The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1892-05-29
NEVER OFF The ISLAND.

graves. my thoughts often Nv 10 the hVlng
martyrs of the war. and among them to
Miss Searles as she told me her story SIT
ting in the doorway of her quaint little
home on Block island.
Her eyes followed ayoung man and wom-
an from the hotel near by. There they
go.D she said, down by the shore, same
as"
Same as in your dayf' / ventured.
Yes; same as in MI day."
There was q far-away look in her eyes.
and a gentle smile upon her lips. By the
wisdom and patience in her face she was
fifty years old at the least; by the delicate
gloom upon her cheeks, by the blue of her
unfaded eyes. by the uprightness and
a~lertness of her carriage. she might have
been fifteen. / considered these things.
and the abundance of her still golden hair.
and thought how pretty she must have
been when she was young. Then correct
ed myself. saying, How beautiful she Is
now" What could be more alphabetically
her day" than this mature age in which
she abode in ell the serenity of q wise and
independent womanhoods
Yet / said, Tell me about your day, Miss
Searles.D
What could / telli never was of the
island"
Tell me about the times you went down
by the shore as those two are going"
They weren't many. We didn'th have the
leisure these rich young folks have-whole
afternoons for courtin'. FIshIn' folks work
pretty hard six days out of seven. and
don't always rave their Sundays either"
And yet young people sometimes went
down by the shore"
"Yes. you'd see 'em strayin' off out of
sight below the cliffs. not comm back till
after moonrise. But father was pretty
strict with me. an he didn't like it. 1
guess l never went that way but twice.
Once without his knowledge. and once
against his will"
Dear Miss Searles, o came you to
have been SO wIcked!'
81 was very heady in those days. said
Miss Searles. gently. and my father. you
see. be was captain of his own sloop, and
his way was TO be minded. 1t worked well
on the ship. and naturally he expected
it .would work well at home. So it did
in the long run; l wouldn't belle
the bridge / came over OH. But young
folks. with notions and feelings no other
mortal could guess workin' 'em like hid
yeast. i don't knows its the best way to
get your trumpet to shout to EN-. Port
your helmv or Lower your top-gallaDtsv
when they're all for venture. eveu If You
do see ahead further than they con. L
don't want you to think there was ever
any great strife between father an me. He
thought the world of me. That was the
reason he was so opposed when 1 got n no.
ton / wanted 10 60 OF the island and see
the world outside. 1 was about twenty
then. I'd heard father tell abont Newport,
and New York, and Baltimore: places he'd
been TO. / used TO climb in his lap when |
was a little girl and make him Just tell
about them. It was pleasant stuff to muse
about then; but as ] got older / guess some
of NV fathers own feeling got strong In me.
i often felt fretted with bein' In one
place that / knew every stone of. 1t began
to seem narrer to me. and i most hated the
sea goin' round and round the island. and
the fogs driftin' across an maxim II seem
the more shut IN. When the lights shone
out from Newport and Narragansett. L
used TO wish | was a bird aud could fly over
and see what they lighted TO.
Il know ii was foolish; but one hae such
a great heart when one Is young, the world
hardly seems big enough for 1t. I'd talk
about goin' over there to earn my living.
Nothing yexed father like that. He said
I'd no call TO earn my living. seein' he
earned 1t for me. / said L wanted TO see
the world. de said he didn't want
me to see it; twas mostly wicked.
He said L got a good, safe home.
and he should see / stayed in it with ms
mother. | begged him just to take me once
for q holiday trip, Just 10 see what it was
like. Sometimes he'd half promise; then
he'd get jealous lest I'd rave my head
turned by what Pd see over there. and put
me off,"
"lt iretted me so l began to talk to Will.
lam about IL. and most quarreled with him.
too
"Who was William"
"William Bloss. who lived next neighbor
to US In that little house you see by the
pond. His father was lost in q storm when
William was small. and my father had al
ways taken notice of him and helped his
mother bring him mp. Father took him on
the sloOp as sooD as he was old enough.
and he'd got TO thinking O great deal of his
help.
Il told William more'n / told father. 1
told him / felt as If l was outside my coun-
try on this little bit of an island. outside
the great United States I'd studied about
In my history and read about in the papers.
He couldn't see how ] could feel so. He
wasn't like me-. He loved every thing he
was used to-every blade of grass and every
old foamwet head of rock out there in the
tumble round the island. 1t was no use of
my trying to STIR him up with the restless
spirit that was III me. L asked him If he
wasn't tired Of the old slOop. and the fish,
and the curin' sheds. and If he didn't want
TO see shops. and colleges. and trees. and
people. / said if i were a man I'd go and
make my fortune in some better place"
what did he sayY
"NOhtin'! i can see his long face and mild
brown eyes lookin' at me now just as
til ey looked then. He was one
OF that contented kind seems as ii they'd
entered at birth into the Lords wisdom,
and never wanted to change His orderin's.
But the more l couldn't move him the mad
der | got. Finally / told him he was Just a
mothers boy. and he'd be that all his life.
/ said | ought TO have been the man and
be the woman. Then he couldn't but
smile n little. and. says i. full of wrath,
What are you thinkin'P and. says he. L
was thinkIn'. Claris. how you'd like the top
of a mast in a nor'easterr Then RAJ away
from him, and wouldn't speak TO him Tor
days. / knew I'd no right to call him I'M
manly, for father d said. time and again.
If he wanted q sheet taken in the quickest
In q squall, or q rope handled the readiest
when the sea was breakin' on deck, he d
always send William. No., even In my bad
temper. | couldn't call him unmanly. Sulky
as l was. l could only saw it was mean of
my wish 10. see the world: that men
bad as father TO me about that.
The next time he was going ont with father
ran away SO that j should not be there to
say goodbye 10 him. l had to suffer for
that when a gale came up and blew them
otf shore so that they did not get back for
days after their time.
"But meantime. before the gale. there
was a Sunday. q real pretty, spring Sun
day, warm as summer, the sea all silver.
the wind of Rhode Island sweet with
cherry blooms All the folks were out 70
nhnrnh and IN mr. faN, III