Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1868-12-02


Strong as am OK, my dear lady"
" And and happy p pursued the widow
{ bending over her knitting.
Hum, the less said about that the better
perhaps. But he seemed to enjoy life after
fashion Of bis own. And he got rich ou
, there, or rather ! win say well off,
! Mrs Cobb did not pay much attention L
that part Of the story. Evidently she ha,
not finished asking questions. But she wa
puzzled about her next one At last sh
brought il out beautifully
" Was his wife with him in California 2"
" His wife, maam2 Why, bless you, h
has not got one.
Oh, l thought mcant--I heard
here the lit,le widow remembered the fate o
Ananios and Sapphira aud stopped short be
fore She told such Tremendous fb
Whatever you heard Of his marrying wa
all nonsense, eau assure YOU know hin
we'll, and he had no thought of the kind about
him. Some of the boys began to tease hm
about it, but he soon made them stop"
How 2"
lie just told them, frankly, that the onl,
woman he ever loved Tilted him years before
and married another man. After that no one
I ever neniioped the subject to HIM again, ex.
cept me-
Mrs Cobb laid her knitting aside, and
looked ihoughtfully into the fire.
lie was another specimen Of the class Of
men | was speaking Of ! have seen him
face death a score Of times as quietly as |
face the fire. 1t matters very little who
takes me of, he used to say I've nothing
to live for, and there's no one that will shed
tear for me when ! am gone It's a sad
thought for q man to have, isn't it2n
Mrs. Cobb sighed as she said she though il
was
But did he ever tell you the name of the
lady who Tilted him ?"
l knew her first name"
"What was it ?"
Maria"
The plump little widow almost started out
Of her chair her name was spoken exactly
as Sam would have said it,
Did you know her too ?" he asked, look
ing keenly at her.
Yesn
" Intimatcly?"
Yes"
And where is she nowl Still happy
with her husband, | suppose, and never Civ
ING thought to the poor fellow she drove
out into the world"
No." said Mrs. Cobb, shading her face
with her hand and speaking unsteadily.
" No, her husband is dead "
"Ah But still she never thinks of Sam }'
There was dead silence
Does she 2'
" How can tell p
Are you still frieuds?"
Yes"
Then you ought to know, and you DO
Tell me"
" | am sure don't know why | should
But if | do, you must promise me- on your
honor never TO tell him, if you ever happen
to meet him again
Madame, what you say to me never shall
be repeated to any mortal man, upon my
honor"
"Wel, then she does remember him."
"But how p
"As kindly think as he could WISH"
" | am glad to hear it for his sake. You
and l are the friends Of beth parties; we can
rejoice with each other"
He drew his chair hY,i5 mneh pegrer hers, and
gooi. h.-- lsanu. Ohc moment the ,v;d,,.
listed, bat il was magnetic touch; tne rosy
palm lay quietly in his, and the dark beard
bent so low that it nearly touched her shoul-
der 1t did not matter much. Was he not
Samuels dear friend If he was not the
rose, had he not dwelt very near it for long,
long time?
" 1t was a foolish quarrel that parted
them" said the stranger softly
" Did he tell you about it2n
" es, on board the whaler."
Did he blame her mnch ?"
" Not so much as himself. He said that
his jealousy and ill-temper drove her to break
of the match but he thought sometimes if
he had only gone back and spoken kindly to
her she would have married him after all
q am sure she would" said the widow,
pitcously "She has owned it to me more
than hundred times"
" She was not happy, then, with another ?"
" Mr.-that was to say, her husband-was
very good and kind, said the woman, think
ing of the lonely grave on the hillside rath-
er penitently, and they lived pleasantly to-
gether. There never was harsh word be-
tween them"
Still, might she not have been happier
with Samg Be houcst, and say just what
you think
f" Yes
Bravo that is what wanted to come
at. And now | have secret to tell you,
and you must break it to her.
Mrs. Cobb looked rather scared
What is it2n
F." want you to 90 and see her, wherever
she may be, and say to her; Maria -
What makes you start so ?"
Nothing, only you speak SO like some one
used to know"
"Do II We'll, take the rest Of the mes
sage, Tell her that Sam loved her through
the whole that is, when he heard she was
free, he began to work hard at making for
tune he has got it and he is coming to share
it with her, IL she will let him. Win you
tell her this ?"
The widow did not answer She freed her
hand from his, and covered her face with 1t.
By-and-by she looked up again. He was
waiting patiently,
Well p
" will tell her."
He rose from his seat and walked up and
HuWH th1u Nutut utth ufli
leaning on the manto-piece, stroked the yell
low hair of Bowse with his slipper.
Make her quite understand that he wants
her for his wife. She may live where she
likes, only it must be with him.
Il win tell her.
" And what do you think she win say 2"
he asked in an altered tone.
"What can she say but--come 2"
" Hurrah 20
The stranger caught her out of her chair,
MS if she had been child, and kissed her
Dont-don't - she cried out. 81 am
Sans Maria"
4" Well, am Maria's Sam !"
OF went the dark wig and the black whis-
kers thore smiled the dear face she had not
forgotten. leave you to imagine the tab
oau. Even the cat got up to look and Bowse
sat on his stump Of tail, and wondered if he
Fas on his heels or head The widow gave
)ne little scream and then she-