The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1872-05-16
THE jSTORY-TELLER.
TIE DEACON AND HIS WIFE,
what Came of Washing Oh Sunday.

what Came of Washing Oh Sunday.
Deacon Flint had decided to move;
had decided to commence moving at pre-
cisely 8 o'clock, Monday morning, July
1S; and so on that identical Monday
morning you might, had you been an
early riser, have seen the deacon, divested
Of his coat and his Sunday dignity,
shaking the best room carpet in the back
yard.
There is no need Of saying what he
did next, or what Mrs. Flint was doing
then. They went through the tearing
up process very much as other people
do; and not being endowed with an
over-abundance of this worlds goods,
the last load of furniture, consisting of
the deacon's wife and haby, the twins,
and the best room lool1ing-glass, was on
its way to the depot at 3 o'clock, P. NJ.
blessed be nothing" exclaimed the
tired little woman, as the deacon helped
her out of the wagon. eff we had been
Squire Ransom's folks, Samuel, we
shouldn't have been more than quarter
through now, would WEI My! how my
poor bones would have ached through
this time tomorrow night. I'm glad
the Lord knows what's best for me-" she
added, taking the baby from the deacon,
and looking around for the twins.
1t was but few hours ride to c., and
Just in the coolest dusk of the July twi-
light they walked up the street to their
new home, very tired, and thankful they
We're not Squire Ransoms folks, but just
themselves, if they did have to work late
that night putting up the kitchen stove
and unpacking dishes and bedding.
Tuesday was q day of many troubles.
The babies were tired and fretful; day
light revealed coating of dirt on doors
and windows, the depth of which they
knew not BEFORE and the heat was in
tense. But the deacon possessing untir-
ing energy, and his little wife the sun
niest of tempers, they succeeded so well
that, by Thursday night, as he came into
the kitchen with an armful of wood,
where his wife was washing dishes, she
commenced singing:
1.-The deacon thinks his work is almost done,
But feel as if mine had just begun"
"Did you hear that, Samuel Z" she
said, laughing, and turning around to
look at him.
1t was prayer-meeting night, and the
deacon went to prayer-1neeting for the
first time in c., took an active part, and
after meeting waited to shake hands with
the minister and some of the brethren,
answer their inquiries, and present their
letters He had the satisfaction of feel
ing, on his way home, that he had made
good impression; it pleased him; it
would have pleased us and he told his
little wife that night, in his grave way,
that he hoped, coming as he did in the
midst of strange people, there might
never be any occasion of remark against
him while he remained among Them"
"Im sure hope not, Samuel" she
said, looking innocently up in his face,
and adding, as she nestled up her little
brown head ON his shoulder :" / don't
feel much alarmed about it,"
The next day, Friday, the deacon went
back to the old home, having some bust
ness settlements to make there. Cant
tell certainly when l shall be back I;
probably not till Monday noon; guess
there's enough wood split to last till
then. Goodbye he said, and was
gone.
The wee woman went singing back to
her half-washed dinner-dishes, and with
one foot on the cradle-rocker she secured
the knives, while she told the story of
"Jacl1 and Gill" to the twins. When
the last kettle was washed, the kitchen
stove and table brushed and secured to
the usual shade of black and white, the
baby asleep i'll her nest of a cradle
"bless her !" she washed the pretty twin
faces till they blushed like red peppers,
and then settled them in their trundle-
bed for a nap.
Dear little woman! she did look so
tired as she came out from the bedroom
and stopped to brush a fly from under
the mosquito-net over the baby; it
would have made your back ache to look
at her. But the CHEEKY heart in the
weary body asserted itself, and she
smiled with the thought of all she would
do before the deacon came back.
II must slick my hair over little, so
if any one should come | wouldn't spoil
the deacons reputation" she said to her.
self, going up to little glass that hung
between the kitchen windows. Just
then gem of sunbeam flashed in at
the window, and seemed to tangle itself
all up in her wavy brown hair. "Oh,
how pretty" she said, with blush and
laugh like child's. "Guess if some
body had been at home I'd had kiss
then ~ and off she flew to her work.
How like magic the white curtains
went up and the cobwebs came down /;
how the bost room looking-glass shone
after its polishing, and the old daguer-
reotype of samuel in his best days "
never shone through so clean surface
as it did that day. So the time flew,
bringing the deacon's return nearer.
One morning she awakened early, en-
tirely free from wretched headache she
had the day before. 81 want it all
done; the kitchen cleaned up and my
dress changed before Samuel comes at