The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1889-04-09

it, drew from another drawer a IarOe-
sheet, of paper, such as people used IN
those days of enormous hostages, and
began to write. She addresses her let
tiers to Mr.. Manasseh Cutler, who is CRATE
fully remembered in our time, as being
one of the handful Of men who made the
first arrangements for planting Ohio.
SARAH PARIS TO CUTLER.
SALEM, February Is, 1870.
Ny DEAR Mr.. CUTLER Il come to YOU
to claim your promise sooner than you
supposed; and though we parted in joke,
l am now writing in earnest. / have
made up my mind to go to the MuskIn-
gum. | told you that 1 should. VIII
you make inquiry for me, and find some
family whom you like who are going, and
who would be willing to take me with
them as one of their party? Do. not be
afraid but that | can bear rough life "a
well as anybody. I shall be no trouble
to anyone, and 1 will do my share of the
work on the way.
When we come to the settlement, it
will be time for me to see if they want
Inc to teach the school. Very likely they
have somebody much better fitted than
I; but it will be hard if I cannot make
myself of use, as my poor mother would
have been proud to have me do; and if
the worst comes to the worst, I can re-
turn again to Essex county.
l an wholly in earnest in what / write,
and [ want to be sure to go as soon as the
soonest go.
My dear Mr.. Cutler, l can never thank
you enough for your kindness to my poor
mother and to my brothers, and you see
that / trust to that same kindness now.
Your own little girl,
SARAH PARIS.
The girl wrote without the slightest
hesitation, and in fact the letter had
burned itself into her mind before she
began. For really, she had been thinking
OF it for these two days, and it was the
certainty that she was going to take this
stroke, and to cut herself off from all the
life she had been living up till now, which
had given that sort of calmness and de-
cision to her movements ever in prepar-
ing for the frolic and in the frolic itself,
which afterward all her friends remem-
bered. But she did not propose to take
into her confidence, yer now, her uncles
or her aunts or indeed anybody in the
household. It would be time enough for
that when the good parsons letter came.
Sarah Paris had indeed the right to
make her own determination where she
would go and where she would live. The
girl hardly remembered her father, who
had never recovered from the exposure
which he had gone through with at VAL
ley Forge, in the terrible winter there.
With her mother she had been almost q
sister, and the death of her mother, when
she was herself but seventeen or eighteen
years old, had made a mark in her charac-
ter which was never effaced. But, as
perhaps the reader has seen already, the
girl was sprightly and brave, and knew
how to take life on the best terms. She
had come, as soon as her mother died, to
the home of her dear Aunt Huldah; she
had entered into the life and duties Of the
home with heart and spirit, and she knew
that she was indeed one of the family, 8
long as she chose to stay there. But.
really, she had never meant to stay there
always, and live the listless life of a pet
ted niece. She knew very well that If
she had discussed this with her aunt or
uncle they would have urged her to stay.
They would have said that she was Of use
to them with the younger children, and
all this was true. But there was an ele-
ment Of adventure in her blood, she was
not disposed to live in this world without
seeing more of it than she had seen In
Wenham or in Salem; and in the forty
eight hours which had passed before the
sleigh-ride on St. Valentines Day, she
had determined that she might as well
cut the knot of her destiny now as yer.
In this determination she had written to
her old friend, Manasseh Cutler.
When the letter was written, she made
no hesitation nor delay. She read it over,
to be sure of her spelling and punctua-
ton, folded it, in a way in which no
girl of this century could fold it, but in a
way which was one of the accomplish
ments of a lady or gentlemen then, sealed
it as no girl of this generation could seal
it, but as every lady and gentleman was
trained to seal it then, and then addressed
it. She put no stamp upon it, for there
had not been a stamp in America since
1853, and would not be for a generation
after. She did not dare to carry it to the
postofice, for if she had been seen to put
it in the box, all Salem would have been
discussing that evening the question
whom Sarah Paris had written to, and
what she had said. 1t was necessary for
her to wait till night before she conided
it to the secrecy of the public mail. But,
so soo as the sun set, she put on her
hood and mantle and walked down to the
village. She bought herself some trides
in the little shop which was kept in the
House of Seven Gables and returning,
quite after dark, passed the ~postofice and
so put her letter in the open slit at the
door. When the postmaster appeared at
8 o'clock in the morning, and handled the
five letters which he found in the box, he
looked at her bold writing without recog-
nizing ii, shook the letter and held it to
the light, but was not able even then to
tell his wife who wrote one letter put of
his mail of that day. The letter was
carried to Newburvport to wait its
chances for three or four days, and by the
end of a week arrived at the house of