Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1891-10-17
town would spring up, and he would be

rich.
In the meantime, he farmed the home
stead in bslf-hearted fashion, which
brought scarcely enough to live miser
ably upon.
The years passed on, but the railroad
never came. When the claim became
his own, Bascom mortgaged it and drib-
bled away the proceeds.
By and by he died, leaving broken
down, heartsick woman, aud half-help-
less children.
The future held but little promise fo-
them. Before long the mortgage on the
homestead would fall due. and they
knew from the first that they would not
be able to satisfy it. The home would
have to go.
Mrs. Bascom had longed to return to
the old home State, at first hopefully,
then doubtfully, and at last in dreaty
hopelessness. The longing at last be-
came almost monomania with the poor
woman.
When ones heart is full of beloved
subject, one must talk of it, and the
mother told the children of it till they
longed to go almost as ardently as she
did
Though she had hoped long, her cour-
age and strength gave way slowly as her
health declined
II have wanted to go for so long"
she said, concluding the story. "But
now" she ended with sigh.
The two strangers understood how
much of real heroism there was IN that
simple recital, and were silent when it
was done.
The rain had subsidized to a gentle
drizzle. The men sat silent. The older
children looked miserable and detected.
The little Jackson woke up, and be-
gan to examine again the wond erful
knife with great interest. To divert
the thoughts of the others as much as
possible, Nickerson displayed aud ex-
planned the mechanism of the knife, ex-
posing the corkscrew, opening oul the
hook for removing stones from horses
hoofs, revealing the tweezers, the saw
blade, the file and the screwdriver.
Jackson alternately whooped with de-
light and stared in mute amazement.
Then he suddenly held out the gourl
bank to Nickerson, and reached for the
knife.
"Me'll trade wild you'll" he said.
Trade his bank and its treasure
most sufficient in his eyes to take them to
Indiana-for the wonderful knife which
he wanted so badly Poor little fellow
"I-wait till mornin, Jackson, +" said
Nickerson. "Well see about it then"
When Jackson was packed away in hi,
little trundle-bed the knife went with
him.
After the men had retired to the pal
let that Lyddy spread on the floor, they
talked in tones so low that the occupants
of the other room did not hear them.
''She won't live long unless she goes
said Conway,
''Nobody thar'll know us or keer any
thing about us, said Nickerson.
They said but few words more. They
lay very still for long time, and the
other occupants of the little house did
not hear them when they arose, just be-
fore the east was turning gray. They
donned their garments and then, in the
dimness of the room, Nickerson handed
| Conway something which ne had taken
out of his pocket, and passed. out of the
house as noiselessly as possible.
| Conway took something from his own
pocket, and tiptoeing and feeling his way
to the table, wrote in the darkness a few
words with stub of pencil on a scrap of
paper. Then he made his way to the
clock shelf, and fumbled for a moment
with the gourd bank.
Then he stepped softly to the door
and passed out into the drizzie aud
through the bar way, beyond which
Nickerson was holding their horses.
They mounted and rode away III the
dreary rain-bacll to the westward, in
the direction from which they had
come.
"Nobodyd know us thar, anyhow p
said Conway, after while in gruf
way.
"Nor keer about us" returned Nick
erson.
When morning dawned, the light
shining in through the little window of
the weather beaten house fell upon little
Jackson sleeping in the trundle- bed, with
Nickerson's wonderful knife still clutched
in his hand, and in the other room the
light revealed corner of green paper
sticking out through the slit in the
gourd bank.
The Bascoms discovered it before
long, and looked into the bank
The little gourd was carelessly stuffed
with greenbacks and national bank
notes.-the money which jim Conway
aud Nick Nickerson had boarded to take
them back to Indiana.
As the money was pulled out, scrap
of dirty white paper appeared. Ga it
was written, in Conway's ru1s hani:
"To take you back home. God bless
your Youths Companion.