The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1880-09-16

the hurt within him.
II happened that Sally had been at the hill
/ side farm that evening to return some yeast
borrowed in an emergency, and not finding
Amanda's mother IN the kitchen and hearing
| voices in the front room, she naturally went
to the door to see IL Mrs. Hills was there, and
In the little entry her steps were arrested by
the pleading sound Of her bows voice. She
| loved Amandar little less than If he had been
her own child and her faithful old heart sank
as she gathered the sense of his low, eager
words. 1t did not occur to her to go away;
| she had not been educated into the sense of
| honor, which is not native trait Of woman,
and her blood boiled as she heard Amanda's
cruel words, so distinctly aud CURLY uttered
that they were like so many blows. Instinct
taught her not to follow the rejected lover
and offer him comfort; she only set down her
yeast pitcher and left the house, feeling that
she could not restrain her tongue il she met
] Amanda then and there.
1t was in the bitter DAYS of November that
Sally heard Of her sisters death in remote
village of Maine. Hepsy was her only living
relative, and the stringent separation of pow
| erty had kept them apart since they were chill
dren; occasionally a letter had passed between
| them, but further than these brief, clumsy, i'll
spelled messages, Sally knew nothing Of her
sisters life except its bare circumstances. She
had married Sam Tucker a poor, amiable,
" shiftless'' creature, half farmer, half fisher
man, and had the poor mans blessing, ten
cnllure0s Out SIX OF these law buried IN FOSQlck
| Island graveyard, three had been lost in boat
| out blue-fshing. Sam had been dead ten years,
and there was left of all the tribe only the fifth
| child, Love, a girl of eighteen, who had been
her mothers sole comfort and company since
the last baby was laid beside its father.
! Hepsy had known she was about to die, and
with much pain and delay penned short good
| bye to Sally, begging her to find some place
| for Love where she could earn her living and
| be near her aunt.
"For she's kinder cossit, Sary, aud mis-
trust she'll banker after me sum. l want you
should be muther to her nigh as ken be, and
sorter harten of her upp when she talks on, as
mabbe she will. Poor creeturl / hate to hev
| to leave her, but hoap the Lord and you'll
take keer on her."
This letter came inclosed in one from a
neighbor announcing Mrs. fuckers DEATH and
! Sally, with red eyes and mild snuffies, put it
into Bezy's hand to read.
Well, Sally, the amt but one thing
for to do, an that is for you to go to the island
an fetch the poor gal hum with We. Fetch her
here, l say, till she finds better place. She'll
| be dreadful lonesome an scary to begin with;
you must get her used to folks gradooaL
! There's plenty room in this old barrack, an
| enough vittles an she's welcome. Nuf saidn
So Sally, who had made perfect autocrat
| of BeZy of late years, meekly obeyed, drew out
her small savings from the bank and with
! trembling Ignorance went her way, managing
to reach Fosdick Island safely and in week
returned with her charge to Hampton, slip
| ping back into her old place with a sigh of
satisfaction. Love was great surprise to the
| Squire, who had thought of her as lank,
| frightened, homely down East girl, and stared
| in amazement at the quiet, sweet face that
| smiled up at him so modestly, the trim plump
| figure, the exquisitely neat dress and shining
| hair,
81 swan ~ he said to Amandar "she's the
most like one of them blue pidgins of anything
| ever see in a woman"
But Amandar did not care.
As the year went on new sense of comfort
stole into the house. Love had that Unborn
| power of making any place she inhabited at
tractive and home like, which is greater gift
| to woman than any artistic faculty.
She reminded Bezy of his lost wife
many and many a time. Her eyes were
| like Amanda IS; so was her shining hair; and
| though Loves health and plumpness we're as
unlike Amanda's frail delicacy as could be,
| BeZy did not place any stress on that; he
thought it merely the natural distinction be-
| tween the girl and the young mother. At any
rate, she was like his Mandy, almost as gen
tie and sweet, and his old young life came
| back to him like lovely mournful dream as
| he looked at Love sitting where his wife had
sat in their brief happiness, fitting in and out
at little household cares Just as she did, and
making the house home again, as in all these
| years it had never been. And as the days
went on, subtle sense of comfort and peace
stole, even against his will, into Amandar's
heart. He scarce ever looked at Love or spoke
to her; but he could not help hearing his
| fathers voice soften when he said 'Lovey"
nor could he fail to see how the pucker was
getting smoothed out of Sally's forehead.
And how was it with Lovey! Dear girl
reader, how would it have been with you, if,
homeless, almost friendless, you had been
brought into the daily society of youth good
looking enough, well to do, intelligent and
the victim of an unfortunate attachment!
Dear little Lovey! she pitied Amandar with
all her sweet gentle heart. She thought
Amanda Hills a cruel heartless, coquette,
which was rather unjust to Mandy at her
worst mere coarse, commonplace girl, not
at all the being Amandar pointed her. So her
beautiful pity worked itself out in gentle deeds.
She saw that no button ever missed its duty,
no string was ever torn off or knotted on any
of his clothes. She brushed his Sunday suit
every Saturday with little of the same devo-
ton that impelled her prayers and stitched his
collars with tender thought to every two
threads as well as a stitch, and hemming his
handkerchiefs gave her more exquisite joy
than the finest kensington embroidery ever
confers on its votaries.
Yes, Lovey was in love; in love after the
genuine old fashion of Eden, when there was
but one man Tor one woman; in love without
an alloy of diamonds or settlement, trousseau,
or lace and white satin; in love in that divine,
almighty, absorbing, unselfSh way that counts
not its own life dear unto itself in comparison
with the lightest wish or want of the beloved;
and Amandar, feeling the sun rise on him, did
not see it; growing warm and light of heart
as he went on with his back to the east, he yet
visit not that it shOne.
But spring at last kissed the land, the brown
sad fields softened in tint, the brooks laughed,
the winter grain sprung up afresh on hill and
dale and bluebirds ventured to call out their
small encouragements from leafess trees.
Work at the fOrgewas dull and Amandar staid
at home to help his father pillow. The first few
days of May were warm even to sultriness and
holding plow on the hillside in the blaze of
noon proved too much for his unaccustOmed
head; a sudden ache smOte him, so severe that
he had to stop and sit down to recover from
the shock, which almost amounted to sun
stroke. His father was startled at the pale face
and blue lips that told their own story and
sent him home at once. When he reached the
house Sally and Love were taking in the wash
from the lines in the orchard and Amandar
went up to his room without seeing them.
The cool shade and soft air flowing through
his blinds relieved and Soothed him so that he
fell asleep at once and awoke some hours aft
erward to the sound of voices; the two women
were sitting on the back doOr-steps and before
he was really conscious of where he was and
whose voices he heard, Sally said to Love:
1.-THE meat-man told me piece o. news to-
day."
Lovey laughed like a song-sparrow, for it
was the joke of the house to call the meat-man
Sally's newspaper.
well, he did, really, this time; he says for
true that Amandy Hills is a-goin' to marry old
Square Shores down to Ludlow
The listener felt dull pang in his heart and
a thrill of sharp surprise followed to feel the
pang DdS so dull.
"fsn't she goin' to do welll" asked Love,
rather as matter of course than for any deep
interest in the subject.
"Wel, dom knows she is, an dom know
she is. He's got means-he's got sight of
means-if that's all; an he lives into a two
story WALLER brick house. with big gardin and