The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1892-07-22
AGAINST WIND AND TIDE.

People in Maysville always shrugged
their shoulders when Mark Lamson was
mentioned, and usually the expressive
gesture was followed by some deprecat-
HComes of bad stock" old Judge Len
nox would say, in his pompous, ditatori-
al manner. GAN the Lamsons were
worthless, and Mrs. Lamson was
Hodge, and everybody knows what they
are"
The house in which Mark was born,
and where he scrambled up to manhood,
was large farmhouse, tumbling to
pieces inside, with a roof always being
patched against leaking, doors without
locks and with shaking hinges, windows
that ratified in every wind, ceilings that
dropped plaster whenever a heavy foot
shook the upper room, and furniture
in the last stages of shabbiness. His
father and mother were slatternly in ap-
pearance, shiftless in household man.
agement, and the handsome, bright boy
was over-indulged and neglected as their
own Incidence suggested.
But Mark LamsOn inherited none of
the leading traits of his parents. Proba-
bly in some remote ancestor there was
mixture of energy, resolution and ablll-
ty, of which the Maysville gossips had
never heard, and for which they certain
lv gave Mark no credit. 1t was in vain
that the principal of the Maysville high
school declared that Mark had graduated
with the best record he had ever given
in the school. 1t was useless for the
lad himself to keep his life free from
blame, and earnestly endeavor to do his
duty. Mays nile could not forget that
he was Lamson and his mother was a
Hodge-"bad stock!"
AS he passed from boyhood to man
hood, Mark began the unequal struggle
against fate and circumstances, that was
dictated only by his own energy. His
father had been able to get bread from
the farm by lazy tillage that gave the
bare necessities for the table; his moth
had very small income that gave the
three clothing of the poorest descrip-
ton, and both were in open-mouGhed
wonder that Mark was not content, as
they had been, to dawdle through life
and "make OUT with what they had.
And Mark, struggling to attain better
things, with only vague, undisciplined
longing for improvement, met no en-
couragement at home or abroad. He
tried to obtain situation, but employ
ers were shy about giving work TO a
SOOA
the Maysville social gatherings, having
no knowledge of how to repair his own
linen or keep his poor clothing even
tidy. Boylike, he imagined new suit
and gay necktie were all sufficient for a
party, and did not heed frayed cuffs and
broken collars at which the Maysville
bellies turned up their noses.
But, in spite of his fathers lazy COM
ments, his mothers fretful remonstran-
ces, Mark Lamson, finding no employ
ment outside, determined to see if the
farm would not find him work.
"Oh, yes; do as you please" his
father said. But there is no money fol
new tangled fixings, and the land is
about worn out. Plenty of it, 70 be
sure, but faint worth shucks."
So, single-handed, Mark undertook the
work of bringing up the old farm. Ear.
ly and late he toiled, repairing the
fences, wedding, picking stones, roofing
out dead stumps, preparing his land
without one hand stretched out to hel[
him, one voice to wish. him success
Thomas, the only man his father en-
ployed, gave a surly refusal to aid, upor
the ground that his regular routine Of
shiftless farming took all his time, and
Mark patiently submitted.
He was q years old, when his dull
monotonous life received new stimulus
"a hope bright as "a vision and almos
as baseless. He fell in love! He did no
walk in cautiously, counting his steps
and weighing his chances, but he fell il
plump, suddenly, hopelessly.
There had been warm discussion a
the Judges about inviting Mark to the
party that was to celebrate Essie's 1Stl
birthday and her final return from
boarding school. But the pet of thu
house had a will of her own and lively
recollection of Marks handsome fact
and bOyish gallantries, and insisted up
on his being invited. Mark. carrying il
his memory only pretty little girl
found himself confronted by an undeni
able beauty; face to win homage il
far more pretentious circles than Mays
vile boosted, and gentle grace of man
ner none of the girls of his acquaint
ance had ever extended to him.
The touch of the soft, little hant
offered to greet him riveted the chain
ESTES face had cast about Mark
heart, and made him her slave then anC
there. He had starved all his life TO
sympathy, and his first half hour will
Essie filled his longing heart with con
tent. She remembered all his boyisl
aspirations; she entered into all hi
hopes and ambitions. The party wa
the beginning of an intercourse tina
stimulated anew every good resolution
gave new vigor to every hope o
Marks
There are women who carry in thei
own hearts an OVERLOOKING fund of sym
pathy, who can sink self utterly in tn
presence of another PERSONS interest
and throw their power into their neigh
boris work, without officlousness o
offence. Essie Lennox was such won
an, young as she was. She could Civ
her whole mind to every detail whicl
she had carried to her, from the cuttin
of aprons for a neighbours child to tn
gentle soothing of an invalid's terror O
death; from her mothers preserving
kettle to the comforting of a newly be
reaved widow or orphan. Nothing wa
too deep or solemn, nothing too traI
sient or trivial, for that tender ever act
tive interest and sympathy that mad
her the idol of Maysville as we'll as tn
comfort of her home.
An hour with Essie sent him back t
his uphill work full of new hope, ever
energy stimulated, every hope bright
ened. He had not dared to set befor
him in plain words the hope of one da
winning her heart to answer his owl
for there was the humility of true pa
sion in that young, ardent heart, but b
realized new force, a new spur to an
bition.
Essie never sneered at him as tn