River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1888-12-13

sittin' alone by the fire-for we'd got to
livin' and doin' Independent like, not
waitln' on each Other-and | was feelin'
as IL I'd like TO smash every music ma
chine in the house; for it seemed
as if the Idse was comm between
! US, who'd been so much to each other
thrOu2 h MANY year of shadow and sun.
Then | got to thiukin' of the angels song
of peace and good will. and of all the help
and comfort I'd found in the wo man
thatd never failed step at my side.
since she put her arm in mine the day we
walked out of church, man and wife, to :
gether. No. says |, 'sooner than the
Idee shall come between US I'll adopt il
myself So, when next morning /
hitched up and drove to town, I'd made
up my mind to find a real peace and
goodwill offerin' for mothers Christ
mas. | was in the store pricin' thi )
thing and that, when happened to open
what look ell like a picture album (as il
was), and no sooner had / opened it than
il began to play Home Sweet Home
My first thought was that it was delu-
sion: I'd got the Idee on the brain.
shut the book and the music stopped;
opened il again aud il took up the tune,
that soft and sweet it might have been
fairy music Soon as I'd figured out
what il was, | knew that it and nothing
else was the thing for mothers Christ
mas So l traled for the album, and put
nv picture opp lsite mothers in the
fr~nt Of the book. and Christmas morn
iag laid it out for her. She undid the
paper sort of Indifferent like, and when
she saw the pretty. plush cover she says
-speakin' sort of languishin' as ye do
when you're tired-'I'm afraid you've
81
opened the book, still careless like, me a
watchin' her like a rO oiu eyein' cherr Y,
aud it began to play. You should have
seen her face, our pictures just opposite,
and the sweetest little tinlsle of III ONE
Sweet Home as if the medder- brook
had been takin' music lessons l wish
you could seen her. Elder, for it amt in
speech TO describe how mother looked.
any more than it's in paintiu' to picture
a soul. She just wheeled round to me,
that vas staudin' close and waitin'. and
laid her head on my shoulder, as she did
on TIE day / asked her, aud | could feel
her tremblin' as she chung to me, who
couldn't do or say any thing, but hold her
close and stroke her soft. shining ia r
and say; Mary, dear wife, what's
troublin' yer We both knew what it was !:
for there we stood, heart to heart, as we
hadn't stood in a long time, not sayin'
much. but one heart q telegraphin' love
to the other. through our joined hands,
till we cOuld fairly feel our fingers Jingle
with the message. There want no feel
ing of chill and fog that night, as we sat
by the fire, though whether it was the
hickory log that did seem to be doin' its
best to put on style for the occasion, or
whether it was OWN to the fact that
eli fraF oil
like courtin' over again, only more
peaceful, it amt mine 10 say.
Anyway, we was both feelin' happy, in a
quiet, restful way; aad as we sat there to-
gether, she nestled up close in my arms;
we whispered about Jason, and | spoke
comfOrtin' things and hopeful to her
about the boy. When bedtime came
that night we kneeled down, our chairs
close together, and my arm around her.
the way it used to be when we began
housekeepin'. 1 guess the Lord knew my
feelin's. and il didn't matter that my
voice was kind OF weak aud words I'M
common searce-aud as fat as feelings
went, il was as if all the Christmas angels
that ever came TO bless our hearth, was
film the room and singin': GLORY to
Gcd in the highest; peace on earth and
good will to men,
at was in the spring follOwin' that we
moved out into the country. We hal some
friends here, and perhaps 1t was their
urgin' Us; perhaps it was haukerin' after
change-sOrt of wantin' new sur
rOun'in's with our new feelings; and per-
maps it was Providence workin' in all
these things-anyway West we came, aud
here we are.
1--WE brought the Idee along, too; indeed
got to almost feelin' rs If we couldn't
keep house - ithOut it. So when mother
proposed new application OF the Idee,
by fxin' up a burglar alarm with musical
attachments, / entered heartily into the
notion. Though, l had my own little
laugh on mother about welcomin' bur-
glar with Home Sweet Home;' for we'd
got so we could joke about the Idee with
out danger.
at worked like n charm, that alarm did
1 have to laugh when / remember wakin'
up one nightOut OF a dream of the Day of
Judgment, all thunder and light and
music; there was a big storm and the
lightnin' had started the alarm and melt
ed down the wire dom il. After that we
got on without The alarm till June came.
Along in June circus came to town. i
mine we'll that one of them stick at
the tight board fence. which didn't stay
long after sun-up, / assure you. II was
always a worryin' time for mother when
a circus was in town, for she couldn't
help but think of her boy, a man grown
by this time If he'd lived. and wheth or
no he was livin' or dead. Naturally,
when we went to bed that night neither
of us felt like sleepin'. though we both
played 'possuul, layin' there as II We was
sleepin' soand as the seven. | think
must a .zed off several times, for
remember figuring the moon had done
considerable travelin' since l laid down,
when | found myself layin' there, SOFT
OF half asleep and half awake, listsnin' to
the noises of the night could hear the
horses tramp in the barn; now a
rOosjer'd crow. and again a hOs'd squeal.
/ must have laid that way some time
my mind zig-zagin' between one thing
and another. like grasshopper with a
chicken chasiG' it. Each new sound
/ seemed to start me in a fresh track; hog
squealiu' setme figuring whatthe shoats'd
scale; a twig tappin' the window made
me open nv eyes enough TO see the old
naples. their leaves all shinin' silver in
the moonlight, and I left the hogs to go
| pickiu' silver. You know how tits whe n
I you're just teterin' on the edge Of sleep.
I and you get 10 mixin' every thing your
minds been Ou-when something rOuses
/ you aud you come back snatchin' at the
/ last thing IN your thoughts. It minds me
/ OF a baby going 20 sleep with her doll;
/ her litgs hand drops as the head grows
| heavier and heavier. aud the little fingers
/ begin to unloose; but when You put your
/ hand out 10 slip away the doll, the eyes
/ come open little aud the fingers shut
tight again on dolly. | was just lettin'
| 20 my grip on the things of seIsse when,
sure as you live. heard the music-album
1 tiaklin' Home Sweet Home and the
sound fetched ne wide awaEe. That
alhun was layin' on the front-ruom
stand, and the stand was right up agen'
the head Of The bed, the partition
only seperatin'. Mother made no
+ sign OF hearin', so thinkin' shell
I dropped of b. this time. l slipped
ont OF bed Quietly and goes down the hall
7 TO the parior door, which was set ajar.
The sight I see seem'l 70 take away the
power OF motioai There was a man
/ what he looked like couldn't see. for his
I back was toward me-and there was the
/ album. open. with mother and me Oppo.
site Ia the fiont Of the book. and the
mrsic a tiakliE' Home, Sweet Home.