South-eastern Independent. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1871-1871, 1871-10-06

COUee.
: Charlie gave me grateful little kis:
: when he saw the old box in the old place
either as a reward for my amiable en-
: deavor to do things as mother did, or be
: cause he took the old wooden box for an
: outward and visible sign of the inward
and spiritual grace that was to move Miily
to make good coffee.
But somehow or other, in spite of the
unsightly old wooden box on my man.
telshelf, the coffee didn't improve in the
least Maybe the charm failed to work
because Charlie had forgotten which end
of the mantelpiece his mother used
to Eesp it on, or used tie wrong 5000.
I'm inclined to lay it on the spoon myself,
but there's no telling.
The first cotton-picking season that
came round after my marriage seemed to
afford Charlie no end of opportunities Tor
riding his hobby at fast and furious pace.
Il seemed as if there was no end to things
that mother used to do at that important
season. suppose she really was won
deIfl woman, and i humbly hope that by
the time / have lived as long as she id,
and get to looking as she does in her por-
trait, and can wear a wonderful looking
cap with the wonderful composure she
wore it with, and have little iron gray
curls hanging round my iron-gray Visage,
l msy be only half as wonderful.
"Would / see to the making of the cot
ton sacks? That was one thing mother
always did" Thus Charlie.
OF course I would; why should 1 OBJ
iect to anything that would forward my
husbands interests? Besides, l was &C
tually pining for some healthful occupa-
tion; was tired of playing at living. /
resolved on brilliant plan. would out
mother mother, for she only sGw to the
making of the sacks; 1 would make them
myself, every one of them, on my sewing
machine. II couldn't make cotton-sacks
on il, what was the use of having it?
Charlie had informed me that he would
send me down seven or eight women from
the quarters to make the sacks. informed
him with flourish that should need but
one; should want her to cut the sacks
out. Charlie thanked me, and Martha and
l and wheeler & Wilson" made the
sacks.
Was to blame that the wretched things
burst in twenty places at once the first
time they were used? Was to blame that
two women were kept busy mending my
sacks until they ceased 10 be sacks
Charlie might think so, but I did not
He reported the failure Of my cotton
sack experiment with very unbecoming
| levity, as it struck me, accompanying
his report with somewhat unjust COM
ment upon new-fangled notions, such
as sewing machines, ETC., etc, winding up
with" Now, when mother was alive"
Il fairly winced), "the house vas not con-
sidered too good for the dsrkies to sit on
the back gallery with their work and
make tie sacks right under mothers eye
sewing them with good strong thread,
too, that was spun for the purpose. can
remember the old spinning wheel: it used
to sit right at that end of the gallery"
Like Captain Cutie, "made note of
it " for future use.
/ often had occasion to wonder, during
the early years of my married life, how it
happened that the son of such an excep-
tionslly perfect woman as 1 was COM
PEELED to presume my respected mother.
in-law to have been, should have grown
up with such shockingly disorierly habits |
as had my Charlie. The wretched |
creature would stalk into my bedroom
which | was particularly dainty about
fresh from shooting or fishing, with pounds |
of mad clinging TO bis boots, bristling sll |
over with cockleburs, his hands grimed |
water from my china basin until he had |
reduced its original pure contents into |
compound of mud and ink, and would |
wind up by making finish of my fresh |
damask towel, and throwing it on the bed |
or chair instead of returning it TO the |
rack, as he should have done.
"Charlie," said l one day, saucily in |
viting a dose of "what mother did, "what |
did mother used to DO when you came in
to her room and turned it into pig-stye, |
and then left it for her to clean up again?"
"She never let me do it." said Charlie |
with laugh. "I'li tell you how she old.
She had tin basin on a shelf on the back
gallery, and one of those great big rolling |
towels that lasted about a week; and after |
her washstand was fixed up in the NOM
ing, we knew better than to upset it, l can
tell you"
"Very well, sir; 1 intend you shall
know better than to upset mine, I'll show
you"
In fact, things had come to that pass
that had mentally resolved to ".show"
Charlie a great many things. l firmly
believed thst the secrot of the power that
Charles mother had exercised over her
household, and still exercised over him in
memory, lay in the fact that she made
them'sll afraid other; so l firmly resolv-
ed that they should all be afraid of me,
poor little mel It is true, I was but
twenty, and she was fifty; I was but
pocket edition of a woman, and she was
Webster Unabridged; had littlemeek blue
eyes, that dropped to the ground in the
most shameiaced manner ifa body did but
look at HE, and she had hard, cold gray
eyes, that not only looked straight at you,
but right through you. Still, hoped,
notwithstanding these trifling drawbacks
to make myselfvery awe-inspiring by dint
of grand assumption of spirit.
To put it into very plain language, l
resolved TO bully Charlie off his hobby.
He had thrown his mother at my head
speaking, of course) until, if
shs had been present in propria persona,
should have been tempted totry Hiswaihs's
feat with his grandmother,
and throw her up against the moon. But
IS I could not revenge myself upon her
/ began to lay deep and subtle
plans for inducing Charlie to leave her to
her repose.
As the veritable bell which, in the days
when mother did it." had acted as q sort
Of Gabriels trump, was still extant, minus
clapper and handle, was enabled to pro-
vide myself with Its fac simile. Armed !
with this instrument of retribution, laid
me down to sleep by Charles side, gloat-
ing in anticipation over my ripening
scheme of vengeance.
1t was a rsre thing for me to wake up
before Charlie, but l did manage to do SO
On the morning in question, by dint,
think, of a powerful mental resolution to ]
that effect made the night before. raised
myself very softly, so as not to disturb
ny husbands gentle slumbers, and, pos
'essing myself of my big bell, I laid
IN with will, raising such a CATER s
n the quiet morning sir that Charlie
airly bounded into the middle !
If the room before he in the least COM
where it came from.
SIN the name of Heaven, Lulie, what is I
he meaning of that?" he exclaimed,
ooking at me as if he half doubled my I
anity.
"That's the way mother did it, Charlie"
replied plscidly enough, and. replacing
ny big bell on the table, / settled myself 6
N my pillow onJe more, ostensibly to go
o sleep again-n reality to have my laugh q
'ut in g quiet fashion, for it was enough '
o have made the very bed posts laugh to t