Sierra County advocate. [volume] (Kingston, N.M.) 1884-1960, 1886-04-10

shoes and thought how he had nevcI
cried or fretted when he was baby
and how he always laughed and wavet
| his hand At me; and | wished we ha,
both died when he was born.
Il never heard any thing from hin
for ten long years. know he wrote
! but his father would not let me see tn,
letters. felt bad, terribly bad about
! IT, And then we had other troubles
too. The barns burned and gooc
many of the cattle died, and then JOIN
married, and that was the worst trla
of all. His father felt satisfied, fol
John wife was a spry, managing
woman; but never took to her. She
was too close, and she came into the
family AT aSime when felt rs if any
more cloSeness would be the death OF
me. Johns father had had n lawsuit
and lost it, and finally. to save the farm,
| he had decided il TO John. John agree.
ing that he should have the control OF
II rs long as he lived
1--WE got along somehow for year
or two; but John took such good care
of the money, aud his wife took such
good care of every thing else, that il
kind of broke MS down
IF could oct amy place to work,
John father said to me one night. i d
90. don't get enough to eat here.
"lle wasn't what he used to be |
could see. His shoulders stopped and he
looked downhearted and out OF spirits;
and he wasn't as close as be had been,
though perhaps that was because he
hadn't any thing to be close with. He
had been a hard man to MS all, but
began to kind o. pity him. He couldnt I
walk in his orchard and pick up an ap-
pie without Johns wife following him
close and calling:
Father, father! don't pick the mar
ket apples And as they were all mar
ket apples according to her tell, he
never dared touch one. Finally things
got SO bad that we didn't have any
thing but corn-meal mush TO eat
Though corn-meal mush is nourishins
and good for change, can say rs
like it for II steady thing. But we hat
to eat it, And father some way had
got to calling him father said it made
him sick TO even see corn growing.
"Onc night when he couldn't sleep
for thinking of it, he asked me if sup.
posed they had mush all the time at the
poor-housc. told him 'twant no ways
likely that they had it more than half
or three-quarters of the time. and then
he said we'd 20, And though | had
little pride, or did have once, ! felt as
though even the poor-hot.e would be a
relief, and the next morning set about
getting our things ready TO go.
but we never went, for that night
Sod sent my boy home. OH how GLAD
We were to see him. | cried. and his
father cried. Father was completely
broken down; but when Edward said he
was going to take us back to the West
with him. his face frightened, and he
asked Edward in q whisper if he lived
)n farm.
"No, said Edward, laughing, i am
4 lawyern Il am glad of that, said
ather; i am glad of that If was to
see any more corn | don't know but
should 90 clean ont of my mind.
81 live in town, said Edward, put
ing his arm around me in the old way,
and ! am going to have one of the
and best housekeepcrs YOU
,ver saw.
II asked him who the woman was
With a sinking heart, for | had kind |
If dread of daughters-in-law, and he
answered, My mother. 49, n. J.
IIfortI