Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-01-23

Reuben, if you say so,' hopln' all the
time he'd change his mind; but he
didn't. an so | got ready,
..It was hard. though and the
coarse sewing dropped from her
fingers, as she wiped her eyes on a
corner of her green Bingham apron; sit
was hard, for besides leavin' my father
an mother an sisters. Reuben an L
had laid in Jacksonville Cemetery the
only child we ever had. Well, we
come out here, an ii WAS worsc'n I'd
any idea Of. We brought all themoney
we had. an we knew we couldn't make
ii last much longcr'n fall, when we cal
culatedo on good crops toNcepus through
the winter. OF course we laid by the
$500 to pay for the claim at the
end o the six months, it bein' Il pre-
cmption. But the crops didn any
WAYS come up to what we'd calculated
on. Twas hot an dry, an the potato
bugs come, an the cabbage-worms, an
| the gophcrs. an rabbits, an everything
! that could come. SO we sec from the
first we'd got to be savin's possible.
Well. that was a terrible summer, an
homesick! Why. it did :;eemsif I'd die,
an sometimes didn'tcar are if l should.
l was sure we'd got entirely beyond
the Lords care, an He'd forgotten all
about us. | got cross an sick, an
helpless. But, my! Ididn't say much
about it to Reuben, for once in a while
he'd say: Sarah, we amt got beyond
the Lords providence Vet. Remember
that MOTTO But likes not | wouldn't
answer. | was so homesick and dis
I o,,,,, Cr,l ,in,4 6ovi,' To 1.-Two ga Thn
motto he spoke of was one he'd bought
just before we came away from home;
it was Il cardboard one, an | worked
it in shaded red worsted, nice as could
be. 1t said: Hitherto hath the Lord
helped US
II knew what Reuben meant when
he told me to remember that motto, but
he was so patient an kind that |
couldn't bear to tell him that it didn't
mean much to me those days. He's a
wonderful good man, Reuben is. but it
Just seemed to me the Lord had forgot
ten all about us, an wasn't helpin' us
at all. | sec you're shocked, Miss, an
no wonder, seem I'd been a professor
nigh onto fifteen years, but mebbc YOU
amt suffered what | suffered that
summer! He'd bought a nice frame for
the motto, but [ hadn't hung it up at
all, an it stood on the floor With its
face to the wall, though l could see
Reuben didn't like to see it SO.
''Wcll. Reuben worked harder'n l
ever see a nan work before. an bv
June he'd dug that well you see ,onder,
and people used to come miles to get
water, for good water was even scarcer
last summer than It's this; an l no.
ticed a pale, timid woman comm for
water. drivin' the worst looking pair of
horses you ever see. She used
to draw it up by the pailful,
an set it in the wagon, an then she'd
get up in the wagon an empty the pail
into a barrel. l couldn't bear to see
her work so, poor thing, she want
more'n twen1y-three or four, an I was
glad when | see Reuben helpin' her one
day, though she want anybody you
could take a fancy to, as you a some
folks. But after Il spell | noticed she
didn't come any more, an a shiftlcss,
unlikely-lookin' man used to come for
water. Reuben talked to him often,
an one day. after he went away, Reu-
ben says to me: Sarah. says he, the
young woman that used to come for
waters sick. Can't you go an see her
to-day?'
'Now, / didn't want to 90 a bit, but
I see 'twould displease Reuben if I
didn't, sc | put on my sun-bonnet an
went oven. Their claim was next to
ours. so | walked it easy. An such a
sight when ! got there! There was that
poor young thing on a miserable bed,
white an s~ick-lookin' as even | see any
body. The little shanty was bare an
dirty. an the crops worse ours. L
put my head in the door. an she
opened her eyes an glared at me.
"'lve come to see YOU | said. not
knowing what to say, | was so taken
aback.
"'Wcll,' she snapped out, look at
me if you want to, | amt no great
sight, am I?'
did you g in all Your life? l
was tempted to snap back, but l re-
mcmbered Reuben. an couldn't, so l
says: i thought mebbe l could help
YOU
"'You can't, she says, a little more
civil, nobody can;' an such a hard,
hopeless voice | hope III never hear
agaxn.
''My heart ached for her, so | SAYS:
Yes, the Lord can
"'Well.' she says. 'mcbbe he can.
but he amt done it much since | come
out here
"Thinks !, you're 4 regular heather,
if there ever was one. But then. | con
cluded it want a mite worse for ner
to say it right out than twas for me to
think it Il hundred times, only | was
afraid to say it on account of Reuben;
an me a professor, too. | didn't say
any more then, but l tell you l did Il lot
o thinkin'. | went right in an made
her a cup o tea, an fixed things up.
an after that ! used to 90 every dav,
though sometimes she wouldn't speak
to me. But Reuben heard from her
husband how glad She was to have me
come. They sen fifteen miles for a
doctor, an he said twas malaria she'd
brought in her system from Michigan,
but knew 'twa'n't anything O. the
kind; twas homesickness an one sight
o her mothers face would ha' done
more for hcr than pounds of quininc.
swell in contrast with those Door
people oar lot didn't seem half so
hard. an began 10 see how selfish
vi Inn,, T. $500 =