Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1879-09-04
The Man at the Door

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in the storm. sNo tramps here;
I'm a lone woman, and afraid
of 'em."
Then the man I hadn't seen
yet, for the dark, went away
from the door. Champ, champ,
champ, came the man back a.
gain and knocked at the door
knocked not halt so loud as h.
did before-and / opened it hot
and angry. This time / saw
his face-a pale ghost of Il face,
with yellow brown hair crop
ped close, and great blue eyes.
and he put his hand against the
door and held it open.
nHow near is the next house,
ma'am?" said he.
"Three miles or more" said L
"And that is not a taYernY'
NO." said /; "no drinks to
be got there. 1t is Miss Nit
tens, and she's set against
tramps as / am"
81 don't want drink" I" said the
man, "though / do want food,
You needn't be afraid to let me
| in, ma'am. I've been wounded,
and am not able to walk far,
and my clothes are thin, and it's
bitter cold. ,Pve been trying
to get to my parents at Green
bank, where [ can rest until I'm
better, and all my money was
stolen from me three days ago.
You needn't be afraid; let me
Just lie before the fire, and on
ly give me a crust, to keep me
from starving, and the Lord
will bless you for it."q aY0aa
And then he looked up at me
with his wild blue eyes in a
way that would have made me
do it, if I hadn't seen SO many
of these impostors. The war
was just over, and every beggar
THAT came along said he was a
soldier travelling home, and had
b e en- wounded and robbed.
One that / had been fool enough
to help limped away out of
sight, as ne thought, and then
for l was up in the garnet win
dow-shoaldered his crutchcs
and tramped it with the strong
est.
"No doubt your pocket is
full of money!" said |, Sand
you only want a chance to rob
md murder me. Go away with
you?"
Drusilla, that's my niece, was
baking cakes in the kitchen.
Just then she came to the door
and motioned with her mouth
to me: "Do let him stay, aun-
tie." And if / hadn't good
sense, l might, but l knew bet
ter than a chick Of sixteen.
"Go away with youp' says !,
louder than before. 81 won't
have this any longer"
And he gave a kind of a
groan, and took his hand from
the latch, and went champ,
champ, champ, through the fro
zen snow again and | thought
him gone, when there he was
once more, hardly with knock
at ala faint touch like a
child's, now.
And when he opened the
door he was quite in, and stood
leaning on his cane, pale as. a
ghost, his eyes. bigger than ey-.
er.
"Well, of all impudence!"
said /.
He looked at me, and he said:
MADAM, / have q mother at
Grcenbank. ! want TO live to
see her. / shall not if Itry to
60 any further tonight"
"They all want to see their
mothers;Y and just then it came
into my mind that | hoped my
son Charlie, who had been a real
soldier IAN officer he had come
to be, mind you), wanted to see
his. and would soon.
81 have been wounded, you
see," said he.
"Don't go a-showing me your.
hurts" said l; "they buy 'em,
SO they told me, TO go a-beg-.
ging with now. / read the pa
pers, yer see, and Pm princi-l
pied, and SOS our clergyman,
agin giving any thing unless it's
through some well-organized
society. Tramps are my abom-
ination. And as for keeping
you all night you can't expect
that of decent folks. Co."
Drusilla came to the door and
said: "Let him stay, auntie, }"
with her lips again, but | took
no notice. So he went, and
this time he did not come back;
aud / sat down by the fire and
smelt the baking cakes, and ap-
pies stewing, and the tea draw
ing on the stove, and | ought to
have been very comfortable, but
| wasn't. Something seemed
tugging at my heart all the
time.
/ gave the fire a poke, and lit
another candle to cheer myself