The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1877-11-02
The Lilies By The Steeple.
BY ANNETTE l. Nokt.F

! boris grimaces. 1T he smiles he must be
happy; if he signs, dyspeptic, may be-
| And, on the whole, what a man is does
not come into account one-half SO much
as what he does. Out in the world this
Is; still there are places where it matters
what he thinks of things All the pub
lie wanted to know of Jacob Strong was
that he sold curtain fixtures and cord,
| keys and screws, and that he carried his
stock in trade about with him. One
afternoon in June Jacob was going home
Business after May was dull then every
body was moving or cleaning house and
he reaped his modest harvest. He used
to shudder as he passed the swarming,
dirty tenement houses, for if his home
had not CHANGED to be where it was he
could have afforded no higher rent tban
was paid here. This hot day he threaded
his way through the narrow streets and
past stalls smelling of stale fruit, stop
ping only once at a flower stand. Here
somebody jostled by the crowd had
/ knocked off a tea-rOse, bruising the
flower and breaking the pot
" Sell it to me for ten cents asked
Jacob.
| The angry vender hesitated a minute,
/ then rolling up dirt and rosebush togeth-
! er gave the paper to Jacob. He hurried
| on, turned into an old square, through
! by-lane to the rear Of an ancient brick
building. The first floor was for offices
and a masonic hall, the second for
mission school and storing rooms, the
| third for offices again. The style of
architecture suggested a church, and
| such it had been.
/ There was such brilliant sunset light
without; but here Jacob stumbled up
and through shadows until he reached a
familiar door which he opened with soft
esgerness. Such a quaint room was dis
| closed. The new partitions were of I'M
plastered planks now neatly covered over
with brown wrapping paper; above
were the rich old Oaken beams of the
| ceiling; on the spotless floor were rugs,
/ soft and old-fashioned, an antique chair,
tall-backed and once richly cushioned,
stood at the end of the apartment, which,
| for some reason was tive-sided. The
| pulpit chair was a little removed from
! the everyday cheap furniture as if it
/ were the only fit companion for the other
/ glory of the place, which was small
round window of stained glass having in
/ its centre an Agnus Del. Everything
else was hoInely, but sweet with clean
Illness A thick white curtain cut off
one corner of the room, and two doors
| opened Out-one into a tiny kitchen,
where Jacob retired to wash his hands
and put down the rose paper. With his
forehead cooled and his gray hair pushed
off it, one had fair look at the tall,
thin man and could not learn much
more from his immovablc face; but
under black, shaggy eyebrows were
child's. As Jacob turned back, the white
on aF It'd nd
man in a short gown and striped skirt
seemed to have come suddenly out from
nap and TO be troubled on that account.
She tied q silk handkerchief about her
| head, which was covered with short
air as white As silver, and in a CHEEKY
voice began TO chatter. 90 Derrie me,
Jacob! six o'clock and no supper for you
And / lying there like Mariory Daw "
What! Ye haven't been and sold
yer bed, have ye? 1t appears TO be there
all the same. There, there, old lady,
douA hurry, Ye know we'll enough
how 1t takes the breath out of ye,' and
Jacob caught her by the rutie on her
jacket and held her still for a second, not
in play, but soberly, to break up her
speed, she having started rapidly toward
the kitchen. She laughed, showing even
teeth and gentle, good old face, only
white-unanturally white.
Ye're right, Jacob: if go 2 bit
| slower l gain time in the end. I was A.
/ little more tired than ordinary"
/ Have We been down the long stairs
this day."
/ She stammered like a child before she
/ confessed she had.
Well, if We 20 down tomorrow,
/ Dolly, hereafter IN fasten We in-that is
/ if | haven't yer promise"
e And if We have it %
/ "Then what need of a lock?' and
! Jacob lOOsened his hold on her gown, go
/ ing himselfto fill the tea kettle and set
/ it TO boil on the stove. Dolly drew out
/ the table; putting on bread, meat and
two or three simple viands. When the
tea was made the old couple drew their
/ chairs to the table and Dolly bowed her
head, saying aloud:
eve confess our unwoTthiness, we ac~
I knowledge Thy goodn. IS, we praise Thy
tender mercy and give Thee thanks"
See could not see that Jacob looked
open eyed at the blue and crimson win
dow. She turned his tea from funny,
brown eaIthen pot, round like cannon
ball, and suddenly cried:
Wella day, Here we be a eating
away and the door not opened
So she emphasized the words that
really they must be put in italics-quite
as if there had been but one out of the
room, not three. 1t was plain what she
meant when she flung it wide open; for,
if their home was queer, this outlook was
queerer. In adapting the old church to
percent uses all sorts of excrescences
had arisen out of and everran it. Their
own snuggery was fitted into it's topmost,
l. - i I
into an unaccountable bit of fiat roof,
away, away up above the roar of the
city, under the glowing sunset sky, so
high that distance softened picturesquely
all ugly sights below, and the eye could
take in aC a sweep the waters of the bay,
returning to rest just here again in the
delight of DOlly's heart-her garden !;
/ for a garden this was. That verv mo-
ment the soft June air stirred lilies and
roses and violet and golden pansies, all
planted in broad boxes OF earth and
tended by Dolly's own hands. She had
a bit of rag carpet out here and her
| work~basket by her rocking chair, where
| she sewed when alone You think it
must have been too sunny by day? Ali
now comes her beautiful surprise-the
hoary old steeple, that gave in solemn
| glory to Dolly's garden that which given
! TO her room IN radiance by the stained
window. 1t is great thing to come in
to possession of bits of church if you
have medieval tastes. Dolly had she
never ceased to rejoice that nobody at
tempted to pull down the steeple.
! There it rose over her garden, up, up,
| grand and cool, like the shadow of a
| great rock. How she loved it? She
knew how it looked, soft and gray,
against the pink clouds at daybreak
! How cool and massive in hot noon-times
| when CAV breezes came behind it to
dance with her saucy sweetpea vines,
| And often at midnight, when pains kept
her awake (for old Dolly was not welD
/ she watched it, huge and black, among
| the stars, the moon stealing from clouds
over it. Perhaps Jacob enjoyed the
steeple as much as Dolly, for one-half
his life was in contrast to elevate things
| was spent down below, among the rag
men, 6sh-markets and people fighting for
sixpence, but it was not his way to talk
much. Tonight, after supper, they
went out, and Dolly planted the tea-rose,
with enthusiastic little shifts at the per-
fume and a great deal of expressed
rapture generally. Folks had called
Dolly, years ago when young, "a little
/ fool ,, haoauca ba he'd fociOn IF lOOl-ipn,