Litchfield enquirer., 1870-01-27
HESTER.
BY MAGGIE H. HAMMOND.

lHetty HoYt tied on her little nun bon
 net, one November afternoon, and hasten ed down to her favorite nook beside the river, her aching head and tired frame de manding few moments hush and soli
 tude. She went quits to the brink of the water and sat down upon log, overgrown with lichens and inngi. which iutted out over the still depths. Far down below the
 bend of ths river the town drowsed in the
 autumn sunshine; the cliffs beyond it. sharply defined in the clear atmosphere and she could see the smoke of the dis tant engine, as it coursed along wi tn mad speed, but so far removed that only the l faintest rumble reached her ear, and it's white trail rose in pendulous swreaths like ] the snowy banners of some invisible host. The trees surrounding her were nearly
 stripped of their leaves, which had futter
 ed down in all the gorgeousness of their
 flaming beauty, save few that still chung
 to the naked boughs, as if 10th to tremble down to earth from which they had drawn
 their sustenance during the1r brief life.
 And, indeed, the air was so balmy, the
 winds so lulled, the sky so blue that they
 must have felt 1t was all a mistake; and the cruel frost and the chilling wiads had come upon them too early, and summer, rising
 from her torpor, had wrested the scepter 1 from autumn. se aa.-ss s.a r..s | But Hetty, being in somewhat of de q bonding mood. was fain to drop her eyes nm n the panorama before them and es they teii,i her fingers pluck ed ner> 'ously at the rough bark of the old log. She was in the mood for complaint rather than admiration.
 "f wonder 4it gould have made any particular diffe, enes if I'd never lived? she said. watchin z dead leaf that rustled down and caught :, the eddying current. '.There'd be no one <O help with the work and tend to the childl sns but more than that it wouldn't mat. sr much: Father wouldn't miss me long. al'd mother, after the first fret, would forget me. bha1 IS, II ! were to die nowl And there decrdie! ne might feel shocked at first, .>nd -ihen II would be over. would be put away from them all, and the world would go on just the same. No one would need mel" Shs gasped weakly at the thought. It was so hard to think she might pass away, ieaV- ing but the faintest ripple where her llfe- bark went down; her memory treasured in no souls, yta.,.y,.1 sr --.:lss. .. e..4-, ..
 '.Hst! Hettyr' The cali foated out clear and shrill, rasping her ear. She start ed np slowly. She could never be left
 
 at the mercy of others wills. The mohot- onous tread mill of life would suffer no tangent from it's beaten track. a .aise
 Not far back from the river stood the house. a square wood-colored building, boasting not the slightest pretensions to beauty. The fence before 1t was battered and broken, and in the yard bevy of chil- dren, shock headed, freckle-faced, were noisily playing. Some of them ran after her catching hold of her dress as she went up the steps before the door. h the mar row hall a little toddler of a baby was lus-, tily crying. and, as Hetty came in, Il tall, wiry woman looked grossly up. '7-
 "Well may you be smart one, Hett Washy crying;,supper to be got ready, and you trailing off, goodness knows wherer
 But, mother, you don't know how my head hurts, and thought maybe could take a half hour. .Washy, do be still" and she lifted the stout little body from the floor. "Jennis. do not hang on my dress so! Help mother set the table, that's good girl See here, Washy, creep, creep, creepH". aWhereupon Washy's squeals changed without any preliminary modula- tions into convulsions of laughter.
 ''Why, mother you've got on the best dishes!" said Hetty, surprisedly, as she en- tered the kitchen 8 while later. sfE .,s. , ! Mrs. Hoyt was standing by the table table turning down her sleeves and fasten- ing them at the wrists, e warning that tea was justready. o,sd s9Iro- aaL .5ozm0
 "Well, what if have?nc she answered, sharply. ''''Taint every day that Geordie Asher happens in and I don't know that it need surprise yon so to see a decent looking table once!" s9 s.l..ag ad3 h.ad 70 mother. is Geordie here?' and Washy's dumpling of q body fairly rolled off Hetty's lap. "You might have told me. Oh, won't somebody take the baby and let. me go smooth my hair? and this dress tool" with a shamed look at the faded calico she wore. .L3-' @ih a.sMercy on us. child, what ails you? I s'posed you knew it. He just brung Kate Marvin home, and stopped in u while. For goodness sake hush, Washy's yellsI . iFolks'li think he's lbein' murder edp ,.2a" f,z'@Et 9tli 1o goiraI oil .s
 8 fButsthe aggrieyed in fant was not to be speedily iappeased; evidently the little ras2 cal enjoyed the commotion. And just then, as Hetty was medltating summary escape, the men came in to eat their sup per.y r.s-
 Geordie smiled pleasantly, never seemN ing to notice the rumpled hair, the, faded dress Only the pleasant face. with it's swift bushes and dropping eyes, claimed his glance. Ii @H@e lo emad 8sEnif [n4n bi'tIittle Hetty, your services are inyalua- ble here, ,rshe said,t cordially shaking her hand. ''Washy, you are cheat tweak- ing his red ear. s'Can't we possibly take eatogether, Hetty?" .tGni996ts fgaaas tirImpossible, !" she answered, '"'Washy is little on the dosin- -the-manger plan. He don't want to eat, and isn't lAwilHngieI should. So good-by!a and she hastened out. carrying the little nuisance, who was too happy to be lugged about, and would i have fastened himself like leech to the
 back of some pedestrian, could he possibly have done so. f..s 5.s.
 Ont in the open field, where the ploughs and farming utensils were scattered in
 thriitless disorder, and the patient oxen, still Toked together. were chewing their cud, Hetty strayed, and Washy, enthronnc- ed ioh stump. kicked his fat feet auds Iia- tdulged in gnrgiing 6buiiitions of pleasafe.
 bouncing up and own, and assaillng the T meek.eyed oxen with unintelligible roars By and by Hetty saw, the men coming out hof doorss heard Gealdie's resonant call. k.n.Hettyl Hettyr'. Then his quick eye spied th m cut, and he came. towards them in this easy, careless way. little Tab following Iclose at his iheels.oa I 1of aanoa aid 4a 1o.n la TT