The state republican. (Jefferson City, Mo.) 1871-1896, 1894-10-11
an be the keys to those other

last Sarah said, "Let us try to clea
up the part of the house now oper
and may be we shall find the keys |
so doing. Here are some of tn
funniest brooms you ever saw. Mrs
Silvey gave them to me this morn
irg. They are nothing but bundle
Of what she calls broom -sedge, an,
seems to be the same thing that w
noticed in all the old fields. TAX
one Of them. Let us begin in tn,
hall upstairs. But first we need t
change our clothes for some that tn,
dirt will not hurt"
With all the doors and window.
open they fell to sweeping the house.
Philip raised the biggest dust bu,
Sarah declared that he left the floor
as dirty as he found 1t. After three
hours of such toll they we're both
willing to rest. Philip found q well
in the yard and with the dilapidated
windlass he succeeded in drawing a
bucket of most refreshing water.
They laved their faces and hands,
and then sat down to rest. And
then with alternate labor and rest
they spent the day. At its close
they we're delighted with the won
derful ira sformation they had
wrought in the looks of things. 1t is
true the conquest of the dust. had
only begun, and much of the furni
ture showed that it was too tender to
bear use; but they felt that they had
accomplished part of the task before
them, and we're encouraged to be
lieve that the remainder of the un
dertaking would not be beyond their
ability.
But they had not yet found the
keys to the rest of the house. They
made another search and the result
was as before. In this search, how.
ever, they discovered a small closet
under the staircase, and in it a roll
of mating. This Sarah wished to
put down on the floor in Philips
room, for the blood stain was still
there, and she could not bear to see
it. The mating added greatly to the
comfortable appearance of the room
which Philip declared now an apart
ment fit for a king. In order to get
the mating down smoothly they had
to nov the bedstead to another part
of the room. This bedstead was so
heavy and its rollers so rusty that to
their LABOR they took off the
the mattress. AS they did so some
thing ratified down to the floor.
''There r those keys" cried Sarah;
''no wonder we could not find them
But as they then saw the wagon re-
turning for them, they determined
to defer till the next day their fur
Their examination of their home.
The friendly old people welcomed
both very cordially. Chow do you
like your home?" asked Mrs. Siivey.
"Oh, it's just lovely" said Sarah.
sit used to be a. powerful fine
place." said the old lady; "but
didn't you feel kinder skeered over
there all by yourselves?"
81 must confess" replied Sarah
''that | was shocked when | wen
into fathers room and saw the stain
of his blood on the floor; but we
have covered that up now, and l
don't think of it. We have had q
hard days work, and have
cleaned only three rooms"
"There's lots OF people who say s
that the place is haunted, but l don't
believe in SIGH things" said Mrs.
Silvey. 1.-The dead never disturb us,
it's the living we sometimes need to
"Ill tell you, sir,n said Philip to
Mr.. Silvey, soft what | have been
thinking much of than such
as that it is how | am to raise
my two crops OF corn. You know |
lived in the city all my life, and
never even raised vegetables in a
garden, and know nothing at all
about farming"
"fou a learn said the old gen.
tleman. GLOW many acres do you
propose to plant this year?"
81 don't know, sir; how many
would you adviser"
What does your fathers will say
about that?"
Nothing at all, except that | must
two crops of corn. But of
want to raise enough to be
fair and honest in carrying out the
spirit as well as the letter of the will.
want to plant enough to keep me
busy do you think five acres would
be enough?"
"Yes, and more'n enough, consid-
.ring the condition of the land. It's
year since a crop was raised
that place, and if you kin git three
acres ready to plant this year you'll
do powerful well; and it's mighty
nigh time you was about it, too"
That night the two young strangers
made themselves better acquainted
with their host and hostess, and in
time told them more about their lives
in their mothers home. The old
seemed to be pleased with
and offered tn hahn tba,, T.,