The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1882-12-14

.oftened by his illness, and was 50 meek and
gentle in his demeanor that the family gazed
upon him in establishment.
stMarm, Gym by Ann" he said, one bright
morning when he was able to walk as far as
the shore, SPIN afeard l hev been a set-ired
bigoted old man, ez you've allus ben a-sayin',
but SEEM ez The Lord hez spared my iife-fur
which I'm truly thankful, though not bein'
afeard o. death, fur I hain't got tired o. Twin
Wit, eff I be old, IN hain't quite outlived my
usefulness ~maybe-1'm a goin' ter take a new
tack, m sail ez fur ez 1 know how ter steer,
IN He helpin' me, In the right way. Now
about tibet there monument, I thought when |
wuz a-layin' there sick that p'r'aps l hadn't
d me quite the sqnare thing along oy it, m L
guess you'd better git it sot up now, m invite
the neighbors m the parson, m hev ez good
a time ez We ken 1 hain't come ter say ez
how 1 prove ov the monument no more'n ever,
nor like the notion ov it at ,werin' over this
little cabin ov ourn, like a lighthouse over a
Pm more'n willin'i It yer should be gratified.
It don't seem likely It the boy'1l ever come
back'' with a hoarse, choked voice-"but some
h w 1 kent seem ter feel tibet he wuz
drownded. Now after brother Sarmwel wuz
lost, though we didn't know nothin' fur GER
tain, everytime the wind rose at night she KEEP
a%-sayin', ez plain ez ken be, He's gone he's
gomez The waves KEEP repeatin' the same
words too, m ef that consumed bell-buoy
didn't keep ne awake nights with its ever
ldobiu bOlll u pa
edzactly ez EFF twas a-sayin': He's here
under the wateri he's hereP'
Marin and CynthY Ann were both moved to
tears when the monument was mentioned,
though, to tell the truth, the prospect OF
''hevin' it sot up" was not as delightful as 1t
to being outdone by Peters Charles; and then
monuments had become less fashionable at
Herring Point, a taste for dress and house
decoration having been excited by the summer
boarders. Still, it was a great satisfaction,
and in the course of prepare ion for the i'm
portant event Cynthy Ann recovered some.
thing of her old enthusiasm. Mrs. Fernald
dreamed again of the long table that night,
aud declared in the morning that she believed
'it meant suthin' more'n common this time,
fur the dream didn't run the way it commonly
did by a gre deal"
Two days later, one golden bright afternoon,
quite a crowd was assembled round the little
b lrying-lot in the orchard. Mrs. Fernald and
Cynthy Ann had donned their mourning az
parel for the OCCASION, but presented a not al
together mournful appearance. Pa wore a
look of humble expostulation on his venerable
countenance. Rhoda, simply dressed in white,
stood somewhat apart from the group and
answered as briefly as possible the neighborly
greetings which were showered upon her. But
all The other women were in gay holiday attire,
and chatted with unrestrained cheerfulness
| until the services began. Rosy apples dropped
| from the boughs overhead; asters and golden
Il lCu hOAuCu bhNtAAJ Se'AS o"S SAS
| Some gulls flew overhead and broke into a sort
| of hoarse laughter, as il amused by the ap.
I pearance of the monument which lowered so
high and glisiered so grandly in the sunshine.
But when the minister commenced to pray
in his chilli formal tone, q change was felt in
| the atmosphere. Even the sunshine seemed
to lose its warmth. Many of the women
sobbed, remembering their own old sorrows,
it may be, and two great tears stole into
Rhoda's eyes, and remained undried upon her
cheek. Then they commenced to wall a dis
| NAL funeral hymn, but faltered in dismay as a
broad -shouldered, bronzed young man leaped
over the orchard wall, gave a quick, amazed
look at the monument, and then darted for
ward into their midst, Selling Ri ,da in his
arms, and kissing her repeatedly. "Couldn't
help it, Rhody, seein' those tears on your
cheeks, and considerin' the occashun," he ex-
claimed, as she stared at him rather wildly.
