Northwest enterprise. [volume] (Anacortes, Wash. Ter.) 1882-1887, 1885-05-30
The 0lD WOMAN.


The 0lD WOMAN.
Ned Huntline sat at the breakfast T.
ble and abstrscted'y sipped his coffee.
Ned was considered . great "catch"
among the girls Of Sleepy Hollow; not
that he was either rich or handsome. for
he wss not, nor was there anything re-
marksble about him, except his tidy
habits and his well known determination
to take care Of his parents, who had
| spent their earnings Of . lifetime in rear.
ing and educating their many children,
all of whom, except Ned, were we'll mar
ried and comfortably settled in estab-
lizhments Of their own, in ths far-Away
States, where constant application to
business enabled them to 1--we in peace
aud plenty.
Ned Huntine, the senior. after whom
tho junior Ned had been named in in.
fancy, and the worthy sire of the seven
Huntines, was now on his deathbed,
and the vito and son wero the only occu-
pants Of the breakfast table, where, in
the years agone, there had been nine
chairs promptly filed at every meal.
"Do you think father viii live Sc
| day out ?" asked Ned, sending uphl p
for the second time and speaking for The
first.
sits doubtful, son. There has been
q rapid change within hah-dozeu
hcurs."
Tho wife buried her faoe In her hands
and wept silently. She was an old
fashioned woman. an exemplary wife,
who had cheerfully borne her share ol
life's many burdens through all the
years OF her union. She had been 3
strong woman In her dsy, too, but her
step was feeble now, and her eyes were
dim and her hands unsteady.
Don't cry, mother, said Ned, softly,
as he left his Last cup untasted and went
around where she was sitting. "We've
all got to take our turn whsn it comes.
Death Is only transition. It's but .
question Of time till We, too, ahau die.
Cheer up, mother. You ere 70 have 8
valuable lsgacy to-day"
My son, know / have . vAluabls
legacy in you, and I Try to be oomforted.
Your father ID ready and willing TO die,
and Il won't DO many years till ! shall
joi2 Linn. But oh, Ned, it's hard What
will become of me r.
Tears choked her uttesance, .sad Ned
placed Ills arm around her tendc1Iy ana
drew kcr head TO his shoulder.
II am your legacy. dearcst mother.
and shsll prove support to you that
shall never fail. Mollie will love You,
too. Don't worry. You shall spend the
balance Of your days in ssse and eoa-
tentmsnt and plenty"
"Mollie, did you say. Ned ."
eyes, mother"
"Not Mollis Hawkinsf
Eyes; Nollie Hawkins. We've bssn
engaged for year, and il Il her wish
and mine to be married to-day, 20 thst
father may witness the ceremony.
"Oh, Ned II seems bat wicked and
cruel to be thinking about . wedding
day. Wait = year, do I"
Father and I talked IL over while
you were getting breakfast and he h
glad 70 know Of our plan. aad seconds u
heartily"
:.Why didn't yee tall NJ bssase.
"Decauss thss. wssav a.ytAins -
all Aollis has always ~ ~ ddaV
nhs hse, md - bsessA - b vait 20
yoa have tine - evesoome your peeju-
1iess before I sbould speak to yoa abouS
4 Nolts watched father with NJ duF.
ing ths sftsg part II The night and -
had IN easy, rational spell toward morn
ing, and he said, ira fiks ts sivs AolHs
70 you before I die, - your nothsI's
legacy hadn't supposed 4ollis va
his TO give, but then she wasn't anybody
elss's. and thought he enjoyed the
fancy. The property i al NINE moth
e."
"And 20 shall lose you, my baby
con. and your father, too, on the same
dayi" cried Mrs. Huntline throwing
her arms around Ned and crying uncon-
trollably.
Ned vas vexsd and annoyed. For hk
life he couldn't 80 Why his mother was
not pleased with the hes q becoming
the lifetime companion Of MOllis Haw.
kins, the village dressmaker. Mol!ie
was An orphan, steady, industrious. sslf-
willsd and handsome. Mira Huntline
would hxvo been reasonably satashsd
with her daughtsr-in-law Il II had not
been for tho prospect of living with her
~ Q dependent upon her bounty.
Ned's father, feeling that hs was soon
to die, had beQueathed TO him the home
stead snd retail grocery store a. leg
acy, upon thu condition that his mother
should have Q home and ita comforts
during all her declining years. As.
Hunuins was sorsly grieved because OF
the will, but abe was not tho woman to
protest against her husban's dying vish,
10 abe wept over il In bitter and secret
humiliation. and ct last resigned hersslf,
a silent maytyr.t to state OF dependence
upon the good viii Of her son and whom
soever he might marry. But aba had NOT
dreamed that he would marry Noble
| Hawkins, whom, Of su the girls Of he.
acquaintance, STE most thoroughly dis
likad