Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1888-03-29

May" and nature was cay with the
tints of the tender green OF oak ard
ash and all the noble trees that
make up the glorious forests of Wis
consin The delicate wld flowers
bloomed in the rocky recosses, and
peeped from the leafladon turf and
from among the cushioning MOSES
whence the deep snow had lately
departed
And all the land was filed with
the warmth and gadness that makes
the birds sing and the heart light.
This, also, we must remember,
was the time set for Sam Pilchard's
"merrie" marriage, but with great
pilliculty he had obtained p reprieve,
and never a felon rescued from the
gallows was moro happy than he.
He had held forth 10 Elizabeth, with
elaborate arguments, that since
Molly aud Jack were TO be married
In the latter part of June, il would
be best to put off their own felicity
till that time, and make "a double
wedding of it. lie carried a des
parate hope in his bosom that some
thing might turn up to prevent il,
and in case no something" came
by chance, he was divided between
thoughts of suicide aud "hying the
country" All of this he contided
to Ina, who strongly urged the latter
course as being more satisfactory to
him, aud eminently so to her.
They were making a flower bed
on the narrow strip of land that led
down from the doorstep to the gate;
and a quantity of generous mold
having been wheeled in by Sam and
Jack, they were parcelling it out
into picturesque forms.
at will take 80 long for the seeds
to come up" said Molly. "Would
it not be a good plan to so out into
the woods and dig up some wild
flowers roots aud all, so that we
could have flower bed all abloom
at once2'
Jack, who was helping her to put
in shape an octagon plat, thought
the idea was most excellent, which
was what he generally thought of
everything she said.
"lt's only nine O'Clock, and We
could take lunch aud be- gone all
day-go of to some pretty place
where there is spring and we
could gather cresses for our broad
! and butter If there was stream
we could fish and have such a good
time. Let's all sol What do you
say lna?"
"You might guess ehal lll say.
Wen 60, to be sure; and Pm off for
the lunch. Now mind you don't
spoil that bed, Sam. Tbercl Oh,
you clumsy-you'ye put your foot
! on it'll"
"Ah dearl SO 'avo. But do 'ee
go long an fix up the lunch |
want a cold pasty nichnacks for
me. l'll fix up the flower bed"
So the two girls were of, in a
hurry. Joe, as usual Of late, wasn't
! at home. Neither was he at the
: mine. Bunce's, or some other
equally disreputablc place, had
claimed him for a day or two, and
it had been bis habit of late to get
away with all bis share Of tho profits
OF the mine. So Joc's bad conduct
threw gloom over the otherwise
{, happy company that started out that
bright spring day TO gather flowers.
Until they were fairly qp in the
timber as far as the little church,
sam was apprehensiye Of the arrival
Of the dragon, after that he threw
all care for the future aside, aud set
IN to enjoy himself as only Sam
knew how.
AT The time Of which we write,
with the exception Of a few small
cleariugs in tho woods, an that
region was an unbrokcn wilderness
stretching from Lake Michigan to
the Mississippi forests inJerspersed
with oak openings and broken by
the rank meadowiauds Of the mar
row valleys. Like the Dutch who
sank piles in the harbor Of New
/ Amsterdam whereon to make their
garden plots, so the early settlers Of
/ Wisconsin went iutothc dense woods
and feIlcd the tree. 10 make "cIear-
ing" while all around them lay the
fertile land OF the small prairies
/ We mention this from the fact that
Sam, who Jagged litIe ways be-
hind with Ina, was making calcula-
lions of how long it would take him
to clean out ten acre patch, which
to him seemed a mammoth farm, in
the event Of eiuding Elizabeth.
"But wot would a man do out ere
i'll the wilderness, that was never
made for anyone but sayages 70 live
in. A gndred 'ear- from now il
will De- tle same 1t would take
Chat iolg segkon To cut ali these
trees q ,wp. No. mv maid. this will