The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1882-12-16
TOMS MONUMENT.

IVu
- dreamt last night o. set in at long
table, N I'm jest as sartain tina Tom is
drownded as ef | see him to the bottom o. the
ocean this mnute,' said Mrs. job Fernald,
wipng the tears from her tan-cOlOred cheeks
with her calico apron. "Ef it didn't stand to
reason tibet he wuz dead, tibet sign never fails,
m dew think we'd 0rter hey respec' enough
for The poor boys mem'ry to git him a S I'M,
'n' nut it IN in the lot without waitin' no
longer"
res, it's more'n a year now, IN the Sarcv
Sally hain't been heard from. / s'pose likely
she must ha' been lost" agreed Cynthy Ann,
lhe daughter of the house, not without a
certain grim { iOyment of the situation.
''Stuns is dretful expensive, anyhow, but seein'
ez we haiu't ben able to give him any funeral,
nor heV the minister, nor cook up for tn.
mOurners, it. seems en- eff we'd Orter buy a
mo iment for him. | can't RELY see how we
kin do less ez the Peter Fernads got one fur
their Charles, m | say to marin, it wO IT
do to let them git ahead of us, poor cz they
be. P'r'aps, RhOdy, ez YOU 'n' Tom wuz ez
good ez promised to one t'other, you'd be
willin' to give littleOu ov yerschool keepin'
money towards gittim' The monimeu, M Pm
gOin' to put oil gittn married for a while
though Sc h is drGtul put out about tn
save all my rug money, till, with what marin
takes fur butter, we shall Git enough"
The person addressed, aVOunT woman with
shook her head decisively. II don't believe
tina Tom is dead" said she. so, don't talk
about buynga monument yet Wait another
year, a d if You do not hear from him by that
time, here will be reason to-
''Ihats Jest what pa says" in'ewupted
Cynthy Ann, lest because he don't want ,
hey it hat Tom is ownded. lie seems ter
think, somehow, that by hanein' off m not
even rwnin' OF it to himself, he ken keep it
1rum bcin' so. Tha IS a way some folks hez."
''He wuz aIwuZ Jest SO headstrong an un-
reasonable" sighed Mrs. Fernald, with pro-
longed use of the calico apron. Gle had the
lmpcr enCe to say this yer, mOrnin' het it
'peared ~ eft we wante him dead, for the sake
Charles But to look AZ tfiags Fair N, Snare,
what chance is there that he kin be in the lan0
o the liViu'! Didn't Seth Smalidge himself
go to see the owners of the >arcy Sally over
ter the Port morn month ago, m they said
they hadn't no more idec of ever hearin' fruu
either vessel OrCrew than nOthin' at ail."
"At that cOnSarned monument agin be thew
Rhody" grOwied weather-beateu old man
whose face bore a curious resemblance to a
wood carving, appearing suddenly in the door
way. But don you lis en- to EN- deary, fur
you m knows that our boy ain't no more
dead than they be. Even eff he Wuz, we cou dn't
AFFORD to git monument fur him Dead folks
sleeps Jest as well without any stun whatso
ever, m ef their bones is a-restin' in the sea
what use is stun on the land! 1t earn {
tell nobody jest where they be. Somehow the
1Olks Ill his place, specially in this family has
got marvellous craze for Monuments. Bro her
Lysarnder he made mention of it when he was
to home tiVe years ago, m sence tn It he craze
has ben OWN ~ growin'. Even the sum.
mcr boardcrs over to the l1a"bOr poke fun at
US abou it. Sam Smith showed me newspaper
where one on 'em had been a-Writiu' up the
place, am it did sound as eff we wuz cur'us
tolks. Twas every word of it true, too, ~
went on to say that the Herrin Point folks fur
the most part lived in lit lie wcather-bsateu
nuts the were dretful poor per ectOn frum
Wihd n ram, m wuZ picfur er leanness ~
poverty, COZ they're a-sayin' up m ney to buy
themselves monuments to look splendid over
their graves when they Wuz dead and gone
But my part don't want to 90 about SO
holler while Pm a-liyin' for the sake o. cuttin'
dash when Clsta Choir Anvhow W ,uIdu't
agree to great monument a-lOOmin' up out
o. the family buryin ground ~ overtOppin'
The old house, like y stceple over mushroom.
the way Peters Charles does''
q, pa! never thought you WIZ so awful
worldly minded before - groaned Miss Cvnthy
Ann, with a look OF horror.
T." Wen, be Jest worldly minded enough to
stick to IT, tibet | won't live on them f. I'm a
bony hcrrin' I'LL the bones prick throu ia ms
flesh, no drink curraut-leat tea nor 20 wi ii
my arms a sliCkju' thr ugh Toms Old cIo'es
while you wmnen folks is a-savin' upf fur the
there imaginary sort o monument as il we e
A-p'iN VI '1 30 hlt Al earnest soon ClDlIOl. m
thtn 20" u nave C1aHcc to show all the re
spec you want to, M hcv stu in al nest -
q, pa, how Kan you Iall 50 bigOted. Ain'f
it awful to hear him, Rhody?"
Rhody SIN led, but remained silent, and evil
IDENTITY wishing to hear no more CONCERNING
the affair, suddenly remembered that it. was
schooi-time, and took hurried departure The
old man returned TO his net mendinu ON fine
sunny side of the woOd-pile al the bachelor.
ana he two women. after prolonged consul
Ia ion, Ii ally daviled that hey would wait
another year before buying the monument as
Rho ~ mad suggested. In fact, it, wo Id b,.
necessary to do so, as the girl would contrib.
ute nothing toward the fund, and pa was dret.
tul troublesome when he warn't hurhored. Rut
as Tor there bein u chance that T N wasn't
dead ID was All nonsense, and twas treating
him shameful not to take mite % notice of
his death, too
DAYS and weeks went on in the old mopot-
onous ma 'nerat Herring Point. The gorge as
ranks OF the golden rol and asters we're cut
down by the frost. aud the winds swept away
the few red leaves which cOlOrpd the sides @,
the SCa-lOOIliug hills, to make a clear Dath for
The frosty march of winter. The sea. so loug
asleep under the summer Sunshine, began to
snow once more lhc wild ferccuess of It's
nature, and drove home the boats of The
fishermen, and dashed the rocks angriIv
through wild nights when only the lanU OF
th' Nght house over on he Ledge shed raw
of Hight through the stormy darkness Mrs.
tcrnaid, when not attending 10 her two cows
and her buttef-malug, sat in the ch muey-
corner and liuil ted blue yarn stockings for the
market, and Cyntlv u. with "A zeal that
never tired while the vision OF the splendid tall
monument flashed before her mental srage.
hooked rugs from early in the mo ming until
late into the night. Her hooked rugs wer. in
drmaud now, for several summer bOaulers had
adlnjrg! and pulVh sed them, and since that
ima nearly every lady Of The Fort had been