Weekly Chillicothe crisis. (Chillicothe, Livingston Co., Mo.) 1878-19??, 1883-04-26

New York on my twenty-tiTst birthday,
and receive in due form whatever there
might--as you've very well known all
your lifeE" finished Nell, springing up
and spreading out her hands.
And so, as tie situation seemed to
be forced upon me, couldn't do any
better than to prepare for it. | mend.
ed my black alpaca dress, and sent fol
q pint of ammonia to cleanse my old
broad'cloth cloak. gave Nell minute
instructions about household matters,
how long to boil the beans for Saturday
and how much salt to put in the brown
bread.
Now, Dame Duedcn, please don'tl'
said Nell, tossing the fifth pair OF
mendcd stockings into the basket. 81
will take good care, you may be sure,
and do You forget all about us"
"Oh, Nell, as if ever could"
"Thcn forget all about the baked
beans and brown bread part of us, and
buy yourself nice dress, and he the
queen you deserve to be-
| looked over at Nell. She had coil
ed her hair in heavy puilS on the Top
OF her head, and the frill around her
neck was as white as snow! She had
sat down where the gold from the west
window touched her hair to such a
bronze! No painter could ever hope
to catch it, though could well be-
licvc he might almost wish to die for
it. Queen Nell, the proudest Stuart,
or Tudor, or Howard among them all,
with her ermine, and her crown and
hcr iccptre, never looked more the
queen. than you do!'
After dinner, the day before | was to
leave home, went up into the garrct,
broom in hand, and duited, inside and
out, an old horSc.hair trunk which had
done duty through two generations of
my ancestors. 1t had belonged to my
father, and to his father before him,
but ever since | could remember it
had stood in that same place under the
raftcrs. To cleanse ii from the dust of
two decades, and drag it to the light
OF day, down n tOrtuOus, winding pair
Of back stairs TO my chamber. was the
work Of an hour. had folded n news
paper in the bottom and had COM
mencrd the unique task of packing,
when Nell opened the door of my
room. "ln the name Of all that's hui
man, what are you dOing?'
"Trying TO coax my six linen collars
and rs many handkerchicfs to adapt
themselves To the dimensions of this
paper boX," replied, squeezing down
the cover.
Nell stood for moment as il unde-
cldcd what to do next, then she sud
denly collapsed in the doorway, and
threw her apron over her head, rocking
herself back and forth, and sending
out peal after peal of laughter.
"Whcn you get ready or recover
yourself" said, perhaps you will be
willing to tell me what you are laugh
ing att
"That trunk! horse hair in New
York! Why, Patty, it was that idcnti-
cal trunk that Mrs. Noah used before
she went into the ark, and it has sur
vivcd to this dayN'
(Which regard MS Il clear illustra-
tion Of the survival of the iittest." |
replied, laying in dress.
"Bnt Patty You don't mean it,
"A1Out the survival of tn tittest?'
Certainly. Where can you find Il bet
ter built, more reliable piece of work
than that trunk? Besides, must take
it with me, unless tie my worldly pos
sessions in Il pillow-casc, for certainly
have nothing else wherein to bestow my
goods
but You know have better one;
at least, have one that does not look
quite SO much like mummy case as
that; and to drag that trunk in here,
and lay it, tigurativcly speaking, at
your feet, shall be my first
lplantrd myself firmly against the
door. "No, Nell that trunk is yours,
not mine. You picked berries for that
trunk in the broilng sun. while I"
Stayed at home and cooked us
something TO eat, over . broiing stove.
1t belongs to you as much as to me,
and YOU shall take it,"
"No, Nell, will not. am a perfect
goose, know, but | will not be n per-
feet sham--I vii go down to New York
neither the one thing nor the other
only just what am. will take no
borrowed linery, and no borrowed
trunk
But couldn't we manage to pull out
those horrid brass letters on the side?
Marian will know you when she sees
you.
"And | mean she SHALL" cried !,
ilaring up, IN. p. stands for Martin
Perry; that's my name, and I'm not
going back upon it, until | do some
thing to disgrace it. The B. in the
middle needn't make any great diff
ference that | can see."
"Wait till you get back from New
York, and then tell me what you think
about the b. in the middle, you un-
worldly creature" laughed Nell, rs ]
slammed down the cover and she
helped me faSten the old strap.
"And now," said !, "one thing more
remains-l must rush to the woods. |
must give myself one more Indian war
whoop, if | die for it,"
"Oh, it won't kill you, YOU will live
all the longer; take the carving knife
with you for tomahawk, and if you
meet the ghost of old Meb in the forest
shades, give her my compliments, and
be sure and be back in time for supper
its poor economy TO be absent at
meal time"
Nell was laughing, as she shut the
doors after me, but she had uncon-
seiously used n word that sent my
nerves all raspirg. ECONOMY" didn't
know all about its hateful twists and
turnsP Wasn't | the oldest of six chill
dren, and wasn't fathers farm stuck,
like n ridgepole, on the very rockiest,
bleakest corner of all New England,
with its sterile pas urage, its wood
lands, its gaping corner lots and its
tumble-down buildings, descended to
him from his father, covered all over
with mortgages at that-the only thing
that had stood between us and the
poor-housep Hadn't seen my mothers
pale face grow paler every year, till
three years before, the first day of
Winter, she placed in my arms the
little baby for whose life she gave her
ownp l accepted the trust as an older
sisters portion, and henceforth life be-
came to me more than ever duty
The only character that gave any
originality to my childhood was the
Intian woman Meb, who strolled into
my native town without giving any ac-
count of the way she came, and who,
after a while, disappeared as mys.
teriously. But she taught me the war.
Whnnn of hnr trihn md hnd nnunr