The Hazlehurst signal., 1883-12-06
PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY.


for many minutes. would not disturb
her. knew. although l could not then
analyzc or describe such knowledge,
that she was lost In past events, for
which she could find no words. and that
involuntarily she had straycd oil into
some beautiful, girlish by-path OF rcmem-
branco-somc summer evenings walk
with lowers and birds and skies and
twilight. hum of insects and youthful
hopes; some ruddy. hcalthful face was
before her-not the one she married.
Oh. 10! IL rarely is.
Finally Iwould say: "Well. gramma.' v
always called her "gramma." Grand
ma or grandmother. full and round as
the schoolmastcr pronounced il. would
have been all out Of place in tha' old
kitchen. with its cranes, pot-hooks, cats
and cupboar,ls. Had spoken the word
in that manner. grandmother would
have started and said: "Why, Bub!"
And had persisted in 50 pronouncing
il she would have renounccd me.
well. gramma." and then she
would give little start and u long
sigh; she was back again the old woman
in the chimney corner. IL was now no
such sky nor sunshine nor CHEEKY June
morning rs in the long, long ago when
softly she sung To herself over her work
and could live for hours in the thought
of that bit of fincry To be worn for the
first time next Sabbath.
Only left. the old house and this boy
10 hear her stories the only one who
held deep and common interest in her
cats and hens.
But changes came. Hers was feeble
resistance TO the ''march of progress"
There was an cntcrprising son-in-law.
Little by little the property was ''im-
proved A "smart store" occupied
the basement. Spectators and all
manner of business men were brought
home TO dinner and lodged rs guests in
the ''spare bedroom. Exactly rs an
Indian would regard such people in his
wigwam so these did grandmother.
Their presence was rs poison to her.
Then the clerks tormcntcd her cats.
The horses of the "cnterprising" son
in-law kicked and lamcd her hens. This
individual had u mania for moving oil
old buildings and erecting new. Barns
and warehouses went up all about. ever
curtailing the area of the pleasant little
lot behind the old house. The hillock
in the back yard was lcyclcd. Enter
prise and Improvement demanded the
destruction OF the old cherry tree and u
row of ancient lilac bushes went down
before these twin monsters. Finally
the old lasiy's hen-coop must be re-
duced TO ouc-half it, original dimcn-
sions, SO that Buxton, the new shoe
dealer. should have more light in his
workshop. Buxton was n smooth,
sleek man. smooth and sleck-spokcn
and an elder OF the church.
He would come and argue
with grandmother regarding the cur
tailmcnt Of that hen-coop and pelt her
with appropriate quotations from what
he termed the Good Book" Buxton
to her was Il waxed-end cobbling iicnd.
But much of the hen-coop was shorn
away. 1t WAS change here, there, every
where. Grandmother hated change.
The old house was large piece and
the only remaining piece of her younger
life. In association, il was the only
channel of communication left for her
with people long passed away. Every
bit "improvcd or" was SO much drawn
from her lifc's blood. But an old lady
of seventy is no match for an ''enter-
priSing' sOn-in-law of thirty.
Our village was desolated one night
by a sweeping conilagration. Ii came
nearer and nearer the old house. They
said il must be pulled down to stop the
flames. II was cruel sentence, a
cruel fate. Better had il burned. They
tore il to pieces with great iron hooks.
They gougcd ont the windows and bat
tered down partitions of rooms. which
to me and grandmother. born, rs both
of us had been there. seemed - cndur-
ing as the earth itself. While thus they
were tugging away at the stout oakcn
frame, while bricks were tumbling down
the chimncys. plastcring from the walls
and the whole cdiiicc shaking TO its
foundation. some one found grand
mother grooming over a few Goals in
the kitchen fireplace. She was led In
half-dazed reluctance away. She lived
but few months afterwards, for the
destruction of the old house snapped
the dccaycd strand which had bound
her to earth.-M y. Graphic.