The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1883-05-10

great re~d-painted barns, the courthouse with
its four long legs capped by rusty tin pans
to keep away the rats, the ~barn-yard full of
lowing cattle, the empty hay-rack with Oc-
between the yard and the irreguIar,ueadow
lane were down and W boys sa. on the
low stone wall playing something with
various willow sticks. The farmers wife
leaned from the buttery window for a
breath of evening air. Within the open
barn-door the farmer and a neighbor chewed
long straws and examined a new scythe.
Before the barn a cart-horse, freed from his
harness, rolled uncouthly and flourished
his stiff, cumbersome old limbs. Seated on
a wheelbarrow was Hiram, the "hired
man." in his brown-checked shirt, home
spun trousers and battered straw hat; he
sat slouching forward, with his elbows on
his knees; he was whiting a bit of soft
pine wood, but he was not making anything
in particular, except shavings; and he was
chewing a straw long n yellow one.
Octavia sighed impatiently. ''There!"
she exclaimed" I am so tired of seeing
men chew strawsw
Cyrus dropped his syringa ,twig,. now
the grass. He had just been thinking of
chewing the end of it. 81 don't chew
straw" he ventured.
Octavia turned and looked at him. He
was not chewing straw, to be sure, but
there was an air of rustic smartness about
$1,000 AS eAS oAAA ~ ma PASoSAS SeRAAS0o
mood found infinitely annoying. "You
don't understand me-" she repeated, pet
tishly.
NO." agreed Cyrus, 81 guess 1 don't. 1
dunno, rally, what tits troubles ye to night.
I wish I did"
A silence fell upon them for a moment,
through which came the voices from the
barn:
Got some new-fangled notions abaout
what he calls the rotation of crops. Allus
was ful1 ~ n0tiOOs-o 20 "
"Wal, notions never'll raise wheat for
him in the Harskill medder; I say what 1
allus held to-"
"I thought began Cyrus, timidly, "that
eff things went wal this fall / might git holt
of Hubbard's lot, mex the forge, am hev
the sulfer dug afore winter, SOS to begin
buildin' ez soon's the frost's outen the
ground in the spring. Mebbe then-ye
might hev a home of your own-this time
next year-Octayy-dear."
For a ONE the girl did not answer.
Her face did not brighten, as Cyrus had
hoped it would. She neither blushed nor
smiled. But them" she said, 'there is all
winter, Cyrus; an winter on the farm is
worse than the summer" She paused a
minute, then suddenly drew from herpocket
a letter written in red ink and scented with
musk. 81 had this yesterday" she said,
from my cousin jimmy Buck. She's my
aunt Marthy's oldest girl-three years older
IN me; they live to lewiston; there's big
I'LL 3 al 4OUS vi Il III Jill
They nave good times together. jimmy
says it's real gay. They have dances am
all sorts of shows, different from here.
jimmy wants me to come to Lewiston IN
work in the mills along with her and FL
viry: l mean to go, too, eff father'n let
me-" She folded the letter very small and
creased it with her thumb and forefinger.
She did not glance toward Cyrus, but
added, after an instant, he'll heU to let
me-"
Do, Crr,, oo,Jd +l:,l, ,o%L:,-
for a time. His slow brain was completely
unbalanced by the adventurous spirit OF
the girl beside him. For himself, he was
entirely content with his life. He never
aspired to go farther from China Valley
than to the county fair at North China, or
to Hollis Mills to witness a river baptism.
tits dretful taa', Octavy," he said at length,
"Lewiston is; 1 dunna, rally, jest how
many miles, but it's fur away; its consid'-
BILE of a journey-dear."
Octavy looked at her lover with some
contempt. SIT amt so dretful fur" she
said. ''You don't know nothin' about trav.
elm, Cyrus"
"Thet's so, Octavy," the smith assented,
humbly. He o a moment admiringly
at his fearless sweetheart; then his eyes
sought the ground and he repeated slowly,
"Thet's So" He appeared to be benumbed
by the length and danger of the journey
and by the loss of Octavia.
81 should write to you, of course, Cyrus,
n you would write to me. The winter
would go pretty quick. 1t would be spring
afore you knew it."
Octavia was a determined young woman,
and it was not many weeks before she
really left China Valley for the midtown
of Lewiston. She started one September
coach, drawn by two gaunt white horses
and driven by Mr.. Elias Huff, red-faced
and loudly cheerful. Cyrus went to the
village store to give her a bunch of dahlias,
yellow and claret and white, and some
"Early Harvests" in a small basket.
"'Lias'n look out for ye," he said, look.
ing up at her as she sat flushed and happy
on the back seat of the coach. "'Lias he'll
show you the other stage-the one We must
change into at Medder's Falls, We know"
"Yes, Cyrus" she replied, with slight
restiveness.
from the farm in his wagon, now came out
of the store and stood with his foot on the
hub of a wheel and chewed a straw re
fectively, "Be sure 'Lias don't forgit tc
put your chist over on to other stage wher
ye change at the Falls, "he said.
N father" answered Octavia.
"Ye'n want some dinner, We know, atthe
Medder's Falls tavern. Ye can git the
landlady to see to We. Ye'lhev to pay two
shillin's, 1 cal'late."
"Yes, father" with a slight founce.
"They'n be considerable many people al
the tavern; don't ye hold no talk with 'em.
"No, father"
"Don't git out at the wrong place, now
Jest you stick in the coach. 'Lias he'll tel
ye when to git out. Don't ye bulge till hi
"Of course not, father, I amt a fool.n
The driver came from the store, threw tn,
leather mail-bagat the front seat and swun.
himself up. Cyrus shook his sweetheart
hand for the last time. The farmer took hi
foot from the hub. The whip was cracked
and the cumbersome coach jerked AM
rolled away in a cloud of yellow dust. DC
tavia craned her neck and waved tn,
dahlias at her lover, and two blossoms fel
into the sandy street, n Octavia was gon
really gone.
Cyrus went back to his forge slowly; blu
that day lie did not sing.
Letters from Octavia were neither lon
nor frequent, but she wrote sometimes
She told Cyrus about her "Aunt Buck
silyer-glass ~bell-knob" and the "parlo
carpet" and sometimes she said she wishe,
he would 'set up" in Lewiston; she woul,
"like to live there"
After all, she did better thar Cyrus
Composition was hard work for him. H
said a pen was "too small to get a goo
holt on;" and he told a confidant in tn
village store that he had ''ruther hoe te
yoke of oxen han write one letter."
1t was a long fall and a long winter t
poor Cyrus. He was glad Octavia was s
happy. He was glad the mills were so gay
ana that she no longer round VI
the same. For himself, he would hav
found the days well-nigh u~nbearable, e,
cept that he had planned a great surpris
for Octavia, and was very busy in prepal
ing it. In the fall, ven earlier han heha
: hoped, he had bought the coveted piece {
land beside the forge, and had his celia
dug and the house well along before wintei
, 1t was a small house, but every part WI
arranged with humble, loving thought .fC
the woman who was to be its mistress.
: 81 want everythin' ez handy's a thin'ca
, be made" he said to Silas Chapman, til
carpenter. 81 want everythin' done t
t save steps an make thin's easy. Woman
8 work is hard enough, make the best of it y
3 will"
} He even sent to Portland for a door-be
with a silvery knob, such as Octavia La
written about. People in China Valley di
not ave door-bells, and there was muc
talk about what Octavia's pride woul
! bring her lover to, for nobody laidthe doc
bell to Cyrus.
So he worked through the short, du