The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1880-03-18

~. ing, ma'am. 1t is cold, darl
~ and dreary along the road
| SsSSS and, indeed, I've no place K
| 90 but Widow Yarrow's and that
miles away"
So spoke q sad, worn looking wo
man, standing on the threshold o
a well-to do farmers house, just a!
the last rays of light were fading
from the evening sky.
The person she spoke to, large
woman in a bright lowered dress
and white apron-the mistress o.
the house-turned away pettishly
"You came at night, Maggie, i
seems to me, and you can go a
night. You don't suit. l never
saw such shiltless ways in my life
And Jane Smith is here, and I've
only one bed for the servant, and
can't expect a tidy girl like Jane to
sleep with-weli, with strangers
I've paid you for your three days.
and goodness knows, .enough foI
lifetime you've been here, and 1 can't
keep you anothernight;so the earlier
you 90, the sooner you'll get there.
wherever it is"
"Well, that's true, anyway. There,
ma am" replied the woman, land
you are mistress in your own house;
but God knows, It's not a dog I'd
be drivin' out at night"
Then she. tied her little pittance
IN the corner of a pocket-handker
! chief, and walked away out of the
gate and up the road, not looking
back once. Her heart was heavy
as lead, and she was angry at q
world that had been a very hard
and toilsome one to her.
"Three years since Pat went
away, "she said to herself sand
never a word from him. He's dead,
no doubt; and it's the last kind
word Pve heard. l wasn't shiftless
and goOd-for-nothing to him. Mag
gie,' he'd often say, 'Pd change you
for nobody's wife Och, he was
the man; and as good to me when
| was faded and worn out with the
hard Twin and rarin' and losin' the
childer, as he was when l was a
purity girl, with cheeks like roses,
and he was a boy courtin' me. Och,
Pat, where did you go at all? You
died in a ditch like a dog, maybe;
for all these hard hearted gentle
folk care, we all might"
She turned and shook her fist
back at the house she had just left,
only a bit of the roof visible over
the rising ground now.
"My heart was aching for the
dear childer and for Pat" she went
on, shut yoa could have no pa
tiCnce if a pertatie was burnt, or a
towel not that smooth. You sent
me out with the night falling, Bad
luck to We and to all your like"
Then she plodded on again; but
the woman she had left was not as
bad as she had rancied hel. in her
thrift and sIdiness she could not
understand this untidy, careless
being. She knew nothing of the
misery at her heart, or the sorrow
that made her forget the pots and
pals. She was actually half afraid
of her and anxious to get her out
of her house. She had felt it
great mistake to hire tramp from
the road, as it were, and she had
paid her and was conscious Of no
cruelty.
The daylight fed apace; the
moon, risen long ago, became visi
ble-a faint streak of new moon
that set in a little while-only the
stars were left, and Maggie, wander
ing on the road with her bundle I'M
der her arm-a bundle of rags and
odds and ends tumbled together in
an old flannel petticoat-began to
lose her knowledge of it. Here and
there she saw lights in a window,
but they were no promise Of hOspi
tally 10 her. II she could get to
the widow YarrOw's that parsonage,
who took the laborers in to board,
would let her lodge while she could
pay; but where was the widows
cottage-to the right or to the left?
She could not tell in the darkness
whether she had taken the right
turning. Hard by was a rushing
sound, as of water. Danger there,
perhaps. The railroad was some
where at hand, and though Maggie
felt that the world was poor place,
she did not feel ready to meet death
yet.
I'm just drop down in the grass
somewhere" said the poor woman.
And God between me and harm.
II l could find bit of hay now,
'twould be a comfort"
She stretched forward, peering
through the darkness, and her foot
struck some loose branches that
lay upon the ground, with a crack
ling sound.
whats that?" said a voice very
near her, in sharp whisper.
ITS an imp of a squirrel" said
another voice. go on with your
work, Jim. The train will be along
in fifteen minutes. Up with that
rail. Hi! Wen have them this
time
Hold your tongue, fool" said
the first voice. you're half
drunk. l tell you 1 thought it was
a step"
And now Maggie, who had sunk
flat upon the ground, knew all.
Those WHO whispered near her were
train-wreckers.
"Pn make no noise" said she;
its none OF my business"
But lying on the grass, the sharp
strokes of steel on steel smote her
ear; she could not forget them.
And suddenly it came upon her
that it was neither more nor less
than murder that she was waiting
there to sce-that in lying quiet
while it was done she helped to do
it
God forgive mer she cried.
IN not do 1t; but what am 1 to do?
How will l stop them? It's my
own death; I'll bring about nothing
else"
just then the sound of a steam
whistle tar away caught the ear.
The train was coming.
Ready for them,' said the voice
she heard before. "Come into the