Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1879-01-11
TIE WILLOW SWITCH.


FAST becoming a garden, was almost /
\ new country, and people talked of ,
knowing West" when they emf
grated from the banks of the Hud-
son to those of the Genesee. Still
one of the cities on the line of the
Erie Canal was even then q town of
some importance and boosted much
of what then amounted to wealth
and even ariStocracy.
or this latter class had been the
family of Judge Morton, but sundry
unlurkV speculations had made it
impossible for him to retain his ac-
cu,t0ned position among his old
neighbors, and he was about TO seek
a new field in one of the younger
settlements.
Everything had long been pre-
pared, the wagons were laden, the /
adieux for the most part had been
said again and again, and part of |
the cavalcade was fairly under way. |
The heavier goods, indeed, had
been started two or three days be-
fore. The ladies of~the party, as
well as the gentlemen, had decided |
to attempt the journey on horseback,
well aware that the condition of the
road, even though spring was now
well advanced, could not safely be
depended upon.
Apart from the rest, mounted on
stout and quiet-lOoking pony, sat
young lady of some eighteen sum-
ineTs, in whose rosy cheeks and
bright, black eyes the exCitment of
the occasion seemed almost to have
overcome its sOberer suggestions.
Still, something like a shade was on
! her face, as she leaned forward in
her saddle and cOnversed in low
tones with a gentleman whose arm
was thrown cerelessly over the neck
of her pony.
"Never mind me, Charlie; why
| ii isn't three days riding, at
very worst, and that won't hurt
| me-"
'But me, Susie! / am ordered off
for long cruise, and / cannot tell
! when / shall see you again."
"But you will come back :"
"Yes-but when? And will you"
evil I what, Charlie ?'
await moment, Susie !"
And the young man, who was In
! the undress uniform of q naval Off
Ger, sprang off to the side of the
road, where some willow trees were
growing in untrimmed luXuriance.
/ Catching hold of one of the grace
fully bending boughs, he cut there
from a long and plant slip, which
he returned, stripping off the leaves
as he came.
"There, Susie, that will do for a
riding whip, but do not wear it out
on your pony, even if the roads are
bad"
"Why not, Charley ?'
because at the end OF my cruise
/ shall come back to claim it. Will
you keep it for me?"
A very soft light stole into the
black eyes but she said, in q low
voice, Eyes, Charlie, I will keep it.
But are you sure you will come back
to claim it?"
"If 1 live, Susie.'
"Ah! then it is goodbye, sure
enough, now, for father is calling
fne. Goodbye, CharlieH
There was most passionate earn
estnes5 in the young officers reply,
and he stood gazing after the pony
and his mistress long after they
/ w CIO ny q III IL vi LAlC AOS4NA'
We cannot follow him, however, by
; land or sea, for our business is with
, the willow switch.
If Susie's pony suffered on the
road, it was not from any excessive
J application of Charities queer me,
, mento; and on the third day, about
, noon, Judge Morton rode up to the
side of his daughter, and announced
that they were close at their jOurn'
ey's end.
: They were nearly at a fork of the
= road, at the foot of q gentle, slipping
hill and just where the two ways
5 met, little spring bubbled up anC
b, ! wandered off in an adjacent mead
! oW. There were more signs of i'm
- provement than Susie had expected
but enough of wilderness remained
: to add to the rural beauty of the
: spot.
r sour new home" said the Judge
: will be on top of this knoll when i
: is built, and our present quarters
such as they are, will be a LITTLE
further on"
$ A sudden thought seems to hav,
. entered the brain of Susie.
"Father, won't willow grow from
Il slips?"
), Yes, my dear; that's the usua
g way of setting them out"
!, "And they want water, dom
:, they" Is this one fresh enough t,
i grow"
Y AZ think So"
# "Well, then, maybe we can hav
f something growing here to remint
us of our old home"
Y In an instant Susie was dow
5 from her pony, and the willow
l. swatch was carefully planted, jus
: above the spring. 1t would have al
the water it wanted, at all events
3 And then Susie and her father rod
d on to their new home; but warn
e flutter was in the young girls heart
J. and blush On her cheek, as sh
wondered, "Will it ever grow ?"
70 The new settlement was goo
n one for the Judge, and Susie's wi
IS low proSpered famOusly. Even tn
!, rude farmer boys had learned hoy
it came there, and respected it re
/, ligiOusly, while little paling keI
Of off other intruders. Susie's heal
r thrObbed high with hope and fait
ia at times as she noted the WOnderfI
= vitality and prosperity of her leaf
~ faVorite. 1t grew as if it had dut
u to perform, and was determined t
ID do it well. And the little sprin
10 bubbled up more briskly from undo
"a it, and seemed to murmur softly
2" "He will come. He will come"
10 Still, one year, and another, an
ID another, went by, and Charlie eli
of not come, and letters were terribl
of uncertain and far between. A
- around the world he had been sen
u and Susie'S heart at times grew sic
IN and weary, in spite of the willow
Of But she had other visitors, #
n her beauty seemed to grow ever
day, and her father was gettin
10 along well in the world once more
r, Truth to tell, Susie had sOInethin
r of Mother Eve in her, and was b
q no means averse to admiration an
attention.
y So it happened that one day i
he June of the fourth year of the res
I'd dence of the MortOns in their ne
10 home, Just as the sun was settin!
Susie found herself taking a strO
- along the shaded roadside, accom-
IN panied by the handsomest and mo-
h favored of her numerous train
,e worshippers.
They did not seem TO be in tall