Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1886-02-20
THE GOLDEN WEDDING.
TRANSLATED FROM TIE FRENCH OF MO-
RAND.

They lived in a little low house near
Ayignon. He was wrinkled and bent
like an old olive tree, and she, tanned
and with hair white as snow, held her.
self still erect and proud.
They were about to celebrate their
golden wedding, They had been mar
ried fifty years; he was II years old
and she was only CO. And how they
loved each other! How well they un-
derstood each other!
Theresa knew all the manias of the
old fellow, cooked him nice little
dishes, and sent him to the cafe to en-
Joy himself. He, too, was full of at
tention for his Theresa, was careful to
shut off the drafts from her, helped her
in the drudgery of tho household, and
every day they could DO seen leaving
the house, side by side, in quest of
some sunny spot where they could sit
to warm their old blood. They owned
a vineyary; it vas their treasure. At
the time Of the vintage they installed
themselves in their property and super
intended the gathering of the grapes.
Fortunately, their vineyard had been
preserved from the inroads of the
phylloxera, and each year the old
couple harvested their little benefit;
they economical with delight, not for
themselves, the good old creatures,
but they had a son-a dearly beloved
son.
For him they had made all sacrifices,
and when having twice failed he had
passed a painful examination and had
become a bachelor of sciences they had
sent him to Paris, hoping that the great
city would make a rich and celebrated
man Of him.
Country people, particularly the old
ones, those who are still afraid of rail-
roads, think that Paris can turn out
nothing but great men, honored and
rich.
The little old couple had enc great
interest, one passion in life-their only
son, who had left them long ago to go
to the capital, as they still say in
Avignon.
Every month there came a letter
with more or less details, always end
ing with a demandfo for money-demand
put as q postscript, ~discreetly. Still
Rogers was a stock exchange man, and
these demands for money astonished
Theresa. For the last week OF the
month the little old fellow and his
wife heightened their daily walk and
went to meet the letter-carrier With u
hurried step.
The postman knew them well and,
upon my word Of honor. he doubled
his pace whenever he had a letter from
the PARTISAN" As Rogers was called;
ho knew, too. that there was always a
glass of wine waiting for him at the
house Of the old couple. This time
IhOGCiS i1t pAoLill0pd w Soitlc lOIht lOi
the celebration of the golden wedding
of his parents.
Five years had passed since he had
come to embrace his relations, always
promising and always putting eff his
visit from spring TO fall and fall to
spring. But this time it was a sacred
promise, The golden wedding"
Everybody knew it; the cure, the
innumerable cousins, the neighbors,
the friends. The whole OF Avignon
was rejoiced; they had even thought
that the newspapers would speak Of it!
They we're in the middle of the
summer. and, Notwithstanding the heat
of the day, the good old people had
gone off on the high road, waiting i'm
patiently for the news of Rogers s ar
rival; his oom was ready, and at the
other end OF the cellar there were a
great many bottles of excellent wine
and all sorts of preserves slowed away
for him. The old man wiped his fore
head and the poor mother seemed op.
pressed, but both went on valiantly to
meet the happiness which they ex-
pected.
After awhile, at a distance, notwith-
standing their dim eyes, they recogniz-
ed the blue blouse of the letter-carrier,
and on his coming nearer they saw
him wave a letter over his head. Its
envelope seemed to be made luminous
by the rays of the midday III shining
upon it.
The postmSr drew nearer, and the
old man seized tho blessed letter, while
Theresa looked for her spectacles and
seated nerself by the roadside near the
ditch.
She was younger; she could read
better than her husband.
The envelope was opened carefully;
the old man took it, turned it over, and
smelled of it, happy to mold this fragile
paper which came from tho ''little