The San Saba news. [volume] (San Saba, Tex.) 1873-1966, 1889-10-25


heart is sore enough to think of hi
leaving us in that way; but ! remembe
how different he is"
Ephraim rose, candlestick in hand
and cut short the discussion before i
had faily begun.
81 am his guardian; l stand in tn,
place of his father; know what Is fo-
his good; will never consent. He il
almost man, and quite abIe-bodied
Do you know that 1 am paying five anc
three-pence a day for labor2 He shall b.
informed of his duty tomorrow"
hoped that the explosion which wa
now to occur would be in my presence
that I might stand between these two
brothers, so different in age and temper
and try to moderate their passions; but
it was not to be.
Nothing was said on the subject al
| the breakfast table. When the meal wa.
finished, Ephraim said to Percy that he
wished to see him alone, and walked out
behind the barn. Percy followed him.
AT noon Ephraim returned to the house
alone, his face darker ana sterner thin
before.
'Where is Percyl' was my anxious in
quiry.
81 do not know" he replied.
My heart was heavy with apprehension.
Other questions that I asked he would
not answer.
The day passed, and supper-time came,
but not Percy. 1 thought 1 should be
sure to hear what had passed between
them before another day, but Ephraim
continued to be morose and silent, and
I passed the most unhappy night that I
had known since our parents died.
As we sat mute and oppressed at an
other and almost untasted breakfast, the
door opened. l looked round and uttered
a cry of Joy, for Percy stood there, his
hand on the door-latch. He looked very
tired, and his shoes were white with
dust.
~ couldn't go this way" he said, $50
I walked all night to come back and just
say good-by. Ephraim, don't blame me.
I've tried to think as you do, but 1 can't.
1 know I've tried your patience, and I
want you to forgive me. We must part
friends"
He took step toward the table, and
held out his hand.
"You disobey me: you quit this house
without my leave, - said Ephraim. Gun
dutifuI boy, never speak of forgiveness,
nor offer me your hand, until YOU have
ceased to REBEL"
He left the room, and during that last
twenty-four hours that Percy remained
under the roof, Ephraim saw him no
more.
A brief letter to me from Boston told
me that our truant had shipped for a
voyage to Canton. He put the world
between us at the start, and not another
letter was received by US from him.
Almost ten long years passed before any
intelligence of him reached US. They
were years of secret grief for me, which
only the cares and labors of the house
made tolerable. Not day but thought
of Percy; not night but prayed for his
safety. I used to scan me marine news
in the paper to find something about him,
and for his sake was doubly kind and
hospitable to the blue-jaekets who some
times came our way.
We filed these years with hard toll,
and the unvarying round occupations that
our situation afforded. There was rest
and the comfort OF coming nearer to God
on the Sabbath; there were the prayer
meeting and the choir meeting, and an
occasional visit with a neighbor.
But it seemed as if the larger part of
nv life had left me with Percy. I had
known that he was dear to me; but not
before the sorrowful morning of our part
ing had I realized how closely my heart
was bound to him.
His name was never spoken between |
Ephraim and me. Sometimes 1 fancied |
that some Of the petitions which my
brother offered in his prayers must be in
tended to refer to Percy; and once when
be read the chapter containing the story |
Of the Prodigal Son, his voice grew |
husky, and he finished it with difficulty. |
But he never mentioned Percy's name,
nor did he encourage me to do so.
The 18th of March, 1859, lives in my
as the darkest day of my life.
Ephraim had gone te the village after
supper, and did not return till near nine
o'clock. The candle-light was bad and
did not see his face well when he came
in. When he had hung up his hat and
turned round 1 was scared by his looks.
''What is it, Ephraim2" asked.
He took copy of the Boston paper
Of the day before from his pocket, and
handed it to me, pointing as he did so to
. paragraph which reported that the ship
Emma Montford had arrived from Cal
,utta, and that the master reported the
oss of Percy Ballard, able seaman, who
mad fallen overheard, while reefng.
We sat there together till the candle
lad burned low. The selfshness of my
OWN consuming grief possessed me; 1
hardly thought of Ephraim until he
poke. He sat with his elbows resting
IN the table, and his gaunt hands clasping
us head.
dO0 Auu4bicS anu ellllcs liic lO-ulHUL
or my hardness of heart, he said.
You never knew what happened on
hat morning when took the boy aside
o reason with him. did not reason; 1
vas harsh and tyrannical with him.
When 1 peremptorily forbade him to go
o sea, he tried to coax and persuade me.
cut him off with a stern command; he
me shortly, and chastised him
evcrely.
"Think of it, PatienceI"- Ephraim's
-oice was broken. II beat him like a
log. He ran away; but his great heart
approached him, and he came back, peni-
emit and weary, to ask my forgiveness.
You saw me-you heard me. Pride and
hardness filed my heart, and II re-
,ulsed him"
His face was turned from me; if there
we're not tears in his eyes, his voice be-
led him. For an hour longer, before I
vent to my sleepless bed, his heavy tread
ounded from the chamber above, as he
,aced the floor. The door was open and
he light was burning as I passed along
he hall. 1 looked in and saw EphFaim
neeling by the bedside.
Thereafter came a dreary stretch of
ears, in which I toiled, suffered and