The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1880-07-09
THE RUNAWAYS' REUNION.
BY MRS. j. v. H. KooNs.
CHAPTER I.

CHAPTER I.
"Well, for my part, [ am very sorry
the old farm was sold, and the Illusions
have left us. They lived there many q
year, and were hard working, pious,
quiet people, and it will be long time
before we shall have their like again fol-
neighbors."
'FI hope it will, father" said 1O-year-
old Ned, with sigh of relief. 81 hope
the newcomers will not make me churn
or carry load of stove-wood every time
Nm sent there in hurry of an GRAND. y
"Chores are the making of boys, and
they should always be ready to perform
Ghem," answered the stern, mistaken
parent.
81 think I have quite enough to do at
home to make or break any boy, and, if
Nm ever sent to Mr.. Maynard's, I trust
tlere'l be no old Mrs. Maynard there to
set me churning, or carrying crockery
from the cellar, swill to the pigs, or
wood from the shed, as old Mrs. Huston
always did"
''I think you will not be troubled in
that way" said meek-eyed Mary, q
sweet-faced girl of IA, whose dread of
endless drudgery fully equaled that of
her little brother. Mrs. Carroll told
me yesterday that there were but three
An family Of the Maynards, and that Mrs.
Maynard is an accomplished lady, keeps
a housekeeper and a waiting maid, and
devotes all her time to the study of
music and painting"
'Ha !! ha ! fine specimen for a farm
er's wife F." exclaimed Mr.. Woodruff,
with a glance at his daughter that made
her shiver.
81 cannot understand" ventured
Mary, "why farmers wives and daugh-
tiers, if they have any taste and talent
for it, should not study books, music,
painting OF anything else that tends to
educate or elevate them. / have lately
read that women all over the country are
forming themselves into reading socie-
ties and art clubs, and are making rapid
MEOgress in whatever study they
take up"
Nonsense! nonsense Lately read 4!
L like that sound Where have you
lately read such stuff" demanded the
1dnfuriated father.
- In paper that Mrs. Maynard sent
: TO Mrs. Carroll.
81 am sure have always taken great
pains to keep all kinds Of story papers
and books out of my house and out of
: my children's sight, and now you,
Mary, dare to tell me. that you lately
tread st. Paul, help me, or such non
sense will be the death Of me.
:" 1t was not story paper, father, but
a journal devoted to"
@'Devoted to fiddlesticks I! I'll hear
nothing more Of it, and now [ here for
bid you to touch any more papers from
Mrs. Carroll. I shall not allow her pro-
.gTessive ideas to creep into and poison
your mind as they did your sister's-re-
member, [ say, I'll have you read no
m0re of them-it is time now that you
and Ned were about your evening work. 2
Glad of any escape from her fathers
plnching presence, poor Mary started
for tine COW pasture with Ned, while Mr.
Woodruff, to the annoyance of his tired
wife, continued grumbling about the de
generacy of the times and the growing
1dleness and forwardness of girls. In
the rage of moment he had mentioned
his eldest daughter, and as consequence
his wife was in tears, Mary had darted
away from him with a sorrowful face,
and Ned took on q look of adamant, and
somehow his self-trust was always
shaken whenever he thought of her, and
all his household seemed to slip from
under his control if her name escaped
his lips. t &
The sight of Mr.. and Mrs. Woodruff
naturally suggested hawk and dove, yet
there was much in common between
them. His long and tiresome march In
the straight and marrow way, his puny
idea Of woman's sphere affected the life
of his gifted, shrinking wife, as the alb
sence of light and warmth affects a
flower. He had admired all the beauty
his prosaic eye could detect in her paint
Engs before they were married, but he
was surprised and disappointed that she
she should attempt or even desire to
touch brush or pencil after they were
married, for wife. to him meant little
more than servant of al,work /; but he
gave up at last that she should paint all
the pictures she chose provided she
taught their daughters nothing that
would in any way interfere with their
becoming first asshousekeepers and fit
I'm every sense for Woodworking farmers
wives. Like Milton, he thought |" one
4ongue enough for a woman, ''and desired