Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1888-03-08


could not hold in any longer while
pcrsonatng "Jo,iah and Samantha"
and discussing their visits to Jones
ville' with 1.-THE old mare and buggy"
their trials arising from sewing ma
chine agents and lightning-rod men.
anxiety about "Tirzy Ann" and
"Thomas Jefferson" and thousand
and one absurd things poor Josiah
Aliens Wife" never dreamed of; UNI
til, in spite of herself Mrs. Brown
laughed till she f irly ried
And this was only u score of similar
days since vacations commenced and
Cousin Rhoda had been their guest.
There was nothing in the way of
amusement that was unusually adj
venturesomc, or tinctured with mis-
chief, that had escaped their notice,
and not called for at least trial, from
setting the alarm clock ut all hours of
the day or night, pinning the sheets
Otgether with half paper of pins or
strewing corn cobs i'm the beds when
they did the chamber work, to eating a
dozen n piece of half-ripe Siberian
crabs. til their mouthes were so
puckered that they could not purse up
The girls ment to maka the most of
their vacations, even regardless of the
rest sometimes. though in the main
their occupations were more the out
growth of superabundant life and
spir IS than from anything malicious
in the makeup of either.
OF course there was many and many
an hour in all those glorious summer
days when they gave themselves up to
Nature influences. and drank i'm her
beauties and rare pleasures with the
Same abandon that characterized their
proceedings; for Glen Farm
was the most delightful place in
the world. and never failing in sup
PIES OfpIeasure 10 those who care to
search among its stores. But all the
long forenoon of that dav, not soon to
be forgotten by poor Sarah. not the
cool woods, with its ferns and sweet
wild flowers, nor the little creek rip
pling through the ravine with frog
and minnows. tadpole and crawlish for
its inhabitants, not the tiny tow-boat
moored by the riverside. nor the grand
old bluffs that ovGr-shadowed them
across the stream, possessed single
charm to the untractabe girls full to
overlooking of restless vivacitv
Immediately after dinner. Mr. and
Mrs. Brown and little Hope drove of;
mamma and Hope 10 spend the after
noon with Aunt Louise. and ride home
with Mr. Brown on his return from the
CITY. After helping Sarah little about
the dinner work. the Girls went up
stairs, Sissy TO write TO Christine Kun
est, and RhOda to assist her by looking
up doubtful and unfamil ar words i'm
the lexicon; for Christine was Ger
man countess, about Sissy's age, with
whom she had become acquainted
through friend of both, who had rs
sisted them in undertaking IA CORE
spondence for mutual pleasure and
profit, Sissy writing as best she could
in German, and the little countess re-
plying in her quaint, broken English.
That pleasant task completed. after
n short consultation rs to what it was
best to do next they went down stairs.
and stopping ut the dining room door.
where Sarah was ironing, to let her
know where they were going, they
strolled off to the woods.
The girls were scarcely out of sight
before Sarah began 10 feel nervous.
She lived i'm n constant dread of tramps,
for the country was oyerrun with the
that summer. The papers were filled
with a., cunts of their ravages, and
even in this quiet neighborhoOd there
were repeated cases of timil women
fr frightened by these bold inlrudcrs. and
not few instances of rough handling
or even serious injuries.
Scarcely II day passed but one or
more suspicious looking individuals
crossed the ferr, just below the house,
and e large part of these made them II
visit, begging for food old clothes, u
place to sleep, and sometimes asking
for work; respectful enough when the
men were at home, but often bold and
insolent in their manners, and difficult
to get rid of when they found the
women alone. Some of them really
looked as wretched an fOrlorn as they
protested, and took what was given
them gratefully, showering their fer
vent God bless you's." upon the fam
lily as they went away.
Left alone, Sarah foolshly allowed
her imaginations full play and coniur-
ed up one of these dreaded visitors at
every noise. ut the same time recalling
all she had ever known or heard of
their lawless deeds, and stopping to
listen ut the slightest sound. The quiet
house seemed so strange and lonely in
the unusual stiffness; each thump of
the smoothing irons. rs she continued
her work. the creaking of loose
blind, even the sound Of her own foot
steps echoed through the great rooms.
making the solitude almost unendura-
BILE, while the constant swish of the
maple leaves against the window, as
the wind swayed the branches, made
her start and look anxiously out again,
and again to assure herself that that
was really all that made noise so like
the approach of some intruder. Glanc-
ing uervously out the window for the
| twentieth time she found her fears
! about to be real zed, for there, within
the very dooryard, stood two of the
most ungainly men in earnest consul
! tation; their shabby dress, with their
slouched hats drawn low over their
eyes. the low eager conversation, in
terspersed with frequent furtive chances