The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1869-05-27
SktttBts, &netOotts, &t.
a TRRILLTxG "REMINISCENCES
BI GEORGE II. CBOollER.

When I was boy of sixteen, cousin
Of mine, motherless girl, named Adelaide
Star, came TO makeher home with our fam
lily. We lived in the country, aud |, who
had neither brother nor sister, was very
glad of so charming a companion. She
WAS TWO years younger than myself, but
rather tall for her age, with rich, auburn
hair, clear, animated complexion, and a
mind at once sp&rkl ing and thoughtful.
She came to us in a Spring, and my
first rocolleciions Of her are associated
with the May flowers. As they floral
season progressed, We enjoyed frequent
rambles, and l took delight in culing for
her the wild June roses that grew in plo~
fusion beside pond, which in winter was
the skating resort for all the young people
Of the neighborhood,
1t occupied a picturasqc though lonely
spot, the surrounding woodlands shutting
out all human habilations, with the ex-
ception of the mad-house or Iunatic asy-
lum upon hill mile distant.
! Adelaide was charmed with the bright
waters and the surrounding we slth of
wild flowers. Little did she imagine a
far different scene in which upon this
very spot she would be called TO act.
| l related to her the skating feats OF
| the previous winter, aud once, l
told her the story of Cray Zaiah, -
now confined in the madhouse. Poor
Isaiah His calamity originated upon the
pond Here. years before l was born,
had his reason gone out. But it was not
while the birds sang, or the green frogs
! plunged, or the turtle peeped. Addie
| looked about her as If wondering whether
the catastrophe happened by the gray
/ stone just visible above the wate, or by
the rosebush upon the jet Of land, or away
/ in the centre of the lake. Then she gazed
so pensively at the structure upon the
hill that l repented having saddeued her
with the tale.
| She, too, was famous SIX ater at
least, l judged so from her enthusiasm
upon the subject, and from her half wish
| ing it was winter-and | Judged rightly,
for was she not yet to owe the preserva-
ton of that lovely head to the dexterity
of those fairy feet?
AS time passed, we became more at
tached to each other from constant as
| sociaton. At last came the winter The
great pond was frozen from end to end,
and no skater who swept its surface could
rival Adelaide Starr. | could imagine
her swallow with shining crest and beau
| tifDl bright wings.
Often on the moonlight evenings, while
! the steel rang out and the madhouse was
| dimly shown in the distance, | pictured
the skating sports of other generations
and the catastrophe to him who was now
called "Crazy Zaiah.''
Once in the cid time, a number of
very young boys come down to the pond.
One of them, bright lad of ten years,
was named Isaiah Marvin. 1t was
dark evening, and the unprac tised little
fellows met with many a mishap. There
were seams in the ice which caught their
skates; there were treacherous sticks ly-
ing about it; and there were holes which
they could not see. So, one and another
fell; but it was as children generally fall
merely to spring up unharmeG. Some
stumbled into the springy places in the
pond. What would mother or Aunt
Mary say when the wet stockings should
60 home2
Isaiah was the only tolerably fine skater
there was among them. From the north>
ern extremity OF the ice, where the deep
p