Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1886-03-03

fer ter walk off alone. A silk gown in
the neighborhood o. the cove in them
days would make q stone wall stare, m
more specially on to fisherman's wife
thet ginrally felt pritty proud ter get
new caliker. Some folks thought twas
kinder lnsultin' ter the parsons lady,
thet hadn't nothin' better than alapaccy
ter her name, ter hev thet gown flaun-
ted into her face; M she did look real
kinder convicted, m solemn, m dis
approyin' when she sot her eyes onto it;
but l say now, as said then, that Miss
Cram had as good right to wear it,
eff she came by it honest, ez anybody
livin'
but Galassy, herself, didn't come
home on visit or nothin' fur about
five or six years, m then she appeared,
bag m baggage, as il she'd come fur
good, bringIn' with her a nice little
light-complected boy, thet she said wuz
the craven image of his father, about
four years old. M after a spell folks
begun ter say in the store as how her
m her husban' didn'tpull oars together
dretful well, m she'd been m left him.
though he still fOrked over enuff cash
ter keep the boy m her like kings m
queens.
"'N' some folks was a whisperin'
that she warn't married at all, m all
kinds o. bigoted and nonsensical ru-
mors wuZ talked over on an evenil'
when the mackrel fleets was in. But
ez fur me an marm, we alweZ stood up
fur Galassy. She wuZ a fust-rate
neighbor, powerful good in case o.
sickness, m warn't never ashamed ov
her old friends nor stuck up obove 'em,
eff she could wear silk gown and ride
in stable team. She was dretful good
ter her own folks, too, bought new
bote for the old man, fixed up the
house, that warn't nothin' but a shaky
ole cabin in the first place, till it look
ed jest like palace outside m in, m
pervided the best kind er vittles fur the
hull family. l tell you there warn't
nothin' but store tea drunk there. Her
little chap, Robert she called him, took
d great likin' ter me, m would ernough
sight rather 60 out with me in my bote
than with his grandady in his'n, m me
m marin both liked him fust-rate fur
he wuz proper smart, good. natered
little feller, always chock full o. busi-
ness m playin' off his little jokes on
me whenever he got the chance. Him
N my boy, Seth, got along fust-rate
tergether, too, m wuZ CRATE friends,
though Seth wuz quite spell ahead On
him in years, m scarce ever an evenin'
went by but he'd be over settin with
US round the fire, a coaxin' of me ter
tell stories. He wuz master hand fur
stories m could listen ter the same one
over and over and over again with his
eyes jest rs big as saucers, m scarce a
DRAWN ov his breath. M it seems,
heIikes ter hear my yarns now jest as
weT as ever he did in the world, m him
chock full on college learnin', m able
to hold his own with eny pars0n livin'.
His mother, she wuz jest bound up IN
him; accordin' ter her recknin' he wuz
Us nigh perfeeshin' ez erytkia' ever
born inter this imparflc state O. exi5-
tencen, mn hevin grown kinder sub
dued like m quiet sence she wuz girl
eff she could only foller him round with
her eyes, m know't he wuz all right,
she 'peared ter be parfectly contented,
m twas his likin fur this place that
kept her here summer m winter. Now
m then she'd take him off to the city
for spell in cold weather, bnt the little
tyke would git ser hemesick she'd soon
hey ter bring him back agin m let him
tumble about on the rocks m go out
on the water with the fishermen. But
ez he grew bigger she begun ter git kin
der nerved-up about his eddication, m
when the news o. his fathers death
came, that wuz when ne wuz about ten
years old, she'd nigh about made up
her mind fer ter send him off ter some
boardin' school whether or no.
..Now I'd seen Galassy bout every
day durin' her long spell o. livin here,
m she never wuZ the one ter mention
her husban's name ter me, but when he
was dead, she seemed all up into heap
n the day she went off fer ter see
bout hevin' his property settled IN
make her cloims, she wuz jest as white
as a ghost. She war'nt gone morn
three weeks, m when she came back
agiu. she wuz whittier still, m her coun-
tenance looked eZ mournful e5 thct
there old hulk over yonder does, ct
nlghtfall.
az was over ter the village when the
stage come in, m when she got out'n'
see me, she busted right out cryin'.
Oh, JOEL sez she, what is a goin' ter
b.come o. my pere boy? I've been'n
lost my merriage stifkit, mall his faith
er's property is goln' ter distant rela-
shuns.'
"sLor,' says l, a tryin' ter comfort
her a leetle. Bob halnt one o. the kind
o. chaps thet needs a fortin FUR ter
build him up. He'll make up his own
way in the world fast enough, m take
care of his mother lik lady, too.' M
Bob was ez smart ez cricket, enyhow.
But she only shook her head kinder
mournful.
"sStrange, how everything liz agin
me- she wen on. MY lawyer he says
there haint nothin' ter be done less l
ken find thet stifkit, fur the town hall
over in Greenviile where we was mar
ried hez been burnt down, m all the
records with it,
"'Well, likely enough you'll come
acrost the stifkit, sez l; "a bit o. paper
like that ez terrible likely ter git mis-
laid.'
"sBut Sarched the house through
and through fur it, fore l went away.
knowini fur sure that it would be called
fur she sez; but 'twarnt nowhere to
be found, m reckoned I'd put 1t away
ez safe ez anything ken be in this world
Whv. 'twarnt more'n two weeks ago
that I came acrost 1t folded up In
bag, m looked it over. remember
wonderin' why the paper had grown
ser waller in 'leven years, though to be
sure 'leven years is good stretch
"sYou shure you didn't put it where
the wind could ha' blowed it awayT
sez 1, kinder refectin'.
"sI'm sure put it away safe my
self, sez she, but s'pose somebody
might ha' rubbidged, 'mongst my things
IN let it git lost that way. It's GER
tain that no one in my own family
would ha' destroyed it purpose, m if
there's them in the place that has spite
apin me ter steal it, don't see how
thew could ha' got inter the house fur
fer find it; we alwez keep our doors
locked when we're away
"Wesl, anyhow, the stifkit warnt