Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1889-09-21


the civilized world, no matter how stolid the
inhabitants, there Is imagination enough to
replace the absent links in desired chain Of
facts
All that Haynton and its vicinity really
knew about the supposed Hayn-Tramlay affair
was that the Tramlays had been Mt Hayn
farm, that they had daughter named Lucia
whose age did not differ much from Phils,
that Phil had been in New York for more
than q fortnight, that he had gone direct
from Sol Mantring's sloop to Tramlay's office,
that ho had been seen In New York In store
clothes, and that he admitted having seen
Lucia once or twice. Out Of these few facts,
which would have been useless to even de-
tective We're he unable to treat them as mere
clews to be followed carefully, the enterpris-
ing people of Haynton constructed number
Of stories each Of which hung together admir-
ably. That they differed radically from one
another was not the fault Of the local ro-
maucers; they had honestly done their best
with the material at hand.
Phil did not regard the matter in this light.
When day by day his little brothers returned
from school with tales they had bead from
class mates and wondered greatly that they
had not first heard them at home, Pills tenn
per broke loose so suddenly that the boys al
most feared TO repeat all they had heard
Tho wrathful young man learned that he had
proposed TO Lucia and been refused, that he
had been accepted, apparently at tho same
interview, that Tramlay was TO build hand
some house on the water front of Hayn Farm
for his daughter as a wedding present, that
Phil took his refusal so seriously to heart
that he was going to Study for the ministry,
and that while in New York he had fallen
into drinking habits SO deeply that Tramlay
had been obliged to write Farmer Hayn TO
hurry to the city and remove his unfortunate
son from the scene Of temptation.
Phil grumbled and stormed he even vowed
that if gossip about him did not end he would
go 10 sea. He thought seriously Of publishing
"A list of denials IN the weekly paper, edited
in the county town, which devoted a column
or two to Hayuton news. Then he wondered
whether he might not make a contldant of the
minister and beg that a sermon DO preached
on the sinfulness Of gossip; but this plan dis
appeared abruptly when the statement of his
approaching marriage was traced, almost
with certainty, TO the minister himself.
But the worst trial of all remained. On
Sunday he met at church and In the young
peoples Bible class all the girls who lived at
or near Haynton. Some of them belonged to
churches other than that which included the
Hayn family among its members, but for once
they waived denominational preferences and
went to the First church, and not only to SEQ
Pills new clothes and cane, of which Sol
Mantring had brought such astonishing re-
ports.
They were as good and sweet hearted, those
Hayutou girls, as any of their sex on the face
of the earth. Fashions triAe old and lack
of professional advice as to how best TO en-
hance their natural charms by borrowing
from art could not disguise the fact that
some Of them were quite pretty. 1t was not
their fault that Pills heart had gone else
where for a mate, but that the young man
himself was greatly 10 blame for such
course was the general opinion among them,
and they would have at least the consolation
of seeing how he had been affected by step
so unusual among Haynton youth. And
what questions those girls eyes did askl
There was no need that they should put any
Of them into words; Phil understood them
all, with the result that never before on Sun
day had he heard SO little of sermon, hymn
or prayer, or betrayed so feeble grasp OF
the topic Of the day in the Bible class.
/ So seriously was his mind disturbed that he
held himself sharply TO account, examined
his evidences in the time honored and ortho-
dox manner, and resolved that lack of occu-
/ patton was at the bottom of his trouble. He
would begin bright and early Monday morn
ing an extension of the big ditch in the
marsh land; if the mud and stones and roots
/ and quicksands, the tugEing and straining
and perspiring, sure 10 be incident to the
work would not cure him, he grimly told
himself, then his case was hopeless indeed.
Bravely he kept his word At sunrise he
was already on his way IN the marsh, and by
the middle Of the morning single sensation
eucompasScd his entire mind. il was that
ditchinE WAS the hardest, dtrtiest, forloruest
work that ever fg.l tu a farmers lot. He
/ dragged one heavily hpated foot after the
other from the ooze, loaned ON his spade and
/ offered himself five minutes rest
I He looked wearily along the prolongation
| of the line of the ditch already completed,
and wondered how many hundred days the
/ entire improvement wu".i require, Before
/ he decided his calculations were disturbed by
I the sound Of the family dinner bell He
I looked at the sun, which was his only time
| piece while at work. and wondered what
| could have befallen the hitherto faithful
/ family clock Again the bell sounded, and
/ when he looked in the direction OF the house
| he saw, on the brow of TIE hill behind the
/ orchard, his mother waving her apron to
him. Something was tHe matter: what could
I II bel trampf-a pens 'sut lightning rod
mani He hurried inward the hullse, and soon
saw that his mother Nss waving also some
thing that looked like a handkerchief and