Herald and tribune. [volume] (Jonesborough, Tenn.) 1869-current, 1894-07-04
TEMPERANCE COLUMN.
EDITED BY JoNEsBoRo W. c. T. U.
I'll CONVENTION.

Each tiny seed has an active wing;
Iou must root 1t out or twill trouble bring!~
but the flower is soft and pink" Quoth he.
80 he let 1t grow all the summer through.
Ut Is only one, let ii live" said he.
"lf the thistle did but to rare plants belong
We should prize it much, it could do no
wrong,
We should even give it a place in song;
Now this is true" said my friend TO me.
In the spring through many a garden bed
The baby thistles were plain to see.
And out on the common their deep roots fed,
And new seeds fast on their light wings
sped,
And tender fingers from sharp spines bled.
And my neighbor came calling on me.
what can we do with this noxious weed?
The thistle is seeding the town." said he.
"Out in the pasture tits spelling the feed;
And my wife lost her tulips because OF its
greed;
My lawn grass is ruined and full of its seed;
lis a pest" said my friend to me.
But l knew my neighbor and nswered him
back:
my dear sir, we can't hope to agree.
You should license the thistle and still let IL
grow;
prohibition can never prohibit you know,
And If seeds keep on flying, why lust let 'em
GO"
1--WE done wrong" said my friend to me.
E. II. Chase, Minneapolis, MINI.
A SHADOW IN A COUNTRY NIGHT.
Twilight was stretching a ghostly
hand over the small town. 1t had al
ready gathered the woods in its en-
brace, and was stealing the slanting
sun rays from struggling stone wall.
1t was touching with dusky color the
patient figure seated there-a woman's
Incorporating the tense attitude of
long and painful watching. Her face
leaning on her thin hand showed in
the d%arkening shadows the dim blurred
p%rettiness which comes early to the
hard worked classes, followed too soon
by the more common look of worn
resignation. But the delicate profile
showed as yet the hope and despera-
ton belonging only to youth-hope de-
ferred, hope springing anew from a
shallow grave, but still hope.
The country lay as still as church
yard, only broken by an occasional
dropped note of a half awakened bird,
or the monotonous croaking of an old
frog down by the brook. She had
waited since her early tea, every mo-
ment dragging more heavily, and
seeming to drop a clod on her already
ov~erburdened heart, as it passed. The
sun had set gloriously, carrying with
it the respondent hope it had inspired,
and now the deep stiffness filled her
with mystery and dread. Far off in
the shadowy pasture a COW bell echoed
family, as the animal crunched the
short, sweet grass, and the bark of the
shepherd dog sounded systematically
loud and ominous.
She was a young thing-this Eliza
beth-and had seen two summers glow
and fade since her marriage. With a
heart capable of the deepest love and
ahighly idealistic nature, she had given
her life and sould to the man for
whom she waited so an~xiously.
AS she listened for the horses hoof
beats On the hard summer road, her
thoughts rushed back to another sum-
mer night before their marriage. She
could see him yet-strong and gay,
with his erect head impetuous features
and his deep tones sounded again in
her memory as he solemnly swore to
make her happy as long as he lived.
He was young, and did a young lover
ever fail to swear by the changing
moon? Like the scene from another's
life she could see them there-could
hear herself responding:
"Oh, but l am so afraid-so afraid.
My mother says that your pleasure
loving nature will lead you astray.
How could bear a life like that your
mother has endured with you, and
how could you bear to see me worn
and anxious and faded like her, with
nerves racked from long watching. For
both our sakes l must resist
Then she could hear again the pro-
testations which followed and felt her.
self once more yielding to the sweet
glamor of that love lit night. Now it
was past, and she could not linger
over the days that lay between then
and now. The first we're sweet, filled
with the wine of youth and love. He
had been as active as she in doing the
innumerable sweet nothings which 90
to make the ~witching beauty of a first
home, and after that-ah-she had
seen the dreaded spectre stalk into their
simple lives. 1t Swallowed every pleas.
ure in these days, and the most dreaded
were those on which he made his now
too frequent trips lover town" just to
get this or that for the house or premi.
ses.
How many nights she had watched
there, sometimes with starry skies over
her with fleecy clouds, like chariots
for the dead, sailing across a moon
ridden sky; again, when the wind blew
her thin covering and walled a re-
QUEEN through the somber fields of
wheat.
Tonight the calm only made the
beating of her heart more painful. The
old kitchen clock struck n c~reakingly
md slnwlu md thronnh tho half onaa