The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1872-03-15
s@ ps2laAH ,gG9Aa COLUMBIA TENNESSEE MARCH Il 1879
II ..LnaYr

T, NAAAAU|h II, AOd ~. s5rs,r
,itLcdF - - H8,AI1T
'pmYafraid I've been % little, to-
I sharp with Josiah thought she. = ~,
ls0rter took it for granted was sain
: and he q sinner, and scoided him righ
along down hill. A nice saint am
As proud and high-strlng az La1ci1e
himself Oh dearp sighed Nabby; I.
pretty mess Eve made of lfviugf i
Il we could only 60 back and begin ovel
sgain, seems to me things would &C
betfer.' hsa =sE .-rl.uarfF .is~reg
| Just then there was Q faint noise,
like the clicking of the door-latch
All was still again-n0 one visible
Yet Nabby could not rid herself Of the
impression that some one was neal
her, that odd sense of another's indi.
viduality near us, though not present
There's some one hangin' round
here, know, said she to herself. ;,
/ Nabbya was one who always met
things halfway. Accordingly, she
walked to the outside door, and
opening II quickly, peered cut into the
darkness. There stood Josiah - wet,
sheepish, sorry. Once he started to 20
in, but his courage failing, he fingered
in dubious hesitation on the door
| step. i- -'-l-Y ia-.1Hm tla H'
why don't you come in Josiah p
said 'Nabby. a 81 "a
Il didn't know you'd wantme, Nab
by replied Josiah, with all the meek
ness becoming areturned prodigal.
Want you? or course do, said
Nabby, heartily. Come right along
in. Pm goin' to have griddle-cakes
for supper, and you must tend them
while set the table, Griddle-cakes
were one of Josiah's weaknesses, and
Nabby knew it. rVrUlj1
Josiah came in II he ever gets into
heaven, probably his sensations will
not be one whit more delightful than
they were now, as from the bleakness
and gloom of the night, the forlorn-
sness OF his wretehed- wanderings, he
came into the cozy brightness Of the
kitchen, and felt that be was bone
once more. How good the tea smelled!
The fire roared and snapped, the tea-
kettle boiled and bubbled and bobbed
ITS lid up and down, and from the
griddle the savory odor Of the cakes
assembled like . honely incense.
Josiah's face, shining with mingled
heat and happiness as he turned the
griddle-cakes, was something worth
seeing. .....--. go
Nabby was stepping briskly around
getting supper ready. 1t seemed so
pleasant to set the table for two again,
to have some one to praise and appre-
ciate her cooking. The November
wind might howl its worst now. It's
hold on Nabby was gone. In place Of |
all the bitter sadness that bad hung |
heavily round her heart was q warm |
feeling of happiness, of comfort and
hope. 4
All the explanation they had was
this; Josiah drew from under his |
shabby coat an exceedingly awkward
and knobby bundle.
1--WE bought somethin' for you,
Nabby,' said he.
The "something" undone proved
to be very handsome britannia tea
pot. The teapot must have known
it was a peace Offering, with such
preternatural brightness did it shine
and glisten. Something in Nabby's
eyes shone and glistened, too, al
though she winked hard and scOrned
the weakness Of . pocket-handker-
chief. -. ~ 49, e.
Thank you, JOSIAH she said, 'it's
a regular beauty, ard shall set lots
by it. |
Which, so long as they understood
each other, was, perhaps, as well as
If Josiah had made a long-worded
speech of repentance and reformation
and Nabby another Of forgiveness. |
I wish l could say that Nabby
never scolded Josiah again. But 1
can't. However, she drew it mild"
and there was general understand
ing between them that this was only q
sort of exercise made necessary by
habit-a barking by no means involv-
ing biting. And Josiah was SO &C
missed it, and not felt natural without
being wound up and set going for the |
day by Nabby. |
One day, latter in the winter, Nab
by was washing for Mrs. Hosley.,
So you've taken Josiah back again,
after, ALL said Mrs. Hosley. l.
well, yes, have said Nabby,
giving last twist to the sheet she was
Wringing out. 'Josiah mayn't be very
much to brag of; but then you see,
he's my own, and all I'VE got. We're
gettin' to be old folks, Josiah and me,
and We may as well put up with each
other the little while we've got to stay
here.' ... .v0r' .r-- T |
How has he been doing since he
came back ,?
'First-rate. He's walked as straight
rs q string ever since. He's good
provider, now, and he's quit drinkin,'
and . master hand for fixin' up things
around the house, and maxim it
tell you what tits Miss
Hosley, we've got to make 'lowances
for folks in this world. We cart have
'em always to our mind. We've got
to take 'em just as they are and make
the best on't.' FFffETgNl- + |
Pm glad to see gou 80 much happier
and better contented, Nabby.'
'Well, l used to fret and complain
good deal because things hadn't turned
out IS Iexpected 'em to butls tely I've
thought a good deal about it all, and
L've made up my mind that there's
comfort for every one after
all. We mayn't git jest what wei
want, but we git somethin'.'
In which piece of philosophy be-
|iovo Nahhv UaS ahOIlt right |