Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1875-02-26

L wished You would"
"Well I've no time to spend running
round after hand and Seth is over nj Jobs
now. shall try him for month my way"
"Mrs. Ellison sighed. she could not help
Il; her hand had gone away from her hus.
bands face and lips; did not even rest upon
bis Knee. Il had met her other one In n strong
clasp upon her own lap and she only said
"If Seth only did not swear, or drink, or
smokeln
"jwear he must not on my farm, in the
hearing Of any of my family, nor touch one
drop OF liquor while IN my employ; 1 told
job Downs would hire HIM on no other
conditions, and he said, Only make that In
the bargain and Seth will live right square
up to IT, don't think il such sin for
man to smoke, Martha"
mot sinful, perhaps, but bad habit and
n dangerous one, especially So when indulg-
ed in immediately. and upon farm.
"Sh-h-h!" contemporary. from James, but
no more words; and Martha had no heart
to say more. She wished so much that
some one else could be hired In the place of
Seth Sitter, but there was not; Mt least he
was there to dinner on the morrow, with his
mouth full of tobacco and his lips all stained
with the juice thereof. He was jolly fell
low, always ready with his jokes and fun,
and made tho children laugh continually
with his funny stories and sayings. He was
o "stayer' to work aud did his best for Mr..
Ellison, having an eye to tho hard times
which threatened the country, and to win
| ter's job in such good. easy place as the
Ellisons'
Weeks flew swiftly. The wheat was cut,
bound, stacked in the field, and thrashed;
such harvest as never had come to Mr..
Ellison in his life, and no smiled compla-
Gently as he helped Seth TO stow away the
last bushel in the bin Of his new granary;
one thousand seven hundred bushels of
white winter wheat.
Tell YOU what Seth, drought nor grass
hoppers can't starve us out this year, can
! theyP Twill seem n pity TO ieed the cattle
this wheat; but if the hoppergrasses should
come they will finish up all the corn the
drought has left ms, and will have to do it,
Hitch on to the hay rack. and you and Nor
man haul in that prairie hay moved yes
! terday. I'll go and rake it into windows,
and we will stuff the barn full, and make
sure of so much before the sun scorches it
all up"
"All right sir! and if you don't mind, and
the boys would like to 20 up on the creek
tonight fishing"
Now James Ellison had been very careful
ever since Seth had been there, and had
never allowed even Norman to go anywhere
of an evening with him; but to-day his
head was full of his well stored grain, and
his project Of getting his hay all in before
any Of his neighbors; and he did not wait to
give it a second thought, hut gave HIS prom
Use instead.
| The boys were delighted. Norman, VIII
liam Joseph, and even Paul, the seven-year-
old boy, were all going. Mrs. Ellison was
worried but Seth had been so steady and
the boys were all so much absorbed with the
idea of going fishing that she had not the
heart to say even a word against it. To be
sure she cautioned Norman about looking
carefully after the rest, and having received
his promise, saw them drive away without
any forebodings that she could describe. Way
down in her heart of hearts was n tritle Of
unrest that made her wakeful until way in
to the night; but thinking over all her hus-
band had said of his prospects and bright
anticipatons, she had forgot 1t all in a deep
sleep. from which she was aroused by her
husband whom she found sitting up IN bed.
"Martha, for Gods sake! what was that Pr
81 heard nothing
Listen then; somd one screamed, l am
sure; are the boys homer"
BY this time the wife had become con-
scious that 1t was light enough to distinctly
see every object in the room. Was it morn
ing? 1t was in the dark of the moon; it
must DO morning. Just then Mr.. Ellson's
ollactOries took in some odor that snelled
like smoke.
Heavens and earth! Martha, the house is
on fire-wake the children"
Up stairs flew the feet of Martha" borne
on the feetness of mothers love but
glance from the window ut the head of the
stairs showed her it was the barn, instead
of the house.
Shouting to the girls that the "barn was
on fire." she ran across the passage into the
boys room to waken them; she found their
beds empty Suddenly, like an electric flash,
it all came to the woman, that the boys had
come home late, and disliking to disturb the
family had gone to sleep in the new harm or
| in the hay.
Rushing down the stairs again, she found
her husband had drawn on his pants, and
had gone to the door where he stood paral-
yzed with the fright and sense of his inabli-
| ty to stay the frey fiend, which shot out its
forked tongues already from tho roof of the
barn, and cracked, and Kissed, and roared
| like the fell destroyer it was.
flames, the boys are in the barn, run!
rum fell upon his ears like the last death
knell of all his earthly hopes-but it lent
speed to his baro feet, and he reached the
barn door just rs his wife had pushed it
aside, but had been Obliged to draw back for
an instant TO avoid the stream of hot AR,
and dense smoke that came pouring out
but only for an instant did they wait, one
| glittering CLEAN of light from above had
! pierced the darkness beneath, and shown
them at one glance three PROSTATE forms
| lying on the barn floor.
How they dragged them out, and carried
them away on to the cool grass, neither of
them ever knew but-there were but three.
PAUL my little Paul! where is Paulp
James, where is Paul?" screamed the moth
er above the roar of the flames, which had
gathered new strength by the draft Of air
caused by the opening of the barn door.
But alas! poor mother, the only answer
that came TO her was great crash; tho
roof and the upper beams had fallen in, and
the flames burst forth anew, making the air
and ground hot where they stood, so that
for n few minutes they were obliged to give
their attention to drawing farther away the
still nanimate forms of Seth Sitter, Norman
and Joe.