St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1881-07-22
Sick Headache.
A HYGIENIC LOVE STORY.


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Cocks had crowed and hens had
t cackled for full hour at least. This
was IA world of scratching, they said to
themselves, and eggs We're not built in
Il day. Early to bed and early to rise
makes fowls healthy and lively and
, wise. The robins in the apple trees,
f the swallows in the barn, the little
brown ph1bes that held town meet
ings in the meadow, had been piping
and trilling that it was day, day, day,
till they half expected to hear the noon
bell ringing. The shy quail in the
hedge-rOw had called their warning of
'hOt and dry, hot and dry" over and
over, to any ears that would listen.
The spiders had long since hung out
their glittering webs a-drying on the
wild-rOse bushes. The bells of the
morning glory, blue and pink and pur-
pie, had swung for hours outside the
buttery window, before the delinquent
Aunt Larllin lifted the latch and en-
tered not as her wont was, quickly,
as with desire, but on leaden feet of
dull resolve, and looking white as her
own linen.
There stood the row of milk-pails
waiting to he emptied, to be washed,
to be spread III the sun, already fierce
and hot outside. There was the long
array of pans mantling with yellow
t cream. There in the corner waited
the exacting churn, the dasher leaning
: toward her hand with what seemed Il
malevolent readiness. As she took up
the skinner the kitchen clock struck
six.
"Oh dear" sighed Aunt Larkin,
d" 'mornin' lost, evenin crossed.
+, But when, with conscientious care,
she had stripped the third pan of its
rich abundance, she laid down her
weapons, so to speak, and capitulated
to the one foe able to conquer that re-
solved soul.
''Thanny," she called, at the foot of
the stairs.
Eyes, mother" answered cheerful
f voice from among the lilac bushes, and
brown curly head, set on the slender
shoulders of young manhood, showed
itself in the doorway. "What, another
f of the evil brood Go straight to bed,
mother. I'll go right over for Oba-
diah's Sarah. And I'll make you some
tea, and manage my own breakfast.
Don't you worry about me. But you
+ see was right, mother. You must
t have a girl. Shall | help you up
stairs ~
HNo, dear. You just see to yourself.
The coffcc's ready, and the breads in
I the stone pot, and there's plenty OF
f dOughnuts, and a current pie, and dried
. beef and cheese in the buttery and if
YOU want to fry yourself slice of
meat, there's the fat in the red jar, and
the veal is in the spring-house."
5 But though the mOther-instinct in
I sisted on thus making the way easy tOI
its young, human nature shuddered at
this catalogue, and poor Aunt Larllin
I staggered to her bed too horribly i'll to
= speak again for hours. Sight and
sound were alike dreadful. The swift
> jingle of the wOOing bobolink swinging
= outside in the golden ropes of the la
burnum pierced her sensitive ears like
the steely clash of swords. And the
= droning hum of bees, plunging deep in
, the white sweetness of the syrlngaS
J was as the bray of trombone. Hel
IL heavy limbs ached, to ache the more
/. as she tried to rest them i'll new posi-
/ tions. 1t seemed to her that the dead
= ly nausea was in her feet, i'll her arms
in her spine-everywhere.
Il That the entrance of any human be-
= ing, even her beloved Thanny, would
:. he uncomfortable, she knew. But oh, i
: some phantom, some invisible, lnaudl-
bic agency, would but turn the swive
q of the blind, where Il ray of horrible
: sunlight was already creeping i'll
l. How could she ever have let that bOttl,
II of Bohemian glass stand on her bu
reau, even though Thanny had giveI
it to her, filled with cologne for he
;, poor head ! Its vivid red seemed t,
IL smite her through the cloud of dul
q pain above her brOws. And if sh,
shut her eyes, it did but glare the red
der. Thanny brought her the tea, anC
/ it was vile. Presently Obadiah's Saral
If came creeping in with demonstrativ,
e quietness, in shoes that creaked an,
~ gown that cracked, to set down
tinlllimg tray by the bedside. Aun
IL Larkin, who would have mOurncd owe
o lie as over a lost soul, had she beel
le capable of telling one, feigned sleep t.
10 dismiss that amiable vandal. Blu
when she opened her eyes and saw tn
" yellow butter, the deep blue plate, tn
1 brown toast, the red milk pitcher, tn
lc black carthen teapot, she felt that sc
% alone, not gratitude nor Christian grace
% bridled her tongue from profane ant
'' vain babbling.
II Meantime, Nature, who did not i'll
le clude sick headache, or any Othc
,s mortal malady in her scheme of exist
=. ence, went about her usual business
. The sun mounted higher and higher
Dr cattle brOwsed, sheep fattened, bud
ii blossomed, crops grew. Among thes
$ the plantage at the village academ
i, flourished apace. Here lay the dali
toll of Mr.. Nathan LarRin, assistaI
'h principal, sensitive, conscientiOu
&c fellow. of indOmitable will, lOvin
IA work, and tOiling to kindle i'll dulle
i brains and lighter natures his own ell
thutiasm and his own resolve. TIL
ne Reverend Edward Granniss, ID. D., Pl
nd ID. Ii. D., principal of the QuabOa
is Seminary, being a gentleman
n phlegmatic temperament, much addic
ed to heavy dinners at MONDAY, Wa
" quite willing to let his esteemed yOm
s. friend do most of the pulling ut I'll
:" double team, especially through ii
nv hard places, though simply for h
:. own improvement, of course.
vi Thus the youth, taking no res
OF spending of his intense persOnalit
Ill with prodigal readiness, inheritiI
on from his mother set of tense al
swift responding nerves, found hin
~ self beset, once a fortnight or so by Il
H. same fiend, sick headache, which III
de devasted years of her useful life.
NO was young and heroic. Sometimes
an could grapple with it, hold it still, an
, thus hampered, 90 through the routil
ne of his work after dull fashion. Som
ng times he yielded, undergoing tOrtu