St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1894-07-14

Auu Wv rug uSuAS w VIC WiU8s
Enraptured hear fts rival sing.
Oh. wondrous power, sweet gift divine.
For which my wearied soul doth pine:
Oh. may hear its sounds on high,
Mid angels voices in the sky.
Helen Wilkie in Chamber Journal
SOPHY CLARE'S FRIGHT.
How . Plucky Little schoolma'en
Was Frightened.
A schoolma'am in tho far west-s
hardworked. scantily paid little
drudge, who boarded round At the
various farmhouses, log cabins and
one-storied shanties within an area Of
ten miles, and consequently enjoyed .
panoramic view Of human nature in .
pleasing variety of aspects-this was
not the sort of a career that Sophy
Clare had looked forward to when she
graduated with so much eelat from the
Massachusetts, state normal school
and carried of her blue-ribboned d.
ploma! But she had come out west
lured by Rlittering prospects and fair
promises, which had tcrned into mere
will-o'-the-wisps on . nearer view, and
now 1t was either work or starve with
our courageous little Yankee.
So she had taken the West Athens
district school At twelve dollars .
month and her board.
After ALL" said Sophy, valiantly,
sits rather fun to teach here in the
wilderness. One sees all sorts Of char
acters boarding round And I'm sure,
il were a novelist, could make my
fortune BY pen-and-ink sketches of
their strong points To be sure, it's q
long walk to the schoolhouse-and
rather . lonely one-but the forest
path is so lovely, now that It il al
carpssed with the gold and crimson Of
fallen leaves. and the roar of the river
in the glen below and the rush of the
wind through the treetops is grander
than any orchestra"
And involuntarily the little school
teacher broke out into the refrain Of .
song As she walked along with light,
elastic steps. her empty lunch-basket
on her arm, and the scarlet-frilled
hood tied around her fresh little face.
For tho western sun had dipped below
the edge Of the woods, and Sophy was
on her way home to Hosea Harkins.
the miller's, where, just at present.
she was making her home, with Mrs
Harkins and the twelve little Har-
Fkinses-a seven-mile walk from the old,
red schoolhouse on the river shore.
But rs the twilight darkened, and
the purple shadows began to cluster.
like spectral figures, in the silent aisles
Of the woods. Sophy Clare shrank with
in herself, and involuntarily quickened
her footsteps.
They shot bear in these woods.
last spring." she thought within her
self. with little apprehensive thump of
her heart And Charles Harkins was
quite sure he saw panther stealing
through the underbrush in Dead Mans
glen. only week before last! ] wish ]
hadn't stayed in school 50 late, cor
recting those compositions"
And - Sophy fed swiftly along. her
scarlet hood cleaning like . tropic
bird, through the dark aisles of the
forest. her overstrained Imagination
converted every rustllug leaf into the
tread Of wild beast.
But suddenly. as she reached . copse
of dark pines at the bend of the path.
the sound of low, mufaed voices struck
upon her cara She paused with curl;
ops sensation. Is If every drop Of :bloed
In her veins were standing still
1t was two men crouchinR by fall
el log which lay in tho pine copse,
mhntled over with gold-green moss,
ard halt hidden with tall weeds Evil
IDENTIFY, they were quite unaware of tho
approach Of anyone and. - Sophy
khrank back into the shadows of .
blsck-green laurel bush, she could hear
their muttercd words quite plainly.
...But to kill her." said one. ''And
she's such little beauty. tool"
I"Pshawr' growled the other. Don't
b fool, Hal Tucker It's only one
stroke of sharp knife and the things
done, and can't b undone"
! I'But it seems 20 crueli'
I"Stuff and nonsense: Amt it done
every day?'
:'But what will the children say?"
! ''They'll miss her. I suppose. just 1t
first, but they'll soon get accustomed
I'd another one"
l'Would you do 1t at night?" said the
MAN called Hal Tucker.
''To-niRht will be the best time, :"
;sdid the other. 'Harkins' folks are all
going out to singing school tonight,
and the coast will be clear. You have
tho wagon At the door to carry it away,
and I'll undertake to make \ clean job
Of it with my new knife before she has
time to cry out"
!, III never hated to do thing 30 in my
ai&e," said Hal Tucker.
I 1.-THE more fool you!' grufiy retort-
Ia the other. And then the sound of
Aheir voices. receding through the dense
Of the forest. grew indis-
4ihct, and finally died into silence.
$vhile Sophy Clare stood. pale and
with one hand clinging to
lhe laurel branches and her chestnut
Blown hair blowing about her fright
tHed face. She knew Hal Tucker very
well-a good.natured. shiftless. ne'er-
al weel. who lived on the proceeds Of
any odd jobs he could get In the neigh
and had no more idea of pro-
wiling for the future than il he had
been the grssshopper in Lafontaine's
fable. And the voice Of The other man
WIS also familiar to her as that Of one
Jeremiah Slocum, who bore no envia-
bic reputation among the simple set
tlks OF. those wild western regions
And. with thrill of the heart, she re-
memebred that Jerry Slocum had bcen
sitting by. the night before. when Mil
Ter Harkins. who was ono Of the school
trustees. had paid her her months sal
airy in clinking silver dollars
."IES / they mean" cried SONNY nut