Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1889-09-14

vnelT 10
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VSllE62 clothe q few words
ySti::,,,xA with pantomime Of
S&GNGk2= much variety and
kIkjNYnV duration. From al
-5yMuhUII most the time that
her husband start
ed to the post Of
III fee, Mrs Hayn had
All been going out on
&tCuEV the verandA to look
~ for him returning.
She had readjusted
her afternoon cap several times, - she would
have done had she expected visitor; she had
picked faded buds from some late roses, had
examined the base Of one Of the piazza posts
to be sure that the old wistaria vine was not
dragging It from its place, and had picked
some bits Of paper from the little grass plot
in front Of the house; but each time she went
from one duty to another she shaded her eyes
and looked down the road over which her
husband would return. She had eyes for
everything outside the houss-an indication
Of rot at an end Of one Of the window sills, .
daring cocoon between two Stats Of window
blind, . missing screw Of the door knob-All
tribes that had been as they were for weeks,
but had failed to attract her attention until
expectation had sharpened her eyesight.
As time wore6n she went into the house
for her spectacles; generally she preferred to
have letters read to her by her husband, but
her absent sons writing she must see with her
own eyes. Then she polished the glasses again
and again, trying them each time by gazing
down the road for the bearer of the expected
letter. Calmness, In its outward manifesto
tion, was noticeable only after her hope hsa
again been deferred.
As for the old man, Hho was quite as dis
appointed as his wife, he studied q partly
loosened vest button as II 1t had been an OBJ
ject Of extreme value; then he sat down on
the steps Of the veranda, studied all visible
sections Of the sky for minute or two and
finally ventured the opinion that q middling
lively shower might come due about midnight.
Then he told his wife Of having met the min
lister, who had not said anything In particular,
and Of a coming auction sale Of which he had
heard, and how eggs for shipment to the city
had looked up" three cents per dozen. Then
he sharpsned his pocket knife on his boot leg,
handling it as delicately and trying its edge
as cautiously as II it were an instrument Of
which great things were expected. Then
both joined in estimating the probable cost Of
raising the youngest calf on the farm to its
full bovine estate.
Finally, both having thoroughly repressed
and denied and repulsed themselves, merely
because they had been taught In youth that
uncomfortable restraint was a precious priv
ilege and a sacred duty, Mrs. Hayn broke the
silence by exclaiming:
ut does beat all"
"What does" asked her husband, as solicit
tously as II he had not the slightest idea of
what was absorbing his wifs's thoughts
why, that Phil don't write. Here's ev.
erybody in town tormentin' me to know when
he's comm back, an II he's got the things
they asked him to buy for em, an not a soil
tary word can say; we don't even know
how to send letter to him to stir him up an
remind him that he's got parents"
"Well. theirs sure to be a letter somewheres
want to know" said the old man, going
through the motions Of budding an althea
bush, In the angle Of the step, from scion
Of its own stock. "'Watched pots never
bile,' you know, an 'tain't often one gets
letter till he stops lookin' for It,"
"But tain't a bit like Phil, >" said the oIa
lady. "Why, he's been away moren a week.
thought he'd at least let us know which OF
the big preachers he'd heerd ON Sunday, an
what he thought Of 'em. Hearin' them big
guns Of the pulpit was always one of the
things he wanted to SO to thecity fos. Then
there's the bread pan I've been wantin' for
ten years-one that's got tin enough to it not
to rust through every time there comes
spell Of damp weather; he might at least rest
my mind for me by lettin' me know he'd
got H."
an Web hear all we're waitin' for. Worry's
more wearyin' than work. Rome wasn't
built in day, you know"
''For mercy's sake, Reuben, what's Rome
got TO do with our Phli l don't see that
Romes got anythin' to do with the case, on
less it's somethin' like New York, where our
boy h."
"Well, Rome was built an rebuilt good
many times, you see, fore 1t got to be all that
was expected Of it; an our Phl's goin
through the same operation, mebbe. A mans
got to be either stupid savage or finished
OF saint to be suddenly pitched from fields
and woods into q great big town without
bein' dazed. When | first went down to
York my eyes was kept 70 wide open that
couldn't scarcely open my mouth for few
days, much less take my pen in hand, as folks
say in letters. hardly knowed which foot
was standin' on, an sometimes felt as IL the
ground was gone from under me- Yet New
York ground is harder than an onbelievers
heart"
Mrs Hayn seemed to accept the simile Of
made no further objection to it; she contin-
ued, however, to polish her glasses, in antici-
patton Of what she still longed to do with
them Her husband continued to make tiny
Sits and cross cuts in the althea's bark, and
to insert buds carefully cut from the boughs.
Finally he remarked, as carelessly as if talk
ing about the weather:
"Sol Mantring's sloops got backl"
"Gracious!" exclaimed Mrs. Hayn; "why
amt you told me so beforef Soils seen Phil,
amt bel What does he sayi OF course you
didn't come home without seein' himf'
"Of course l didn't, Yes, Soils seen Phil
seen him the day before he caught the tide
an came out An Sol says he's a sumner,
too-don't look no more like his old self than
II he'd been born an raised in York. tell
you, Lou Ann, it don't take that boy much
time to catch on to whateyer's got 60 to i'll
Why, Sol says he's got store clothes on, from
head to foot That amt all, either; hen-
Here the old man burst into laughter, which
he had great difficulty in suppressing; after
long effort, however, he continued: "Sol
says he carries cane-a cane not much
thicker than ramrod- just imagine our
Phil swingin' a cane If you cant" And the
old man resumed his laughter, and gave it
free course.
"Mercy sakesl" said the old lady; 81 hope
he didn't take 1t to church with him. An |
hope he won't bring it back here. Whatll
the other members of the Young People,
Bible class say to see such COINS on by one
that's always been so properr
why, let him bring it; what's cane got
TO do with Bible classssi don't doubt some
OF the postlss carried canes; think I've SEED
'eSA in pictures in the Illustrated Family
Bible. I s'pose down in Judee ther' was
snakes an dogs .ist a man had TO take a clip
At with a stick, once in a while, same as Ia
other countries"
'What else did Sol say r. asked the mother
al L. l. -.