Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1870-04-22

be no ucluy, tnOsc only VINO were ~ De Ut
tcndlnts waiting for hcr 1t was done as
lie requested, aud we sat down in the par
lor-thy Uncle Archie, Comfy Britton, Mary
Lazy, and my elf. Out on the long porch
Elmer Carson walked back and forth, like
Il lear ted 10 rope" Archie said.
We wil,cd tea minutes, nneen, twenty;
she did not cCmc. Tnen L went up star.
u see way. ller room was empty. On tic
bed just where l had put tLtin, were the
whi-c shawl and bonnet. Her giovos wcr'
uutVgc.od, her handkerchief had droppeC
1t. ~ herapun lay on the floor. rushe1
dJwh ~ tIc kitchen tJ Aunt Judy before
,poGe lO any one c.se. 10 my surprise she
was not u 10 .ounu. Herald in tue kitch-
ca, u daa uiuiatto. gir,, did hot know oi
vop. 'el,yl to.i where4she was. l went to
,.gisr.oe n sfovec b. disney, and we De
Il Foaf elrcL. / wag fctaiisio IN ri0sd
uIya. wAa.cver thee may think oI me now !,
nd went " tie surieI, searching ia o.u
cac,.s t. SIC wActAer, Cenovra-likc, shC
in.s sh. MOI Uc IA Gdcn away IN Ume oil tnCuI.
Oar search was in vain. Every nook anu
corucr OF the house aud yard were searched
and lcscarched-but not trace could we
find Of her, or the direction OF her flight.
Al his while the stold groom walked
arou the parlor, with u sulien light in his
dull caden eyes. He looked as if he tho t
this prcconcerlcd plan to destroy him, and
rega ed us all rs guilty.
A uossenger was sent to the meoting-
hous- 10 give the reason of our delay, and
the I. i..ler and mother hurried home. The
hlly aoody farm was explored. An idea
had lEcn possession of John Hoathson
that ii The extremity of her last rebellion,
Marcl had hidden to put the evil day a lit
tic fan or or The search was uscless-she
had vanished from us, and left no more
traces o' her flight than if the earth had
opened nd swallowed her up. The neigh
boring owns were visited; every friend
and ACC lintanco reused 10 the search, but
in vain.
Week. months, year went by, and she
might a. well have never been, for aught
we knew Of her. 1 always associated her
loss witt Aunt Judy, without knowing
why. l member how strange thought
that Aunt Judy should be away that morn
ingi and hen 1 asked her how she came
to be away, and where she was, she said:
"Oh, bio ye, 'on'y, over TO ole Georges.
Hes mighty poorly dis yer iall; don't git
out none, md he likes to h'ar bout what's
gwine on. Never you min bout Miss
Marshee! raint no use grievin' bout her.
l tell yc, dc Lord tolc me he'd liver her,
an l never dou't dc Lord
That was all the satisfaction / could get.
No one else seemed to put things together
as did, or TO give Aunt Judy thought.
II was like funeral all the time at John
Ieathson's alter that. staid awhile, be-
cause l loved Aunt Esther, as l called Mar
cia's mother. The old rigid routine was
taken up again aud n arcia was never men,
toned. TIE mother grioved all the time.
her sweet fhce grew less, and her blue cyoe
moro sunLen. Sic rarely srokc ut all.
w Lat tic inthor felt or thought, no one
knew. lie was, TO all seeming, harder and
oder than before.
Moie than year after Marcia's disap-
pearanoc, james, tic cider son, was thrown
rom Ills buggy, striking on pile of stone,
~ AA-N icssAs'NNf anu WIS CulI4CU lllC i'll
dying condition. lie was in great menta
distress; lie wanted magistlatc-woult
act lie satisfied without. Wien the magis-
ua'c c: me, ali were sent fro III the roc M buj
his ialLer, the doctor ard tie justice. Jane,
hen mace opposition 10 the effect that bt
was the Iorgor instead Of Edgar Jewett, and
8 hat their ccrrtsl ending size and complex
on first made him think of imposing him
self uroH tie cashier, who had only slight
knowlCdge Of Edgar. This delusion he aid
cd by some disguise. He had always won
dcrcd why Jewott could not prove an alibi
and save himself a few hours later James
IIcathson died, repentant they said. lie
had never been loved, and there was but
little sympathy shown except for his moth
or. His confession was published; the pa
pcrs throughout the county being as much
in oxaltng Edgar Jewetrs inno-
cence as they had been in heralding his
guilt.
We all wondered to see Aunt Esther
grow brighter after this shock, and take
more interest in everything. Her house
and flowers received care they had long
been deprived Of Her face had an expec-
tant look in it that did not understand.
Almost two years after Marcia left us a
letter, with foreign postmark, came TO
John Heathson. 1t was from Marcia. She
was now Marcia Jcwett. The tdings of her
brothers death and confession had reached
them, and she wrote Immediately. The day
she left, Aunt Judy had aided her escape;
had taken her 10 Ole Georges, where Edgar
met her. He convinced her Of his inno-
ccnce, but did not tell her of her brothers
guilt, though he knew it. She went with
him to the next State, where they were
ard left the country. Ono of his
friends knew she accompanied him; for the
rest, the secret lay with faithful Judy and
Olc George. He refused to prove an alibi,
and save himself, because he was aiding in
the escape of ccmpany Of slaves, and his
aids were colored men. To acknowledge
his own completely would have been n fine
and Imprisonment; but he could not do so
without betraying his accompliccs. Our
laws were very rigorous with black men
then, and he would not betray them. All
this ole George and Aunt Judy knew. Out
of that came Aunt Judy's vision.
Marcia came back to her native hills,
Iovelicr than in her sunniest girlhood,
bringing with her beautiful boy. Her ia
ther had been lroken at the wheel, and
though he could never become a genial,
pleasant man, he was glad to see his daugh-
ter and grandchild, and always spoke with
the greatest respect Of "My son-in-law, Ed
gar Jewett, great lawyer, thee knows"
All this seems such long time ago.
Thirty years have brought such changes.
1t is more than thirty now since that all
John Heathson and Esther lie
side by side in the old burying- ground by
the stone meeting Marcia died that
summer thy Uncle Archie and went down
to New England.
is the Senator Jewett who took tea with
MS last summer her husband?"
''Yes; and the young lieutenant who did
such brave things down at Grafton, when
they were attacked by the guerillas was the
bov she brought back with her.
"What became Of Elmer Carson2" "He
married a rich woman, and went to live
near Cincinnati. l have heard that they do
not live happily"
Edmund, never marry"