The Republican journal., 1875-09-02

| tNiiN' 49,
halt the hands next week, and run the
mill on short time. There, now, isn't
that just my luck, as soon as I'd got q
good place; and fathers out of work,
too. down to the Falls, and mothers
sick"
The brevity of this statement by no
means measured its vast import To di
minsh production one halt meant want
and suffering to at least three hundred
whose wages came from labor in the
granite mill, possibly to both Of the com
panions who now discussed the event. 1t
was a personal matter to each, far beyond
the laws of demand and supply which
regulate the movements of corporations.
Fully realizing what it implied, the cheer
fitness Of the elder girl was compelled by
the consideration of love as she responded
'Well, You won't have to go, Aggie,
don't believe. 'Tisnt likely no way al
allm
"Yes, | shall,' said The other 'Im
one of the new help. aud they will 90
first lou are safe enough bat | don't
know What | shall do. | can't % home"
Il don't believe it >" said the tallcr.
81 know its So
WHO told you?'
doe Dunham. He's one of the night
watchmen, you know said the little fig
ure, with a certain hesitation. His boss
told him Fitzpatrick got the order from the
city last week"
Joe should have told me-" the other
begun under her breath But who was
this to whom Joe had gone with his chat
ter OF freshest gossip, while she herself
was put OF with a hurried meeting? Her
| only frinnI i'm tba thrpnCr pf mill
lives that Swarmed about her The one
whom she had chosen to protect and love,
and to share in every secret except the
single great mystery that of late had OPP
pressed her soul with mingled happiness
and fear. She was true IL Aggie, and
Joe must be loyal to her. The two were
all she had and she bravely conquered
the pang of suspicion that was about tc
find u voice in words
Mary Wilson was quite alone in the
world. Time was when the Wilson's We're
the great family of that region For three
generations n Wilson had preached Cal
whistle theology from the pulpit of the
old white church that now stood, brown
| and dismantlcd, deserted for a more live
| ly edifice in the centre OF the new town
About this clung traditions in all of which
Inc w llSollS lsbtt L Ht Ulttl
ants still chuckled and wagged their heads
when they told the story of the Squire
Wilson who espoused the patriot cause,
while his brother, the doctor of divinity,
remained = stout Tory. How, when the
latter read from the pulpit the thanksgiv-
inc proclamation, ending, Good save the
Commonwealth, adding, of his own loyal
motion, "And say, God save the kingn
4 |,
pew at the head OF the aisle, and commit
ted blasphemv in the sanctuary by ex-
claiming "Anl ! say, God damn the
kingn'
This WAS one Of the traditions. But the
Wilson's had passed away from Ashton;
and, like many strong families. had suf-
fercd a sharp descent from prosperous
days to obscurltv and almost extinction
The gossips shook their heads again over
this decatlence, and mumhled another ira
dition to account for it.
Far back OF the proiane patriot squire
there was IN ancestor vet more strange
1t was in the days when Ashton and many
wooded leagues beside were held by Cap
tain Wilson with other colonists who own
ed him leader. Those We're the days when
men went to the plough with a gun alung
hand, and when the mllskets We're stacked
in the aisle of the church tor use in repel-
LING any sudden assault OF the Indian foe
Ona Sunday night, 50 the story ran, the
great attack was made whose memory is
preserved in the name of Black River
The settlers made their last stand upon
its banks OF those who fell dead among
the ruins Of their burning houses, and OF
tbnSA ~ i,t tin,I tI ba UrAnHc ia y
many days famished and half frozen, to
the ashes Of their homes, the records of
Ashton preserve the tull list. The Mary
Wilson of those days was not among this
number When Captain Wilson, coming
| back from his mission to the neighboring
settlement lower down the valley, search
ed the blackened foundationso Of his dwell
| ing, he found neither charred corpse or
mutiIated body His daughter was gone,
and he mourned without hope.
1t was years alter, when a treachcrous
peace ruled between the colonists and the
| Indians, that II woman, wearing a blanket
| and with uncovered head, came to his
door and claimed his as father. She car
ried the degrading marks Of Indian seryi-
| tude. and she told him of children born
to her in Indian wedlock. and Of a home
under the hide covered poles OF the Wig
wan. They clad her once more in the
skirts OF civilized womanhoOd, the tradi-
ton goes on to say; Wept over her, won
| dering at her strange stolClSm placed her
again on her fathers right hand at the
table, and took Der TO the family seat IN
the meeting house The Bible, over which
the stern captain leaned rs he offered up
the prayer Of thanksgiving for release
from capt| ity, was that evening wet With
unaccustomed tears.
But in the morning the wandcrcr was
gone She had wrapped her blanket about
her and stolen away in the night.
Again it was years before word came
from Mary Wilson. A boy, through whose
copper colored skin shone the bright Cau-
casian blood brought u leaf torn from the
Gospel Of st. John, upon whose narrow
margin WAS scrawled her story. The tribe
was smitten with small poN. Husband,
children, all had died She herself was
dving and this, and her eldest son, only
remained Might the God Of the Bible
and of her fathers turn the hearts of their
grandparents to this her offspring Of the
wilderness.
The rigid policy Of the colony demand
ed that the infected youth should be driven
forth 1t was his grandfather who shield
ed him in close seclusion until it became
evident that the pestilence had passed him
by, and he was received as brand from
the burning, as one especially reserved by
Providence Tor great things.
Here the details OF tradition cease. His
tory steps in to tell how the halt-breed
grandson Of Captain Wilson continued the
family that must otherwise have become
extinct, and how his descendants held
high place in all the colony.
If there be recurrent periods in heredi-
tary characteristics, it might be said that
the wild, restless, improvident Indian ma
turc had re-appeared in the latter gener-
ations of the Wilson's. The NAME which
held q prominent place on every tax list
from the days when the yearly dues were
paid in corn, had finally disappeared with
the death OF Mary's father. The property