The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1889-11-01
And Uncle Joab rubbed his hands

the bride, with q toss Of the head en-
circled by black, shining braids, chat
you're making an unnecessary fuss over
that toothache Of yours"
"An-unnecessary fussw repeated
Uncle Joab, in dismay.
"Old folks hadn't ought to be 80
fretful and exacting," went on lydia.
1T isn't Christian; aud i, for one, won't
bear it. II you can't sit quiet and
peaceable by the fire, I think you had
better stay in your own ROOM
And Mrs. Lydia founced into the
kitchen to turn the batch O. cakes in the
oven before it should burn.
Joab Fem rose slowly and welt i'm
to his room. If he had been a familiar
student Of Shakespeare, he might have
quoted to himself the old passage:
How sharper than q serpent's tooth il
is to have a thankless child" But he
was not a literary man, and kept his
thoughts and troubles in his own bo-
som.
Frank doesn't feel So" he told him
self Frank has a little compassion on
his old father yet"
But that very evening, when he came
CROPPING down into the kitchen to get
some mustard for his aching face, he
heard Lydia comforting with her hus.
band in the adjoining sitting.room.
"It's no use talking" said Mrs. Fem;
junior, in an excited sort of way, "and /
sha'n't stand it any longer, THAT'S posi-
tive. There's q very good vacancy in
the Home for Old Men, and it's the only
place he's fit for"
Perhaps you are right, my deat,"
said Frank, ruefully. For, big six
footer though he was, he stood in NOR.
tnl fear of his slim, black-eyed wife. II
dare say they'll make him very com
Portable there, and I wouldn't mind
paying q good weekly sum to secure
peace at home"
Joab Fem did not stop to find the
mustard box. He crept slowly back to
his w room and sat down OH the side
Of the bed. A"Home for Old Menu
A sort of q living tomb in which he was
to be inferred ct Lydia's capricious
will, with his Il afternoon out in the
week, his daily allowance of tobacco,
and his clean, desolate cell. He shud.
dered at the bare idea. But what wa
he to do? He remembered, with d
shudder, that he had made over all his
property to Frank and Lydia-that he
had actually not n cent to call his
own! And Mis was the return measure
dealt out to him.
Little Myra wouldn't have treated
me So" said he, with one of tile salt
singing tears of old age burning it:
way down his cheek. Little Myra
would have been good to the old man.
Out into the night-the cold, spark.
ling. starry night-he made his way
with the vague, half-formed idea of go.
ing to Myra. Peregrine Birtwhistle
lived twenty miles away, it is true, but
he had walked twenty miles before, and
he could again. Anything to get away
from Lydia's hard, sharp eyes, and put
a distance between him and the "Home
for Old Men,"
ooh, Peregrine, look here! An ole
mar asleep by the roadside. Or, is Ii,
asleep? Come, Peregrine, quick! IT,
Uncle Joab-dear, good old INCL,
Joab!"
Myra had run out in the dewy calm
Of the early morning to get a few of tn.
water. crosses that old Mrs. Birtwhistl,
liked for her breakfast; and to her sur
prise she found a PROSTATE figure
stretched out beside the brook, where
Joab Fem had tried to drink and faller
unconscious in the attempt.
$50 it is" said Peregrine. "What
ever a hrve brought him here?'
And between them they lifted him
up and carried him tenderly into the
house.
"Will you keep me-, Myra?" Joat
Fem faltered, when sense and reason
returned nee more to his beclouded
brain. "Will you give me a crust, and
shelter and keep me out of the Home
for Old Men?'"
Dear Uncle Joab," said Myra, burst
ing into tears, "you were good to me
once, and all that I have is yours and
welcome! And, oh, Uncle Joab, l
shall be proud to have you come and
live with me. 1 am married to Pere-
CRIME now. and we are so happy.
Aren't we Peregrine, dear?"
Joab Fem looked sadly into her
bright eyes. If she had married his
boy, how different things would have
been. If he could only have been CON
tent to let Fate alone, how much wis
dom he would have shown! But he
had managed affairs to suit himself, and
this was the way he was suited.
Lydia Fem tossed her head again
when she heard where her father-in-law
had taken refuge.
"Im satisfied, if it suits him." said
she. Cali I know is that I shouldn't
have tolerated him around the place
much more"
Frank came to see his father, how
ever, at the old Birtwhistle farmhouse,
where Myrt, a blooming young matron,
held out her hand to welcome him, with
out a festige of the constraint that was
SO visible i'll his face and manner.
Father" said he, I'm sorry you and
Lydia don't get on together"
Its the old story, my boy" said
Uncle Joab. "The young birds crowd
the old ones out of the nest. But I
never could have stayed there to be sent
to the Home for Old Men,"
Frank colored scarlet under the CON