Wyandot County Republican. [volume] (Upper Sandusky, Ohio) 1869-1903, 1871-10-05
sANDUSKY, OHO THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5, 1871 NJ

to me hereafter, every morning, for the
coffee.
Charlie gave me grateful little kiss
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 Milly
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 keep it on, or l used the wrong spoon.
I'm inclined to lay il 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 for
riding his hobby at fast and furious pace.
| 1t seemed as if there was no end to things
| that mother used to do at that important
season. / suppose she really was won
derful woman, and humbly hope that by
! the time have lived as long as she do
and get to looking as she does in her por-
trait, and can wear wonderful looking
cap with the wonderful composure she
wore it with, and have little iron gray
curls hanging round my iron gray visage,
may be only half as wonderful.
Would l see to the making of the cot
ton sacks? That was one thing mother
al l1ays did" Thus Charlie.
OF course I would why should OBJ
iect to anything that would forward my
husbands interestsg Besides, 1 was &C
/ tr1o1Ixr r1ininr haolf ful
ton; was tired of playing at living. 1
resolved ON a brilliant plan. Iwould out
mother mother, for she only Saw to the
making of the sacks; would make them
myself, every one of them, on my sewing
machine. IT couldn't make cotton-sacss
on it, 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 l to blame that
two women were kept busy mending my
sacks until they ceased TO be sacks
1 Sud111O AZ ln1Ah 81, D0O l. dk0 uOt
He reported the failure of my cotton
sack experiment with very unbecomine
levity, as it struck me, accompanying
his report with somewhat unjust com
ment upon new tangled notions, such
as sewing g-machines, ETC., etc, winding up
with" Now, when mother was alive u
I fairly winced), "the house was not con.
sidered too good for the darkies 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. l car
remember the old spinning wheel: it used
to sit right at that end of the gallery"
Like Captain Cutie, "made note ol
it" for future use.
I often had occasion to wonder, during
the early years of my married life, how il
happened that the son of such an excep
tionally perfect woman as / was com
PEELED to presume my respected mother
in-law to have been, should have grown
up with such shockingly disorderly habit!
as had my Charlie. The wretched
creature would stalk into my bed room
which was particularly dainty about
fresh from shooting or fishing, with pound!
of m I'D clinging to his boots, bristling al
over with cockleburs, his hands grimeG
with gunpowder; and helping himself tC
water from my china basin until he haC
reduced its original pure contents into {
compound of mud and ink, and woult
wind up by making a finish of my fresl
damssk towel, and throwing it on the bee
or chair instead of returning it to thu
rack, as he should have done.
"Charlie," said l one day, saucily in
viting dose of what mother did, "wha
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'll tell you how she cid
She had tin basin on a shelf on the bacl
gallery, and one of those great big rolling
towels that lasted about q week and site
her washstsnd was fixed up in the morn
ing, we knew better than to upset it, l cal
tell you"
"Very well, sir; I intend you shsl
know better than to upset mine, I'll shoy
you"
In fact, things had come to that pas
that l had mentally resolved to "show
Charlie a great many things. I firml
believed that The secret of the power ths
Charles mother had exercised over he
, household, and still exercised over him i
memory, lay in the fact that she mad
, them all afraid of her; so / firmly resolv
ed that they should all be afraid of ms
poor little mel 1t is true, I was bu
twenty, and she was fifty; l was but
pocket edition of a woman, and she was
Webster U1alb' idged; had little meek blu
, eyes, that dropped to the ground in tn
{ most ehamefaced manner ifa body did br
: look at me, and she had hard, cold gra
eyes. that not only looked straight at yol
. but right through you. Still, hopet
notwithstanding these trifling drawbacks
/, to make myself very awe-inspiring by Cir
of q grand as ,umption of spirit.
To put it into very plain language,
f resolved to bully Charlie off his hobb,
. He had thrown his mother at my hes
(iguratively speaking, of course) until,
T she had been present in pr0pTiG persona,
= should have been tempted 10 try Hiawatha
: remarkable feat with his grandmothe
;. and throw her up sgainst the moon. b
7 as l could not revenge myself upon h'
7 personally, 1 began to lay deep and subt
plans for inducing Charlie to leave her
U her repose.
d As the veritable bell which, in the "a,
= when mother did it," had acted as a so
|. of GabriePs trump, was still extant, mini
o clapper and handle, l was enabled to pr
vide myself with its fac simile. Armt
If with this instrument of Tetribution, I Ia
" me down to sleep by Charles side, gloa
l. ing IN ANTICIPATION over my npenl1
70 scheme of vengeance.
% 1t was rare thing for me to wake I
a before Charlie, but did manage to do
}. on the morning in question, by dint
IF think, of powerful mental res solution
e that effect made the night before. rails
v myself very softly, SO as not to distu
" my husbands gentle slumbers, and, pc
d sessing myself of my big bell, I Ia
a. on with a will, raising such a Gait
Is in the quiet morning sir that Char,
W fairly bounded into the midd
N of the room before he in the least col
pretended where it came from.
n "In the name of Heaven, Lulie, what
the meaning of that?" he exclaime
j. looking at me as if he half doubted L
sanity.
n "That's the way mother did it, Charli,
20 I replied plscidly enough, and. replacs
lie my big bell on the table, settled mys
I on my pillow once more, ostensibly to