Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1876-06-21

pcrIeCI safety. lHclluatlpH solleIlll'e'
wears a far more shmin' apron, and
her gliltelin' strings hutter down be
fore you invitingly, and you feel as i
you must leggo of duty, and lay holt
of EN-. But, my friends, safety is not
there. Her strings ar thin and shaggy
and liable to fall to pieces any minute
But hang on to duty's apron-strings
boldly and blindly. Get good holt,
and have no fear. Let her lead you
over rough pathways, through dark
valleys, upthe mountings, and through
the deep waters. Don't be afraid, but
hang on, The string won't break
with you. and the country she will
lead you into is one that cant be bet
tered.
Her first husband was Josiah's only
brother He died a few years after
they was married, and then she mar
ried another man, David Doodle bv
name, and shittless creetur by mater,
so | hearn, but good. lookin'. How
sumever. | don't know nothin' about
it. only by hearsay for | never laid
eyes on none of the lot. Still she
came on to us for hum. They lived
ont to the Ohio But she fairly wor-
ships that Doodle TO this day, talks
about him day and night. / hain't
heard her say dozen words about
Josiah's brother Timothy, though
they say he was likely man, and q
good provider, and did we'll by her I;
left good farm, all paid for, and
Doodle run throagh it ; and five COWS
and two horses, and Doodle run
through them, and colt.
But she don't seem to remember
that she ever had no such husband as
Timothy Allen. which I know makes
it more wearn' on Josiah, though he
don't complain. But he thought Il
sight of Tim; they used to sleep to-
gether when they was children. And
heads, that lay on the same bosom,
cant get so fur apart, but what mem.
ory will unite 'em. They get separ-
ated when they grew up. 10 sah
stayed with his folks, and Tim went
to the Ohio, as l say. but still, when
Josiab's thoughts get to travelin', and
/ never see such critters to be on the
90 all the time as thoughts be, they
take him back to the old trunde bed
and Tim.
She don't mention, as | was saving,
brother Timothy only when Josiah
asks her about him. But Doodle |
can truly say, without lyin', that if
ever human bein' got sick Of any
thing on earth, | got sick of Doodle.
BEN shut up in the house with her, l
sense it more than Josiah does. 1t is
Doodle in the mornin', and. Doodle at
noon, and Doodle at night, and Doc
die between meals, and if she talks in
her sleep, which she is quite case to,
it is about Doodle.
| don't complain to Josiah much,
because it would make his road the
harder. But told Thomas Jefferson,
one day, she had just finished Story
about her and Doodle, that had took
her about the biggest part of the fore
noon to tell, and | told Thomas Jeff.
erson, when she happened to go out
Of the room a minute, says |,
"Thomas Jefferson, it does seem to
me as if Doodle will be the death of
me-
"Wall," says he, eff he should |
will write handsome piece OF poetry
on it." Says he, "Alt' Tennyson and
Shakespeare have writ some pretty fair
pieces, but mine shall
''Beat the whole caboodle,
And the burden Of the HIM shall be.
That mother died of Doodle"
Says /, in real severe tones, "You
needn't laugh, Thomas Jefferson. I'd
love to have you try it for one day.
says |. "You and your father bein'
out doors all day, when You are in a
few minutes to your meals, her talk is
as good as circus, sometbin' Ike a
side.show to you, but you be shut up
with her all cay, and then see how
you would feel toward the name of
Doodle
But | try to do the best | can with
her, as | said. | don't know how
long she will live with us; hut /
think, to tell the plain truth, that the
widder would marry again if she got
a chance. | can see symptoms If it.
But she says she wouldn't; says it
baln't no ways likely that she shall
ever marry agin. Talks a sight about