The daily Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1878-1???, 1880-05-14
BARBARA.
ANNIE ROBERTSON NOXON.
"Was there any mail, Ebenln

WAS there any mail, Ebenln
And leaning over the little wicket gate,
her dark locks falling about her in pretty,
careless tresses, Barbara looked wisttully
down the shady street and then up at the
tossing elms, where the busy birds were
chattering And sad to relate, frown of
| discomfort crept over Barbara's snow, white
| brow.
mo, there were no letters tor the Leigh
TONS" said Eben, in rather savage mood.
81 made especial inquiries for you" and
Eben's lower lip trembled little and his
voice softened wonderfully for him, II
suppose you are anxious to get away from
the old place, Miss Barbara"
Eyes, | am" said Miss Leighton sharp
ly, with an imperial air. 81 am sick of it
all. should be glad to go anywhere away
from here"
Eben made no reply He looked down
at the tangled curls, the soft, wistful brown
eyes, the dimpled hands clasped over the
mesh of honeysuckles-then away over the
tops of snowy balsams toward the great
world where Barbara's heart was. lie was
thinking with one cruel pang which grip
ped his heart at that moment of what life
would be at the farm without Barbara. He
had tried of late to live without connecting
her in any way with his days and nights
his duties, his hardships and his Joys, but
he had made sorry work of it. 1t gave
Eben a fright to know how much every
thing depended on this proud. spoiled
beauty, whose dream now was to get away
from such as he-he common folks around
Larborough.
Barbara at eighteen had a great longing
for that gay world Of which she had read
in summer evenings when sitting under the
musky vines in the farmhouse porch, or
when lying amid the cowslips in the
meadow where, under growing weight of
care, Eben toiled with great brown hands
in the capacity OF help to the Widow Leigh
ton. Eben was as much part and parcel of
the place as the crumbling headstones in
the little graveyard on the hill, where all
the dead Leightons were lying. No one
ever dreamed Of his going away; although
his merits were acknowledged, and it was
cheertully admitted that the boy had
grown into strong, handsome man,
with shrewd capacities as fnan-
cier, and turn Tor machinery. A great
many at the village had dropped into the
habit Of addressing HIM lately as Mr.. Hex
ford, and Eben's muscles commanded re-
spect. He had little snuggery in the barn
he. called his workshop, where, at odd hours
and on rainy days, he tinkercd with lathes
and pulleys and edged tools. When his
farm work had been hdied up and the cows
had been MIXED and TUNED into the green
woodlands again, EEen shut himself up in
his workshop and pottered over his numer-
Gus inventions and thought of what great
possibilities might have been his if he had
been born something better than Leghton's
farm hand. He realized sensibly that there
were still possibilities tor him out yonder
beyond the dark line of elms
and frs which he could see from
his study window. But his benefactor
had died and left all the tangled threads of
his affairs for young Hexiord to unraveI,
and he could not have deserted Mrs. Leigh
ton and the girs-Barbara and Theo. 1t
would not have been right or manly.
Things were going straight now, however,
the farm WAS IN prosperous condition,
and even an Indifferent manager could
have kept the wheels moving which Eben
had fixed in their places. But Eben re-
NAMED on the farm while the seasons wayed
and waned, and the girls were growing into
fine, tall young women, with restless yearn-
ings for buster life than was to be had al
Larborough.
He had expected that a girl so pretty as
Barbara would be sometime leaving so dull
place, but he nevertheless felt wild,
savage pam at his heart, when he learned
that letter had been sent 10 distant aunt
to see if she would not look after Barbara
while she enjoyed the advantages of finish
ing school for young ladies' The longest
summer days would fade into short sum
mer nights, and by.and.by, when the first
yellow leaves would be dropping into
pools and holows, Barbara would 20 away
perhaps forever.
Eben was too much Of a man to sigh,
and too muscular to do without his supper,
but he fell into the habit of taking long
walks alone or of sitting under the honey
suckles on the porch where he could see
the moon rise and where he could hear the
young ladies singing rather paintive songs,
accompanied by the cracked strains of the
old harpschord in the best room.
He had just pluckcd the first round, full