St. Landry democrat., 1886-01-30

changed Her husband had not been
long gone. however, before Mrs. az
sons noticed that Johnny had 4 slight
fever, and at once began to censure her
self for not having observed it sooner
and asked John to have the doctor come
out, or at least send another prescrlp
| ton. 1t was now TOO late to do this,
and she must do the best she could
alone; perhaps after all the fever would
soon pass of.
She prepared and gave the child some
simple household remedy sponged his
person with tepid water, and sought to
alnuse him by talking OF the coming
! journey to the Slough, where Lucy and
! Erastus were, and the pleasant time
they would have when they get there.
But the fever did not 90 down; On the
| contrary it became higher as the he rs
! passed, until finally Mrs Parsons be-
came greatly frightened.
! She prepared a note to DR.. BrentOn,
/ asking him to come at once. Upon the
| envelope she wrote request that any
! one going to town would deliver it into
/ his hand She then fastened the letter
! to stick one end of which she sharp
/ ened with butcher knife, and telling
+ Johnny she was going into the yard
/ and would be back in a few moments,
ran down to the big road and stuck the
/ stick. with the letter attached, into the
ground where any one passing would be
almost certain of seeing it. This done
/ she returned to the house as quickly as
she had gone, and waited, and watched
! the one point of the road which was
visible from the window, hoping to see
/ pass team or horseman. as an assur
ance that the message had found a car
rier. One team she saw going in the
opposite direction. but if the driver of
! it saw the letter he made no effort to
forward it to its destination, fancyng,
! perhaps, that some one going to town
t would soon pass and take 1t.
As the afternoon came on. a new
cause for alarm to the watcher by the
cot of the sick boy appeared. The
clouds were gathering in way that
| betokened long-continued and heavy
rainfall. What if John should be de-
tanned until late by the business on
which he had gone; would he be able
to return at night in the midst Of the
storm which was approaching? 1t not,
how should she get through the night
all alone with the sick child? Or, what
! if John should attemptto come through
/ the darkness and rain and should meet
with an accident? She felt certain that
he would make the attempt to reach
! home that night, no matter what the
I weather might be: but would he be able
to get through? Would not the ravines
| fill with water and make the road dan
gerous, if not absolutely impossible?
She could not tell. she could only wait
and hope for the best; but every mo-
ment seemed an hour, for hours before
she had any reason to expect her hus-
band return. even if he was not de-
layed by the storm.
1t was but little after three o'clock
thick were the clouds that it
seemed as if night were already
at hand. Johnny had dropped off into
light sleep. and she sat by the window
that commanded a view OF the garden,
the level ground with the ravine below,
and the hills stretching away towards
Phippsburg and the river. The rain
came down in torrents, and she noticed
how quickly little rlls formed and ran
down between the rows and vegeta bles
in the garden, and lost themselves in the
stubble field beyond. The turkeys and
chickens, deceived by the unusual dark
ness, had all sought their roosts, ex-
cept here and there one who had been
late about getting IN and now stood
with dropping tai feathers and a gen
orally dcmOraliZed look beneath the
thick leaves of some shrub or vine.
Then it occurred to her to save for
washing purposes some of the water
that was falling, soft wafer being q lux
ury during half the year on the mount
ain: and she threw an old shawl about
her head and shoulders and went out
and set the wash tub and boiler under
the cave spout, and saw them filled al
most before she could turn back into
the kitchen.
And now Johnny had wakened and
was calling her She went to him and
felt her heart give great throb as she
noticed that..his fever was higher than
ever, and that his eyes had a strange
look about them. She preserved her
calm appearance, ministered to his
wants, and when he asked for his
father, told him that he had not re-
turned, and that they must not look for
him yet awhile, but that he would come
by and by.
During partial lull in the storm she
ran out to the shed and MIXED the
cows, which had come up of their own
accord, and were contentedly chewing
their cuds beneath the shelter The
horse left at home stood in his stall, and
kept turning his ears back and side
WAYS, as if to catch the sound of his
returning mate, and she set her milk
pail ON the ground and threw him bit
of hay.
Returning to the house she LIGHTED