The Conservative. (M'connelsville, Ohio) 1866-1871, 1871-03-31
WIDOW HAWKINS TRIAL.
From the prOvidenos q. L, Pres.


From the Providence R. y Press.
"The old Hawkins estate was abo,
as bare, rocky and unpromising a far
Is you could find IN all New Enelan.
A western man wouldn't have taken
single chance there against starvation
and yet the HawHnses had held it fl
many generations There was trad
ton that "the old man of all had bee
put on that place and compelled t
earn living" Whatever may hav
been the truth of that, it was certai
his descendants had always show
great attachment to the old homestead
and would answer any disparaging re
marks concerning the land by duotin
"Granther Hawkins, who used to say
"There's a master lot of rcck, whicl
gives the farm dreadful uneven look
but there's spots where the siLe is a
good as can be found IN this ere sec
tion.r R = = ,.-s- -sss -
The present owner and occupant
were the Widow Hawkins and her twt
SONS, Ephraim, man of nearly fort,
years, and Solomon, who was Gus
turned twenty" And these two
boys we're the source of all the poo
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
cut any head, " as the widow expressed
it.
Ephraim inherited the family name
and most of the honors which had fallen
successively to their share = such as
being :" "Selectman and member OF
the "School COMMITTEES. /" But his
father, grandfather and great-grand-
father had been Deacons, and as yet he
had not been "chosen, y although sew
eral vacancies had occurred since his
years and experience had rendered him
eligible to that Office.
It was great trial TO the widow, for,
with mothers partiality, she deemed
it fitting that the fathers mantle should
fall upon the son, who was In every
way worthy to follow In the footsteps
of his sire. And another thing "tried y
the widow. Ephraim had never shown
any matrimonial inclination, although
his duty had been faithfully laid before
him line upon line, precept upon pre-
cspt, but with strange perVersity COM
mon to human nature, (and / should
hike to add, for the sake of truth, that
it reaches its highest development in
the masculine persuasion,) he seemed
deaf to her fond entreaties and blind to
his own interests.
Wise and deep were the arguments
used by the widow, but Ephraim would
cody 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
moment became entangled in any of
them
Did she invite some 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 entertain and
"see home" And Solomon, instead
of blaming his brother and sympathiz-
ing with the poor woman in her trials
seemed to 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 IL some farmers kitchen, In dam
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 to
sigh and say, g If Ephraim ever does
get wife and solomon don't get more'n
one, shall be thankful
She had borne with commendable
spirit and silence the remarks which
were made In her hearing, but there is
a limit to human patience, and it is a
fact that women can manage to say
most cutting and irritating things to
each other under the garb of sympathy
and coincidence.
1t was at the sewing society, the first
which had ftmet" since Deacon Elsbree
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 was
going to pass your Ephraim by again.
and take man SO much younger, and
SO little experience. It seems kinder
like put upon you both, and a slight
upon your husban' that's now dead and
gone, it really does" And she made
desperate effort to subdue the rising tri-
umph IN herSyoice.
"Who haze they picked out ?" asked
the widow, and she Cooked ready to
sink for she had thought, "Surely
they VIII take Ephraim ncw.v
"It's not settled yet, but they are
talkin' bout Car;ine,s husban'," and
then she added, aftera moments pause.
&C. wish things had been leetle diff
ferent with Ephraim." 4
Mrs Hawkins tried to brace herself
to hear the rest She was soon ac-
costed with, ssGlad to see you out to-
day, Sister Hawkins; shows you amt
no feeling 'bout Ephraim's bein' slight
ed; we all 'spected you'd lot on his
bein' chosen, but you see t wouldn't
do, no how
The pale face flushed, and then she
looked up to find that every eye was
upon her, and every one waiting TO see
what she would say.
She spoke up quite unlike herself.
{. No, I don't see why it wouldn't do /
my Ephraim's as likely man as there
is In this town, and there amt person
with the right to speak agin him, and
that's more'n can be said of some folks
that pear to stand better chance than
him"
It was pretty still there for a minute