The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1880-11-26

his Of whom Christ taught. with ihe
treasures o. growth and Acars and on
p0rtunities spent and wasted. bni with
the promise Of "A new and nDhler lie
opening before him. with thni p~enifenf
cry. Father ! have sinned against
Heaven and in Thy sghL"
m.
An old brown farm house rested
snngly in a little hollow among the
Massachusetts hills. A quaint old
house with great chimney>. a sloping
roof and dOrmer windows. with tall
walnut trees swaying over il. and q
great biftcr-~weet vine clanhrring over
the low caves and messy single roof.
its clustering berries opening ihrir scar
lei hearts under the Keen ir0sl-ionches
There are clumps Of great lilac and
snowberry bushes in The yard. and dry
stalks whore hollyhocks and a-ier~ had
bloomed. with a few hardy marigo,ds
still lingering in sunny orner There
Is a garden AT the foot OF the yard. an
old Fashioned garden. with its broad
center walk do~n from the picket gate.
with = row OF beehiyes under the plum
trees on one side and lunches Of CARA
way and anise. and fennel and dill. for
summer Sundays and winter seed-cakes
on the other. with a hedge OF clrrant
and raspberry bushes. a spreading bar
berry in one corner. and a border Of
sage and summer sayory and saffron
and pennyroyal. And in front Of the
garden wide meadows. for the old house
stands amid its clustering barns. apart
from even the drowsy stir Of the quiet
country road. with the heights Of far.
blue mountainous hills lifting on the
north. and in the east a narrow glimpse
Of the sea whose breaking surf NAV be
heard in storms or the stiffness OF clear
nights The entrance is up a shaded
grassy lane. whose gate rolling on
clumsy wooden wheels i seldom Closed:
on the one side j. the meadow. on the
other a stubhle field Of corn. and be-
yond that the orchri with inferiacing
arches OF gnarled old trees, and out
from among these juice gathering roots.
blbbles a clear spring that trickies
down across the lane, into a sunkcn
messy trough where the horses are led
10 water and the cows love 70 linger on
their way 10 the milking yard
IL is Thanksgiving Day. cold and
gravity clear. with a thin pale sunshine
over AL the soft brown fields and russell
woods where the leaves II the oak and
beech still cling. but the walnut trees
have long been bare. the lane j. full of
the dry rustling leaves offhe apple and
maple. and the thread ~ a brook muir
murs half-choked by them. the bar
berrys CLEAN retider than ever among
their brown branches. As do the few un-
gathered apples swaying on high and
scattered boughs. 1t i Thanksgiving
Day in the wide old kitchen where the
broad fireplace and brick oven stretch
behind the stove. and on the high
mantel glisten shining brass candle
sticks. the floor white secured and
whittier still BY contrast with the heavy
wainscoting and many-paneled doors.
almost ebony black By time and bright
BY frequent rubbing. But there j. no
stir of glad hustle. and the old turkey
stands around the door and shakes his
red head in calm security. Holidays
are the saddest DAYS in the year. When
there Is only silence and vacant places
for the dear ones that once made their
fullness complete. and so the ~white-faced
widow feels As she goes abou. her sim
pie morning duties. There is the early
breakfast. and then she takes from its
stand the worn family Bible. in which
is written the birth and death 0f the
husband and father. whose fingers had
turned its pages for 50 MANY years. and
the children who gathered in that old
kitchen 10 listen. till. children no
longer. they had gone forth from the
home. some Ia the fumnlts Of life, some
TO the hush Of the grave In 4 voice
that Is tremulous with years and many
sorrows she reads the chapter indi-
Gated by the faded ribbon n
the one in .course." while the
shock-headed hired man sits very
upright. his thumbs pressed hard
together in token Of respectful affen-
ton. Then follows prayer. in which
the daily needs through long repetition
have crystalized into a set form Of
phraseology. John j. used 70 il al. TO the
remembrance of ..this Thy young serv-
ant now before Thee" and for the ab-
sent. and TO the tremor that always
thrills her voice as she asks for the
" missing one. that II be be among the
living the arms Of love may still be
about him." and only thinks that she is
most through. and he will 20 out and
feed the cows their cornstalks. Bvand
BY he brings the brown horse and still
older "calash top" around 10 the step
ping stone. and the little widow. in her
carefully kept black. steps in. with =
gentle reproof to John for moi going.
too. and taking the lines into her init
tened hands drives the two miles over
the frozen hillv road to the center
church, and all alone in the long.
high-backed Pew. save for the memoir
ies that cluster there. listens 10 the
Proclamation and Thanksgiving sermon
Passing Out At the close 81 the service
through neighborinr family groups.
gathering with chnerfnl rret.finr- and