Litchfield enquirer., 1873-04-24

crashes, lest that Russell might a been l ketched under the one that fell. And settin' so, and worryin' good deal, day in and day ont. kinder broodin' over my troubles, and never thinkin' about any body but myself, got to be of the ldee. that was the worst-off creature goin'. If I'd have stopped to think about Rus sell, maybe should have had some sort of pity for him, for he was jest as lone some as I, and I wasn't no kind of com fort come home to,.most always cryin', or jest a-goin' to.
 l So the summer went along till twas nigh on to winter, and I want in no bet ter sperrits. And now I want real well, and plned for mother, and I pined for Major, and I'd have given all the honey and buckwheat in Indiana for loaf of mothers dry rye-bread and drink of spring And finally got so miser- 1 able, 1 wished I want never married,- and I'd have wished was dead, if 'twa' mt for bein' doubtful where I'd go to, if I was. And worst of all, one day I got so worked up that told Russell all that. T declare he turned as white as turnip. 1 see I'd hurt him. and I'd have got over it in minute and told him so,-only he up with his axe and walked of the door, and never come home till night, and then I was too stubborn to speak to him.
 We'll, things got worse, n one day I was sewin' some things and cryin' over 'em, when heard team come along by, and, before could get to the door, Rus sell, come in, all red for joy, and says,-
 "Who do you want to sec most, An ny?"
 Somehow the question kind of upset mel got choked, and then I bus out a-cryin'
 "Oh, mother and Major p says I and I hadn't morn spoke the word before mother had both her good strong arms was a-lookin' up at me from the little pine cricket, where she'd sot down as nateral as life. We'll, a0as glad, and so was Russell, and the house seemed as shiny as hang birds nest, and by-and- by the baby came;-but had mother.
 Twas long about in March when I was sick, and by the end of April was we'll, and sos to be stirrin' round again. And mother and Major begun to talk about go- in home; and I declare, my heart was up in my month every time they spoke ont, and begun to be miserable ag'in. One day I was settin' beside of mother; Major was out i'll the garden, ixin' up things, and settin' out lot of blows she'd got in the woods, and singin' away, and says l | to mother,-
 ''What be I goin' to do. mother, with out you aud Major most died of clear lonesomeness before you come! P | Mother laid down her knittin' and look ed straight at me.
 '1 wish you had got a little of Majors good cheer, Amy" says she. ''You haven't any call to be lonely here; it's a real good country, and you've got a nice house, and the best of husbands, and a dear little baby, and you'd oughter try to give up frettin'. I wish you was pious, Amy; you wouldn't fault the Lords goodness the way you do."
 Well, Major don't have nothin' to trouble her, mother says I. She's all homesick.''
 Mother spoke up pretty resolute: "There ain't nobody in the world, An ny, but what has troubles. I didn't cal culate to tell you about Majors; but sence you lay her lively ways to luck, maybe yon'd better know 'em. She's been en. gagged to Reuben Potter, and he's goin' off in a slow consumption; he won't never live to marry her, and she knows it."
 "And she come away to see me, moth- er?"
 ''Yes, she did. I can't say I thought she need to, but Russell wrote you was pinin' for both of us, and didn't think you could get along without me, but told her to stay with Reuben, and I'd come on alone. And says she, No, moth CT, you ain't young and spry enough to go alone so fur, and the Lord made you. my mother and Amy my sister before pick ed out Reuben for myself. can't never have any kin but you, and might have had somebody beside Reuben, though. it don't seem likely now; but he's got four sisters to take care of him, and he thinks l think it's what I ought to do; so I'm goin' with you So she come, Amy; and you see how lively she keeps, just because she don't want to dishearten you none don't know as you can blame her for kind CT hankerin' to get home.
 hadn't nothin' to say; was beat. So mother she went on:
 ''Fact is, Amy, Majors always a-think- in about other folks: it comes kind of it. guess, dear, when you get to think in more about Russell an the baby, you'll forget some of your troubles. I hope the Lord won't have to gise you no harder lesson than lovin', to teach you Majors ways"
 So after that, couldn't say no more to mother about stayin'; but when they went away, like to cried myself sick, only baby had to be looked after, and could nt dodge her.
 Bym-by we had letters from nome they got there all safe, and Reuben want no worse, Major said left had been me wrote the letter, should have said he want no better And I fell back into the, old lonesome days, for baby slept mostly; and the summer come on extreme hot and in July, Russell, bein' forced to go to Cumberton on some land business, left me to home with baby and the hired man, calculatin' to be gone three days and two nights.
 The first day he was away was dreadful sultry the sun went down away over the woods in kind of a red-hot fog, and it seemed as though the stars were dull and coppery at night; even the whip-poor- wills was too hot to sing; nothin' but doleful screech-owl quavered away, a half 8 mile off, a good hour, steady When 1t got to be mornin, it didn't seem no cooler; there want breath of wind, and the locusts in the woods chittered as though they was fryin'. Our hired man was an old Scotchman, by name Simon Grant ; and when he'd got his breakfast, he said he'd go down the clearin' and bring up load of brush for me to burn. So he drove off with the team, and, havin' cleared up the dishes, I put baby to sleep, and took my pail to the barn to milk the cow,-for we kept her in kind of home-lot like, part that had been cleared afore we come, lest she should stray away in the woods, if we turned her loose; she was put in the barn, too, nights. for fear some stray wildcat or bear might come along and do her harm. | So I let her into the yard, and was jest a-goin' to milk her when she begun to snort and shake, and finally giv' the pail kick, and set of. full swing, for the fence to the lot. looked round to see what was a-comin', and there, about quarter of mile off, I see the most curus thing I ever see before or since,-a cloud as ! 11 .Ir sx,1- |