The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1889-08-22
DRIVEN AWAY.
II Jn.Es FnAsRLrv FITS.

. i'''i t''Nil'- 'ut HlOU tlc ldHlllN DuGN-
ing-ground at the foot of the hill, the
mcaiing-house on It's summit, and the
Mcrrimac, which winds round it. in the
F.. distance. Here, fifty years ago, she used
TO sit with her knitting in the after
moons.
She dearly loved to talk, and, as |
was her .uyoritc, many Of her quaint OBJ
seryat.)us were addressed to me. One OF
| them ! now recall, as it has certain re-
intion lo The matter of this narrative.
/ More ,hun once, as sat near her. have
I ] seen her kind brown ewes fxcdly re-
gard me over her stccLbowcd spcctaclas.
ml heard her say, with perfect gravity.
"Ny Gear, think you'll hc IN old maid.
! You're "a Robie through and through.
/ ami most Of their womcnlolks were that
kind. Indeed she added, rcGcctiyely,
/ 81 came near being Que myself"
The prophecy of the good old soul hos
/ been fulfilled. but it WAS my choice that
made 1t so. When | was twcnty-four.
: Joshua GoSs came back on a visit from the
West, whittier he had gone ten years be.
! fore TO seek his fortune. lie was of the
| pushing. thriving New England type,
already prosperous in his new home be-
yond the Mississippi, aud promising to
/ become rich, perhaps famous.
had cOrcspondcd with him occa-
! fionaIly since hc went away. | had been
his fayoritc among the girls at school.
and was not surprised when he told me
one day that hi, chief object in coming
back at this time was to induce me TO
cast my lot with his.
1t was in this very room that he asked
me. Little Percy, only four years old
then, had come in tired from his play,
climbed into my lap, and fallen asleep
Joshua waited for my answer seriously
md anXiously. My heart said YES, but
looked 20 the child, and duty badc me
say no. 1t cost me u dreadful pain, yet
| did not hesitate.
Very frankly | answered that this little
orphan in my lap was my charge; that
my brother Ephraim would never marry,
and that my duty forbade that | should
leave the old home. Joshua listened.
He did rot demonstrate nor argue, but
! had never seen upon his face just such
an expression rs it then had
"For your own sake, Patience" he
said, in % trembling voice, ~ hope You
have chosen wisely Whether SO or not,
! know you too well to Try TO alter your
resolution. Goodbye
l gave him my hanl-for an instant
watched him u, he slowly walked down
The road until the turn hid him from my
eyes, and then my life went on again the
same rs j. no interruption had occurred
Ills life since then has not been uu-
known 90 ne, nor 10 the country
Should his true name hc given here, il
would be recognized as that of one whose
voice has often been heard in the Senate
o! th" United States.
When Percy was four years old and |
twcnty-four, Ephraim was twenty-s,X,
and we three were the survivors of the
long line Of Billiards., Godircys, Robes,
Halls aud what not, running back far be-
yOnd the War of the Revolution, who
had dwclt in this ancient homestead and
titled this rocky farm.
In the last two years death had been
busy with us. First, Grandmother God.
frey, full oi years aud ready to depart,
was laid 10y hcr fathers, and within the
twclyemonth both our parents were
stricken down by the terrible scourge
that visited the village that summer.
They were carried TO one grave on the
saAc morning, while Percy picked clover
tops in the yard, and laughed ms the long
procession moved toward the hill
In the six or eight years following
think we were happier than ever again
while Brother Ephraim lived, for those
were the years when Pcrcy's sweet child
i'h ways and cunning prattle filled the
house with sunshine aud music, and be
fore any troublesome question as to his
future had come in 70 divide us.
Gods blessing and compassion, after
our sore trihulation, seemed given us in
this dear child. He was not at all like
", either in looks or actions; he never
Was. Ephraim and | were dark, almost
salloW, ike our father, and we had his
slow, thoughtful speech and ways; but
the child was like mother, fair, blue
eyed, with all her lightness of heart and
chcerincss of voice.
The picture that comes back to me most
wildly from those old days is that OF
Ephraim, stern and serious, even when
young man, as ne read the Bible aloud at
our early bedtime in his strong, nasal
tone, and bore with II patience that he
would not have exercised toward another
the interruption caused by Percy's put
ting his chubby hands upon the page.
The boy grew up bright, quick aud af
fec;ionate, but not over studious. He
was full of fun and spirit, and hated con
fnement. l date the beginning of our
troubles about him from the time that a
copy OF Robinson Crusoe" fell into his
hands.
The book absorbed him. He was thir-
teen years old at that time, but he said to
me, with all the gravity and positiveness
of "A man, that hc could never be any
thing but sailor. thought little of
what he said at the time, and treated it
as mere boyish whim; but he never
changed his mind,