SIT isn't o ten that a man comes ter life at his
TON Fernaldl" "Why, Tom Fernald l'
Glow on arth2' "What blowed you herel"
"Where'd you come frum?' "'T can't be your
ghost, ken it?n-were EXPLANATIONS heard from
every quarter. "Ideclarel got here jest in sea.
son to see his m )niment sot up J" said one jolly
sailor.
And then it was noticed that pa had grown
very white, and WAS holding on to the wall fol
support; and Cynthy Ann, after making
great eTor to greet her brother in a suitable
man 1cr, fell back, and, as the family were
wont to express it, 'lost conscienti)usness."
81 alters KIN wed ez how you hadn't cast
anchor, Tom,'' said the old man, recovering
him self almost Immediately, "'n' now here We
be, IN here be, seein' the Lord preserved me
to see ye."
Marin, for the lack of an apron, removed hel
shawl from her shoulders and completely GOV
cred her head Herewith.
"Ef YOU hain't bin dead, Tom, where hey yel
been?" she inquired, faintly, from its depths
after a little interval.
Tom, who was sta toned between pa ant
Rho1a, holding a ha I'd OF either, turned to he
with a disturbed countenance. Where
hadn't orter have benin Australia, witt
U rcle Lysander. 1t wuz all OWN to tina
pesky.J e Coli IS. You see, before 1 wen
away, folks were a-sayin' that he had stoler
Rho la. away from me-he as good as told M
himself that it was SON l thought sh'
seemed kinde strange M distant. Blu l wa
too big a coward to say anything to her abou
it; / thought / couldn't be II it if she shout,
tell me she liked him. But I wrote to her from
Boston, where we were loading the vessel, AM
t I'D her if she didn't care enough for me u
marry me when l got home from the voyage
she needn't answer the letter, but IL she di
to answer right away. We staid at the whar
two weeks after that, bat I didn't hear a word
from her, and VIE the Sarcy Sally sailed
felt as If Id ruther be drowned than not. Lii
didn't seem with livi ig."
go, Tom, 1 never got your letter." sobbe,
Ri da.
"Most likely that scoundrel Joe Collin
got holt ov it. Pm a-goin' t hev a little in
terview with him when 1 ken ketch him-we
he amt here ter-dayl But when the vessel dir
git wracked, m everybody IN everything wa
a-goin' to the bottom, l thought 'twould b.
worth the while to save myself, after all; III
Joe Grifin-one Of the rew-'n' | cluag hol
ov some spars till we was picked up BIZ 4 bris
bound fur Californy. From there | h Eh
I'd go to Australia M hunt up Uncle Lysan
der. 1 couldn't come home as things stood
for I couldn't ha' borne to see Joe IN Rhod
together, so | recko ed you might as well al
think l was dead-fur a spell at least:
warn't much better'n that at the time. Uncle
Lysander agreed to keep dark, though he saiC
he didn'G believe in such nonsense, and | tel
you The old man gave me a good chance. Nv
picked up quite a little pile of cash in thes
few years. You've got the money sent 20
every winter all right, hewitt youF"
sSho! 81 Lysarnder warn't so ~set-ire,
lib'ral, after ALL" said pa, wiping his eye
with his coat sleeve.
"But 1 was beginn'n n to gain a little NOR
courage, M to think I might be able to g
home m see the folks before long, when Sar
Smiley-'he Teller that used to work over t
Squire White's-made his appearance at tn
diggin's one day, m said he'd been over t
Herrin' Point only the week before he sale
last spring. And when I heard from him tina
Rhody warn't married at all, nor goin' wit
any one, m never had had anything partickls
to say to Joe Collins sence Id been gone,
didn't wait overnight before I packed up m
dubs m got ready to start for Ameriky."
81 said ez how my DIRE an about the Ion
table wuz diff ent from commoI. You see
meant a weddin' this time,'' quavered marn
speedily unwilling herself.
"Yes," agreed pa, brightly, SO it did
an, Cynthy Ann, even you can't keer nothil
fur that consarned old monument now Let
haul it down m kiver it up agin, m eff tt
parson don't object, turn the solemn deligh'
of this occashun intoa bit ov a frolic. ''-SuSd
Hartley Savett, in Harper'S Monthly.
Waiting in England.
Since the peace of 1915, from whic
period-or, indeed, from a few yen