The Van Buren press., 1874-02-17
MISCELLANY.
Husband or Child.

No other axe rcsoundea through tn,
forest with such clear and decided ring
as that welded hy Thomas none o,hel
SO sure OF its aim, while raised between
sky and its destined rest.
His voice was the most cheerful enc
his carol the merrcst that revvrberatct
in the heauiful Woodland that extended
through the Rhnelaud to the borders q
Holland.
Wherever his hanGs were employed. til,
worl, was accomplished in haf lhc time
" The merry Thomas. the magnificent
Thomas. 1.-The Industrious Thomas
were the names given him by the peopl'
far and wide; and when he married ano
became he father OF a son he was joliel
than ever.
II wife seemed to partakc OF his spir,
it and his boy gave promise of becoming
just such II happy soul The whole
nri .hborhond wcle happy in the har.
npuious life Of this joyous trio, while
each derived particular pleasure in wit.
Messing The felicity of the othcL. Blu,
suddenly the lightning flash Of circum-
stances penetrated this happy home.
Ole bright morning. axe in hand, he
stood beside fallen tree while his wife
and son stood near, ready to gather the
fragments and they were no mean chips
HAT fell beneath Thomas stroke.
High over his head the eiltering steel
was raised. and rs his glance noted the
reflected ray of sunshine following it. he
shouted merIily, Wife, sees st thou my
meteor! Hui! is it not verify like the
fash of oneI But the shining metal
and its active meteoric Iight did not dis
appear within the wood Glancjng light
" over the bark it entered Thomas foot,
and there was no time for useless tears
The wiIes grieving heart did not vent it,
self in idle lamentations, but questioned
how was she to get her husband home
The other laborcrs had not arrived.
Thomas was always the first at work ms
now he was also the first to regain hi,
cheerfuluess to encourage wife and child
in this trial. A spring near supplied
water to wash the wound that proved to
be severe, and the manly little Anton di-
vested himself Of his shirt to bind it up
with
This carefully done, Thomas set his
BIZ white teeth firmly together, rose.
orasping with one hand the shoulder of
his boy, and supported on the other side
b, his wife. he ordered. March quick !
the house is not such Il long way or,
then all will be well Z"
Taking the shortest route home oh
Although this was forbidden road for
pedestrians, they considered it the best
in this emergency But here misfortune
overwhcln them in terrible earnest.
At the ii st step the sufferer caught his
wounded foot in the rail, stumbled aud
tell, throwing his little boy into the mid
die Of the road, breaking the little iel.
lows leg
A helpless, living mass, they lay there,
and before both could be rescued from
their perilous bed, the s,caming roaring
monster Of the road came tearing down
upon them, leaving their boy mangled,
bleeding corpse the next instant before
them.
Such was the story told by Thomas
nd his wife to the horrilcd and synpa.
thizing people
But there must have been something
singular and mysterious connected with
this monrnlul event that remained untold
spite oi repeated endeavors to have the
story told again, lhev would always an.
swcr, You have heard it once, while
II shudder of horror followed at the re
membrance
! lett no pains untricd to ingratiatc
myself IN their favor and obtain their
confidence Not only curiosity was cx.
cited. but | had real psychological inter.
est in 'he matter, and | acknowledge
just .ihe least suspicion of something
foul criminal secret, possibly an acc.
dent. that required but little light to lead
these people back 10 happiness,
1t is necessary to explain how /
brought it about. SuIlicc it to say that
one day. IN presence Of her husband,
Frau Thomas uuburdened her sadly OPP
pressed heart to me in this wise:
" After the birth of our child ] was q
great deal happier and loved Thomas
batter Than ever when he was at my side,
but could also enjoy hi absence, and
not watch window and door constantly
If he Glanced to remain away longer than
usual used to tease him frequently
and say Somebody is welcome to steal
you. nov I've got my baby He would
laugh at me then, saying: We'll, if you
have no further use for me. all right,
and play fully leave the room rs if in
dreadful anger, and bang the door But
knew he was only in fun, and laughed
ms IL | did not care. Nevertheless my
heart grew sad and was disturbed until
his face again appeared at the door, and
he would laugh at me with those great
white teeth and say Husband or chill,
which, Then / quickly replied; Illus.
band. oh the husband"