The Windham County reformer. (Battleboro, Vt.) 1876-1897, 1886-07-30

"Wal," said Mis- HIT, musingly ,"thar wa nj
muIh to Hit one way or mother. He was a!
lazy as all git out; used to set out whar 'twal
sunny, sort O. dozin' off fer hull day to a tim,
and that was pretty much all he did do"
She smoked silently for moment. The laps,
OF time and the lcebleness of Hits characters
tics seemed to have nigh etfaced him from he
memory.
"Htt," she added, without emotion-"Hit
was run over on the railroad; struck by the in
jine and histed 40 foot in the air; want hui
bone lett In his body. Folks did say he was too
P,s;;Gn lazy to git out the way when he saw TIT
MIS- Hits pipe was reinstated. The hootins
OF an OWL IN the near wood sounded at slow in
tervals amid the drOwsy clamor Of the frogs
Inc scho0lmaster watched the oddly angular
neure, whose masculine effect was not much de
tracted from by the vivid calico dress. Mis-
HITS bright eyes roved in his direction.
hastus Carter d got back from Injiany,
sue sald. HE'D buried his last wife out tbs
and he was lo0kin' round fer a another, anc
when Hit was took off be come spearin' round
Aoram Doty, be was steern' my way, and 'Ras.
-, ,ps ne nared up; Jest as high tempered as ever
'Rastus was. He pinted out west apin. and
nam = never heered no more on him.
wal. ia lived with a Gurus set O. men
enouge, the land knows; but Abram Doty was
!es. ABOUT the curusest. He was gittin' long
towards 20 when took him, and he was bro Ike
down considerable; l don know as he was lest
| light IN MS mind. He was so terrible oous,
thar want no Twin with him..
MIS- Hits tone had no trace of apolopy.
piety, seemingly, mad lain without the bounds
OF ner experience, and therefore OF her under
'It 'peared to a struck in; he was clean nos
sessed. Used to set round the house n readin,
In the Bible and meditatln' on his sins-that ar s
what ne give out to be doin'-'most the hull time.
The Methodies, they was havin' meetin's down
to the pine grove. and Doty be was thar rerJar
twicet day. He over-persuaded me to 20 long
oncet, and wouldn't ben got thar again fer
no money Sech set O. looms never see and
Doty, he was bout the craziest on 'em. Ia cot
up thar and pranced round and screecbed ont
as how he was lost in the ways O. sin and give
over to the powers of darkness and lest Q. tot
term on the aidge of eternal iestice. and then
ne bust out a-singin'-coudn't sing much more
n crow, Abram Doty couldn't. declar ef
, iva nj RIDICULOUS; ~ odd year he was, and
bald as squash.
"Wuss'n ever after that. Doty was. He
couldn't abear to see me lookln' no WAYS de.
cent; he laid down that ribands and fixin;s was
lnterments o the devil; be chucked two O. nv
Dunnlts into the stove and tore up an apacy
gownd. He'd go without tastin' mouthful
fer gay to time-fastin' he give out he was
dear knows what fer; he was skinny as a raj!
to begin with. He got SO worked up cause I
stirred up mess O. fried cakes of a Sunday
oncet, that he went off to the woods and STAYED
thar for considerable spell. Ketched his death
thar, too; he come back clean sick. Neuragy
twas to the fust," said Mis- Hitt with an in.
crease of interest in bel tone; "but dretful lot
O. things sot in-pneumony and the janders and
blood pisonin' and the swellin' O. the jnts; the
doctor give in twas the wust case he'd ever
a fnr cix
out of bis head the hull time, and updergoln'
SIGH sufferin's as never hurd the like Of; We
could hear him hollerin' and groanin' clear out
to the street. Made consid able of a stir, being
sech terrible bad case; had as big a funeral as
l ever was to, Doty did,"
Mis- Hits pipe was out; the pasture had
grown quite dark, and the noise of the frogs
against the wall and closed The one small win
dow near the ceiling by means of broomstick
he schoolmaster conscious that an ignoring of
these signs would not avail him, rose from his
nai-keg.
II presume you do not consider it probable
hat you will marry again 7" he fingered to re-
mark.
Mis- Hit put up bony hand to remove the
me hair pin from her dminutve knot, hich
vas apparently to be reconstructed for the
light.
II don't know but what I've had bout enough |
; gitnn' married." she responded, with undi
FINISHED gravity.
She waited, unimpressed, while her visitor |
lowed, to shut the door behind him.
The schoolmaster paid another visit to the is. |
lated little domice toward the close of his So
ourn in district No 10, in consequence of a ru-
nor which had come to his ears. 1t was to the |
fleet that 'Rastus Carter had come back, and |
hat he and Mis- Hit had gone promptly to the
usrice and been made man and wife.
The rumor appeared to have a substantial
There were two figures in the door,
'ay-Mis' Hit stock OF chairs having been
dded to by one. The old woman sat quietly
moking, her arms folded on her knees and her
yes resting vaguely on the near field; the
hange in her position, possibly owing to its
lck of novelty, did not appear 10 have affected
err. The little old man at her side, pale in |
)mparison with her withered darkness. struck
lie schoolmaster with his resemblance to a
ushroom, beside blackened toadstool he
ad a round, shining crown, with fringe of
bite hair surmounting faded pink face. Its
acid meekness might have led one to believe
lat his "techiness" and high temper were things
the past
The scheolmaster, with a haunting certainty
being relegated to the nail key if he went in,
himself with a bright impression OF
&c small red house with the woods for back
'oand and the swampy pasture for an unlmit-
front yard, and with Mis- Hit and her last
lsband sitting in tranquil silence in the door
ay.-L Emma a Opper in Frank Leslie's.
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