The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1878-08-08
CHAPTER XVII

AlAPIEk ANVIL.
We made a grave for my baby Clara
beside my poor erring and unfortunate
boy, Gerald, in the deep, fern-covered
reoesses Of the somber wildwood, and
returned to my daily tasks again, de-
voutly thankful that the precious child
was dead.
Good reader, you may wonder at this,
but it is true, and / cannot helpit Life,
to me, had been such burden that I
could not choose but rejoice when I saw
that my helpless waif had missed its
sorrows. Not that my mother heart
was not wrung. God knows / suffered
all the agony unspeakable with which
the bereaved mother heart must ever be
torn under like conditions, no matter
what the circumstances.
But I was now in a manner free. My
twins were two years of age, my three
months old baby was not, my older
children were large enough TO wait upon
themselves in great measure, Gerald
was expected to be two years absent,
and I once more gathered courage to re-
new the battle Of life and devote myself
TO business.
But I found, after sixty days, that I
could no longer stay the remorseless
rigor Of the law. A writ Of replevin was
duly issued for the recovery Of the per-
sonal property held By the stranger,
Grayon, under my husbands bill Of
sale, and 1 was obliged to part with my
team and cows, under the fat Of power
that claims to protect women, and pro-
vide for and support them far better
than they could manage for themselves.
There is a wise provision in human
nature that always impels il, in some
way, TO redeem the faults Of its kind.
But for this must long ago have per-
ished with my children.
When my neighbOrs learned Of my
great privation, they with one accord,
and OF their own free will, assisted me.
One loaned me a team, another a COW,
another a farming implement, and so
on. So that, aside from the sense Of hu-
initiation and wrong under which suf-
fered because Of being legally robbed,
did not miss my stolen property nearly
so much in fact as in ethics.
1 dressed my girls in boots and bloom
ers and put them after the pIow. With
my own hands / sowed the wheat,
planted the trees, gathered the firewood,
cooked the food, and prepared for the
winter. A traveller, in passing, left Us
fair supply of books and out Of date
newspapers, and we really spent a COM
Portable and harmonious fall, winter,
and spring in our new quarters.
After a few months I almost ceased to
think of Gerald. Or if l remembered
him, it was only as a troubled dream.
The children openly expressed their dis
like of him, and the hope that be would
never cross our threshold more.
"Don't fear, my darlings; for will
not permit him to molest Us again." ]
said, confidently; for was now mistress
of my own homestead, where ] thought
no man would dare to molest me OF
make me afraid.
1t was near the close of our harvest
season, and our prospects were unusu-
ally bright. The crop, which was a re-
markably good one, considering its lin
tied extent, was well nigh gathered in,
and at the ruling price for wheat was
10 be in possession Of several hundred
dollars in excess Of harvesting expenses
Mother, look. Somebody's coming" "
said my daughter Ethel, now a radiant
and beautiful girl, just verging on the
eve Of what in all new aud primitive
countries is falsely considered woman
hood.
II hope we'll have no company to-
night" 1 replied, impatiently, "for ]
am too weary 10 think Of taking a single
unnecessary step.n
But the words were barely out Of my
mouth before a wagon was at the door
and beheld upon a stretcher the man,
gled and apparently lifeless body o.
Gerald, my husband
The girls screamed in terror aud dis.
gust but /, who was used to suffering
was as one petrifed. They rested the
stretcher IN the middle Of my one sit.
ting-room, near the table, which wa.
bountifully spread for my bevv of bar.
vest men.
"Gentlemen, can you tell me Vba,
this means, and how il happened pr !
asked, forgetting my weariness in tn,
new excitement, and rising to meet tn,
exigencies Of the occasion as only
long-suffering woman can.
"Your husband got into a fighi
ma'am. He's quarrelsome when he
drinking, you know"
"But thought be was of for tw
years voyage. I did not imagine tbs
he was within two or three thOusan
miles Of Morseville."
"He got discharged in Liverpoo
ma'am, and so he worked his way home
after many a hardship. He couldn'
get a steady job, and the best thing b
could DO was 10 60 .omewhere anon
people that be had claims on, SO h