Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1873-09-25

! 'oi'o upch us clfcuiar Dase, 1t could be
turned TO face the prevailing wind.
1t stood but little back upon the tnrt
from the white, winding chalk road lead
ing up TO 1t; and as the huge sails. whir.
ring ana roaring through the air, swept
round and round, their ends, in each sue,
ceedlng descent, looking as if they must
strike the earth, and only sweeping clear
OF 1t by some foot and half, one hesitat-
eel almost to pass it, so wild, memorable.
and menacing did it look. 1t had been
salo more than once that barrier should
be set up to prevent the unwary from 90
ing too near, as a blow from one of those
revolving beams would surely be fatal
But there never had been any accident,
Who ever would go too near? None but
the deaf, or blind, or mad
And so 1t was still open to the road.
Hard by stood the miller's dwelling
partaklng of many of the tones and colors
OF the mill; a thought below the crest of
the height, yet commanded fully the
glorious view that made Wavingdean
Down place of note in the neighbor-
hood. 1t is even yet pretty spot.
Amos Cover had inherited the proper
ty OF the mill from several generations
had married the daughter of a wellto do
french skipper plying between a Nor
mandy port and Crewhaven; had received
trlf1lng dot with her, enough to make
pretty addition to his simple earnings.
when, alter but few years of welded
lie, he found himself left widower, with
Two little girls, one an infant, and the
other between four and five wears old.
he thought of little beyond their welfare.
Untaught himself, he desired to give
his children good education,
the advantage of which he had
seen in his wife; so the eldest had been
sent to Paris, not to fashionable school,
but to some homely people, distant con
nections of her mother She had returned
to the quiet old life upon the downs about
year, when the sorrow of which we have
had hint befell the Cover household
Full OF her foreign experience, she had
come like being from another world
upon the prosaic existence of her father
and sister. The latter had emerged into
budding womanhood since Naomi had
been away, and listened eagerly to all the
stories and events her sister had to relate.
jeanette was vii / with the desire to taste
for herself these pleasures and wonders,
and when her request that she, too, might
be sent for a while to Paris was refused by
the kind old man, on account of a change
rebelled. The fiery spirit of the French
blood she inherited felt itself aggrieved,
and altogether, for the last few months,
things had not been as happy as they
might have been at the old windmill upon
the downs.
Then as to this Reuben Straytor?
Well, the miller's daughter has given
some account of his pedigree. His fathers
farm stood in the little hamlet Of Waving
dean, which lay in the valley at the foot
of the down, therefore. it is not wonder
full that he and the little Cover girls
should have been playmates from their
earliest days. AS they grew up, the sepa-
ratiOnS which SchOOl-times brought about
gradually increased, and when Naomi at
the age of fourteen, went abroad for four
years, Reuben, who was a good deal older,
was finishing his education at certain
FlOckshire college, and came home soon
after, as his father designed, to drop INTO
the farming life. But this did not suit
the taste of the young fellow, who had &C
quired notions of loftier kind. With the
indulgence generally accorded TO an only
son, it was settled that he should read for
the law, and he went to London for the
purpose. He liked law, however, no bet
ter than farming, and it was whispered
that he had idled his time, made doubtful
acquaintance, and fallen into habits of
luxury, if not dissipation His father GER.
tainly had to pay a considerable amount
of debt, and Reuben once more came
back for time to his home, to give him,
as he said, an opportunity Of looking out
for something else; came back to the old
home to find his little playmates of yore
grown into blooming girls, the elder on
I he Of ,hnn nd no,
er, though still almost a child in years,
looking as much woman as her sister
Then ensued the daliance referred to,
and, according to her fathers account, so
misunderstood by Naomi. She, truth to
say, had not been insensible to the at
fractions which Reuben possessed. His
tall, gentlemanly figure, handsome face,
and pleasant manner, cOntrasted strongly
with the usual run of farmers sons. But
he had made no sign which could be in
terpreted as reciprocal of her feelings.
He really was too honorable to contem-
plate matrimOny until course in life had
been permanently adopted. He certainly
had been constantly up at the mill: and
what more natural? For having nothing
to do at home, he would occasionally I'M
dertake small affairs Of business for his
father with his neighbors, and the miller
and the farmer necessarily had constant
dealings together. Besides, were not
Naomi and Jeanette his oldest friends?
And the former had much to say that was
worth listening to about her foreign trav-
els. Familiarity was to be expected, and
he went and came, as it seemed, under
the circumstances, in perfectly natural
and likely manner.
Suddenly Jeanette disappears. She IS
in the habit of tripping down into Crew
haven upon the slightest pretext; and has
become fonder of doing so of late. She
differs from her sister in disposition; is
vain, frivolous, likes display OF dress,
cOquette withal, with flashing eyes, which
have an intuitive knack of making their
meaning plain Very French in nature,
chatting more or less at the home life, ana
much more since Naomi's return, yet
most loveable little creature, and by the
same token very dear to father and sister.
so that, on an unusually stormy Septem-
Der evening, by the time she should have
been seen returning by the Crewhaven
road, and was not seen, an anxiety, rap
idly growing into dread, seized upon the
hearts of the two watchers at the mill
watchers, for Naomi shared in her faith
er's simple toll The work came easily,
and was not new, her tastes ever rather IN
clining to simple household duties bent
tins her station than to action IN a wider
sphere.
She loved the old mill and all connect
ed with it, had understood It's actions
from a child, knew how to manage II, had
fed it at a pinch when the tlnkllng OF the