The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1893-03-16

were grated on his New England YER
nacular, it was because for fifteen years
of his youth he had followed the sea,
and the sea. to return the compliment.
thereafter followed him, when by the
time he was thirtv-fivc he had laid up
enough money to return. thrifty
bachelor, and. buying little farm on
Plainfeld Hill. settle down TO his ideal
OF life, and become the amusement of
part of the village an oracle of the rest.
We boys adorcd Uncle Josh, for he
was always ready TO rig our boats. spin
rs yarns n week long, and fill our
pockets with apples red and russell as
his own honest face. With the bellies of
the village Uncle Josh had no such
favor; he would wear pig-tail in spite
of scott and remonstrance: he would
smoke a cutty-pipe: and he did swear
like sailor. from mere habit and for
getfulness, for no man not professedly
religious had divincr instinct of rever-
ence and worship than he; but it was as
instructive in him to swear as it was to
breathe, and some of our boldly spccu-
1stivc and law-despising youngsters
held that it was no harm in him, any
more than gosh and thunder" were
in us; for he really meant no more.
However, Uncle Josh did not quite
rcciprocate the contempt of the other
sex; before long he began to make Sun
Gay night visitations at Deacon Stones.
to brush his hat o morning." to step
spry, and wear stiff collar and stock,
instead of the open tic he had kept.
with the pig-tail long after jacket and
tarpaulin had been dismissed the SER
vice; SO the village directly discovered
that Josh Crane was counting the
school mistress, miss Eunice,' who
boarded at Deacon Stones. What Miss
Eunice's surname might be l never
knew, nor did it much matter: she was
the most kindly, timid. and lovabe
creature that ever tried to reduce a dis
trict school into manners and arith-
metic; she lives in my memory still. "a
tall, slight figure, with tender brown
eyes, and a sud face, its broad lovely
forehead shaded with silky light hair
and her dress always din-tinted, faded
perhaps, but Scrupulously neat.
Everyb body knew why Miss Eunice
looked so meelSly sad. and why she was
still Miss Eunice: she had been dis
appointed she had loved n man better
than he loved her, and, therein copying
the sweet angels, made fatal mistake.
broke her girls heart and went to keep
ing school for living.
One day Mrs. Stone announced TO old
MRS. Ranney (who was n deaf as post.
and therefore very useful passively. in
spreading news confided to her, as this
was in the church porch) that ''Miss
Eunicc want going to hev Josh Crane,
cause he want a professor; but she
didn't want nobody to tell ont" SO
everybody did!
1t was true that Miss Eunice was n
sincerely religious woman, and though
Josh Cranes simple, fcrvent love-mall-
ing had stirred thrill within her she
Ind thought quite impossible, still she
did not think it was right to marry an
Treligious man, and She told him so
with n meek firmness that quite broke
down poor Uncle JOSH and he went
back to his farming with profoundcr
respect than ever for Miss Eunice and
a miserable opinion of himself.
he was person without guile of any
sort; he would have cut off his pig-tail.
sold his tobacco lseg, tried not TO swear
for her sake, but he could not prentend
to be pious, and he did not.
A year or two afterward, however.
when both had got past the shy
ness OF meeting. and had set aside, il
not forgotten. the past there was n re-
vival Of religion in Plninticld-no great
excitement, but quiet sprnging up
of good seed" sown in past genera
1ionS. il may bc-and among the soft
cncd hearts and moist eyes were those
OF Uncle Josh. His mothers prayers
IN N IS l., 1.
bible. and now they awake to be
answered
So earnest and honest was he that for
whole week fter he had been exam
ined and approved by the church com
mltttce as probationcr, he never once
thought of Miss Eunicc: when. sudden
ly, as he was reading his Bible and
came across the honorab mention of
her name by the apostle. he rccollected
with sort of shamcfaccd delight that
now perhaps She would have him; So
with no further ceremony than reduc-
ing his dusty hax-colored hair to order
by means of pocket-comb. and wash
Ing his hands at the pump. away he
strobe to the school house, where it was
Miss Eunice's custom to linger after
school till the fire was burnt low enough
to rake up
Josh looked in at the window as he
drought to, in his own phrase, "along
eide the school u.s." and there sat the
lady of his love, knitting blue stock
ing, with an empty chair most propi-
tiously placed beside her in front of the
fireplace. Josh's heart rose up might
lily, but he knocked as little a knock as
his great knuckles could effect was
hidden in and sat himself down on the
chair in paroxysm of bashfulness, no
wise helped by Miss Eunice's dropped
eyes and persistent knitting. Sohc sat
iuil n1teen minutes every now and
innn f.ln ri L.,