Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1870-07-16
Independent in all things.
" The Old Saw-Mill."
NJ HENRY WARD HEEcHER.
Oh, that blessed day

OD, lnaJ Dlehsed day
What day was that Fourth of
July General training-day? Thanks
giving? Christmas None Of these.
Far more important to our hearts, was
the day when we first went fsdiAg
alone.
Whether we had permission we can.
not, at this late period, certainly deter
mine. We presume, from the recolec-
tion of no anxiety, and from the distinct
remembrance of general exhilaration,
that we had dispensation on that day
to roam.
There Is vague impression, too, of
digging worms, and putting a piece Of
twine on to pole. Then went we forth
eastward, toward the river Bantam.
Now, the river Bantam was, to our
young heart, hat the Jordon was TO a
good and patriotic jew. 1t was the
chief stream of our neighborhood. 1t
was the chief resort tor swimming pur-
poses. For, though i. was hardly knee
deep, and, in many places, easily jumped
across, yet, there were pools, and notably
one, called Lords Hole" doubtless
from Litchfield family of the name of
Lord,) where small boy could go in
"over head" 1t was one Of those clear
brookG-a mere brook, which mostly
brawls over mere pebble-stones, no "
and then widening into quite sheet,
and then, like men who have been too
generous, growing narrow again and
deep. Along its banks grew alder-bushes,
in abundance, and here and there great
trees reached their branches over the
stream, and watched themselves in the
water below.
Not a great way above the Lords
Hole, was the cold saw-mill :" not that
there was then mill there, or even a
mill-dam, but tradition said there, had
been one, and the legend was probable,
inasmuch as two steep banks on either
side, sloping up some twenty feet, seemed
20 have formed the wings ot lion, and
the water made a fall, as if underneath
there were the remains of some obstruc
tion.
On the blessed day above mentioned
bare-footed boy might have been seel
on June afternoon, with his alder pol,
on his shoulder, tripping through tn,
meadow, where dandelions and gera
NUNS were in bloom, md steering fol
the old saw-milI. AS soon as the meadow
was crossed, the fence scaled, and a de
scent begun, all familiar objects were
gone, and the overpowering conscioas-
ness of being alone sat ones imagination
into a dance of fear.
Could we find our way back I? Wha,
if big bull should come out of those
bushes What if a great, big mar
should come along and carry us off ? Tc
a six-year-old boy these were very ser
ious matters. And nothing could hav,
so well tested the eagcrness of our pur
pose as perseverance under these bewil
dering suggestions. For realities, il
after life, are seldom so impressive al
imaginations are IN early lite. A child,
fears are cruel. They are to him tn,
signs of absolute realities, and he is quit,
unable to reason on them, and is helpes,
to repel or endure them. The fears O
our own childhood constitute chapter
in mental philosophy.
Bnt no sooner did we see the spark,
of the water than cur soul grew cain
again, and happy.
| NoW, lOI tlc IIbG tlllc l'l DuI lives
we put on n worm. We threw in th,
hook, and trembled all over with excite
ment
The hook and bait fell upon the wrin
kled water, went quietly down the
stream, and swept in near the shore
where some projecting stone rooted ovel
a little pool. Out Of that pool our little
eyes saw something dart, and our littl'
hands, all a tremble, felt something pull
In an instant, with spasm of energy
we drew back the line, there was a tlass
in the air-a wiggling fash-and some
thing smote the rocky, gravelly banl
behind. Scrambling up, we found
sinner, but, alas, smashed to pieces
Soon another and another Jared in lik
manner, and it was long before We coul,
subdue our nerve, so as not to dash ou
fish to pieces. Our courage grew ever!
moment. What did zoe care ifthere wa
a bull in the bushes ? What if beggar
man should come along? What il ;
great black dog should-but that was ;
little TOO serious. Black dogs were th'
terrors MOTTO ne lightly thought of, ever
by a six-year-old urchin, who had caugh,
fish alone, too And so, gathering vi
two roach and three sinners, we started
home. Up the sloping hill We ran, unit
our fathers house shone out from among
the trees, and then, with the dignity anC
nonchalance of conqueror, we prepared
to make triumpLal entrance. Blu
here,as often happens in the reminiscence
1t our childhood, the vision fails. W.
can recollect nothing of our reception
Since then we have fished in many
stream and lake, and in the deep sea-
but never with a half the exhilaratiol
OF that first joyful hour upon tn
Bantam
Not even there, again, would the fir
be rekindled Fer, not long after, Ia
king a Younger brother to be marmel
ling witness of our success, we wen
again to the old saw-mil. The air wa
disenchanted. The roads and bushe
had no spirits in them. The brook
gurgled and rushed, We caught ou
fish, few, without craze, and cam
solemnly home, wondering. what tn
reason could be that the first time coulC
be had but once
Since then, we have seen many grown
up boys seeking to reproduce first sensa
tions, and TO make novelties perpetual
| De- oo,.b day .nnst nravi1a II 9 oyu m n 20