The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1895-01-10
MOTHER BALLARD'S HOME
81. Was with the "Blaok Sheep" Of
Her Family. 81

8B Her Family.
THAT il my cousin Susie Lee. and that
il her husband; that fat baby is hor
eldest; we amt got no pictures Of her
other children, though she's ben D
pr0misin' them to us this long time.
That other baby on the opposite page,
the one with the cunnin' bare toes, 10
Abner's youngest, taken good ten year
ago"--and so on, and SO on, until every
picture in Seth Billiards. photograph
album had been described in full to tho
weary visitor.
But what else could Ida, Abner> Bal
lard's wife, do to entertain the guest,
3 lady from New York who knew no
one in the little town of Clifton save
the cousin who was her hostess? Laura
Martin, the guest, knew nothing and
cared nothing for the details of farm
life; in fact, she detested the country.
and would never have come to this
quiet place but that she had been or
dered there by her physician
The cousin whom she was visiting,
Rufus Martin. was almost stranger
to her; and his wife and her family she
had never before seen or heard of. She
exerted herself to be cordial to them.
and never allowed them to suspect
how fearfully she WAS bored. This
afternoon she and her cousins wife,
hannah, were visiting Abner Ballard;
and his sister hannah and Serena, his
broher Seth's wife, were also there
assisting to entertain her. ..a
Serena would every now and then
disappear into the kitchen. and tn en-
after moments pause Ida would fol-
low her: During one OF these brief
absences, while hannah was attending
to the wants of her youngest baby.
Laura, being left to her own re-
sources, began to examine the gayly
bound books which lay on the center
table carefully piled and mathemat-
ical]y equidistant. Presently She saw
volume of poctical selections. not
quite SO new nor SO shiny rs its com
panions: and. rs she WAS glaDcing over
graph which represented bright
eyed, curly-haired, good-looking fell
low about nineteen or twenty years
old
''Who is this good-lool1inS young
man, lzannah? His face is very ia
1niliar." said she, showing the picture
to Mrs. Martin.
No one whom you ever saw" an
swered hannah, with a flushed face
and confused air.
..Ah ha! One of your old beaux. eh?
l must say that he is ten times as good
looking as Rufus. am surprised you
didn't take him instead of my worthy
but very homely cousin. Do tell me
about him"
'.Nonsense! he wasn't any beau OF
mine. Put the picture away; don't
want to talk about him." answered
hannah. in the abrupt, snappish man
ner common to her when she was tired
or busy or worried or sleepy, in fact,
her usual manner when ut home.
Laura fully appreciated the many do
mestic exce1lences which hannah pos
essel; she saw that, like her brothers,
she worked early and late and could
make dollar 60 as far as five times
its value would under the manipular
ton of most people. The Billiards.
were proverbial in Clifton for their in
their ability to do everything
quickly and we'll, their sobriety and
and, also, for their econ
omy; only most people thought that in
them that virtue had degenerated into
the vice of stinginess. Success was the
standard by which they measured
everything and everybody; and sue
cess to them had none but q Pc
cuniary meaning.
At that moment Ida entered the
room, and Laura appealed to her to
know who was the mysterious orig
inal of the picture.
"I'hat? Why, that's Mark Ballard,
my husbands youngest brother. I'm
sure, hannah, you needn't try to dis
own him, for everybody in the county
knew him. He was the youngest of
the family, and no more like the Bal
lards than chalk's like cheese. He was
idle by nature; and. as his father died
when he was only ten years old. it
never got beat out of him as it ought
to "a ben. Mother Ballard hadn't no
more force to her than an old settin'
hen. He was her pet, and she certain
iy did humor him to death Well, it
turned out as it always does when one
child is petted to extremes and the
others taught to work as they ought
to do; Mark got lazier and lazier,
wouldn't do nothing about the farm,
wouldn't go into the mills, wouldn't do
nothing but read, read all the time;
said he wanted to be scholar, which
was ridiculous in a poor boy like him.
He and his brothers didn't agree, and,
finally, he ran away and went to the
bad. lie ran into debt and took to
drink, and as we amt heard nothing
of him for nigh onto fifteen years I
s'pose he's dead. No great loss if he
Is" added Ida. not unwilling to ex-
hibit the deep hue of the Ballard black
sheep. IT, -....
''Did his mother give up all hope of
him before she died?'' asked Laura,
pitifully. ..... ......-.. ..
.Oh, mother amt dead, nor won't
be for many q year." answered Izan-
nah, cheerfully. 1t was her turn now.
not Ida's. "She's beautifully settled