Litchfield enquirer., 1880-06-17

life, if my iife-but must have been half 1 asleep, or perhaps l should have thought out something worth telling, before 1 was startled at hearing voices, mems voices, on the other side of the thicket behind me, and sound like breaking the hard baked earth with pick axes Il tell you, Hank" said a wheezy voice, if we don't get this haul into barracks before the weeks out we may as we'll sink it in the river" Then followed something about "the point," and 'Jerry," and ''dear old grand mother" with much cursing and laughter. There were three men at least, and I soon heard enough to learn that they had been on the island since the middle of the night before Thoroughly frightened and hardly able to move for minute 1 knew must escape from the place as soon as possible. They were laughing at something about coffin when slipped nOiselessly down the bank and into | my boat. kept in the hiding of the trees until l could safely put out from shore. had a hard struggle with the stiff current, but | mastered it and got home in time to have | fathers dinner ready when he came in. He had finished his dinner and was filling his pipe when asked. ''What was it you said about brandy snug glers this morning ?"
 ''There's too many on'em for Cap'n Bedeu for onc't,' Peggy. Them barracks is just | atioat with Canada brandy. How the soldiers | gets it nobody can tell. - | 'Who lives in that little house out on the point ?"
 The "point" was desolate sandy bluff on the lake shore, not far from the river a bleak l spot, the last place in the world, one would I think, for building a house, but then we can't | all choose where we will live, you know. 70, that's Jerry Clark's He runs hack at ha fol ona lofo Of Supposin I run hack, Peggy. Supposin now" 1 "Does he live there on the point? How 1 can he and do business at the falls ?" ''Oh, Jerry lives at the falls. You wouldn't mind stayin' here, would you Peggy, if | could do handsome drivin hack somewhere else?'' '
 "But who lives on the point, father? Is l there anybody in that lonesome house p | Father thought didn't take much interest ln his affairs, and said something of the kind. a- "Jerry Clark's grandmother lives on that l point. She is bit crazy he says, and thinks l she can't sleep anywhere else. Her husband | went down in the-the-that 42 steamboat | or was it 432 But of course you don't know, Peggy.
 "Who takes care of his grandmother ?" 'Jerry is drefful kind to her, says she can't | live much longer at the most. There is a big bouncin' girl over there-bigger than what you are, Peggy she was rowin' out here on | the river the other day. Cap'n Bedell happen ed down just then and she hailed him and asked where she could get good doctor for | the old woman. She was took worse, she 1 said. Then she asked the capn if he knew of a good boy to help 'em over there. They are wonderfully put to it for boy. The cap'n l sent her to Browns, but she didn't get one, | for see her goin back without any" There have forgotten to tell you about | Pout This story without Pont in it would have to be told by somebody beside Peggy | Herrck 1 suppose that you who write cords of stories and think nothing at all of telling | longer ones than this of mine, never forget to put things in where they belong, and you would have told about Pont in the beginning, and not have had to pick up dropped stitches. | Pont was my dog, big brown water spaniel. He could talk with his eyes, dear old Pont, and after mother died, not right away, but after while, he loved me just as he had loved her. He never would take to father for some reason never followed him. Water dog that he was, he was very shy of Niagara River. That used to make me wish he could live i somewhere else.
 | That night, when father sat smoking his pipe under the cherry tree, 1 picked up heart | to say:
 Father, am thinking about going away 1 to look for work"
 Don't go to Buffalo, Peggy. There's no end of drinkin soldiers over there, and they make poor husbands, the best on 'em.' 1 never got angry at father. He meant we'll enough, but he didn't see things as moth- CT did
 ''No, won't go to Buffalo I will be back in week. If 1 earn anything my week s work will bring something handsome" Fath- puffed away, hardly hearing me. He was very tired, apd the day had been hot. '1 will leave everything in good order, and you can spare me for few days and hardly miss me, | if you can get your dinners at the club house. " He said he could, and knocking the askes from his pipe, went in and to bed.
 ! had something to do beside cry when I shut myself into my little bedroom. First tried on fathers best pantaloons. He had never worn them since mothers funeral, and had forgotten he had anything but his old velveteens. They were pretty good fit, and SO were his boots. 1 would have to make a blouse of an old flannel dress of mothers, a blue plaid, and hating to cut into that, and wondering what she would say about my vent ure, hindered me good while Well, it was | l new suit and tried to see myself in my bit of a
 looking glass started back half frightened such big boy looked to be. 1 had cut off my hair. That was dreadfully hard thing to do, but if 1 had stopped at that would have given up going Then bad good cry
 1 remembered how mother used to brush and curl my hair and how her handlay omit when her eyelids shut down forever. .. If you will believe it, father never noticed my red eyes in the morning, nor my short hair,
 but then 1 kept on my sun- bonnet.
 "I shall be gone when you come back, l father. You must be. very good to PonL Give him enough to eat, and let him sleep by
 my bed at night Pont had way of lying down by my bed whenever l went away, as if that comforted him. . a-ei .-
 Pont, who seemed to be dezing on the door step got up at my words and came close to me and pushed his nose into my hand s
 "I haven't any money for you, Peggy Pay day don't come until Saturday, and Thuart | gives me no peace for that bill"
 Never mind the money, father. 1 can get along" had half @ dollar mother gave me.
 Father was so absent-minded like, he would have gone to his work without kissing me goodbye. 1 slipped before him and half laughing took his pipe from his mouth.
 kiss me goodbye, father," with both l arms around his neck. ,
 You are good girl, Peggy you allus
 was"
 You will be good to Pont, won't you, father ?"
 "Don't worrit about us, child. Did you leave a good baking of bread ?"
 That was better than if he had felt sorry about my going away, for then just like as
 not should have given up and staid at l home. =.
 | Ii was tough lonc pull on a hot day from our house to ''The Point," but 1 made it be- fore noon. put into narrow ravine about half mile on the river side from Jerry Clark grandmether's, and ate my bread and cold fapjacks sitting in my boat. There hid
 Dancing Polly well under the flags; nobody
 would have dreamed the boat was there. cut stick and swung my little bundle over
 my shoulder. showered myself with road-dust and struck off down the road in a long swing