Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1880-05-13
A HYSSOP CENTIPEDE.

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A HYSSOP CENTIPEDE.
"A lie has hundred legs, the truth but one"
-Udli0n PrOUerb.
j Mrs. Green opened hereyes, and thought ii
was dayllGht; the hed-head was turned toward
the window $50 she could not see fully how
bright it was out-of-doors, but having been
restless all night from the heat, she glad
TO perceive morning; so she got up and went
80, the church dock struck two, and she saw
that it was cloudless night now, though it
had ra1ned heavily the past evening, and the
full moon rode high in a solitary heaven.
The night was fresh and fragrant; it's dewy
GOODNESS soothed her hot head and tired eyes;
so she shut the outer blinds, turned the Stats
straight, and sat down to- enjoy the calm and
refreshrne nt.Of the heur. #nes
Right opposite wasstlie village bank, and as
She looked across at it, and wondered If John
Hackett was not sometimes afraid to sleep
there alone, she saw two women come quickly
and silently doWnytheE street, steal up to the
window OF The bank.sand tap on the shutters.
Her breath came quick; here was an adyen-
ture. immaculate John Hackett, indeedl And
there was his head put out, and the women
talking earnestly with him; then they all three
laughed, and John withdrew his head, shut and
locked the window-she could hear the fasten-
ing snap in that stiffness; but still the women
fingered, talking softly to each other, with now
and then an irrepressible little laugh andin a
lew minutes JOuu eIUeTpGu lTOmA UUe SlTOnL
door, locked it behind him, put the key in his
pocket, and walked off with companion ON
either arm.
Mrs.gGreen fairly gasped. Here, indeed,
scandal John Jackets was,a youth supposed
10 beassgood as boy ina Sunday-school book
Nobody in Hyssop had bad word to say about
him, except the wild youths who called him
Miss Nancy, and laughed at his disgust for
drink and tobacco. AS for anything bad or
vicious about him, even in HyssOp people would
have smiled at any such accusation against
John. He was teller in the bank, slept in it
always by way of guarding it, and was fully
trusted in all his business relations.
Mrs. Green meant to be good woman, but
she did like to discover and relate other peO-
'Ples faults ard folliss rather too 9well--partly
Satan finds some mischi eff still
For idle, hands to do"
partly because her life was dull land she longed
for excitementa as some people do for drink.
She had no, fixed home; her husband was
physician Of the specialisttribe and went about
the country from place to place to heal peo-
pies eyes and ears-or at least pretend to
and having no children to tie her to domestic
life, she went about with the doctor. Hyssop
was her. native place, and she felt more at
.home there than Elsewhere, so she sometimes
staid at the Hyssop House, and let her hus-
band travel on his rounds, while she enjoyed
herself among her friends. Tonight, after
she had seen John Hackett go away, she left
THE window, and sat down in her rocking
chair to think the matter over John she was
sure of, but who could the women be! She
thought and rocked in vain, and after an hour
of fruitless speculation, felt SO cool and sleepy
that che went back to sbeti andn even
.ilrea1nsa Oh hsanat4er 80. il e ? %i41. .ssa.
Early next morning. after breakfast was
through, she repaired to the dress makers
there to unburden her mind, and lay the affair
before an expert. Bristling with Importance
and full of tidings, she proceeded to tell her
tale but was interrupted by the entrance of
Mrs Parke, q lady well known and highly re-
spected in Hyssop, a widow, and the mother of
two or three children, one of whom, boy of
sixteen, was in the bank with John Hackett,
as errand-boy and general runner and doer,
hoping to be promoted in due time, and pick
ing up knowledge of the business to that end.
Mrs. Green did not like to go With her
tale before Mrs. Parke; it would probably go
back to Mr.. Hackett at once if she did so; so
she pursed up her mouth, and waited for Luz
celia Pratt, the dress-maker, to lit Mrs Parke's
dressyv Incasure herAslirt, decide upon trim
mingA andmal1e elaborate CALCULATIONS as to
the yards Aud inches @ofs lace andSelvet; for
this was to be a gown of state, and figure at
Lucy Parl1e's wedding. She found no time to
finish the detail OF her story that morning.; be-
fore Mrs. ParlSe left other Gu toners came in,
enough of it to make plenty ofmischief had
reached the exrnofs JeIins Peters, young girl
who worked fot MisssPrat and sat near enough
to the SEWN Groom DIOR 10 hear how two
c ~Gmd" ont John aeket AZ tWo oeiSeK N The
morning This was enough to set her silly
mind agape, and she revOlved the precious
morsel under her tongue till it grew and -four
fshed out of its original size, and developed
locomotive powers that worked any amount 81
It was gre6t pity that YRS. Parke was quite
so much resnseted in HyssopS II Mrs: Green
on with her history, my own story would never
have been told, nor any centipede crawled
about the little villag1Y6vef John Hackett's
character and happiness. bsts 30 it WASH g.
Some weeks after the aforesaid event-Mrs.
Green having, by-the-way, been suddenly called
to Hf1thef nus bm1at chicago that same day.
and sosNepyt III arrppportunity 70 further
snhghte1 MiN Pras,yenny Peters vent g a
Hyssop House was her partner IN tfeafrst CO.
fiilon. John Hackett danced in the same set
and was 50 occupied with his own partner that
he nF9ynoddsd;at SHny5 all q
Non &eSrees m society are IAN unknown in
Hyssop: everybody is just as good as every
body else, III it a little better; the butcher
md baker ana ohndlestick zmake dHell togetf-
er III uai1g Aitk the doctor, the minister and
the lawyer; their wives wear as good clothes,
esn sfass ssse a ssa i hos &c
least idea of despisiuE Jenny Peters because
she earned her living by sewing for Miss Pratt,
the bank. They sat Side by side in the choir
the same benS& g4idg ID til dktrHt school,
wears ago; but ~ night re Only nodded toher,
being absqxhAd MShe plS asant Tux md sweet
face of Miss Deane, a young lady from Dart
ford who was boarding for the summer at the
Hyssop House with her father. 81
Alonzo Filfeh the clerk, had himself meant
f1s2iaice Nith Miss Deane SbutA she. who had
u Wa$s 4ieedins+he city had no idea or so de-
meaning herself, and made him understand 1t;
he too had grievance, and
when Jane expressed her contempt for John
Hackett's g stuck-up ways" Alonzo chimed
In, and they said a good many disagreeaoie |