The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1892-03-16
Selected storm.
As the Sun Went Down.

prairie at one end and running out to
the prairie at the other The sun bad
beaten Gown upon the hot sand all day.
No church spire was seen, as in all our
New England villages, but two saloons,
whose doors stood wide open. A mis-
cradle little store, whose one window
displayed row of canned goods, dusty
and dirty, looking as if they had stood
there since the beginning of the village.
One piece of dark calico draped across
the back, and various small farming
tools, Just such as are found in coun-
try grocery which is the on'y store for
miles around.
AT regular intervals along the main
road stakes were driven, and posts,
which bore the euphonious name of
some avenue which had been surveyed
and named, theu left again to nature.
All bore the impress of boom in which
the whole small population had implic-
lily believed.
Struggling back from the street on
the embryo avenues were several fair
sized houses in different stages of COM
pletion, all deserted and left to fall into
ruin, which they were accomplishing as
spe eddy as possible. One, larger than
the rest, was evidently intended for
hotel or some public building, but it
now stood bare, windowless and door
less, a picture of forlorn devastation.
Stretching away as far as the eye could
reach in every direction were hay
stacks. Immense piles in the near
foreground, gradually diminishing till
in the far distance they looked mere
brown specks. The harvest was gath
cred, but the last few days seemed to
have held the essence of the summers
heat The whole village appeared to
be plunged in dreary idleness; nobody
was working. The women hung in the
doorways, while group of idlers clus-
tered on the steps Of the larger ga
loon.
On one of the avenues were two
figures, man and a woman aimlessly
strolling along. The man tall, with
STOPPING round shoulders, heavy blue
eyes and a surly expression about the
mouth. He walked with an awkward,
hesitating gait. The woman's quick,
nervous step betrayed inward irrita-
ton.
swell, Lois!" said the man, "I
s'pose you're satisfied now that you
made an awful bunder when you mar
ried me-"
She looked at him with an impatient
expression.
"J'm satisfied of one thing. We
were pair of fools t. let that train 90
on tonight and leave us stranded in
this forsaken hole. Jest like man t
is to always want somethin' to drink.
It's ben jest so all the way 'long-
every day you must run with the crowd
for drink or bite of some of their
Western trash. My! I'd like to show
'em how to make a cup of coffee. l
guess they boil down the hay out here.
l never tasted SIGH stuff. don't much
wonder after all, that you wanted a
drink of beer, but we'd both been
better off if we'd stuck to the train and
our own old lunch basket"
eyes, it's easy to find fault" NUT
tered the man. I've had bout 'nough
going out West to get rich. We haint
made nuthin' ont of our trip, and we've
used up most all our money. / don't
see as it's any easier farmin' out here
than It is to home, an I'm glad we're
goin' back there"
"That's jest it, Joe; you've always
ben lOokin' for somethin' easy to do.
There amt no work easy here, nor TO
home neither, an if you want to earn
our livn' you've got to take hold and
be glad of any job you can get. I'm
willin' to help. l can sew | can dc
most anythin' You know that, Joe.
amt lazy, but l want to see sumthin'
for it. | want TO git ahead. What's
the matter with you, Joe? You don't
seem to want to settle down an stay
anywhere. LIS break up an move or
agin, no matter where we are or how
good a chance we seem to have. We
might ha' ben in Canon City now, liked
it well 'nough there. Pm most ashamed
to go home agin, no better off thar
when we started" and a discouraged
look settled down on her face.
BY this time they had wandered
along till they had reached the deserted
eve might as well stop at the hotel
Lois!" said the man; cts the only
one in the place, and the best we car
do for ourselves this one night, / guess
It's lucky for us it's warm, anyhow
They entered through the open door
way and rambled about the empt,
a couple of benches and a pile o
boards.
Lois looked around for a moment
then she exclaimed "Td ruther CAM
out here, Joe, till tomorrow night
when the next train goes thro', than g,
back to the village; everybody laughed
when they see us start to run after tn
Enthusiastically funny, l dare say, i
locke to 'em, but no great joke to us
I'm sure don't want to ask no favors o
'em, an don't want to stay in none O
their dirty-lookin' houses, neither, an,
we might as well save what littl
money we've got till we get back East,
and she set about gathering part o
the shavings together into bed owe
which she spread her shawl. Then sh
laid couple of boards across tn
benches, and, her Immature disappear
ing, as it always did, like the sudde
temper of child, she burst into merr
laugh. Joe's face lighted up, too.
81 alwus did say, Lois, that yo
could make a home out of nothin
I'm beginnin' to get hungry. Whe