The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1875-07-08

I've seen Mrs. WelIbeloyed look
oftener than l cared for. We wa very
good friends, an the young gentleman,
who was smart as they say ere, e put
showed me 'ow to build my 'ouse, an
all the naybours was kind an 'elpful
enough, has all the people are hout ere
to strangers. Well, young Bytheway
was kind enough to Lucy, an, for all I
saw, she were fond enough of i'm; but
once or twice I noticed he went off to
Orillia an stayed away some days, it
might be three or four, an when he came
back again he wasn't 'imself for a long
time. 1 knew what it was /; it was the
hold enemy-drink-an' for the time hit
made i'm another man.
"By and by the autumn came, an we
got in our root-crops an a little corn an
wheat, an Bytheway laid in a decent
lot. Then came the frost, and the fallin'
of the leaves, an the snow. Such snow!
I've seen snow ten n fifteen feet deep
down in that gulley, an all as crisp an
shiny as the finest sugar, an the air as
pure an the sky as bright as 1 ever see
painted in a Hitalian scene at the theay-
ter. = = Healthy?
I should think SO. There amt no doc
tor nearer than Gravenhurst, an I never
card of i'm comm up here except to
Joseph Jobson's grandmother; they say
she's nigh upon eighty, an took the rhu-
matiz so bad that they thought she were
dyin', IN sent for m to 'elp 'er on. Well,
it was the second year, and then in the
snow-time came Christmas, an the new
tavern-keeper down at Bracebridge, he
gave out a turkey-shootin', an Mr.. By
theway on the day before Christmas left
is wife in our charge-she were very
near her confinement-and went to try
is luck. She come over here q Christ
mas heve, an though she never said
nothin', she weren't in no spirits we all
noticed. My wife of course see the
most of FER an tried 'er best to coax 'er
to be more lively-ike. She would go
ONE that night, and the next mornin'
my wife went hup to FER for hour or so.
She left 'er dressed an comfortable,
waitin' for B~ytheway's return. She ex-
pected i'm to reach 'ome about three or
four in the afternoon. / went In after
midday an then she were a layin' the
cloth for a Christmas dinner. The room
was very clean, an she'd stuck some
green about an ornamented the table
an made all look very nice; far better
than we poor people can do out here, for
Bytheway kept some of is hold habits,
an she loved to make the 'ouse as swell
like as possible. I thought she looked
very pretty though she was SO pale, and
she 'ad one of 'er old theayter flowers in
'er brown 'air-it were a pleasure to me
to see 'er.
"tWhy, Mrs. B~ytheway,' I says,
Merry Christmas
"'Merry Christmas, WeIbeloved,
says she. Anthem turnin' roun' sharp,
she says, How soon do you think Reyn-
old can get home! He was to leave
Bracebridge early this morning and walk
out. I have a plum-pudding for him.
He knows nothing about it. I wish he
was home
"She went an looked out of the door
but the wind blew sharp from the north
an she come in with a shiver. 1 stayed
with 'er more than q hour, 'avin' notbin'
pertikler to do, an left 'er at very near
three o'clock. I 'ad to come right down
from the door, you see, to that gate, an
then along the road for half a mile to
my own path. I'd got very close to the
turnin' into my own land when 1 see
Bytheway strugglin' up the road through
the snow. 1 waited for i'm.
"''Allo, Nh. B~ytheway,' I says, so
ere you are at last. Any luck a
shootin'?'
81 see in a moment e were bout O
sorts. Is face were swollen an red, an
he scowled at me very angry like.
"'Not a id thing says e.
"Then e come on straight at me, an
seeing e were not safe to speak to, I got
hout of the way an went 'ome.
"'Poor Lucyl' says 1 to my wife.
'She amt in for a Merry Christmas, I'm
afraid
81 watched him staggerin' along and
cursin' and swearin' as e went, till e
reached the door. Then I see 'er run
out, as well as she could, poor thing, for
twas very near, an I see i'm brush 'er
hout of is way with is I'm. e didn't
knock 'er down.
"sPoor Lucy = says I. sShe amt in
for a Merry Christmas, I'm afraid
"Just then we card the report of a
gun an both rushed to the door. There
was nothin' to be seen at first, but pres
emily Bytheway ran cut with is and
hover is face. e threw himself into
the snow an lay there a long time; then
e got up an ran down to the road, and
SO off beyond Stony Jansen the Swede's
there.
"'Well,' says I to my wife, you an
1 'ad best go up an see what's become
of Lucy. This don't seem all right
"The door was open when we got
there, an the first thing we saw was
Lucy Bytheway, holdin' in her bosom,
an groanin', an a great spot of blood
over the white cloth she 'ad laid; an
there, thrown down on the table, crash
in an breakin' the crockery an the
glass, was Mr.. Bytheway's gun with its
muzzle within two feet of her breast. ]
knew then she'd been shot. We laid 'er
hon the bed. She soon swooned away.
Then we gave 'er brandy, an then came
a time 1 needn't describe to you. ]
went away an got such baby-clothes as
we 'ad, an my poor wife she stayed
there and 'elped that poor young crea,
ture to fight with death for the life she
ad so long hoped Tor. 1t was no use.
The mother never card 'er own child's
voice. 1t never 'ad none. Do you
think, though it had no voice here, il
may have one in 'eaven. When she
knew it wasn't living, she said:
"Well, I'm goin' too. Mrs. Wellbe
loved, remember this. He didn't shoot
me. He was
so vexed and angry that he missed every
shot at Bracebridge. I asked him what
made him SO angry. He had pushed Inc
coming in and took away my breath, YOU
know, and L sat down on the chair Oh
the other side of the table. When ]
asked him that question he lookedat me.
and you know it was very foolish ano
unkind of me to ask such a question
He1ooked all fire, and then, with a ter
rible oath, he dashed the gun down OF
the table-and you know he never mean
it, but it went off-and, oh Mrs. Well
beloved, goodbye, goodbye, dear-saJ
I forgive him
= = = 4