The Fremont weekly journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County, Ohio) 1867-1877, 1874-04-17
gGIecteo Storn.
MR.. EASTLE'S LESSON.
BY MARIETTA HoLLEY.


Sammy was very hungry. He har
made pretense of covering his eve
as his mother did, with his left hand
but there was a gleam Of blue be
tween the little brown fingers, an,
THAT blue spark of intelligence wa
fixed earnestly, waitiDgly, upon hi
fathers face, and his right hand wa
tightly clasping his fork.
"Amenp' sounded sonorously from
Mr.. Hastle's lips, and at precisel,
the same moment Sammy's fork de
scended into a delicately white anC
mealy potato.
Samuel Hastle," said the fathe
sternly, "you wait till you are helped
or l will know the reason why
1t was a very good dinner, nicely
cooked; but still comfortless ali
surrounded the table, a chill atmos
phere, radiating, I imagine, from ths
foot of the table, where Mr.. Hastle
sat.
Mrs. Hastle, behind the tea-tray
was a meek, gentle-faced woman
with the look of house plant, that
had grown in the shade, but was BY
nature peculiarly dependent upon
the sun to give it warmth and color
I imagine Mr.. Hastle was the sun
she looked to, and he did not give
out sunshine and warmth enough to
sustain his dropping parasite, fol
she looked Wilted and dropping.
Alice, the daughter, was an ener-
getic looking damsel of nineteen.
From her fathers family l imagine
she had inherited her straight-for-
ward, brown eyes, and the decided
contour of her rosy-tinted chin.
Sammy, after his father had help
ed him, in his turn which came last,
to the roast lamb and vegetables,
looked like what he was at, his early
epoch of his development, healthy
young animal, and no more.
'Mr. HastIe's hair was smoothly
brushed up and braided across the
top of his head. He had on an i'm
maculate shirt, and his clean ging-
ham cravat was tied in a very pre-
else and exact bow. He wore his
second best suit of clothes, and his
well brushed hat lay on the side-ta-
bic. You think, do you not, that
Mr.. Hastle was going somewhere?
You are right Mr.. Hastle was 60
ing to the village. A meeting of
the trustees had been called, for
some church business. He felt that
he was one Of the pillars, and must
be there to sustain the weight of
the church, lest, haply il should fall
and tumble into ruin. Mr.. Hastle
had signifed to his wife his desire
that dinner should be on the table
at precisely half.past eleven, and she
had at some inconvenience to herself
gotten it on the table at precisely
that moment; and while dinner was
progressing, in the very heat of the
battle, as We may say, while she was
in the greatest hurry of her prepara-
tions, he had entered the house and
called for his clean shirt. Mrs. Has
tie had hurriedly washed her hands /;
she was making the dressing for the
lamb, but she dropped the pepper
box, the sage, and the breadcrumbs,
and hied away, to obey his command.
And she brought out the snowy lin
en-, with its glossy bosom and cuffs
bearing witness to the hard labor
she had bestowed upon them. Again
she had become engrossed in her
preparations for dinner, when the
imperious summons came from the
bedroom, @Sally, come and button
my shirt-sleeves." Again the will
ling and obedient slave ran to do him
service. "He couldn't make the
confounded thing catch any wayw
She worked zealously, but not so
deity as of old, for her fingers, which
had been supple and delicate when
they had first commenced to toll for
him, were now coarsened and made
clumsy by hard labor. But at last
by many turnings and tWistings of
the farmers wrists, and much hard
breathing on Sally's part, succeeded
in bu ttoning them, and was reward
ed by the mandate, "Hurry up din
ner, Sally She had gotten it nearly
ready, and was just putting the tea
to steep, when again the summons
came. 9Sally come and tie up my
cravst! 1t looks like the Old Scratch,
the best way you can ti1 it" Never
did monarch's trustiest slave obey
more swiftly. And then his hair
must be parted straight and Sally
must part it; and Sally must brush
his coat, and his hat, because she al
ways had, suppose, But take it all
together, with the hurry of getting
dinner or the table, and the labor of
preparing "father" to appear credita-
bly, among the other pillars that aft
ernoon, Sally looked tired out as they
sat down to the table. And as the
meal drew near to conclusion, in
stead Of looking rested, she looked
flushed and worried and uneasy.
Something seemed to be on Sally's
mind. Finally, she spoke, as she
handed her husband his third cup of
tea.
"The tea is all gone, father. You
will have to get some to-day"
THE tea all gone~
If Mrs. Hastle had told him that
the barn had sunk into the depths of
the earth, and q mountain had risen
over its ruins, he eouldn't have man.
ifested any deeper surprise and dis
may. 'FFhe tea all gone! How long