Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1872-02-23

/ was p1IO. OoO ~ ehAWcSJ
seemed to me as if her Dor It went
farther with tae children than a thrash
| ing, from their father. The deacon
holds stiff rein. Whyl Hal got into
a tussle with butcher Barton's Pete one
day, and between them, somehow, a
stone crashed through Reuben Browns
| plate-glass. Hal declared that hedidn't
| throw the stone, but Pete's two little
brothers. swore they saw him. The
| deacon said that if Hal would fight he
wouldn't help him out of trouble, and
he let him go to jail. 1.. .,ie ~ .s'E
4@" Hal is quick as gunpowder, and he
| ISM t afraid of anybody when his tenn
| per's up. He was beech nutting out in
the wood-lot, the day Squire Marlow's
cattle broke into his twenty acre wheat
field They did a round hundred dol
| lars' efamag { been over to the
| deacon's of an errand, and was just
coming down the front walk, when the
squire came tearing over, accusing Hal
of letting down the fence Z wish yeu
could have seen that boy Miss Waring !
He stood up, pale as death, and his eyes
like two fires; dGfeCaN bns T9W0lE
~ didn't let down your fence, Squire
Marrow" says he, right before his father
and Steve, g but I wouldn' t have cared
if had, and the best wish ! can make
you is that your cattle have eaten up
five times the worth of Biddy Larry's
cow that you took for rent last winter,
and little Patsy dying!" ~ 'r
IF you'll believe it, Miss Waring, the
squire turned as red as a cocks comb,
and rode off without another word. |
believe the deacon wasn't over sorry
himself, but he thrashed Hal all the
same, to take the impertinence out Of
him, he said" - e,z ii ,. .-itf .s.' ...I
But his sister-has she no influence
over ,him?" .tE VIII +. ..a.. ,s. j. d. ~,
"Well, Mary has all she can do, and
/ guess the most she asks Of Hal is to
keep out of her way You've no idea,
Miss Waring, of the amount of work a
farm of that size brings into the house.
Let me fill your cup. No. What
going to school SO early?' Well, a
pleasant day to YOU"
So it had happened that Miss Waring
looked with something more than usual
interest along the line of larger boys,
who took their places on the back row
Of benches at the opening Of the school.
She saw the various types of boyish
faces, already SO familiar to her, some
bright and earnest, others dull and sui
len, still others well meaning, but
marked, as yet. by no strong individu-
ality-not one which at. all embodied
her ideal of Hal Thorn. One by one
the names were enrolled-he was not
there. But half an hour later the door
NTH n l. 0f Inai
sion, and tall boy walked with swing
ing, defiant steps along the narrow
aisle, casting keen glance at the
teacher as he went. She nodded pleas
antly, her rapid, practiced eye taking
him in, from the heavy boots, SO splash
ed with wet sand as TO suggest the cause
of his hardness to have been a morning
visit to the creek, to the brown, shapely
throat revealed by the turn down. collar
of hiscoarse gray jacket, the proud head
covered with crisp, auburn curls, the
dark eyes full of dangerous fire, the
reckless untrustful expression, over
waiting like the characters of palimp-
sest, the first noble plan of his young
face. .-.-.4.
No wonder, she thought, that the peo-
pie had turned in their seats u when
the dove-eyed mother had brought in
her youngest eaglet. u She could fancy
him in his glorious babyhood, radiant,
unsullied-heaven his fatherland, earth
his inheritance.
The teacher paused until the room
was quiet again. then she resumed what
she had been saying.
GAS was telling you, children, rules
are troublesome, and only good for peo-
Pile who do not wish to keep them. It
is so much nicer to do the things we
ought because we like to. | shall give
you just one rule, "Do rightp' The
very smallest one Of you will understand
that. And / shall trust yeu, every one"
She looked up and caught Halls eyes
fixed on her with an intensity that made
her start. Oddly enough, something fan.
back in her childhood seemed to con-
front her in his face. She groped for a
moment in the labyrinth of her memo
ry, and caught the clue H<.s ~
Her father was a Garrisonian abolition
ist, his house station on the under
ground railway. One night a poor
bondman came, hard pressed by the
officers. There was just time to hide him
in the granary, under q heap of empty
bags, in corner full of dust and cob
webs. His pursuers, warrant in hand
came in hot haste, searching the house
from garrett to cellar, ran ging barns and
out-houses, thrusting pitchforks ruth
lessly into fragrant hay-mows, cropping.
at last in that very heap of sacking,
whose heart was one unit of agony in
the unsolved problem of the worlds
sorrow. At the instant when all hope
had fed they turned away, bafHed and,
as the ring of the horses hoofs died
upon the distant highway. the fugitive
came forth. r,.s ..sss3e ssh -at % Se
The little girl, clinging to her fathers
coat-there were no secrets in that
household-had kept, through all her
years, the memory of that sable coun-
tenance. ss. ..ss. s5
Gone chance more," it said, "for
life, liberty, home /. One chance more p
Gone chance more" said the boys
face, at once SO young, andso sadly old,
for faith, sympathy, love ! One chance
more iiaszsl9rt3} rr1 esgef2fsgsseE fEa9 sss rg1s
Days passed. Miss Warnings single
rule was working. The children were
| not perfect -aggravatingly human some
times-yet the best in. each nature
seemed lifting itself like plant, to the
sunshine, checked by sterile soil, turned
aside by stones, half choked by rank
weeds. yet struggling and aspiring STILL
She worked and waited. 20 Il s.ss
Hal Thorn developed powers of atten-
ton and application which astonished
her. His conduct had been thus far
lrreproachable, but he seemed to shield
himself behind an impenetrable barrier.
She felt herself on trial., with Judgment
reserved.