The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1888-12-21

fur tn ma'am. tew. Eef yeOu wanter
wait Pill take ye hum; but I gotter git
scme Christmas 6xi1s fust.'
The speaker was the farmer with whom
Job lodged The offer of the ride home
was declined by Job, who thrust the letter
IN h pocket and continued his walk.
"Queer cuss thet, Old Cog. Ruther
walk than ride on SIGH er night ez this uni
Wouldn't ketch me walk n eff didn't hev-
ter b'goshl Geel Ho-bahl Git-er-lang,
there, yewv' and he whipped up his horses
to a faster gait and soon widened the dis
tance between himself and job
When Job reached the turn that led
into the dark gap between the hills he
paused and leaned on the railing of a
short bridge that spanned the frozen
brink.
Christmas Evel Beautiful Christmas
Eve He looked up to the sky. 1t seemed as
though the stars were scofing at him and
the snowfringed trees nodding in derision.
The moon shOne with a whittier, brighter
light and wore a hooking smile. The
water lying under the trees fringing the
bed of the brook was completely frozen
and occasionally snapped like the pop of
a chestnut; the evergreens stood out dis
tinct and clear, and the weird music of the
wind, as It stirred the great trees, sounded
as though the very spirit Of Christmas was
already abroad. He thought of the happy
homes on which that moon was sh ming, Of
devoted husbands and wives, fond fathers
and mothers, merry children, "his fam
ily," home from school, of happy lovers,
and kind friends
And he-he stood alone in the world, an
isolated being on that silent country road
on this Christmas Eve.
A weird sensation crept over him as he
stood there. He glanced at the deserted
house. Part of its roof had dropped in
the inlet and piled itself in the center of
the flooring. How like his own heart He
felt that the ruin of that home was an in
animate picture of himself; for the roof of
his heart had been uplifted, and the chilly
snow Of unrequited love had drifted in
upon its floor.
A strange fascination that house held for
himl 1t had never been occupied during
the nine years he had been in Ciderburg.
He had never been inside Of it. 1t bore the
reputation of being haunted; but Job was
not superstitiOus, and he feared neither
COLLINS, spirits nor spooks So when some
strange feeling impelled him to jump the
fence, wade knee-deep through the snow
and enter the ruin. he was not frightened
at the noise made by some animal that
made its escape rather than resent the in.
trusion.
He walked through the several 6nOoms on
the ground floor, then explored the second
story, where ne sat upon some broken tim
bers and buried his face in his hands. The
loose shingles Tapped as the angry wind
scuhted over the dismanUed roof and the
dangling t:mbers creal1ed in mournful
tones that were soothing to the rufEied
feelings Of the intruder.
Hours passed. but he needed not time.
In his sheltered position he felt no cold;
he was partially stunned by an almost
double shock He had figured out Dots
trayal of her regard for him and the re-
turn Of his Christmas Offering to imply a
silent rejection OF his uuspoken love. To
him it was like getting to the gate of par
adise just in time to have it slammed in
his face. He brOoded until he fell asleep.
Meanw hile something uncommon took
place at the house of the hard hearted
Mayor" something that upset the plans
he had laid for twenty years past.
When Job Pippin let the volume of
poems drop from his hand and departed
without saying goodnight" he lef'
| Dorothy Flint equally as speeches. a
himself.
1t was some little time before she re-
covered sufficient composure TO gather the
letter, the book and its wrapper from the
floor Her eyes Or. mined with tears as
she brought them to the comfortable. In
! spreading the wrapper to envelop the
volume she saw her name in Jobs hand
writing. She opened the work and read
! the inscription on the hy-leaf. For a mo-
ment she nesitated, then opened the letter
| and quickly read its notifying contents.
One moments pause and she had de-
| cided.
Hastily showing the letter in her pocket,
she ran upstairs and returned with a Jew
elry casket that had belonged to her
mother; then, after examining number
of deeds and papers, one of which looked
like will she Inclosed them in the casl1et
and locked It.
An hour later she was vending her way
down the mOonlit road along which,
1,.-i Travelled IN tile dIreo mex ies tie haunt
ed house.
1t took a man of grit to ride down the
road on such cold night, and what pluck
must a woman possess to walk!
Dot paused on the little bridge where
Job had stood, and, like Job, she unused on
the grandeur of the scene, the sweet,
white world shat lay under the canopy OF
the Christmas night sky and its golden
stars Soon the silvor-tongued bells in
the little church would ring forth their
reans prOclaiming the anniversary of the
birth of the Saviour and their mus c
would rise and fall over the trees, would
die away across the snow.
Dot had thus far followed the tracks Of
Jobs footsteps, which were easily recog-
nizable in the moonlight, for but few per-
sons had Travelled the road since the last
snowfall All the farmers drove to town
in teams Now she missed the traces she
was following, but she soon found the
place where he jumped the fence.
When Job awoke from his Cramped po-
sition and gaze about him he was some
what nonplussed. AT first his memory was
not equal to an explanation of how he
came there: but only for second did he
fail to recollect, for something stirred in
his heart and brought tears to his eyes
when the bells began to ring and the soft,
sweet chimes came to him across the snow.
And softer and sweeter than the Christ
mas chimes was the cheek of velvet that
was pressed close to his own plain face
and softer and sweeter still were the tones
of the voice that VIII spered in his ear:
Merry Christmas, my lover'
When the village pastor was reused
from his warm bed to listen to their story,
nc was somewhat annoyed but when they
had finished. he exclaimed:
'Tn du ct! I'il du ct eff ct costs mer pas
sonshlpr'
And he married them then and there.
Ezra Flint awoke on Christmas morning
and found himself poor man, indeed
The papers Dot placed in the casket were
her mothers will and the title deeds to
the property left her b. the will over
which, now that she was of age and mar
~ W
/1pL~ TY//N VII