Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1885-06-18
TODD ASHTON's JOURNEY.
BY CLARA DIXON DAVIDSON.

BY CLARA DIXON DAVIDSON.
. On breezy hilltop in Iowa, gal
r1soned on three sides by q crescent q
: ravine and wood, and looking ou
toward level prairie on the north, tn
sleepy little village Of Kirkville la,
stood still for thirty-two years, like
disarmed prisoner who could not figh
and would not crafty his enemies b,
dying. Kirkville boasted its lumber
mill, its four-mill, its well-buil
churches, and its commodious schoo
building, which was newly supplied
year by year with material for futur,
statesmen and hod-carriers; for thil
quiet place, with its few houses alwayl
full, this gentle rivulet of human lif,
and interest, was steady tributary K
th~ 9---A 40. >s .ua-L a-I tho-olat eai
passion that lay beyond it. When the
California fever or the Black Hills ex.
cltement were pulsing most hotly, the
rivulet was at its food tide, so that its
contribution was proportionately small
during the ebb that followed.
Todd Ashton first saw the LIGHT
through the small, square panes OF
glass in the old-fashioned windows of a
low wooden house in Kirkville. That
very house sheltered her father and
mother until their silent forms were
laid to rest in the populous cemetery
behind the Presbyterian church, and
was her home up that thirtieth birth
day when our story begins.
Todd was born to love and to be
loved. She could no more live without
loving than she could breathe without
air. There were few children in the vii
lage who did not pass her gate with lin
gering steps, looking through the pickets
with wistful eyes, longing, if the truth
must be told, less for sight of Todd's
gentle face than for the delightful
-na-na@ <ss s-I,,~->s~---s---l-------
offer them in the shape of generous
wedges of fruit cake, handfuls of can
dy, popcorn balls, nuts, and enormous
slices of white bread spread with rich
preserves.
There was one subject upon which
Todd was very decided for so gentle O
body-she would not live alone. She
depended upon the love, the society,
and the sympathy of her fellow beings
for whatever share of happiness might
flow into her soul. She needed O
servant, too, so she told herself ten
years ago, but the industrious people
of her native village would have been
scandalized had any healthy woman in
their borders presumed to indulge in
such luxury without giving weighty
reasons for such course. Todd
thought of all the cakes to be baked
for "them sweet children" of the long
pieces of flannel to he sewed into
Christmas offerings for the girls, of the
boys, and decided that the village preju-
dice must be circumvented in some
way. So she went to Mrs. Armstrong,
widow who had lost the greater part
of her property through that benefi-
cent protection afforded by the law and
the lawyers, who washed for her bread
when women were too i'll to wash for
themselves-and who rejoiced in the
possession of eight children, and said:
"Give your Mary to me. Twill watch
over her like sister; / will feed her
we'll and clothe her comfortably, and
she shall have all the schoolin' she can
get in Kirkville.
The widow cried a little, said some
very ungrateful things about laws and
lawyers, but finally consented because
she saw such bountiful provision for
Mary. And when Todd's thirtieth
birthday had arrived Mary had been
with her ten years, and had grown to
be comely, happy-hearted young wom-
an, as good-naturedly obstinate as Todd
100 oaad-n ainradlV vialdin0
On that morning Mary arose two
hours earlier than she was won't to do.
IL Il
and secured in manner altogether in
COMPREHENSIVE to Todd, for more rea-
sons than one. First, this was not
sweeping day; second, it was not scrub
bing day; third, Mary had insisted
upon doing q totally unprecedented
amount of cleaning on the day before.
So Todd gently demonstrated, remind
ing Mary that two lone women could
not possibly have brought in oil the
dirt that she seemed to imagine herself
removing. But "Mary the Obdurate"
that was the most uncivil thing
Todd's gentle tongue had ever ventured
to call her, and she would have been
shocked at herself for even that unkind-
ness had her acquaintanceship with
Webster's unabridged been less limit
ed Mary the Obdurate refused to hear
reason, only she palliated her offense
by planting on Todd's mouth q sound
ing kiss that, coming as il did from ROSY
lips covered with the fragrant breath
of exuberant health, did much to mol |
lily whatever faint degree of wrath was
But when Mary entered |
the sitting-room, where Todd sat cro-
cheting collar for some bright-eyed |
favorite, and rearranged the snowy cur
tains for the seventh time, and rela:d |
the table-cover that was never known |
to be awry, and dashed her dust-brush |
over chairs that had not speck OF dust |
anywhere on their shining surfaces,
Todd suddenly awakened to the idea |
that something was going to happen,
and lifting her eyes, that new scrutiny |
Of Mary's face might help her to deter |
mine what that something was, she as |
suddenly discovered that Mary was ar
rayed in her daintiest afternoon dress,
An afternoon dress at nine in the morn,
ingl That certainly meant something,
80 Todd began Investigations immedi-
ately by inquIring:
~Are you lookin' for company2"
@Nonsensel Can't O person be decent
at homer"
"Why, yes; but always noticed that
you slicked up some for Jane Beebee-
she's such powerful hand to notice
things, and tell people how white our
"And how dusty our mantels are. She
may come to-day, who knowsi Do let
me brush your hair; and won't you put
On vour drab anti P"