The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1876-01-27

Who owns the stage ~
6" do" he replied. "And won
| let il 10, because the road lies over VA.
mountain wonder ii runs close 10 tnc
edges of prccipiccs seycral hu"dre" ,cvv
high, il Is rough and slippery, tnc snow
rs deep row., and getting deeper every
minute. and | don't believe any hor"e
could pull through IT, ,o
thought of the little children waiting
lor me yondcr; Ofthcir bitter disappolnt-
mcnt il did not come, Then sad
81 am very anxious to 90, and am
willing to pay well for being TAKEN"
The landlord leaning over the bar
asked:
"How much ?"
! tOld.him what was willing to pay
"IIl 60 and get the stage ready, he
said. After all, it was only the higher
price he had been waiting for.
In five minutes the stage was at the
door. It was an ordinary box wagon on
GOOD strong springs, having a cotton
cover open in front. The horSe was u
haIfstarycd, jadcd.looking beast, took
all this in ~ ] stood ON the porch wait
inc for the driver, Getting impatient
at last, ! asked
Where is the driver !'
The landlord, without speaking, point
cG to an ill-clad hoy standing at the
horses head. | looked closely at him.
lie might I've, | thought, fifteen years
old, or he might he not more than ten,
His ewes were clear blue. and he, hearing
my question. turned them full upon
mine, . frank. boyi,h smile rcbuking the
di,tmst my words implied, and lighting
up every feature NJ his delicate face.
| III, complexion wa, like that ola girl,
! hi, mouth small and tender his hair gel.
low hi, figure slight and %sinuous.
looked al him, standing there SILVER
! ing with the cold, out through the drlv'
| iuc storm. along the -now-cuycrcd noun
tain road wc were 20 travel together and
asked " Are YOU not afraid to go?"
The landlord interrupted:
Il don't matter if he is a afraid. lie
belongs 10 me. lie shall 60"
No. / said; che shall not go, il he
Is not quite willing
am not at all afraid the boy re-
Piled, "and ! am quite willing 10 90. !
have zone often and often, through worse
storms than this,
There was an earnest, manly grace
even in the way he shook the gathered
flakes from his tattcrcd cap, and in his
voice there was such a hearty, CHEEKY
ring, that from that moment ! trusted
and loved the boy,
Jumped into the stage, took the back
scat, drew my great trlezc coat close
about my legs, and we drove off from
among the gaping, SOoty crowd of min
crs into the lonely mountain road into
the ~cruclest storm Of wind and snow
that ! ever saw.
The boy sat on the front seat, waiting
to be spoken to, looking straight ahead.
When we were quite clear of the strag-
Cling huts Of the miners ON the outer
most limits Of the town, ] asked him his
name.
"Thcy call me Lewis Shiycly," he
said.
How old are you, Lewis? ?" was my
next question.
Fourteen, next April, SIR
ado you live at home, with your
| father and mothcr?'
"Tlat man yondcr is all the father or
mother | have, and his stable loft is the
only home ! have had since he took me
from the poor-housc. That was better
than the stable though, for they thought
me something there"
There were no complaining chords in
| the tones in which these bitter words
were said, and while he was speaking he
was drawing the whip gently across the
horses back, brushing off the snow that
had fallen IN il.
" Have you been driving IN this road
long ~ | inquired.
Going on three years. 1t will be
three years in March,
"Isit cold out there? Colder than
here, | mean"
81 think it is," he replied " tho wind
and snow cut - but | don't mind, sir!
We get used to tough weather up in
these hills
81 wish you would comc in here my
cont will cover IA both"
" No, I can't" he said. ~ must
watch the road now. We have to 90
pretty close to the prccipiccs, ONE
times
" How close ?" | asked.
Within y few inches. J. can't see
now five yards ahead, the snow falls 30
heavily
"Do you think it safe, then to 90
ON %
"Qmtc safe, sir and | don't mind the
cold.o But his teeth chartered rs he
said it, and the ruddy glow was all gone
from his cheeks.
did not talk more then. There were,
I discovered, wide cracks in the bottom
of the stage, through which the wind
poured mcrciIcsSly. | was chilled
through to the heart in less than an hour
after starting. ! do not know how far
we had gone, or how long we had been
upon the road, when | heard the boy
voice, CHEEKY and bright, asking:
GLOW are you now, sir? Feeling
pretty comfortable, sir 2"
! nodded my head, and crcpt closer in,
to the corner. But he was wiser than ]
and would not let me have the sleep | GOV.
ctcd.
You are in u hurry to get home," he
said, for want Of something better to say
with which to rouse me.
"Ycs," | replied. az want to he n
home ON Christmas cyc.'
"Thc best days | ever knew wer,
Christmases---a good while ago
He said it as if he were ever and ever &