The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1876-01-07

their own hands, Susan was a tough
little woman, with stout hands and a
stout heart, and she dug too.si I think, il
the truth must be told, she rather en-
ioyed leaving Titus and Tam with the
other babies--thnre's no guessing how
much care one baby will take of another
till you've tried-and taking an axe to
\ help her husband fell trees and cut un-
aerbrlIsh, or taking a hoe to hoe her row
in the darling little garden, out of which
they meant to- make living, if they
died for it. s,i.-sf,; ~ -, s - - a1.s "a.
1t was only because they meant to, so
very hard, fancy, that they made the
Jiving without dying for it. 1t was
almost worse, at, first, than .coachman's S
wages in Mother England, There was
the newness, and there was the home
| sickness, and there was the. e.distance from
the market, and there was the bitter cold,
and there was the blighting heat, and
I always there were the babies
Yes, an Iudian. story. 9 Truly, hon
estly,' as my little friend Trotty would
say, live Indian story and though it
isn't very long one, it is eyery. word a
true one. Most true thi Is a.sxsiot very
| long in this world, unlessson sonessccept the
moral law or the multiplication table, or
a few such things as that,
John, and Susan, and Tam and Titus,
and Betty, and the new baby, and the
newest new baby (when it came) got
along pretty well with everything else;
/ but it wasn't pleasant to see an Indian
come walking by with tomahawk just
as you were quietly sitting down to sup
per; and they got little tired of sleep
! ing with one ear open, listening for the
| awful, echoing sound of the cruel Indian
Yay-cry; and whatever may be urged
against life as a coachman in England,
! at least it was a life in which ones atten7
ton wasn't called 50 frequently to the
| top of ones head. 7"
Mine is fairly sore" laughed Susan,
+" with thinking how it will feel to be
seal ped" -
But Susan was such brave little
woman! And if there is anything very
much needed in this world, it is brave
women. t"
"Tn have a gum" she said. So she
had gun. "Ill be a good shot" she
said. And quickly she became as good a
shot as John. And when John was at
work in the woods or the garden, Susan
gathered her brood about her in the
house, and lynx-eyed as d sentry, and
fine-eared as q mother, mounted guard.
Now, there came time when nobody
had seen any Indians for so long awhile,
that even the wise heart of the mother
forgot to feel keenly about anything in
this world. If we do not see it ,-an alb
sent duty, or an absent friend or an alb
sent terror,-all alike, they grow trife
dim or dull.
And one day, when Titus and Tam
said, just one gallop on the prairie,
mother, with old jerusalem" their
mother said, well, i don't know" and
their father said, q guess I'd let 'em ~
and the lynx eyes, and the keen ears,
and the wise head of the mother said her
not nay-and so it happened.
Old Jerusalem was the big white horse;
the faithful, ugly grand old horse, that
took steps almost as long as kangaroo's
and was more afraid of an Indian than
Titus and Tam. .......-..-. .-.
So Susan kissed Titus goodbye ten
derly-for he was the good boy of those
remarkable twtns-and that was why they
llled him Titus ;and kissed Tam little.
more tenderfy still, because he WASH { So
good as Titus, and so had got called Tam;
and she said g Hold on Tight" and John
Ecame out and said, "Come home pretty
soon; and Tam got on first, and Titus
got on behind him, and Jerusalem gave
clinging with shining ba.e feet to Jeru-
salem's white bare back-for they were
magnificent little riders, seven years old
now, and as brave as cubs.
= Susan stood watching them after John
had gone back to his work-stoOd watch
ing long after they had swept away into
the great, green, beautiful sea of the
treacherous prairie grass.
p Uneasy? Not exactly. Sorry she had
let them go3 Hardly that. She was
sensible little woman, and, having done
what she thought was right, had no idea
sof being troubled by it, till the time
came But still she stood watching, her
hand above her eyes-this way-and she
did not go into the house till the newest
new baby had cried at least five minutes
at the top of its new little lungs.
Titus and Tam and Jerusalem got
pretty far out on the beautiful, terrible
prairie. How beautiful it was! 1t did
not seem as if it ever could be terrible if
it tried. The green waves of the soft
grass rolled madly. The wind was high.
The sun was so bright they could not
look at it. The strong horse bounded
with mighty leaps. The boys could feel
muscles quivering and drawn tense
in his soft, warm body, rs they clung. 1t
was like being horse yourself They
did not know which was horse and which
was boy. They laughed because they
could not help it. and shouted because
they did not know it. Hi! Hi! O,
the sum- and the mad grass, and the
wild wind Hi! Hi! Y-i-i-i! Who
could be two boys on such prairie, ON
such day, on such horse, and not yell
like little wildcats?
Il cts pretty" said little Titus, softly,
when they had got tired of yelling.
q You betl" said Tam, loudly. "Hi!
Hi! Hi! Yi-i-ee-ee !"
q guess We ought to 90 back" said
Titus, pretty soon; Titus was so much
more likely 70 remember to be good.
'EOh, no, = said Tam, who was gener-
ally little bad when there was a chance.
Gather said to come home pretty
soon, said Titus.
"But," urged Tam, with a bright air,
mother said to hold on tight. Hi! VII
Yii" a
Ab ! what was that : What was it?I
Could Jerusalem answer? Can the wild
winds talk? Will the mad prairie speak?
The sunshine is tOngue-tied, and the
great sky is dumb. But something an
swered Tam O'Shanter's shout.
o, there O, Titusl Quick, quick
HlH TOuftl tIII DGttlod-
lem round Injuns 1njuns! oh, II
wish NE hadn't come! What shall we
do, what shall we do? oh, Tam, what,
shall we do? Oh, Tam, they've all got
horses and they're coming straight Get
up! Get upl Oh, Jerusalem, do hurryl
Old fellow, do get US home Good boyi
Good old fellow! aal-
Oh, Tam! they've got arrows, and
they're going-tO-shoOt.
Pretty little Mrs. Jacobs had got the
newest baby to sleep, and got the baby
that wasn't quite 50 new to sleep, and
given Betty her patchwork. and sent her
husband out his beer, and swept the
kitchen, and built the fire, started sup
per on the way, and l don't know what
else besides, when that fine mothers ears
of hers detected, through the sough of the
wind upon the prairie, q sharp, uneven,
and. to her notion, rather ugly sound
Betty was sitting in the door, but she
heard nothing. The sleeping babies did
not stir from their baby dreams. John
oxorJa,, hut TObp baarJ