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

W.. I. L6uDcFs
TOMS MONUMENT.
81 dreaInt last night o. settin' at a Tong
table, IN I'm jest as sartain tina. Tom is
as eff | see him to the bottom o. the
ocean this minute" said Mrs. Job Fernald,
wiping the tears from her tan-colored cheeks
with her calico apron. 'Ef it didn't stand to
reason thet he wuz dead, tibet sign never fails,
IN | dew think we'd orter hey respec' enough
for The poor boys mem'ry to git him a sun,
m put it up in the lot without waitin' no
longer"
"Yes, it's more'n a year now, IN the Sarcy
Sally hain't been heard from. l s'pose likely
she must ha' been lost,n agreed Cynthy Ann,
The daughter of the house, not without a
certain grim enjoyment of the situation.
"Stuns is dretful expensive, anyhow, but seein'
ez we hain't ben able to give him any funeral,
nor hev the minister, nor cook up for the
mourners, it seems eZ eff we'd orter buy a
mo"iment for him.. / can't RELY see how we
kin do less, ez the Peter Fernalds got one fur
their Charles, IN / say to marin, it won't
do to let them git ahead of us, poor ez they
be- P'r'aps, Rhody, ez you m Tom wuZ ez
good ez promised to one t'other, you'd be
willin' to give a little out ov yer schoolkeepin'
money towards gittin' he monimen', M Pm
goin' to put of gittin married for a while
though Sch is dretful put out about it-'n'
save all my rug money, till, with what marin
takes fur butter, We shall git enough"
The person addressed, ayoung woman with
a prettv, sensible face, shivered a little, and
shook her head decisively. 81 don't believe
tina Tom is dead" said she. 80, don't talk
about buyinga monument yet. Wait another
year, a d if you do not hear from him by that
time, here will be reason to-"
"That's jest what pa says,n Interrupted
Cynthy Ann, 'jest because he don't want t.
hev it that Tom is drownded. He seems ter
think, somehow, that by hangin' off m not
even "wnin' of it to himself, he ken keep it
frum bein' so. Tina IS a way some folks hez."
HI wuZ alwuZ Jest so headstrong an I'M
reasonable" sighed Mrs. Fernald, with pro-
longed use of the calico apron. she had the
imper ence to say this YER, mornin' ihet it
'peared ez eff we wanted him dead, for the sake
ov hevin' a monument fur him like Peters
Charles. But to look at things fair m square,
what chance is there that he kin be in the land
o. the livin'! Didn't Seth Smallidge himself
go to see the owners of the Sarcy Sally over
ter the Port MORN a month ago, m they said
they hadn'tn no more idee of ever hearin' frum
either vessel or crew than nothiu' at ala"
"At that CONSUMED monument agin, be they,
Rhody?' growled a weather-beaten old man,
whose face bore a curious resemblance to a
wood-carving, appearing suddenly In the door,
way. "But don't you lis en- to 'em, deary, fur
you 'n' | knows that our boy amt no more
dead than they be. Even ef he wuz, we cou dn't
afford to git a monument fur him. Dead folks
sleeps jest as well without any stun whatso
ever, M eff their bones is a~-restin' in the sea,
of what use is a stun OIL the land? 1t carn't
tell nobody Jest where they be. Somehow the
folks in this place, Especially in this family, has
got a marvellous craze for Monuments. Bro her
Lysarnder he made mention of it when he was
to home five years ago, IN sence that he craze
has ben CROWN III GROWTH. Even the sum-
mer boarders over to the Harbor poke fun at
us aboutit. Sam Smith showed me a newspaper
where one on 'em had been a-writin' up the
place, an it did sound as eff we wuz GURUS
folks. TWAS every word nf If frno fno mi
went onto say that the Herrin' Point folks fur
the most part lived in little weather-b beaten
huts tibet were dretful poor perfection frum
wind m rain, m wuZ a pictur err ~leanness 'n'
poverty, coz they're a-savin' up money to buy
themselves Monuments to look splendid over
their graves when they wuz dead and gone.
