Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1868-04-30

: 3 vigorous swing of the gate and n heavy
Z step on he gravel. \ moment more and
the door was flung open, and suddenly,
without word or gesture, a large, weather
beaten, rough looking man stood, like an
apparition, before us. A long purple scar,
( crossing his forehead and cheek, gave
/ sinister expression TO one exc He stared
81 us, then gazed abo' t the room for some
J time without speaking; at last he fastened
his eyes on Mrs. Robinson. She crept be-
hind me and whispered, /" Please send him
. away, Miss Jemima; see how he stares
Dear, dear. what dreadful man.
! what do VOC wish, sir?" Il inquired,
J boldly enough, think, although quaking
internally, for he had now transferred his
"Docs Mrs. Mary Jane Robinson live
i1here:" The harsh voice made US both
YES ,aSMa 4fs Robi1ison, saddE ne
: little woman, retreating further behind me.
Suddenly Iswas- seized. chair and all, and
deposited in the middle of the room; the
next mouseat- tiaesssra assE- littel Mrs.- Rob.
i-inson and gave her bcar-like hug.=ths
\ little woman struggling and screaming
with all her might. E&n te.the deoF, W.
tending to call for hslp; Int the words
Mary, my wife, don't you Know me?'
struck me dumb. | turned in amazement.
He still held her in his arms. She had ceased
struggling. and was looking at him with
: strange, wild, shining eyes. Was her mind
shaken. Had the shock been too much
Z, Let her go; you viii XIII her. critd,
scarcely knowing what | said.
= He put her down gently, still holding her
hand. She stood quite stiIlsmfPassive, as
if frozen, the two fixed, bright eyes staring
from her death-white face. The man
I looked from one TO the OF her i'm frightened
! way.
.'no you think I've frightened her out
of ier wits? ?" he asked, in an uneasy. wills
ttper, asshe stood With f,rr eyes risrscd on
his face
y Il dare say YOU have" | blurted out,
I-curtly, as l turned to Mrs. Robinson.
Mary, my dear, what is it :" taking her
passive hands in mine. She made no mo-;
,tion, not even shifting her eyes. Wont
YOU speak to me, Mary?"S The eyes turned
ON me, and, slipping her hands from mine,
She CROPPED in the air like a. blind person.
! 1t was terrible to see! Mary" / said,
desperately, tits your husband come back
l won't you speak to him g =
Yes said Mr. Robinson, eagerly, Il
/ am your husband; don't You know. me-
Mary: Amt you glad to see me, my dear ?"
The tears stood in his eyes, and although
/ they could not soften the, look, Of the
Scared one, stih I could seea diIfa very
/ dim-likeneSs TO the picture over the man.
telpiece, and could no longer doubt his
| identity. Deep lines seemedto grow in the
little woman's face as he spoke to her: the
very roundncss appeared TO fall into sharp
angles, such As long years of soryow had
failed to produce.
p "Send him away; tell the man to 20
away. ,eamos be SO away = sshe cried,
40, my dear" said her husband: Il
have come to stay. and Thought you'd be
\ glad to see me-" His rough voice trembled
a little See, I've carried your picture
withme through thick and tim. When
! we were shipwrecked / thought about it,
and tied it up waterproof, so should have
I, that, any way; and all them long years,
when Tom Bright and George Griffith and
me used to sit in our huto'nights and talk
over our wives and homes, your picture
used tolook sohopefdl Ike 4jusf Ike you
used 10 Took them first two fncntiss-I
I Almost forgot was a shipwrecked sailor,
thousands of miles awsy. oh, Mary, the
loag days and the dreary nights, and the
weeks and the months and the years all
stretchin' out, one after the other, Yes,
child, il was awful dreary- like, and your
\ picture got dim and blurred, and / grew
\ old and gray afore my time; AMI George,
! poor fellow he died of a queer kind of a
fever, and we buried him, decent as we
could, under the big palm just above the
! hut Then Tenn and / led a rough kind
!, of life: we got savage-like, and didn't seem
I, to care much about anything ..a,.,i
q There he paused and looked at Mary,
sitting mOtionless: Fl thought, sometimes,
/ If ever did get-bsek, -it-W0uld- be- Kind
30 hard for you to get used to me.and; my
ways, and I'd feel awkward with decent
folks. 1t was nigh on twenty years, Think,
before we ssfound ;tbut thougln ,maybe
you'd be kind O Slsd TO see me, my kay."
And the poor fellow broke down, and
looked wistfully at his wife.
J, But the little Yomap's mind seemed
.lsquite gone SIZE die mot answer llhn a
word, and had a gain fallen into that hxed,
unnatural stare / Thought / might rouse
her by calling her thoughts back to daily
things - Nary, Edcar,d said rAr.
Robinson must be hungry after his Jour
ney: won't you get him some supper?"
Y She left the room without . word, moy-
Il ing mechanically, like one In a dream.
Half an hour passes, during which Robin
X son had given me sketch of his ship
wreck. 1t was the old story-the same,
with variations, that De Foe and Tenny-
son and Adelaide Proctor have told. He
and Id Two cohpeniph had zen wa6S&I
on an1slsnd, Iich in . usIfs gets6 10,
4 buthIkut ely 1reaxy in Nj oliu6e througl1
the long, long years of watching to
I which the castaways were doomed.
He told me how hope had almost
! died out, when one 1A0Eningy At SIM
rise, they saw a ship steering for the
island, signaled her, and were taken on
board. She was The Zephyr bound for
New Torn; and IN Httle more than, two
months she brought them homesOd< b
When Robinson had finished his story,
went out to see what had become OF his
wife. Q She wasip the psntryo sthiiilg De
fore Willie's cup, and the blessed tears
we're " sse 1tsse9ipf aIER y; sSSn
convulsively:
ssNnstI give him. williss cups, Ma lips
have touched Il since be Went away. How
can / give it to that mang" IIefibercSy
until,she was exhausted .tben,I raised her
gently and carried her to bed 'D' M
Lie there fifteen minutes, dear: by that
time ! s1aaur have, sppper xeMtE IN ahiD
/ She obeyed as q little child night.
When / went to her, she was white and
hastily IS' by W. name. Ad her =
;. to mine. There was still the same fixed
= and arranged hef dfess, she WAS dune pas
j sive under my hands.
II WAS a drearv er1nrcr and more