The Van Buren press., 1873-09-23
MISCEllANY Y.
Old as the Hills.
By KATE w. HAMILTON.


Only the story in general: Mrs. Mar
tha was not SO ancient, neither was sh
very young, though she did remind on,
Of 4 fresh new barbsr-pole as she leanet
from the wlndew, her head bound up il
a green veil to protect it from the imsg
mary dus. of an utterly supsrfuou'
sweeping, and her straight form arraysG
in the brightest of striped prints. Th,
hair under the green veil was teo faded
for youth, and over her face was a nat.
work of lines, the footprints OF counties,
worries, that spelled cut her name OF
Martha as plainly as letters could have
done. The whole world Of human al.
fairs was great machine to her She
fancied that her foot upon the treadle was
all that kept it running, and a single
false movement or slip of her toes would
send everything back to chaos. Such o
responsibility Of pokiag up,oiling, screw
ing, and experimenting was enough to
tattoo any face with care marks
The small kitchen Of the cottage did
not look altogether like the centre Of the
universe, but that mattered nothing SO
long as it was that to her; and the par
ticular peryerse little cog that seemed to
be out of order this morning was Master
Paul. That young naturalist had half
hour before been trying to perch on the
chicken roost as his favorite bantam did,
and had endangered his bones and dam
aged his brown linen suit by e fall but
now he was engaged in some mysterious
agricultural enterprise that quite bafllcd
Mrs Marthas discernment. There had
been deal of digging with her carefully
polished fire shovel, which she had not
discovered in time to prevent; she had
only witnessed the completion of the
great stamping down OF
earth with Pauls .mell f~v. "rou"a -
highly ,colored, variegatcd, and alt0gsth-
er singular looking cluster Of foliage.
But the final ceremony of his appearing
with watering pot, and plentiully
sprinkling both his plant and himself, SO
far aroused her anxious curiosity AS to
draw her to the scene Of action.
1t needed NO very near approach to as
.onsh and horrify hei. Her best feather
auster, kept sacredly for parlor use, was
buried handle downwards, only q few
inches OF the soft, brilliant tips remain
ng above ground, and they torlorn and
lraggled from the refreshing shower be-
ito wed upon them.
Paul Rivers, what on earth have you
,cen about now"
Paul leaned back, with two small mud
iy hands thrust into his pockets, and
his work with beaming satisfac-
ion.
IL Impose l II raithe thome bitdtli OF
he explained
birds Of destruction and you're OF
hem yourself! wish your father would
,top showing you pictures and telling
,ou stories OF every dying beast and
,reeping fowl, that's what l do" mut-
cred Mrs. Martha wrathfully. Here's
ny best duster just ruined "
Don't you mind, Coutkin Martha.
hpeck ! can pick enough featherth from
ny birdth TO make you q thousand dus-
hers, F" urged Paul consolingly.
But Mrs Martha would none Of such
.smfort She rooted up her brush with
indignant alssrity, and walked toward
,hs house with it, shaking out the sand
and straig ghtening out the dropping festh
srs by the way. Taul followed her, re-
marking rather dospendeuuy:
II don't thee how nobody can raithe
anything if they can't have nothing for
.hecd."
"What is the trouble now, Paul 2
questioned voice in the vine shaded pi
azza, and race looked forth from under
the swaying tcndrils-a manly fac. ,.eard,
ed and mas;ached, but with high brow
and deep, dark c.y,ss so like the child's
;. 10. the relation was apparent
Trouble? It's nothing but trouble
all day long with him" responded Mrs
promptly entering upon recital
of this last sfiliction. But her listeners
laugh was by no means soothing-how
could he appreciate the value Of dustcr !!
and the exceeding gsntlsncss of hi: re-
buke to the little culprit, and the obig
inv readiness with which he began to ex
plain various processes OF bird raising
and tanning exhausted the good house
wire's last atom Of patience.
"For PHYS sake don't oil his head
with any moro such stuff" she burst in
upon Pauls eager questioning. "fou II
have him trying to build ncst in the
tons of the trees next, or butdng his head
off acsinst tho fence to see II he can't be
q wood peckor. It's all very fine to tell
him such nonsense and call it natural his
tory, but it's another thing TO have the
bother of looking ate, him AMI keeping
him from breaking his neck with it, can
tell you. =
"You must be good boy, Paul !
suspect you are = great trial to Cousin
MARTHA" adnOnished Mr.. Rivers, shak-
inc his head at the child. But If she
hadn't you she would be equally distress.
ed over something else. She couldn't be
bappy unless she bad something to be
miserable about" be added to himsslfai
be turned away and ascsndsa the stair,
"A smile lurking in his eyes and about
his lips. a. he secretly wished hs had
witnessed the agricultural experiment