Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1886-06-03


vas vacant at both morning and evening
service, an occurrence so almost unprece-
dened that early in the week Deacon Hall
called TO inquire as to its cause
We'll, said his wife on his return
"N hich Is sick. Mis- Hatch or Almira
Sophia ?"
Neither Of EN-" was the curt reply. and
/ then the deacon sank into his favorte chair
with an audible sroan. mo. Lovlla. the
widow says somebody, but she didn't tell
who. had been slandering EN-. an she cried
an said that she didn't think after she and
Amira Sophia had lived here all their lives.
an lried to be respectable women and al
WAYS paid their dues to the church. ,ha,
they would be treated like ,his; she said
she knew there va. some in the church felt
above her, but she hadn', paid any attention
10 that, and that she and Almira Sophia had
/ been sighted and overlooked, and put upon
time an again, but she had overlooked tha,
but TO be slandered by her own church
members WAS little too much. and not her.
self alone she might have borne that. but
her fatheriess child-and she and Alrnira
Sophia felt that under the circumstances it
was impossible for them to 60 10 that church
any longer. and had concluded 10 ask for
letters Of dismissal
And wha, did Almira Sophia say ?"
Il suppose she'd have said the same
thing for she's her mothers echo. but
didn't see her at all Ms Hatch said she
was completely crushed. She hoped. but
she was afraid .hed never be the same
again she was before
But what is the slsnder2 I'm sure |
haven't heard anything"
Nor neither When asked her she
said it was too public for her 10 need 10
/ repeat il. should think" With a momen-
iary twinkle Of his eve. by the fuss .he
made tina, it must be pretty bad, either
| murder or arson or burglary AT least" The
deacon was a mild hammered man. Of grea,
| proprie,y Of conduct and speech. bu, after
{ moment. pause he exclaimed Hang /, all.
| rJsh they would 60. then mebby could
have little pesCc Of m, 'lfc Only .ast
winter there was row because Mrs Spence
took her little boy out Of Almrs Sophla'S
SUNDAY school cas- into her own. and
rad 70 &c, that sragh'ened out and not
i"o months ago bad to x 10 the new min
sier and tel. him that Sister Hatch saw him
- 20 Harvey Apps twas a,i on busjncs.
tool 81 she felt vcTs much huri. and ,.idn't
know what she'd done, tha, the new minis
ter should 50 right past her to call On lac
other church members. And a. the le4-
cons feeling. rose with the RETROSPECT, be
exclaimed with added emphasis. Il hope
iaey wi. 60, iumbrd # don, So
Agonsc Was a ,'lc country village.
where when an, pebble Of incident dropped
INTO iis quiet surface, the resulting agitation
quickly reached IL outer border 81 Il va.
soon known the Widow Hatch and A,rnira
Sophia had stopped attending church and
were so,ny 20 withdraw from It. because the,
had been sisndcred BY the members, and
that the widow had been ominou.l, heard to
remark that "If some people didn't look GA,
they i SCI the ..~ tAk.a tp them" The
slaHder formed The centre Il por-otiice Co.
sip. snd furnished the principal topic Al the
sewing socleiy indeed one or two tea par
ties we're given on the strength Of Il. and any
number Of afternoon and evening calls made.
~ the circle. ~,dcncl other interest. were
touched. \ Leading member oE the opposite
raIrCh for Aigonsc boast. oniy Two drnoml-
nations. commonly known from the color y
,heir ediace. a. The 'Bro~n" and White
church, between whom -I.,cd The 1itlerrsy-
hiry too often seen IN .n.N y!lase.l va. t--
ported 10 have s.ii lhs, she va, not a bH
surprised she had a.w.,. had her opinion
s5au, some Of those W hue church people.
/: they did act a. ,toush they thought them
selves saints Ard the "htosn churcb"
munster 2abscy thsnket tie Lord thar
peace snt harmony rclgnel .mou. ih-m.
snl ,ha, the voice Or fal.e accusation wa.
not heard in th.r 'en. OF Z.on." 10 which
the w hate church people reiort-d that The,
hoped they never would b. su.ty IF .s3ow-
irs the narrow sectartan. .elt-z .arlfylns
-
church. snd a. re,u., union prayer-
meeting which had been started and vas
promising 10 brlns he tvo churches into 4
closer bond Of unity vas broken up and the
Old root Of bitierne. between Them took a
new snd vigorous growth. III. adole.ceai
lawyer Sho had hung out hi. .sn in Alson
az, and ra. By 10 mean. Overwhelmed with
clients, percepilbiy frightened Al the men
ton uf llbel suit, and not only read up the
law on such cases. but went - lar s. TO
stroll ou, past the wldo-'. house, and on
his return 10 cal. a. The door, o.t.nsibl, 10
ask for glass Of water ~ilh the ld-a D. in-
iroducing the interesting subject But the
stern stare OF the ~ldoas pale ewes, The
oo.dnes. Of her demeanor aud Ii. awtul an
responsiveness Of her tone. were too much
fox bis youth.u. auiao.iy, and lie hastll,
beat retreat.
Bat during tins time the s,raugest OF II
al VAS that nobod, Knew y hot the slauGer
was. or 9ho had perpetrated H. A.m!ra
Sophia remained invisible and Mrs Halen,
when approached on the matter by those of
sufficient leInerlt, OF spirit, had assumed to
>ld,r /, universally known. and had CON
tented herself with some fearful a!lusions 10
,heir condition a. lone ~lmmin to be put
a. 4
folks had better be careful what the, "a, If
they didn't want trouble"
But this ignorance only added the favor
of plquancy to the gossip. and gave a wide
ula} Of fancy for conjecture The shoe
maker entertained knot Of lounger. IN his
shop, with the opinion that the scandal was
that the widow had caused her husband.
death by petrlfying him by looking at him,
and one Of the listeners. after the laugh had
died away. had haxarded the guess" tha,
twas that the dow or Almra Sophia was
gong to he married." wttlcism which
elected another roar. Nearly every one
held different opinion, and held to his own
with the greatest tenacitv. so that disputes
concerning the matter were not only numer-
Gus and frequent, but were carried to such
| heights that. in consequence, Mrs Slee and
-'iies Nluii4D Giu llpL speak 10 tdtH OlUeT Ibr
| SIX months. and Parson, Il Whtbeck. the
! butchers, became so angry that they dis
solved their business connection on the spot
In one thing, however, all agreed that it
must be decidedly grave and affecting the
moral character Of the accused A. 10 the
/ aceuser, that was equally difficult to fix up
/ on. Suspicion rested upon several, who in
/ turn resented the imputa,ion angrily, while
| the feeling of mIstrust pervading the air and
/ likely to fall at any time on none knew
/ whom.gave to the community general sense
/ Of restless suspicion.
/ There is no knowing how long the mys-
terous slander would have continued to
! disturb Algonac or in what further compli-
cations its people would have become in
I volved because of it, had it not been for
( Aunt Parnel Bassitt, who was wont to boas,
that she ''ment TO see as fur into milstun as
anybody could" and who had the courage
and perseverance TO probe the matter to the
bottom.
Well she triumphantly announced one
afternoon, stopping on her homeward way
when Deacon Hail and his wife sat on their
porch. 1--WE found out what there is to that
scandal business"
"You haves do tell us !" they both ex-
claimed.
THAT. just what stopped for, though l
q - al. =