The Weiser signal. [volume] (Weiser, Idaho) 1890-1904, 1890-12-25

bluU lUIit IOOiiS- utic VIII ~
some money left for you after tn
note and mortgage are paid"
1t was decided that there should bl
n public sale, or vendue, of the eli
fects not needed for the new home tt
which they were to 60 A "vandoo'
was usually attended by everybody
in the neighborhood. and the occa
sion was a semi-holiday. So there
was general interest when the posteri
appeared announcing that Mahala
j. Pickett, executrix of the estate o
Ira w. Pickett, would Oct. 10 offel
for sale such and such carefully de
scribed articles.
Mrs. Pickett had a sorrowful duty
in indicating the things she consent
ed to sell
"They shan't have my mahOg'ny
chist of drawers, nor my hair-cloth
soiy, nor my lowered carpet, noI
my two big rockin' cheers that my
father and mother begun housekeep-
ing with and they shan't have oh,
dear, dear, there's nothing | do want
'em to havel"
Poor old ladyl She found that
even the simplest and most ordinary
of her bel ongings were dear TO her.
There's that green cupboard with
the glass door, Dotty," she said. 81
s'pose it'll have to go. We've got
the red one, and s'pose we shan t
want two. And there's that old oak
chist up in the attic; it might as well
go, and | reckon Rachel Day will
buy it in. She wanted to buy it of
me once thirty years ago. | can't
bear to think of her havin' any of
my things, and I'll warrant she'll
come and bid in the very ones l hate
to part with most"
Perhaps she won't come to the
sale at all, grandma" said Dorothy
"Yes, she will, F" replied Mrs. Pickett
positively. 81 know Rachel Day.
She'll DO here to glory over my
trouble. tn be twenty years this
fall since she and l spoke and she
never came to your grandpa's funer-
al, and | know from that that we
shall never speak ag'in. I'd an idee
she d come then. Such good friends
as we used to bel Girls together,
and so intimate that we had our
dresses and bonnets just alike. And
for twenty years we han't spoke,
though we've met hundreds of times
Dear mel dear mel
Sweet of face and gentle of manner
as Mrs. Pickett was, she was a wom-
an of strong prejudices and great
iirmness. She never sought q quar-
rel, and never continued one long if
forced into it; she simply and for all
time dismissed her enemies from her
friendship and affections.
"When | am done with anybody"
she said, pm done with 'em."
Acting on this unkindly and I'M
christian-lke principle, she had
dropped" friend OF her girlhood
and early womanhood twenty years
before the death of her husband.
Her son had qnarreled with the
only son of her dearest friend, Mrs.
Rachel Day. The mothers had I'M
wisely taken up the matter, and not
even the common sorrow that came
upon them in the death of their sons
in after years had served to bring
them together. Each had waited for
the other to speak, and both had
kept silence.
Mrs, Day came to the vendue, as
Mrs. Pickett hod predicted.
Mrs. Pickett sat in the bigrocking-
chair on the little porch and watched
the progress of the sale through u
mist of tears.
Other friends came and spoke
words of cheer and sympathy, but
Rachel Day, prosperous and happy
kept aloft. Occasionally she glanced
toward her old friend as she sat on
the porch, a pathetic figure in her
widows weeds, her gray head bowed
and her handkerchief often at her
eyes, but if Mrs. Day felt sorry for
Mrs. Pickett she did not say so.
Going, going, going, gentlemen
and ladiesl -Four and half has been
Tor this solid oak chest, as
good as it was the day it was made!
-Four and a half Pm offered. Who'll
make it five? Five, five, five-who
says it? Are you all done, ladies and
gentlemen? Third and last call, and
sold tor four and half to the lady
with the brown silk dress and black
lace shawl"
The lady with the brown silk dress
and black lace shawl was Rachel Day.
Mrs Pickett fancied she saw a CLEAN
OF triumph in the eyes of the new
owner of the chest.
Mrs. Day bought several of the
things offered, and Mrs. Pickett add
ed to her sorrow string of resent
ment and injured pride with each
purchase Rachel made.
"She does it only to aggravate
me-" Mrs. Pickett thought, "but let
her go on if it does her any good.
| kin hold spite as long as anybody,
but | wouldn't show it in such way
as this, if was Rachel DAY."
The vendue came to close early
in the afternoon and the people de-
parted, taking their new possessions
with them. Mrs. Day was the last
to go, and when she drove out of the
iarmyard her wagon was well laden
with the things she had purchased.
Mrs. Pickett broke down entirely
whom she and Dorothy were left alone
in the almost empty house. Mr.. Parks
had given them until the next week
to complete their arrangements for
leaving. Then he proposed to take
possession OF the house and farm.
Dorothy found much to do during
the rest OF the day. The one COW
her grandmother had kept had
strayed away, and when milking
time came Dorothy went in search of
her.