Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1885-10-01

| sobbed aloud:
..My God, my God. why hast Thou
| forsaken me?'
CHAPTER XVIII.
DRIVEN TO THE MOUNTAINS.
For half hour Martha Parsons re-
manned kneeling by the side of her Grip
| pied child. =
When she arose she was calm again,
but neither the boy nor herself spoke,
and finally sleep came and closed the
lads eyelids, and he lay quietly resting
| while his mother sat by his side as silent
| and motionless as he.
Her thoughts had gone back to the
| days of her childhood, and one by one
| she recalled all the incidents of her past
life. She remembered the old church
where she had been christened and
near where she was born. In magma
! ton she sat again in the straight backed
| pew in company with the homely, old
fashioned congregation and listened to
the preaching of the venerable, gray
haired minister whose words she had
| been taught were those of one commits
| stoned to speak for God and Christ.
Again she heard the sermon in
which all men were commanded to &C.
| cept their lot, whatever it m ght be, as
from the hand of the Most High, who
| gave to each of His creatures, as to
Him seemed best, of the goods of this
| world heard, mingled with much of SYM
| pathy for the impoverished and the out
| cast and the sinful, the poor hidden to
| be content with the condition in life to
| which it had pleased God in His wisdom
| to call them; and was dumbly con-
scious of feeling surprised at herself,
and, may be, trife frightened at dar-
ing to wonder for the first time in her
life if God ever authorized anybody to
say such things in His name; if, indeed,
it was not blasphemy to tell the poor,
who were made poor by being robbed,
and the rich, who were made rich by
the robbery, that such was Gods will,
and bidding them to be content in the
condition in which they were thus
placed.
She recalled the talks which she and
John had during the DAYS of their
courtship and after their marriage.
What plans they had laid; how hopeful
they had been of the future; how pros
porous they had meant to be; and how
much pleasure they had taken in think
ing of the good they would do, and of
the quiet old age they were to spend
together after the hurry of life was over
and their children settled comfortably
near them, receiving and entitled to the
| respect and esteem of their neighbors.
They had worked hard: they had
been honest; they had reared their chill
dren to be worthy members of society;
they had done all they knew how to do
to make the world better for their hay
ing lived in it; and now, their home
lost, their children scattered, she sat by
the bedside of her crippled child at mid
night, waiting for the return of her hus
band, with a great fear at her heart that
he, too. had been swallowed up by the
terrible flood.
The moan which involuntarily es-
capped her lips as her mind returned to
the present awoke Johnny; but seeing
his mother sitting by his side he did not
cry or speak, but lay quietly gazing into
her face for q time and then his quick
| hearing caught a sound which had es-
capped the duller ear of his mother, and
| a look, half of inquiry, half of fear,
passed over his face, but still he did not
| speak.
Again the sound, and now his mother
hears it, too-the neighing Of a horse
| upon the winding bluff road back of the
| house; then an answering neigh from
| the hill pasture, and both know that the
| husband and father has returned.
Hurrying to the door, Mrs. Parsons
| heard the pasture bars let down; heard
the short wbinny of recognition and
| welcome which the horses exchanged
as the home-comer entered the field,
| then heard the barn door open as the
rider went to hang up his saddle; then
| the footsteps turned towards the house,
| and a moment later John Parsons.
weary and covered with mud, but sound
| of limb, entered and bending down
kissed wife and child.
Il s'pose you an Johnny hev been
worried most to death about me,
| Marty" he said, '.but couldn't very
well help it; leastwise thought it best
| to do as l DONE
Eyes, dear, we have been fearful that
something had happened you. Did you
meet with an accident, or what was the
matter? i know you must be tired and
hungry, whatever it was, and I'll have
cup of tea for you just as soon as the
kettle bols again. 1t won't take but
moment; it was boiling only little bit
ago."
"Wall. you see when got to town !
concluded to ask around an see if l
coutu near OF place ZOE TeuI of " sen
on time, an after inquirin' a spell 1
heard of claim, mostly wo' thless. but
with enough good land to make Twin
on, that was for sale or trade, fifteen
miles further back in the mountains;
an as. eff / come home first I'd hev to
60 right back agin tomorrow, if took
. look at the place at all. concluded
to go right ON an see it, hopin' to get
home, though, afore it was SO late. But
when got back to town it was almost
dark already, an neither me nor the
horse had ct bite since mornin'. an
was jest obleeged to stop an let the
animal rest couple of hours. That
gave me dark ride home, an the
roads is purity bad over the hills since
the rains come. What time o night il
it? Nigh on to midnight, I reckon"