St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1875-12-17
The Peril of Martha Warren.


"Good-hlr. Martha. God help you I,
| shall he back in three days at the
tathcSt -
The hardy White Mountain pioneer.
Mark Warren. kissed his Young wife.
held his o-years-old boy to his breast
for il moment, and shouldering the sack
of corn which was to he converted into
meal at the rude mill. forty miles away.
trudged off through the wilderness.
Martha Warren stood AT the door of
the log cottage. gazing out after the re
treating form of her husband. An
angle of the dense shruhbcry hid him
fl ION her view. but still she did not re
turn to the solitary kitchen. 1t looked
so dark and lonesome there. she shl;Ink
from entering. "r perhaps the grand
>ublInltN of the view spread ont before
her held her attention and thrilled her
soul with that namclcSS. unexplained
something that We all see W hen stand
iuy thus face to face with the works of
God.
The finest and most satisfactory views
of the White Mountains is that which
presents itself from what is now the
town of Bethlehem. on the road to Lit
lleton and Francomia. Mount Wash
lugtnn. the king amumg princes. is there
seen in its proper place the centre of
the rock ribbed range towering.
bald, blue and unapprnachahlr.
Fan up in Il wild clearing. close 10y
the TIN bid water of the AmmonouSnc
WAS the cottage situated Il place Wild
/ al \.
eagle. but dear to the heart of Martha
WARREN, as the home where she had
spent the happy days of her Young
witrh"od. When she had TUNED from
many Il patriciau Suitor. in the fair old
town of Portsmouth, to join her for
tunes with those nf the Young settler
it was with the full and perfect under
standing of the trials that lay before
her. She would walk in no path of
roses for Years to- come : much of her
life must he spent in the eternal soil
tudes. where silence was broken only
10y the Wild winds of the forest. the
! shrek of the river over the sharp rocks.
ur the dismal howl of the >ca-Inouthed
wolf, atar in the wilderness.
! The necessary absence OF her husband
she dreaded most. 1t Was So very
! Slopili.N ~ tt''St up IltI 'Ib'l> at nlSIlI :
and sit down 10y her lonely fircSlde.
with the consciousness that there MAS
no human being nearer to her than the
settlement of L"id'S Hill, ten miles
away through the pathlc>> woods.
There WAS little to fear from Indians,
although II few ut the scattered tribes
Vet l"amcd over these primrlal hunt
ing grounds. They we've mostly dis
posed ia he friendly, and Mrs. Warrcn's
kind heart naturally prompted her to
many acts of friendship towards them,
and an Indian never torgetS il benefit.
The purple mist cleared away from
| the scared forehead of the domi-
mant old mountain the yellow sun
pccpcd over the rocky wall. and Martha
turned away to the performance of her
| simple domestic duties. The daV was
Il long one. but it wore toward evening.
and the cleaning comes much sooner
in these SolitudcS than i'll any other
| places. The sunlight faded out of the
un1laZed windows. though ii would il
! lumimr the distant mountains for some
| time Vet : and Martha went out in the
Scanty garden to inhale the udor of the
sweet pinks on the mcagre root she had
brought from her old home.
The spicy perfume carried her back
in memory to those days away in the
past, spent with kind friends. and
chcered by hri ght Young hopes. But
though the thought of home and kin
dled made her sad, not for Il moment
did she regret the fate she had chosen.
Absorbed in thought, she had not OBJ
served the absence of Charlie, her lit
tie boy now she saw with vague umcasi-
ness that he had left the bed Of pep
pcrmiHt. where he had been playing,
and was not to he seen. She called his
name, but only echo and the roar of the
swollen river replied. She flew back
to the house, the faint hope remaining
| that he might have returned thithcr for
| his pet kitten but no, the kitten was
I mcwing ut the window, but no signs of
| Charlie.
With frantic haste she searched the
clearing. but without success. Her next
thought Was the riveri Black rs night
save where it tiecked with spots of white
foam it flowed on but Il few rods be-
fore her. She hurried down to the
brink. calling ont, "Clarlic. CImrlie,'
The child's small voice at some little
distance, ,SleplIcd She followed the
sound. and To her SoIrow sIw her boy
i his golden hair and rosy checks clear
" defined against the purple twilight
sky standing on the very edge of Il
huge. detached rock. some ten feet from
the shore. out in the sweeping current
of the river
This rock. called 10y the settlers The
Pulpit." WAS good situation for cast
in" fishing lines. and Mark Warren had
Iridrcd the narrow chaSm between it