Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1871-03-30
WIDOW HAWKINS TRIAL.
From the Providence R.I, Press.

From the Providence (R. ~ Press
''The old Hawkins estate - was about
as bare, rocky and unpromising farm
as you could find In all New England
A western man wouldn't have taken 9
single chance there against starvation,
and yet the Hawkinses had held it fol
many generations There was a tradi.
tion that 1.-THE old man of all had beer
put on that place and compelled to
earn living Whatever may have
been the truth of that, it was certain
his descendants had always shown
great attachment to the old homestead,
and would answer auy disparaging re-
marks concerning the land by quoting
"Grsnther Hawkins" who used to say,
There's master lot of rock, which
gives the farm dreadful uneven look !;
but there's spots where the sile is as
good as can be found In this ere sec
tion.n
The present owner and occupants
we're the Widow Hawkins aid her two
sons, Ephraim. a man of nearly forty
years, and Solomon, who was "just
turned twenty And "these two
boys" were the source of all the Door
woman's trials.
Not that they were bad, or even ILL
disposed, but simply "trying."
The husband and father had died
when Solomon was babe IN arms, and
"the boys had been brought up with
out any head, " as the widow expressed
IL.
Ephraim inherited the family name
and most of the honors which had fallen
successively to their share such as
being Selectman and a member of
the "School Committee But his
father, grandfather and great grand
father had been Deacons, and as vet he
had not been "chosen, although sew
eral vacancies had occurred since his
years and experience had rendered him
eligible to that Office.
It was a great trial to the widow, for,
with a mothers partiality, she deemed
it fitting that the father mantle should
fall upon the son, who was in every
way worthy TO follow In the footsteps
of his sire And another thing "tried p"
the widow. Ephraim had never shown
any matrimonial inclination, although
his duty had been faithfully laid before
him line upon line, precept upon pre-
cept, but with strange perversity COM
mon to human nature, land i should
like to add, for the sake of truth, that
1t reaches its highest development in
The masculine persuasion,) he seemed
deaf to her fond entreaties and blind to
his own interests.
Wise and deep we're the arguments
used by the widow, but Ephraim would
cooly put on his hat and make his exit
In the middle OF her longest sentence.
Many and curious were the traps which
she set for her son, but he never for q
moment became entangled in any OF
them
Did she invite SINE of the farmers
daughters "to pass the afternoon and
stay to tea" Ephriam was sure to be
absent at supper time and Solomon
would have the girls to epscrtain and
"see home And Solomon, instead
of blaming his brother and sympathiz-
INC With the poor woman in cher trials
seemed 20 consider it good fun, and
would persist in rehearsing what the
girls said about Ephriam's running
away from them. And many evenings
when he should have been at home
with his books, or In meeting with his
mother, he would be idling his time
away in some farmers kitchen, in dan
gerous proximity to rosy cheeks and
flashing eyes, or away ON the ice where
some pretty girl would cling closely to
him, knowing intuitively that the more
helpless and dependent she seemed the
greater would be the care and attention
given her.
No wonder Mrs. Hawkins used tt
sigh and say, "H Ephraim ever does
get wife and Solomon don't get more'r
one, / shall be thankful +"
She had borne with commendablt
spirit and silence the remarks which
were made In her hearing, but there i,
limit to human patience, and it is {
fact that women can manage to sa,
most cutting and irritating things K
each other under the garb of sympath,
and coincidence
1t was at the sewing society, the frs
which had stmetn since Deacon Elsbret
had been gathered to his fathers.
Mrs. Smith, with an elongated face
and voice toned down to the proper
key, said: 81 felt so bad for you, Sis
ter Hawkins, when / heard they wa.
going to pass your Ephraim by again
and take man so much younger, ant
50 little experience 1t seems kinde
like put upon you both, and shgh
upon your husban' that's now dead ant
gone, it really does" And she made
desperate effort to subdue the rising tri
umph In her voice
Who have they picked out 2n asket
the widow, and she Cooked ready t,
sink for she had thought, "Surel,
they will take Ephraim now
"It's not settled yet, but they ar
talkin' bout Car'ine's husban'," an,
then she added, after moments pause
"I wish things had been leetle diff
ferent with Ephraim.'
Mrs. Hawkins tried to brace hersel
to hear the rest. She was soon ac
costed with, ssGlad to see YOU ont tc
day, Sister Hawkins; shows you ain
no feeling bout Ephraim's bein' slight
ed; we all 'spected you'd lot on hi
beiu' chosen, but You see I wouldn'
do, no how"
The pale face flushed, and then sh
looked up to find that every eye wa
upon her, and every one waiting to sc
what she would say. -,-..,-. X ~ - &.
She spoke up quite unlike hersel
"No, don't see why it wouldn't do
my Ephraim's 3 as likely man as tke1
is in this town, and there amt perso
with the right to speak agin him, an
that's more'n can be said of some foil
that near tn STAND O boffor CHANCE Tho