The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1871-08-11
CHAPTER XIV.

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CHAPTER XIV.
The unjust censure of my brainless
-.isnfls. which had at the time of its oc-
urrarsce rendered me so sad and misera-
"a had no further power to annoy or
eexi me. A ''peace that passeth under
ltanding' took possession of my turbu-
gat disposition, and a still, small voice,
repeating often in my ears the words of
oTlfort, AIo, / am with you always"
bideth with me as a living joy.
The hazy Indian summer, with its
niBfoidered Tfringes of gold and sap
.ibire. melted gradually away into the
hfIly autumn, with its frOsts and fogs.
rom his home away over the Coast
mountains the south wind came howl
ing At intervals, bringing with him the
seTless, spelling and pitiless rain"
toyer the sodden earth the chilling
\ vember rains ran down, and my
18th seemed to gradually fail under
libodily depression occasioned by the
ltraeted storm.
Nv school room was crowded with
ldents, and my work, of course, was
aaver done. 1 tried in vain to induce
j hn to stay at home and assist me
newhat in my arduous tasks. The
protracted rains had made the out
q Ounds a perfect muck, and the Shiny
nihd. sticking as il always will to little
let that love to come into contact with
il, made the house so uncomfortably
dirty that my strength was severely
.taxednwith daily securing. | used to
think that my natural protector(?)-
fseaven save the mark would not
ave sullied his dignity in the least
YIending helping hand on such oc-
easiorls, but he never thought Of assist
iilg me, and spent his time, when not i'm
,e woods with dog and gun-which
is law would have been both just and
u,erciful TO me had il but taken from
I'm with.lhis other property-in saun-
.eting aiInIessIy around tisei heqse, oc-
3. easi0zIally y. poziiig and seoldiag the
children, and often sitting still for
hours smoking huge clay pipe, whose
EaRls VSPJIKe Gs95 5frf eHcessIysly J.
trying np0n my -iiirensely higil-strr1ig
nerves.
ri My father gradually grew more md
more inert. Sometimes he would visit
: ar G0nHgG Ekters,Rw growing
family cares rendered his visit anything
hut the, pleasant episode in their over
b0rdened lives that it would have been
Mad they had necessary help in their ar
hons voeations. And dthepoor, feeble and
lrematurely old man would soon come
aclz to me, saying he would ''give a
Orse to see the other girls go ahead like
ude did"
He never said that TO me directly, but /
ave overheard him talking thus to other
eople. He invariably took apparent
atisfaction in scolding "Small PotI-
5esn in half-playfnl, half-serious way
or growing, as he expressed it, "too i'm
4Ortant for such a Small Potato" and
requeutly chided me for toiling and
Giving as ] did. Yet he, like John and
he neighbOrs, never hesitated to avail
imself gratuitously of the hard-earned
omforts of my well-ordered household,
nd now that he sleeps his last, long
deep beside my mother and my child, |
hank the benefcent Source of all great
19ood that strength was given me suffi-
cient formy day.
B. The reader viii pardon me if, for n
little while, I drop the thread of my
narration to describe this lovely scene
and this most glorious day.
It is the last week and near the last
day of July. The red-hot sun beams
down with benignant face upon the
ripening grain, which the hazy atmos-
phere reveals waving i'm luxurious
yigor over broad seas of rolling prairie
in the wales below. Farm houses, i'm all
the various styles Of primitive and mod
ern architecture, dimensions and finish,
dot the verdant valleys; peep smiling
ly from the feet of gigantic forests
stand, stark and bare in the shimmering
sunshine, without shade or verdure; rise
from deep, green Oases, around which
the yellow fields wave to and fro in
the busy breezes, or lie in an abandon
ment of log-heap ruin in the old-time
"elearings" where the earlier settlers
first made frontier homes. Away to
the westward, across the beautiful val
ley Of the wild Willamette, bonlered by
its belt of living green, rise the undu-
lating lines of the Coast mountains
with their sides and SUBMITS clothed
with perennial verdure, and shutting
out the grand old ocean from the view.
Behind me alfisS Flieaeastward grandIy
loom the beld- Cascades, adorned by
- mighty fogSsssts and ,cppwRed with mas
siye snow-Peaks. Mount Hood, ''Fair
: ldesppt Of the wild Cascades" towers
niajestically above the forests that
clotle his massive feet, his hoary head
ibs rsE snivi9saa YITZLfsZo0-
.13mGsiS "