The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1873-10-30


less, untlll one of the family would
notice it and raise it smartly int,
place with slight snap, All cperatiol
always performed in such an habitu
al, pcrfunctory manner-generalI,
IN passing to and fro in their house
hold duties that it was very trying
to the spectator, 1t was still more
embarrassing to observe that tho
dear old lady had evidently nc
knowledge Of this, but believed she
was still talking and that on resum
ing her actual vocal utterance she
was often abrupt aud incohercnt, be
ginning i'll the middle Of sentence,
and often in the middle OF a word
Sometimes said her daughter, q
glddy, thoughtlcss young thing o.
80, sometimes justjmoving her head
sort of unhitehes her jaw, and if We
don't happen to see 1t she'll so on
talking for hours without making a
SQUAD" Although | was convinced
after this that during my interview
had lost several important revela
tions regarding George Washington
through these peculiar lapses,
could not help rejecting how bcnef
cent were these provisions of the
Creator-how, if properly studied
and applied, they might be fraught
with happiness to mankind. How a
slight jostlc or jar at a dinner party
might make the post prandaI elo.
quence of garru!ous senility satisfac-
tory to itself yet harmless TO others.
How a more intimate knowledge of
anatomy introduced into the domes-
tic circle might make home tolera-
bic. at least, il not happy. How a
long suffering husband, under the
pretense OF a conjugal caress, might
so unhook his wite's condyloid pro.
cess as to allow the flow of cxpostu-
latlon, criticism or denunciation to 90
on with qualification to her and per-
feet immunity to himself.
But this was not getting back to
George Washington and the e;rly
struggles of the Republic. 50 | re-
turned to the Commander. in Chief,
but ieunA, a!tar. one orz.n.s leading.
questions, that she was rather in
clined to resent his reappearance on
the stage. Her "reminiscences here
were chiefly social and local and
more or less iovorc1 with Perkins.
We got back as tar as the revolution.
ary epoch-or rather her impress
sions OF that epoch when it was still
fresh in the public mind. And here
| came upon an incident, purely per-
sonal and local, but wlthal so novel,
wierd and uncanny, that for a while
| fear, quito dispaced G. w. in my
mind and tinged the autumual fields
beyond with a red that was not OF
the sumach. | DO not remember to
have read OF ii in the books. | do
not know that it is entirely authcnt
ic. 1t was atlested to me by moth.
er and daughter as an uncontralict
ed tradition.
In the little field, where the plow
still turns muskct balls aud cartridge
boxes, took place one Of those lrreg-
ular sklrmlshes between the militia
men and Knyphaussn's stragglers
that made the retreat historical. A
Hessian soldier, wounded in both
legs and utterly helpless, dragged
himself to the cover of hazel copse,
and lay there hidden for two days
On the third day, maddened by thirst
he managed to creep TO the rail fence
CT an adjoining farm house, but was
unable to mount 1t or pass through.
There was no one in the house but q
little girl of SIX or seven years. lie
called to her, and in faint voice
asked for water. She returned to
the house as if TO comply with bis
request, but mounting a chair took
from the chimney heavily loaded
Queen Anne musket, and going tc
the door took deliberate ann at the
helpless intruder and fire |. The mar
fell back dead without a groan. She
replaced the muskct, and returning
to the fence, covered the body witt
brush and leaves until it was hidden
Two or three days later she related
the occurrence in careless, casua
way, and leading the way to The
fence with piece of bread and but
ter in her guileless little fingers, she
pointed out the result of her simple
unsophisticated effort. The Hessial
was decently buried, but | could no
find out what became OF the little
girl. Nobody seemed to remember
| trust that in after years she wa
happily married-that no Jcrse,
Lovelace attempted to trifle with ;