But for my part / don't want to go about so
holler while Pm %a-livin', for the sake o. cuttin'
a dash when cast a Choir. Anyhow Iwouldn't
agree to a great monument a-loomin' I'D out
o. the family buryin'-ground M overtoppin'
the old house, like a steeple over a mushroom,
the way PETERS Charles does"
%, pa! never thought you wuz so awful
worldly-minded b~efore,'' groaned Miss Cynthy
Ann, with n look of horror.
"Well, l be Jest wo~rldlv-minded enough to
stick to it tibet | won't live on them It ,rnal
bony herrin' till the bones prick through NV
flesh, nor drink currant-leaf tea, nor 90 with
my arms a stickin' through Toms old clo'es.
while you folks is a-savin' upfur tibet
o'SAS AZ hbA III " as III H6Te,
Some of us Ill die in earnest soon enough, m
then you'll have a Glance to show all the re-
spec you want 10, m hev a stun in airnest."
20, pa, how Ken you talk so bigotedl Amt
1t awful to hear him, RhodyFn
Rhody smiled, but remained silent, and evil
IDENTIFY wishing to hear no more concerning
the affair, suddenly remembered that it was
sehool-time, and look a hurrieddeparture. The
old man returned to his net-mending on the
SUNNY side of the wood-pile at the back-door,
and tho fpr0 of@o,. 49,
talon, fl ally decided that they would wait
another year before buying the monument, as
Rhody had suggested. In fact, it would be
necessary to do SO, as the girl would contrib
ute nothing toward the fund, and pa was dret.
full troublesome when he warn't humored. But
as for there being a chance that Tom wasn't
dead, it was all nonsense, and twas treating
him shameful not to take a mite o. notice OF
his death, too.
Days and weeks vent on in the old monot-
onous manner at Herring Point. The gorgeous
ranks OF the golden rod and 'asters were cut
down by the frost, and the winds swept away
the few red leaves which colored the sides OF
the sea-looking hills, to make a clear path for
the frosty march of winter. The sea, so long
asleep under the summer sunshine, began to
show once more the wild ferceness of its
nature, and drove home the boats of the
fishermen, and dashed the rocks angrily
through wild nights when only the lamp of
the light house over on The Ledge shed a ray
OF light through the stormy darkness. Mrs.
Fernald, when not attending to her two cows
and her butter-making sat in the chimney
corner and knitted blue yarn stockings for the
market, and Cynthy Ann, with a zeal that
never tired while the vision of the splendid tall
monument flashed before her mental gaze,
hooked rugs from early in the morning until
late into the night. Her hooked rugs were in
demand now, for several summer boarders had
admired and purchased them, and since that
time nearly every lady at the Port had been
seized with a desire to possess "ne as an orna.
ment to her best parlor. Pa divided the tint
between gossiping with his old sailor cronies
at the store and sitting meditatively by the
fire with his pipe and almanac. No mention
was made of the monument, and the old mar
drank his store tea in triumph, Offering
no objections to the currant-leaf beverage
with which his wife and daughter saw fit tt
regale themselves, save by an occasional grun'
OF disapproval.
No news came of the Sarcy Sally or the fat,
of her crew, and as the days crept slowly ani
drearily toward spring, though pa still per
sisted in his belief that Tom was living, al
hope died in Rhoda's heart. But as in Her
ring Point parlance she and Tom had not beef
really promised to one t'other, she fer
that she could not CRAFTY Cynthy Ann
wish and express her grief by wearing mourn.
ing garments, though it would have given ne
q sort Of dreary satisfaction to be able to d.
30.
s'She couldn't ha' cared nothin' about him
or she wouldn't wear a blue bonnit to meetin'
IN him dead m gone" said the neighbor
with one accord, for the real state of the cas-
was unknown to them "P'r'aps she's afear,
o. scarin' away Joe Collins eff she should pu
on black; he's alwuz ben s-tryin' to git he
away from Tom sence they wuz boys m girl
together; m now Toms lost, they say he
attentive to her ez q bumble-bee Is to q mari
COOL"
But Rhoda was little disturbed by thes
remarks. Her heart vas very sore because o
Toms loss, but here were circumstances con
nscted with his going away which caused It T.
be sorer 8 Ill. Why had he not spoken befor
his departure, II, as she had every reason t,
think, he really cared for her, and wished :,
make her his wife2 More than once durin.
those last days he had seemed On the point .