Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1892-05-18
10 THE POOR HOUSE
jim Had forgotten nis Dasy,but God Took
Good Care OF Mother.

dim kAaQ Enr- o4tcn AAo - ~f- 49,
Good Care OF Mother.
The county house wagon drew up at
the old farm house door in the early
morning light and the Poor Overseer
cot out and knocked on the door with
tho butt end OF his whip.
sHey?" quavered u thin voice within,
''wbo'S there2"
We've come for ye', mother, said
the overseer-
"Who calls me 'mother," asked thu
tremplcus voice. and then the door was
noeped by a shaky hand. and an old
woman. dressed In shawl and hood, stood
in the doorway.
Il member, a" she said slowly, nodding
toward the wagon, otis the Selectmen,
an s'pose they know best, but II Jim
knew-if-Jim knew-that his poor
mother was goin' TO the poorhouse 1t
nd break his heart"
"Ar' ye ready, MOTHER asked the
man. gently.
eyes, / be. amt slept sence !
heard We were comm for me- II all
right. an don't blame We, but us hard
to bev worked all yer life an raised
family. an then die in the poorhouSe.
TN almost kill Jim when he knows.
The man on the doorstep coughed and
turned away, pretending to examine the
ujsteria vine that bloSsomed over the
door no, for worlds would he have
Told her that he was only carrying out
Jim's orders against the time he should
hiring his wife TO the old farmhouse.
She came out, slowly looking with
varne. wondering ewes at all she was
leaviaq: the trees she and Harvey-that
was her husband-had planted when
they were young; at the bed or
cinnamon pinkS and the lilac bushes
a. the gate. She stopped and
gathered some Of the fragrant southern
wood-"Old msn," they called it-and
then she looked up at the window OF one
room-bridehood wifeh0Od, motherhood
anralho0d, that meant to her. Little
, Carrie had died there, Harvey had look
cd his last in the heaven OF her eyes
there. That was nigh on 10 forty years
ago. Why, where was God this talr
summer morning that He had forgotten
her. and let her 90 TO the poorh0use?
.Hurry I'D. mother" said the man
gently. ''we're to call for another Daup
passenger a bit further down the road.
faint much your a-leavin' with
short laugh He was trying to make
the best OF It for her.
He helped Der into the wagon, and IN
the golden light Of another new day
they moved on, jogging along the coun-
try road, sweet with the scented life OF
nature, until they reached the stile that
led into the old graveyard where the
sentinel stones shOne among the trees In
their strange dumb wilderness.
"Oh, ef You don't mind-if l just could
saw word to Harvey-it would help me
so much, and / wouldn't be lOng-I
wouldn't keep you waitin."
ssAll right, mother" The overseer
Jumped out and helped her to the
ground. Don't be long; there's a good
soul, and he ia his pipe and talked to
the driver, apologizing for his weak
ness.
"'Tain't Ike as IL she were 4 common
pauDer," he said; there are folks here
as remember when she was the belle OF
the county, and they do say it is this
son Jim that has run through with the
property an is gettin' her out OF the
way so he won't have 10 pay for her
keep. wouldn't tell her for house
and lot.
'She wouldn't believe yer il yer did, >"
said the driver sententiouSly, "but she's
takin' her time in yonder."
No. 10 was not time she was taking,
but eternity. When the OverSeer went
back to look for her, she lay with her
withered cheek pressed to the moss
grown stone that bore the name Of her
husband, and a smile that seemed to be
q reflected glory from Paradise lit up
her peaceful face. IL had come to her
10 one brief moment, the assurance
that she would not so to the pOOrhouSe,
aud then-she had gone homo.