St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1871-11-10
From Hearth and IioIur
ne" TOOSicr !ScHOOI- .1ldSfey.
iN EDWAED EGGLE>TON
CIIAPrEE Nj.
Miss MARTHA HAWKINS

1t very Good for the health To dig in
the clements. | was quite cmaciatcd
last year 1t :hc East, and the luctor told
me 10 dig in the clemcni$. | got lie :,
floral hoe and dug. and it'< been most
excellent for me
lime. the Saturday following the Fri
day on which Ralph kept Shocky COM
Iany as tar rs tia. "lork,'' near Granny
Sandcr~'- house. S.ene. the Squirc's
garden. Ralph lrlpin" tina; worthy
ma"I>ifAIe perform sundry little job.
such ii warm winter day suggests to the
farmer, Miss Mu,ha llam kin>. the
Npmrc'~ niece, an,i his houSrkecper in
hlS Present brrcavcd condition, lcanima
over H." palln4>-pichrt> She called
thrm-ul Tia, garden fence, talking to
the master. Miss Hawkins wa- recent
ly from Massachusetts,. How many pco.
pie there are in the most cultivated com
nnmlti,S whose education is partial
Its very common for >rhuol-mas,cr-
To d'. III the elements at the East" pro
r',,ici Mis- MARTHA Lie many other
people born IN the celestial empires (ot
which tlrrlr ;,Ir thrcc-C himi. VIRGINIA,
Ml>,arhu-yIt>I Ms Martha was not
a,ei-c - reminding outside barbarian,
OF h,r GOOD fortune ih tIi- rr4ard II
did h,r g1cd 10 ~pr;Ih ui the East.
Now Ralph waS amused with Miss
Martha. She really had Il good deal oi
intelligence, despite her aticcialinn, and
conversation with her w:,~ ho:h interest
in and divcr,ing. 1t helped him to for
-rt lIannah and Bad, and ihr robbery,
and all the lest, and she Wa 50 delight
e,i to iiud -"mcbOdy to make an impress
SION on that she llal come out To talk
whi!c Ralph was at work. But ,ju.t at
tins moment the school ua-tcr WAS not
- much Interested in !rr intcrrsir" re
marks, nor - mitch amused 10y Ecr
,tmil>nL remarks, IL lac should have
been. He saw :, man comm" down the
read riding one horse and leading anpllI
er, and lac recognized the horses at Il dis
tamcc. 1t must be Hud who was riding
Mran-'> bay uarc and leading Bud :
roam colt. Bud had been to mill and rs
the man "ho owned the horse mill kept
but one old blind horse himself, il WIS
necessary that Bud should take two. 1t
required three horses to ran the mill
the old blind one could Grind the grist,
but the two oilers had to overcome the
friction OF the clnm>v machine
But i. was not the horSe-mill
that Ralph was thinking about, nor
about the two horses. Since that We'd
ncs,lay cvcuin" on which lie escorted
Hannah home from the Spclling-school
lc had not seen Bud Means. 1t he had
any lingering doubts OF the truth OF what
Mirandy had said, they had been diss-
patcd by the absence OF Bud from school
Nv hen / was TO BOsting-" Miss
Martha was 10 Boston only once in hcI
life, hmt ;tS her visit to that sacred city
WAS the most important occurrence OF
her lie. she did not hesitate to air her
"reminiscences OF it frequently. when
| was 10 Bo>ting,' she was just saying,
when, following the indications OF
Ralph's eyes, she saw Bud coming up
+ the hill near Squire IIawkins's house
hud looked red and sulky, and to Raj lph's
and Miss Martina Ilawkins's polite rec
ognilions he returned only Il surly nod.
They both saw that he was angry
Ralph was able to @uesS the meaning of
his wrath.
Toward evening Ralph sirolled through
the Squirc's cornlield toward the woods
The memory of the walk with Hannah
was heavy upon the heart Of the young
master, and there was comfort in the
very mscrablcness Of the cornstalks with
their dishevclcd blades hanging like tat
tered banners and rattling discordantly
in the Using wind. Wandering withuu,
purpose, Ralph followed the rows OF
stalks first one way and then the other
in 4 zig@ag line, turning "a right angle
every minute ur two. At last he came
cut in Il wood, mostly of beech, ana hc
pleased his mrlanchuly fancy by kicking
thc dry AMI silky leaves before him i'll
biiIows, while the soughing OF the wind
through thc long, vibrant hougIS and
slender twi@s ol the beech forest seemed
10 pat the world into the wailn@ minor
key Of his own despair.
What Il fascination there Is in path
come upon suddenly without a knowl
edge OF its termination, Here was one
running III easy, irregular curves through
the wood, now turning gently 10 the
right t. avoid Il stump, row swaying
suddenly to the left to gain an easier de-
scent at steep place, and now turning
wantonly to the one side or the other,
as if from very caprice in the man who
by idle steps mconsciously marked the
line Of the foot-path at first, Ralph