Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1893-04-14


dreadful journey. Aunt Hittys success
as 8 farmer is wonderful. The men
obey her, or else they 60. Her csbbsges
are the finest, aud her checkers the TAT
test IN the neighboFhood. she wages
relentless persecution upon worms and
insects. and il seems IS il the things
didn't dare 70 try to eat her cucumber
plants. II the curculio attacks one oil
her plum trees, she cuts the tree down
before the Others sufer. "Better one
dead tree than lot of slcklT ones, she
says. With an eye, perhaps, to Aunt
Kitty's swelling bank account, a very
nice man asked her to marry him. She
replied that her life was, indeed, for any
who needed her, but for no husband.
Her heart. she said, lay at the bottom Of
the ocean.
In the table is a small drawer which l
ought to open and dust. All! the
only thing here is a painted ambro-
type of Arnold in a blue velvet case.
l take it revereutly from its folds
of tissue paper and open it. On
the inside cover IS pinned curl OF rud-
DIV brown hair. 1t ID boylsh face,
laughing, pure and sweet. Till the last
he mus. have bounded over the crests of
life's wsys-happy, fearless. II only
they could have been married, and had
Their pretty children about theml
But, Grace Brown, | thought you
were sweeping! push back the drawer,
move the table, and ply my broom with
vigor
Here are some dry leaves and flowers,
dropped in the shadow OF the door.
They are botanical specimens which the
doctor aud were studying last night.
We found a purple Gerardia, yellow
Trefoil and PolygsIa slong the roadside
on our drive. We examined them
through the doctors big microscope.
That Polygala was hard studying, and
there he sat, enjoying my poklng with
his needles, trying to count stamens and
cells too small almost to be seen with
the microscope. He would not help
one bit, aud | felt more and more
stupid. He says l will make a fair
botanist if l persevere. The doc
tor knows everything about plants,
but then he hal to learn, 50 as to dis
pense sarssparilla, and all his other vege-
table stuiTs. Botanical names do SO
dignity medicines! Nov should hate
to get well OF fever on Monkshood or
one of the Deadly Magistrates. But
call them Aconitum and Belladonna and
| shouldn't mind in the least. Out here,
where | have few companions, the doc
tor is very agreeable. He began practic-
ing in New York, but it was uphill
work. So when the old physician Of
this place wanted to retire, aud invited
this young doctor to take his practice,
he was glad to come. Some Of his pa
tients live off quite distance, and he
says l may as we'll enjoy the ride with
him on tine days. He calls, quite un-
professionally, of course, on Aunt Kitty
very often. But come-my little dried
up Gerardia, you and the rest must
share a common fate and 90 to the dust
heap.
A few white hairs are caught on
the broom. take one gently of and
draw it through my fingers. Aunt
Kitty's hair turned white in the
fever. l love white hairs. The mixed
stage suggests the struggle between
youth and age: but the hair sottened
and whitened at last means the triumph
of wisdom, purity and peace over irriia-
bility, passion, vanity, ambition and
those other tempestuous attributes Of
youth and middle age. | cannot associ-
ate white hair with any but good pc ople
like Aunt Reoekah and Aunt Kitty. The
bad ought to use dyes and keep their
locks, like their hearts, dirty yellow
black.
have come to the what-not, and l
regard it with dismay. What not, in
deedl Heaps of knick- knack, shells,
vases, daguerrotypes. picture cards,
boxes, small china figures, all waiting to
be busted. On the top shelf peacock
feathers and dried grass wave from an
antique vase. Here is my mothers pic.
ture in small frame made Of pine cones.
There arc hair flowers under a glass. Do
let US look at these ancient daguerro-
types. This is Uncle Amos, more sol.
emn even than his portrait. That is
fathers cousin Sebastian who lives in
Australia, and sends me something
rare and pretty every Christmas.
l have never seen him, bu,
he thought great deal of mother, who
died when l was four years old. 1t is
for her sake, suppose, that he sends me
things. Here is group Of my own
cousins, five light. haired, pretty, delicate
children. Only one lives now. Their
mother died of consumption, leaving a
baby three months old. Uncle John, q
brother of my fathers and Aunt Ktty's,
knew Massachusetts, girl, strong and
sweet, tempered, who was teaching
school. He went to her and said
"You were my wife's best friend. Her
children have her constitution. You
know their doom. Come and make their
short lives happy. She would be pleased.
I will give you money and homs. All
your wants shall be gratifed. And for
the care you give my children our graft
tude will be your recompense."
She went, and took up her task, de.
termined to conquer those fatal aeeds of
death which were the mothers heritage.
She struggled, and did indeed give them
happiness, but she could not give them
health. What fearful fact hereditary
isl They lived from sixteen to twenty
years, then one by one they drooped and
died. All but one died in her arms.
He, singuarly, escaped. AS forlorn
hope, he was sent as common seaman on
a sailing vessel. Being weak and un.
used to climbing, he fell to the deck aud
broke his hip. He was taken to the
hospital, where he lay for a year, his
wound suppurating and refusing to heal.