The Forrest City times., 1891-05-22
A MYSTERIOUS PITCHER.

OAC Auay hOoCl ptVuSi itc iittiC poAd of immortal ones to the rock-bound, storm beaten shores of New England. When my great-grandfather left Old Massachusetts to hew out with his own strong hands home for himself and family among the wild woods of New Hampshire, this valued vessel was carefully packed among his limited stock et kitchen utensils. and was for several years the pride of his Puritan pantry.
 1 have often heard my grandmother describe tho ancient pitcher. It was bottle-shaped and bulging at the bot tom, with a narrow neck and flaring nose: and was of the usual dingy vel Jewish white color common to all old time crockery- ware. The lower part of it had already become slightly dis colored with age and long usage. as such things always do, putin my great grandfather's family it was still re- garded as a handsome and serviceablo pitcher.
 After the family had been settled in their New Hampshire home for some years. the youngest girl sweet little child about five years of age, began to show signs of failing health. Her usually good appetite forsook her and her strength gradually diminished. though there were no symptoms of any particular disease. She was simply a little ailing. but was not sick enough so the family felt any alarm about her.
 One day about that time my grand mother happened to be washing the venerable pitcher. when she noticed that the discoloration at the bottom of 1t was much darker and extended farther up the side than she had ever before seen it. The change was so marked that she called her mothers attention to 1t.
 My great-grandmother also thought 1t had changed color good deal. but knowing no particular cause for 1t she concluded 1t must be all imagination. So she put the pitcher away and thought no more about it.
 The little girls health became poor or. and in n fortnight moro the family were considerably worried about her. And when the old pitcher happened to be needed again and the dark ring was found to be nearly halfway up it's side. the leaven of Puritan superstition lying dormant in my great grandmother's nature burst forth in all it's old-time intensity. She declared that it's sudden turning must be meant for a warn ing" and predicted that little Mary would certainly die
 Of course 1t seems incredible now that such things should ever have bean believed. Such discoloration of earthcnwano vessels Is nothing un- usual, bun in those days the belief in the supernatural was much more preva- lent than it is ut present. So my great grandmother was at once convinced that the sudden blackening of the old pitcher was a forerunner ef approach ing death.
 Be that as 1t may, the child grew feebler and feebler. while the bottom of the pitcher grew darker and dark CT, and the discoloration crept up its sides Strange to relate, the very day that II reached the top and the vessel became~a dingy black all over, little Mary breathed her last
 The funeral ceremonies were all finished in due season. and then the bereaved family settled down to their daily labors once more, but with sad and mourning hearts. In few days some unc had occasion to use the old pitcher again. and found aing of dingy white around its top.
 This did not give my great-grand- mother the slightest surprise She firmly believed that its change of color was u mysterious warning of superna- tural origin. and that the pitcher should turn white after the blow it portended had fallen seemed to her perfectly natural and to be expected.
 And turn white again 1t did. The dark line ran rapidly down its side from day to day. and in few weeks the vessel had resumed it's original color. It remained SO for months.
 Something like year afterward the same phenomenon was repeated. The pitcher was observed to be turning black from the bottom again. and the household was at once thrown into the greatest consternation.
 In n few days my graudmother's old est brother, then about twenty years of age, began to complain of weakness and lassitude, and in spite of every thing that could be done for him he rapidly grew worse. The pitcher con tinued to turn as his malady increased and when the discoloratlon reached its top some weeks later he succumbed to what was then called galloping con sumption. and was laid beside little Mary in the quaint old churchyard on the hill. After that it gradually TO- turned 10 Its normal color
 Of course the mysterious pitcher was regarded with tho greatest fear and veneration after this. It was put away on the top shelf in the pantry and never used. but it underwent a daily inspection to sec if the sable shadow of death had again made its appearance. But as months rolled on and nothing unusual was noticed the family watched it less and less closely, and finally they forgot 1t alto gether.
 Some two years afterward my grand mother and her mother chanced to be alone in the house. as the small chil- dren were all at school and the larger