American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1880-06-26

of the sea. | have scent her ciench her
mite OF hand and strike at it, for she
had a. bit OF temper in her, though
nothing to harm.
when Hiram made his first voyage.
for they were all sea-faring men here
abouts, and there was nothing for Il lad
to do but ship. the Pearl was just a
little washed-ou lily, affecting until he
came home again. And it was so when
ever he went, for they Were sweet.
hearts from the first time ne nestled
her baby face on his breast, when he
picked her up from the wreck. She
was sixteen when they, were married,
as near as we could guess; Hiram was a
man of twenty-four. She prayed him
stay at home then, apd he stayed a
year, but he frettesf for tie sea, and he
went again, thinking, s'pose, that his
wife would get used to it, as all wives
hereabouts must do But she never
did-never. 1t was just pitiable to see
her go about, white as a corpse, when
Hiram went Away, pevssiooking-a 81 the
sea without the shudder like a death
chill All through the war it was just
awful, for Hiram enlisted on board n
man5o'iwar, apd Pearl was just a
shadow when he came home the last
latter the waryp JIT or " -
"Yes. sir; but he made no money of
any account. and so he went again,
after staying home a long spell. Well.
he never came back. 'Twasn't no pap-
ner of ussla tsling Pearl he meS lpSt;
she d inst shake lier pretty head and
say: He'll come back Not mite of
mourning would she wear, even after
his own mother gave him up and put
on blacE foh~sir, ftfstSdsap esq
he s dead ye4rs aO.s e IN "a
"of cosnr&f az: 4noSode else
doubts it but her. Old Mrs. Goldby's
last words were-.sTm going to
inset sHira4,s and tkey say the dg-
ing k19sl ggt exsp ZEN they did0t
ing for her who had been the only
mother she knowed of, but no weeds.
she wasn'ssa widow"
But the stoneag 81 n
"Wen, sir. In coming to that. A;
year ago, sir, tine xentfemal from
France came here hunting for 8 child
lost on this coast. He'd heard of Pearl
by happen-chances, If there is such, and
came here. When he saw the clothes,
he just tainted like b wounn.>' - :
..She was reLated, 'thenP'
The strangers voice wis husky, but
the sea air was growing chill.
! :. Her father, SIR, - :
He took her awayP''
..f'He tried to. He told her of "a
splendid home he had in New York for
he'd followM his wife aud schiii,, sir, to
a city they had never reached. He, was
to se and but Would n ssssdh his 1 %
come here for me- she said, and he ]
will find me- where he left me-"
ION what has she Iiyed2'' q, mo-.
''Sewing, sir, mostly. The cottage
was old Mrs, sGoldby's, and bless you,
Pearl did mot eat much more than
bird, and; her dresses cost next to moth
ing. But thefe's no denying she was
very poor-very, and yet the grand
house and big fortune peter 8emped
her. Sober father came on ana on to
see her, until April. And he died, sir,
ana lsft opr Pearl al his fortune and I
the grand house, in New York. But
she'll not gotsr; she.h die hefe, witt 4
ing for Hiram, who'll never come"
The stranger lifted his face that Aad
been half hidden in his hand and said:
There was shipwrecks In the; Pa
cific Ocean. Davy, years and years ago,
and one man only was sayed-saved,
Davy, by sayages, WHO made him q
this sailor Saved the life of the chief
daughter, who was in the coils of huge
snake, and the chief released him.
More than that, he gave him choice
spices and wp1B, and ,sedf him aboard
the first passing ship So the sailor
landed in a great city, sold his presents
and put the gold IN safe keeping Then
he Travelled until he reached the seaport
town where he was born, and coming
there at sunset, heard the story of his
life from the lips of q man cutting his
tombstone. ,.ff .-os.s ISIS Two
Not q word spoke Dayy. Standing
erect. he seized an immense sledge
hammer. anAswith-Powsrful biewsfrofn
strong, uplifted arms, dashed the mar
BILE into fragments Then, painting
with exertion, he held out ,his-sbrawnys
hand to the stranger-a stranger no
longer.
tive done no better work in NV life |
than I've done in the last five minutes, |
Hiram. Go home, man, and make |
Pearls heart glad She don't need it,
Hiram-she don't need it. You asked |
me about the stone. The neighbors |
drove her to ordering it. twittiag her !
that now she was rich she grudged the |
stone to her husband memory. So she |
told me to cut it. but says, Don't put |
dead upon it, Davy-put lost at sea- for |
Hiram's lost, but he'll be found and |
come back to me- She never looked |
at it, Hiram. never. And there's not,
an hour, nor hasn't been for ten years,
that she hasn't been looking for you to
come back. Go to her, man, and the
Lords blessing be upon both of YOU"
So grasping the hard, brown hand,
Hiram Goldby took the path to the little |
white cottage in which he had been
born forty-five years before. The sun
had set and the darkness was gather
ing. but little CLEAN of light streamed
from the window of his cottage He
drew near softly and stood on the seat
of the porch, looking ovkr the half cur
tain into the neat but poor sitting-rooln.
lit was not the grand house, PEARLS
heritage in New York, but Pearl herself
was there. A slender woman, with a
pale, sweet face, and black hair
smoothly banded and gathered into
rich braids at the back OF her shapely
head Her dress was a plain dark one,
with white ruffies, cuffs and an apron.
She had been sewing but sher work
was put aside, and presently she came
to the open window and drew aside the h
curtain She did not see the tall figure
drawn closely against the wall in the
porch, but Fer dark eyes looked
toward the sea, glimmeringt
in the half light. b. -, 7fHHrrr1oi u
My darlingr' she whispered, fare
ron doa1 ond no x,D,,r sn;r,< .<.,,o =.