Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1888-01-12


with intensity.
But they moved down ter Pond
vile the mex spring after they wuz
married." said Migdol IAN We hain't
seen 'cm sence."
Guess ye wuz sort o. gone on
Mirandy. yerself, want ve?" inquired
Dedham, slyly. IL can recollect how
We use ter purr round her."
'-Oh. you git QUIT" said Hiram. But
the soft light i'll Hiram's eyes and the
faint flush that peepcd through his
grizzied whiskers belied his words.
1T looked powerful like it." said
Dcdhan.. IAN you two young folks use
ter Gu: up terrible in meetin'-'spe-
cially durin' the second pray'r Why.
I've seen We eatin' apples behind the
origin an maxim faces at Deacon
Moses Skinner. an writin' notes ter
each other. an a-drawin' picters in
the hym' books. Once We borrered
Noble Pratt's jack-knife ter whittle 4
picter O two hearts on the back O. the
origin. an We labeled one on 'em M
fur Mirandy. an 'tother H fur
Hiram. DO We remember it?''
Yes, an Lem Haskell, the good
young man who pumped the origin.
caught We at it. interposed Boyleston;
IAN he said he wuZ surprised that two
young folks who had been brought up
in the nurtur an admonition o. the
Lord could carry on so.''
Lem married Hepsy Burdette-
good. lively gal as ever lived" said
Brattle Street. Use ter be mighty
clipper when she fust come inter tho
choir, but when she found her fine
clo'es an ribbins an feathers wuz
a-draggin' her down to perdition, she
gin 'em to her sister Matildy."
Hiram remembered this venerable
witticism. and he remembered Hepsy
Burdette and Lem Haskell, too. Lem
was troubled with tits-a mild sort of
epilepsy. Between the enfeebled con-
dition of his intellect and his weekly
employment at pumping the organ he
fell into and maintained the pleasing
notion that he himself made all the
music the organ emitted.
And so they hrmmcd and whispered
to him-these old, familiar tunes of
the Cal nina: Duke Street. and lux
bridge" and ''Windham'' and ':Dun-
dee'' and "Olive's Brow and "Ol-
mutz''-ay, all these old friends of
Hiram's boy life among the Vermont
hills. They talked with him of the
common, the old courthouse, the
tavern. the bobbin factory, the spellin'
schools. the huskin-bees, the saw-mill,
the trout brook. the buryin' ground on
the hill, OF Ginerai Kimbalrs orchard,
and the long tlower-beds in front O.
the old homestead; and they talked of
the times when Hiram went sugarin'
Oft. and played hi-spy in the mcetin'-
house sheds. and went slidin' down.
hill on moonlight winter evenin's. or
attended general trainin'. and played
three-old-cat on the common, and
chased butterflies in the home lot, and
got scoldcd for tramplin' down the
rowcn. And as they talked they spoke
of tire war.
mo. we didn't go ter the war;"
said Old Rockingham, "but we KEEP
the wimmin folks comp'ny while the
men an boys wuz away, an calc'late
we saw. a grander martyrdom than
you could ha' found on any o yer
battle-tields. The men he'd lots ter
keep EN- braced up. for there wuz the
activity O. war, the excitement o
change, an the thought O. fame.
country, an all that sort O. thing; but
the wimmin folks-there wuz nothin'
fur them ter do but ter wait. an ter
pick lin:, an ter pray"
1.-The hills stood guard all round
said Dedham, las much as ter say:
There sha'n't no sorrcr come to the
wimmen folks if we kin keep it away:
an it seems as if they tried to keep
their word, too. for the stage that
fetched the mail from Brattleboro allus
broke down two or three times on the
road. whenever it had bad news from
the boys who had gone to the war;
Oii, DuC HOW SOIt - ucTCc llkc LuC
minister use ter read out the hymns in
them days" said Ortonville; IAN how
he KEEP tightin' over the battles O the
war in his prayers an sermons"
'.An' how the hull congregation use
ter RE up an sing Praise God from
whom all blessings flow. whenever
there wUz news that the Green Mount |
ain boys he'd won a battle!" cried Old
Hundred. proudly.
.'Yes. yes. we must hev played our |
part in the struggle" said Near, SOL
EMMY, .'for we helped ter give the !!
wimnien folks heart-an' it's VIM
mems prayers. tell We, that win hall
the battles men fight" /
The old tune-book was humming |
and murmuring to Hiram Atkins when
he fell asleep. and he dreamt he was !
a boy again.
All around him were the rugged !!