day with silk dress and servant
N. and make it all up; in theory th
in was about what he expected to do
But if his i'll luck went westward vii
him, and the silk dress never turne
III up, why, she would forget him, and
better off, and that would be the la
an of it.
So here he was, ticketed and star
,o+ ed, fairly bound for Colorado, sittir
with his hat over his eyes, and thin
ing about it.
og Hmm. Asleep" pronounce
Tommy, with his keen glance into tt
mr. corner. Guess III wake him up"
He laid his cheek down on his litt
:, fddle-yOu don't know how Tomn
VII loved thai little Gddle-and struC
up gay, rollicking tune;
by 81 care for nobody, and nobody cares for me
lch The man in the corner sat qui
Is STILL When it was over he shrugg'
he his shoulders.
I'VE "When folks are asleep they dor
hist their shoulders, not as a gener
ire, thing" observed Tommy we'll t
om another"
md Tommy tried another. Nobo'
ard knows what possessed the little f
es low, the little fellow himself least
all but he tried this:
,i0 ''We'ye lived and loved together,
Ine Through many changing year."