St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1895-11-16
FARMER ELPS VACATION,
by ALICE BROWN.

ut don't seem as il we'd really got
round to it, does it, father" asked
Mrs. Pike.
The west was paling. and the August
insects stirred the air with their Groom
ing chirp. Eli and his wife sat to-
gether on the washing bench outside
the back door, waiting for the milk to
cool before it should be strained. She
was large, comfortable woman. with
an unlined face, and smooth. fine au-
burn hair: he was spare and somewhat
bent. with curly iron-gray locks. grow
Ing thin, and crows feet about his deep
set gray eyes. He had been smoking
the pipe of twilight contentment, but
now he took it out and laid it oD the
bench beside him.
mo; it don't seem ~ IL twas goin'
TO happen, he owned. ut looked
pretty dark to me all last week It's .
good deal of an undertaken, come to
think it all oTsr. I dunno's I care
about goin,"
"Why. father! After you'v We thought
about it SO many years. an Sereno's
got the tents strapped up. an all. You
must be crazy"
'..Well." said the farmer. gently. as
ne arose and went to carry the milk
pals into the pantry. calling coaxing-
ly. as he did so: kitty. kitty: You
had your milk. Don't you joggle, now
Mrs. Pike came ponderously to her
feet, and followed. with a heavy. swav-
ing motion OF one grown feshy and
rheumatic. She was not in the least
concerned about Ellis change of mood.
He was . gentle soul and she had al
ways been able to guide him in paths
OF her own choosing. Moreover, the
present undertaking was one involv-
ing his own good fortune, and she
meant to tolerate no foolish scruples
which might interfere with its result.
For Eli, though he had lived all his
life within easy driving distance of the
ocean, had never seen it. and ever
since his boyhood he had cherished one
darling plan-some day he would 20
to the shore and camp out there for a
week. This, in his starved imagina-
tion, was like = dream of the Acropolis
to an artist stricken blind, or ss noun
tain outlines to the dweller in q lone
ly plain. But the years had fitted
past, and the dream never seemed
nearer completion. There was always
planting, haying and harvesting to be
considered: and though he was fairly
prosperous excursions were foreign to
his simple habit Of life. But at last
his wife had stepped into the van and
organized an expedition with all the
valor Of a Francis Drake.
"Now. don't say one word, father. "
she had said. ''We're goin' down to
the beach. Serene, an Hattie. an you
an me, an we're goin' to camp out"
For days before the date Of the ex-
cursion Eli had been solemn and trem-
ulous. IS with joy; but now. on the
eve of the great event, he shrank back
from it. with IN underlined notion that
il was like death, and that he was not
prepared. Next morning, however.
when they all rose and took their early
breakfast, preparatory to starting at
Ave, he showed no sign Of indccision,
and even went about his outdoor tasks
with m alacrity calculated. as his wife
approvingly remarked. to ''for'ard the
wye" He had at last begun to see
his way clear, and he looked well sat
isfled when his daughter Hattie and
Serene, her husband, drove into the
yard in = wagon cheerfully suggestive
Of a wandering life. The tents and q
small hair trunk were stored in the
back, and the horses pail swung be-
low.
"Well, father" called Hattie, her
rosy face like flower under the large
shaded hat she had trimmed for the oc-
casion, guess we're goin' to have q
good day.
He nodded from the window. where
he was patiently holding his head high
and undergoing strangulation, while
his wife. breathing huskily with haste
and Importance. put on his stock.
A. length the two teams were ready.
and Xii mounted to his place, where he
looked very slender beside his tower
ing mate. The nired man stood lean
ing on the pump. chewing . bit OF
straw, and the cats rubbed against his
legs, with tails like banners.
'Well, good-by, Luke" Mrs Pike
called over her shoulder: and Eli gave
the man a solemn nod, gathered up the
reins and drove out Of the yard. Just
outside of the gate he pulled up.
"whoa!" he called. and Luke
lounged forward. Don't you forgit
them cats. Git up. Doll" And this
time they were gone.
For the hrst ten miles of the way,
familiar in being the road to market,
Eli was placidly cheerful. The sense
that he was going to do some strange
deed, to step into an unknown n country,
ted, in his intermittent, serious FASH
ion, of the crops and the lay of the
land.
Pretty bad Job up along here, amt
it. father" called Serene. as they
passed . sterile pasture where two
plodding men and a yoke of oxen were
redeeming the soil from its rocky
fetterx
There's q good deal o pastur'. in
some places, that Amt fit for nothin'
but to hold the world together" re-
turned Eli; and then he was silent, his
eyes hxed on Dolls eloquent ears, his
mouth working a little.
We've prospered. amt we, Maria?''
he said, 1t last: and his wife, uncon-
sciously following his thoughts, in the
manner of those who have lived long
together, stroked her black silk
'.visite." and answered, with a we'll
satisfied nod:
Il guess we amt got no cause to
complain"
The roadside WAS parched under An
August sun: tansy was dust-covered.
and ferns had grown ragged and gray.
The jogging horses left behind their
lazy feet q suRocat;ng cloud.
my landv' cried Mira Pike. "if that
amt Rolden-rod! do b'lieve it comes
earlier every year, or else the seasons
are changin' See them elderberries
Amt they purple. You jest remembe,
thst bush, an when we go back, vel
all some pals. I dunno when fvs