The Indiana State sentinel., 1894-08-22


Z recall him now-his kindly face, tanned
and netted IN wrinkles; his long hair.
grizzled this many day; his stubbly
gray beard his light-blue eyes. .bespectacled
for reading-yes. there he sits. Many is
the "crack' l have had with him; yet
there was one story he chose to leave
fburied in silence-and that, his own.
hever dared brOach the topic, albeit in
'wardly burned With impatient curiosity.
One day, however the history became
mine unsolicited. Some remark 1 CHANGED
10 let slip anent his lifelong bachelorhood
kcaUsed an infrequent far-away look to
.settle upon his eyes. We were walking
5up the steep. cobble-paved "strset" al
Ithe time. past the limewashed front of the
T''Trawlers' Inn." to the higher ground.
from which the old Norman church tower
kept ward over the slumberous village.
-FWhy haze 1 never married. say YEP
fhe old man exclaimed. after a long spell
of silence. Like enow. ven hear afore
long an 1 don't see what should stop me
fro tellin' We mysen, if so be" Hur-
Tiedly stepping into the roadway. An
Edrew whipped of his broad-brtmmed hat
and stood motionless. Turning into the
sanded lane that zig-zagged past the
tslow-paced women. the younger of them
about fifty years Of age; the elder. twen-
" years or so older. II was the latter
that attracted my marked regard for it
WAS toward her that Andrew held his
down-bent head. A wan. frail-looking
creature she was. dressed in black. with
close-fitting. Oid-fashioned bonnet tied
under her chin in bow Of broad back
ribbon. Her hair. sm1othed evenly upon
ner forehead, shimmered silvery as the
hew-churned foam in The by. She moved
halungly. even with the ala OF an oaken
stan and the helping arm Of her COM
panion.
Withdrawing her arm. she paused in
The pathway and pointed her stick
Eoward the Dare-headed old fisherman. In
thin, Quavering tones, as if the wOras
We're said 10y rOte. there being no vehe-
mence In her ut,erGute. she cried: All,
knaW ye-i klaw ye. Ban ye, for no
speakln' NE fair With 40 more pas
SION than If she We're + usating some soul
less formula, she added: Curse We.
andrew Copl-y. II Was a lie. Curse ye
ior't.'
Come AVA the other woman put in
foaXin6ly; come thee ava home,
Then"
Unresttsting. the old lady allowed her
~
preW did not SIR q LIMO. buc stood there
with dofred hat, his he. bowed and his
name OF sr.y hair rur-iE, i'm the breeze.
We had left the church behind. the deep
futted lane. tce narrow stone stile that
gave upon the fields we had traversed
half the leag,h Of the meadows them
eeives before h- spoke. "Ye asked me
how -Te I never married" said he
sioH j.. "ih1t is the reason"
So be b-c-a upon his li.e-sIory. But
hE N
y / adhered % his exact words, with his
numerous aizr. -sions ana irTe. eNaucies.
Uttered with quaint burr Of tongue and,
moreover, a. Lis msdesty saw fit 20
floss over certain facts whic. / heard
Of later in O-ner quarters, j venture 10
set IL forth after my own fashion.
We Earh back a fun haif-century. Port
st Eade-ro vast size a. this pT sent
was then more nest Of sandstone.
bhale-rCofz d cottages, planted at the foot
o. the NH and Struggling disj3in-edly
Sp il to form the Street" Later i'm
trOveWents has displaced or rebuilt most
p these one-stOried dwellings, and filed
IN the gaps, but the O.d "Trawlers Inn"
looks just il looked fifty years ago.
u i back some Ten PAGES from the
fOaGWay. the shinglad space thus OBJ
tained be4ug highly favored of 1oungers
and gOssiDs. The spot served an identi-
cal purpose so far back as the oldest
memory goes
little kaot of fsher-folk men and
women, fCrega thered there one Wednes-
tay morning TO await the arrival of the
aOrperlond letter-carrier. Twice a
week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays. he
trudged the ten miles TO deliver his
lneager package Of letters. He always
made his way first TO the ''Tra wlers. %
where il had become customary for the
populace-thOse who did not expect let
ters alike with those who did-to assem-
bic and wayiay him. In that manner
the canny souls got news from the out
side world without being put to the ex-
pense Of a postal fee. while the official
on his part was quit of his letters all the
sooner. On this particular morning,
however, the gayety of the group was
under eclipse. They talked together in
buShed tones, full Of concern, every now
and then referring a question to the
Pronzed, middle-aged seaman in their
midst.
An ye're sure we've got the rights
b. t. Jake2' Queried a big-faced woman.
whose slimpy petticoats showed her am
pie brogues and shapeless ankles. "Itn
Kill L lass II she hears o T."
f'Oh, I'm moan mista' 'en-nOt me-" an
ewered the seaman positively. II seed
him mysen i Grimsby not three days
back, an / card 1t read out 4 church
ehe second time O akin II were-last
Sunday"
poor maid-poor maid, An her
Rwitin' for him her patient an lovin'
Rs onybody could wish. All, them men
Sthem mehw
While the frowsy old crone was shak-
ing her gray locks over the perfidy of
mankind, she stole a sidelOng look
toward the window bench against which
Andrew COpley-then a welI-set-up
young fellow Of four-snd-twenty-wa
tnoOdily leaning
"Ay, but he takes on badly wi t.
she said, Jerking her head in Andrew s
direction. "Im main sorry for him. too.
lie afays were sweet on her, We knaw,
IN / do believe she'd a had him If that
7nan fro Grimsby hadn't come this
Nay wi his pert, Weel-favored face"
Futher tattle was nipped short by the
appearance Of the letter-bag In all
there must have been close to a dozer,
letters-a goodly batch for Port st.
Bede. II was one Of the last which the
postmaster held aslant TO catch the
light. Miss Kellett?' he called out
kheeziy.
why that mum be Hilda." exclaimed
pne Of the bystanders. ''She isn't here.
Yen haze to take IL up TO the hoose."
I'll save We the walk" said Andrew,
stepping forward. I'm bound that way
IN I'll see she gets it,
Don't tell her O the goings-on o. that
Ifrimsby chap" cried the fishwife be-
fore mentioned. "Itll drive her clean
paft. Conscience sake, Audrey, don't
tell her that"
During the period we are dealing with
education at Port st. Bede was at n
woefully low ebb Not twenty people
In the whole thorp could write their
pames or recognize them when penned