Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1888-05-05
GRATITUDE IN A SAVAGE.


Walter Stacum to his young wife, as he
kissed their boy and laid him in her arms ;
" l shall return before dark, without fail y
But my dream of those terrible saw
ages, Walter" she said, creeping closely to
him.
"Oh, pshaw. Nellie" he replied; that
shouldn't occasion you thought. There
haven't been any traces of the savages dis
covered this season, so that more than
likely they are miles and miles away from
here"
But you know, Walter, they are a
secret as well as terrible enemy" said Mrs.
Stacum, raising her blue eyes to her hus-
bands face, with that pleasing expression
when tears seem ready to start, but yet are
checked by the fear of giving pain to the
one the heart loves.
l shan't go to the fort to-day" he
said, taking off his hat and tossing it on
the table.
Oh, now, you must, Walter" reioined
Mrs. Stacum. " You know you promised
your father, and he expects YOU on i'm
portant business. Don't let my fears de.
tain you; | know they are childish. but
they shall not make me unreasonable
You had better CO."
Not without you" said her husband
who now began to feel the fears that She
was endeavoring to shake off, "Come. qet
our little Walter ready, and we will 90
down together"
His wife paused few moments as if
considering her husbands proposition.
How perplexing, how difficult of expIa-
nation, how contradictory are the FEELINGS
and wishes of the human heart Scarce
five minutes had elapsed since Mrs Sta
cum would have thought that permission
to accompany her husband would have OBJ
waited every inconvenience and been Mt
tended with no danger. But other consid.
erations now arose. Walter had been
summoned to attend public meeting on
affairs cf the town. Were she to 90 with
him it might excite notice and comment
because the ladies of those DAYS seldom
visited; and in case inquiries should be
made she could hardly satisfy the ones.
tions without alluding to her fears. and
there was no telling when or where the
excitement might stop. And, moreover.
she was afraid her husband might ineur
reproof from the elders for listening to his
wifes fears and dreams, and thus raising
agitations among the people
will have more courage Walter y
she said. . won't make a fool of Won
though appear like one myself. | will
not 60. 1t is nearly mile from here to
the garrison, and you have no time to
spare to carry the babe and she i'm
printed loving kiss upon the infant face
that was pressed close to her BOSOM" or
to wait for me, and l ought not , 90: so
do not let me hinder you anot..er nc
ment."
1t was in vain that Walter besought her
to accompany him. The more she saw his
generous anxiety on her account, the more
she endeavored to suppress her fears, till
finally she persuaded him, and herself too
that she felt no uneasiness at all from the
prospect of spending three or four hours
alone; and Walter departed.
The house of Walter Stacum stood on
the bank of the Miami river, nearly mile
from the little village of Glenvale. Walter
was the first who had ventured to reside at
such distance from the garrison, or fortified
houses that surrounded the village, and he
had thus gained the reputation of remark
able courage, of which he was proud as
any man could be. His wife. too. partici-
pated in his triumph, and the wish To
spare HIM modification was a powerful
motive to inspire her with resolution to
overcome her own fears and allow him to
depart, when, from the presentiment she
felt that danger was nigh, she would, by
the superstition of the times, have been
justified in OBTAINING, or at least in accom-
panying him. But she saw him depart
ithout tears, watching him from the
small window till he entered the forest.
and then betook herself to her household
concerns. Yet she could not forbear going
frequently to the door, and sometimes she
would go forth and gaze all around their
little domain, and then watch the progress
of the sun, with an expression of counte-
ance that, to an observer, would instantly
have revealed the agitation and anxiety
her heart was suffering.
Everything abroad was in perfect quiet
ness. There was scarce breath of air
perceptible, and the waters of the Miami
flowed without ripple. The calm july
sky looked a deeper and more heavenly
blue, seen, as it was, by Nellie, from a
spot circumscribed by tall trees, which
were now clothed with such fullness of
foliage Us made the forest dark and almost
impenetrable. Close around the house
the cleared land was planted with corn
and vegetables, and field of wheat in
front OF the dwelling stretched in un-
broken green to the rivers edge.
The stiffness Of the air was profound.
and broken at intervals by the chirping of
a robin that had built her nest on an old
oak which stood close to the southwest
corner of the house, the only tree that
Walter had suffered to grow within the
inclosure. The young birds were fully
tiedged, and, under the guidance of their
parents, were about essaying their first
flight in the air. Nellie watched their
movements-the old bird now encour-
aging. now seeming to chide, their timid
offspring, till finally they reached the
woods, and all disappeared in its sombre
depths.
Slight as the circumstance was, il touched
Nellie with sense of her loneliness.
Even the birds have left me-" she said,
and, pressing her boy to her bosom, she
burst into tears
Nellie might well be excused these tears
and feelings, for though a wife and
mother, she was still but girl. not vet
having passed her eighteenth birthday.
She watched the sun till it had disap-
peareG behind the distant hills, and then
she watched its beams on the feecy clouds
till the last faint tints had departed. and
fixing her eyes steadfastly on that part OF
the forest from which she expected to see
her husband emerge, she sat at her door,
with her boy in her arms, watching for
his appearance. The room into which she
occasionally glanced looked so gloomy and
desolate, that she could not summon Zip
resolution enough to enter it Indeed as
the evening grew on, and her fears in
creased, she sometimes imagined she saw
strange figures, and faces with cleaning
eyes, such as she had beheld in her dream.
moving around the dusky apartment.
AZ. r 81. l.