Urbana union. [volume] (Urbana, Ohio) 1862-1872, 1870-12-21

! silence; he was sorting apples in heaps
on the barn floor, and when she had
/ concluded he brought down his closed
hand on the biggest bin with an energy
that would have abCaded any less horny
cuticle
It's a shame was honest -Hugb's
I.emphatic comment.
so it is said Agatha; 'aud father
! thinks so too. You see Uncle Philemon
! brought father up, and took care of him
when he was a poor boy, with no other
/ friend in all the wide world, and now
/ that he is sick and bedridden-'
'Hain't he no money to leave? asked
| Hugh. Seems to me I've heard folks
say that old Philemon Smith was pretty
/ middlin' well or
Agatha shook her head
Dear me, no. you forget how long ne
( has been sick and helpless under the
doctors hands, AuSh. And-I wouldn't
/ tell any one but YOU, deaT-but l think
mother hasn't been nearly so kind and
/ forbearing with him since she made up
| her mind that his little store of money
was all spent
/ Hugh and Agatha talked together
/ long and earnestly, and then they stroll
| ed across the quiet fields, arnl-in-arm,
and took Moses Jefferson into their con-
. AAA-AA1N1 AAG AN-NACA III ~ AAtte3S ACe
I of wood on the wOOd-pile, at the west
end Of the house.
Father, Hugh has thought Of some
| tingr chirped Agatha, as eXultantly as
/ il thought were quite novelty 10
! Hugh Darwin.
I've got a plan, Sir said Hugh, and
straightway proceeded to unfold II.
Wen do itn roared Moses, shifting
his thigh, with y prOdigious laugh,
which echoed through the frosty twilight
I like a war-whOOp.
Yes, Hugh, we'll do it, sUre's the
worldn
Mrs. Moses Jefferson was busy skim
ming her cream the next day, in the
clear, cool little milk-room, whose win
dOws were uetted with wire-WoTk, and
shaded with the yellow vine leaves
which yet hung to their steams, when
there was n shrill jingle-jangle of dis
cordant bells in the road beyond. Mrs.
Jefferson dropped her skinner into the
golden depths Of the jar of cream and
darted, bOnnetless, and with her sleeves /
rolled up above the elbow, across the
door-yard.
It's a ragman, or my name amt Cla-
rissy jefferson = she thought, eGultant-
Iy.
And, sure enough, there was portly
I parsonage, with a huge fur cap tipped
over his eyes, a coarse red pOcket-hand-
kerchief tied round the lower part of his
chin, and furthermore attired in a long
rusty over-coat, whose ragged skirts ex-
tended nearly to his feet. He was pro-
pelling, by means Of his vigorous arms, /
a'little hand-wagOn, surmounted with
bells, and partially filed with rags, bot
ties cast-Off clothing, and crumbled
papers, and checked his noisy career at
once, as Mrs. Jefferson breathless hail
ed him from her little gate.
D'ye buy old newspapers?' slrieked
out housewife, in the shTillest of trebles.
fWa'al, yes, Onst in a WHILE was the |
deliberate answer. Got any to sell?'
How much dye give for 'em y
-Four cents pound, ma'am.'
Well, you just wait half a minnit; |
I've got pretty good mess OH 'cm here /
I'd like 10 sell ye'
'All right, ma'am, said the travelling (
chant, balancing the shafts of his wag- |
on against the fence, and buTying his |
hands in his pockets. Bring 'em on
And the next minute Agatha was
summoned from her sewing to help |
pile Uncle PhilemUn's dearly beloved /
file of ancient newspapers into the wick
er clothes-basket. Agatha remOnstrat- /
ed no fuTther-perhaps she had learned .
the folly of entering into argument with
her mother; she only Obeyed Mrs. jeff /
ersOn's behest in silence. There were |
several packets of the timeyellOwed old /
papers, and more than one journey back I
and forth was necessary before the whole (
heap lay on the turf by the roud-side.-
Mrs. Jefferson looked on with streaming |
cap-frills and haWk-eyed eagerness, to /
make sure that 10 defrauding sleights |
of hand were practiced during the mo- |
mentous operation of weighing
Now mind you, said she to the rag
man, 4 won't be cheated =
'THirty-nine pounds y calculated the |
hero of the elongated COat-skirts, as he |
swung the burden high in the air.
Call it fOrtyn squaked Mrs. Jeffer- |
son, greedily cycling the pile. Forty |
pound; you don't hitch 'em on true
'Wa'al, we WON'T quarrel over an odd !
pound, ma'am, you and I, any way
quoth the accommodating merchant
'Lemme see,' closing one eye in q calcu-
lating fashion, forty pounds at four
cents comes tO--four times ort is Ort, four
times fOur-One dollar and forty cents.
Here's your money, ma'am, and hOpin'
you'll gin me yOuF-custom again.
Agatha, what are you laughing at?'
demanded her mother, as the bells |
tangled nOisily away down the quiet
road, over which the November mists
brooded like a haze Of gold. Didn't ! |
see that impudent Tagman a-starin' at
you, ana you gigglin' like any school
girl ? What do yOu S'pOSe Hugh Dar-
win would think if he was to hear ont?
Go'back to your work this very minnitr
And Agatha went, leaving her moth
er to count up her gains, like q feminine
style of miser, in calico and cap-bOTders
II was drawing toward sunset the next
afternoon; AIr. jefferson and Agatha
had gone on some eTTand TO the village,
q mile and q half distant, and Mrs JEFF
ferson was alone in the kitchen, chop
ping apples for minCe-pies, when Uncle
PhilemOn's weak, pining voice made
itself heard from the chamber above
'ClaTissy, Clarissyv =
Mrs. Jefferson, with a smOthered eX-
clamatiOn of impatience, threw down
the chopping-knife, set aside the wood
en- tray, and ran up stairs.
We'll, said she, with more energy
than mildness, what's wantin now?'
feel very poorly, Clarissy,' groaned
the old man, who lay among the white
bed-clOthes like dried yellow effigy.-
y think Pm drawin' near my end
oh no, you amt, Uncle Philemon
said Mrs. Jefferson, secretly believing
that no such good luck was in store for
her. Here, drink this
She held some stimulating cordial to
his withered lips, but he feebly shook his
old white head.
Pm a-dyin,' Clarissy- amt
no use to me any longer, and want to
see my old newspapers once again.
Mrs. Jefferson had been prepared for
some such demand. She stole down
stairs, and brought up neat pile of Har-
per's Weelllies that she had borrowed
some time since of q Ueighbor to read in d
the evenings, and study the pictures
when she was weary of knitting, II
Here they be, Uncle Philemon she L
said, sOothingly.
The purUlind old man put out his shak-
ing hand, and felt the folds. Mrs. JEFF
ferson thought guiItily of poor old blind (,
Isaac, and Rebecca who deceived him
for JacObs's sake. She had no such eX-
cuse TO plead. Could she, too, hope for
Il blessing?
Yes muttered Uncle Philemon; yes,
take COON care of 'em, niece Clarissy, for
there's a bit of a paper like will under
my pillow some where, and I've left
'em all to little Agatha. She's been a +:
kind, thoughtful child TO the old man,
and i'll help her and Hugh toward
Housekeeping
What will, uncle?' eagerly gaspcd
Mrs. Jefferson, leaning toward him,
more surely to catch the incoherently
op iy1n1o a {nI words /