The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1890-02-19


fancy herself girl again, with Ben be-
side her, and his engagement ring on her
finger.
And Miss Camiola thanked Mrs.
Black, put on her show bonnet With the
washed ribbons, and the shawl that had
been so good once, but was faded, and
even mended now, and walked up the
road, and turned into the lane, and en-
tered the Barker garden.
The smell of the shrub came to her;
the lilac flowers were gone, but the will
low branches kissed her bonnet as sac
passed under them.
The neighbors who saw her nodded or
spoke, but they were selling the tall
clock, and there was some excitement.
Camiola stood at the door awhile and
listened to the bidding. Deacon Hickory
got the clock; Mrs. Amos Mole the claw
foot sideboard. A lady from the village
bought .he trunks of women's clothing,
sold unopened, for next to nothing. Ann
Barnaby, the washerwoman, got the tubs
and irons cheap in lot, and so on and so
forth.
To Camiola it all seemed tragic. She
went up stairs where people were poking
the beds and pillows, and examining the
toilet sets and curtains, and she began to
mount the garret stairs.
"Nothin' up there" said a well-mean-
ing person, who was descending. "Tan't t
worth while to lose breath climbin'."
Camiola did not answer.
Npthip,r nv, tbaraf How ltt1o ,,ao,,1a
Enewl There was the window at which
two lovers had plighted their vows.
There, perhaps, fingered some ghost of
her dead past and his who had died eld-
erly and a bachelor.
As her head arose above the floor she
gazed eagerly about her. From the raf-
ters hung some branches of withered
herbs and some ropes of onions. The
trunks had been carried down and an old
bureau. A coat hung upon a peg; over
it hat. Camiola went to the window.
She would not cry, for she must face
those people downstairs again; but she
uttered little moans of anguish as she
stood there. She realized what life ac-
tually is at that moment, and it seemed
pretty and hopeful; now old, unloved,
wrinkled, and with nothing to wish for.
No wonder that she suffered.
At last she turned her back on the
eternal mountains - unchanged while
lives were lived, and while youth fed,
and love departed, and graves were dug
and saw the coat upon the wall; Ben's
al c nd
carelessiy; and big, oad-brimmed,
soft hat. The woman went closer. She
nestled up against the coat, and talked
to it and caressed it, and she took the hat
in her hand and kissed it, 1t was worth
nothing. 1t had rain stains on it. Its
shape was odl. Nobody wanted it. But
what relic it would be to her of Ben I!
only she could not ask for it.
She could take it, hide it under her
shawl--all folded fiat, as it would be
ald keep it forever. Ben's hat-her
Ben's hat Why, she had a right to it.
And Mss Camiola obeyed the impulse,
took the hat and hid it neatly away. 1t
seemed, almost, as though it were a
theft; still, it would not be wrong to
take it.
When she came home, Mrs. Black told
Miss Camicla the walk had done her
ggood; her cheeks were quite red; but
she went early to bed that evening. She
bolted her door, and undressed il Il
hurry. She put out the light. Then she
felt for her shawl, in which the hat lay
folded, and took it in her arms. A GER
tain perfume that was always connected
with Ben's hair was family noticeable
an odor of bergamot. 1t brought the
past back wildly. 1t almost seemed as
though Ben's head rested on her heart
She clasped the old hat close and kissed
it.
"Oh, Ben" she whispered, 81 was al
ways ready to make up; but you were
rich ald 1 was poor; and l was proud.
Oh, Ben! oh, Ben, Ben, my darling!"
And for hours she lay awake-the
Camiola of the past-in the darkness,
which blotted out the changes in her
face and fell asleep at last, and dreamed
of young Ben and his perfumed hair,
and heard him once more say that they
would be happy together.
She awakened suddenly, in the early
dawn, ald came back to herself. She
dressed herself; smoothed her prim
bands of hair; tied on her black apron
with pockets; pinned the cushion and
the sheath of scissors at her side; and
then looked at the hat. OF course it
must be hidden away; and she spread a
newspaper on tie bed in which to wrap
il, and paused 10 look at it again.
Tie inside of the hat presented itself.
The piece of leather which lines the
crown looked curiously thick. She
touched it with her hand. Under it was
a long paper folded into narrow slip;
she drew it out and saw that something
was written on the outside. Taking the
paper TO the window she saw that the
words were these: "The Last Will and
Testament of Benjamin Barker"
At this Miss Camiola began to tremble
from head to foot, but she was a daugh-
ter of Eve. Softly AMI reverent' V indeed
she opened the will; but she did open it
and read it through, and when she had
finished she crept into bed again end
lay there sobb,ng for long while; for in
it she had found strange things. Some
of Benjamin Barkers money had been
left to the hospital, some of his land TO
the church, and there were legacies for
many people; bat the homestead, with
all its furniture, garden and farm land,