Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1882-05-10

anu fceDlclleSS he rested on nef strong
young shoulders. AS the years went by
sas kind as an own child " he was wont
to say of her, and when Mt last he was
laid down by the side of his wife it was
found that he had left tangible proc of
his sense of her devotion, and - nc
whispered OF disappointment in his son
"To his beloved and faithful niece
Treasure Reid" ran his will, was be-
qucathed the use of the old farm during
her lifetime, and the sole reversal OF it
should she survive Israel. Some thought
they detected o shade of chagrin on Is
raefs face, but none could be sure. The
farm was remote, of small market value.
He protested to be perfectly satisfied.
"Just as l would have wished II" no
assured Treasure when she spoke to him
half TREMENDOUSLY on the subject. at
would have seemed n sacrilego to have
yielded the dear old home to strangers,
but you are part of it, and it will be
such a comfort when life is cold and
drcary TO turn to its shelter for refuge,
and to always think of you as here,
keeping alive the memories of those who
have been so dear to us both" As Treas
uro heard him n hope that half uncon-
sciously she had cherished all these long
years went out, and with stilled sigh
She buried the dream and turned to her
solitary life, solitary, but not idle.
Whatever had been taken or denied, the
healthful solace of a busy life remained,
and Treasure Reid was, as the phrase
runs, capable" woman. Her house
keeping was marvel OF neatness, her
bread was the whitest, her jellles the
clearest, and her butter the sweetest in
the region around, as the neighbors had
reason to know, for many dainty went
out across the fields to the sick and suf.
fering, while her hospitality was as
generous as it was cordial. In farm
matters she was equally efficient. AS
her hired man was wont to boast,
"there want q man in town could
equal her in kalculatin', and of
the result and profits Israel received q
carefully divided half, beside the well
come that always awaited. him when
ever necessity or inclination induced
return. A fitfully restless man, drifted
hither and thither by the currents OF
excitement or circumstance, years and
habits were leaving their impress on
him, his wit had hardened into mock
ing cinicism, his high spirits coarsened
into boastful egotism. Treasure was
not wholly blind to tho change; she
saw, too, the averted looks of old
friends and half-suppressed whispers Of
disapproval. But they only quickened
her old loyalty, and led her TO throw
the mantle of affectionate charity over
his faults. Did she not know how hard
life had been to him, the rebuffs he had
suffered, the sharp thrusts his sensitive
nature had receivedp Where others
only saw the seedy, would-be orator and
man of letters, the hanger-on Of poll
tics, the apostle of erratic and futile
movements, she beheld her early hero,
her lifelong idol. There came q day,
however, when Israel Garlic, u wasted,
broken man, crept back to the old gray
house for the last time. Then whatever
of disappointment or doubts had lurked
latent IN Treasures heart disappeared
wholly and forever. With more than
her old-time tenderness she watched
and tended him, as slowly through pain
and WEAKNESS life ebbed away And
under that shadow of death Treasure
Reid spent some of the happiest weeks
of her life; time seemed to have folded
she and her cousin were boy and girl to-
gethcr. Old forgotten memories seemed
to start up in Israels heart, an affection
for the old familiar ways and scenes.
To Treasure he chung with childish to-
nacity, arm in arm with herhe revisited
many OF their once familiar haunts, and
when he had grown too weak for that,
he would lie for hours in the warm sum-
mer days, under the great pines, look
ing of, as with sense OF strange rest
fitness, at the quiet fields; sometimes
he made querulous complaints of
his broken hopes, and the plans he had
purposed, but for the most part he was
very patient and gentio and quiet. Only
once did he refer to the past, and that
was Just at the close. He had been ~
ing propped up with pillows, watching
with the wistful look of one who knows
il is for the last time the sunset colors
fade from the sky and the twilight
deepen along the wooded horizon. As
his faithful watcher bent over him, she
saw that his eyes were wet with tears.
Treasure" he whispered family, 80
Treasure, If l could only live my life
over again how different / would make
it for you as well as myself" They
were almost his last words, and before
morning, supported in the arms that
had always been his stay and shield, he
went down into the valley and shadow
of Death. II was an August day, still
and golden as that SO many years before
when the signing pines had murmured
of blissful nature to Israel Garlic, when
they bore his coffin out under their
somber shadows; the day lilies were
again In blossom, filling all the air with
their heavy fragrance, and cluster
of them lay on the dead mans breast
over the still heart that had purposed
so much and wrought so little. After
Israel's death, Treasure Reid aged fast;
little by little she gave up the cares and
labors to the man and his wife who had
long lived with her, less and less she
went from home, save to church or to
homes of suffering or mourning. There
she was ever present; tircless, efficient,
attending to the dreary details, light
ening heavy burdens; a very tower of
strength. More and more she grew
in the habit of sitting by herself in the
room where Israel had died, the room
that looked out on the little pinc-shaded
yard and westward hills. Often she
was found turning over his old
papers, strange medley of frag-
mentary poems, speeches, pleas; it is
doubtful if she understood them. Per-
haps, that she did not, made her regard
them the more as tokens of his ability,
and say as she was wont to: His
talents were great; it seemed sad that
he could not have lived till they were
recognized" Her grief invested her
with simple pathos, but she was not
poetic figure; stranger would have
passed unnoticed the plain, gray-haired
woman of antiquated dress and stiff
formed manner. Her life had been
narrow, restricted, with few opportuni-
ties, little diversity of the culture and
accomplishments of the world; beyond
her contracted horizon she knew almost
nothing. Two of LIES greatest prob