The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1895-01-31
'S:repty.'

AZ was Iull VI 'ne oAo
summer.
Opposite the door stood the famlly
Surrey" wearing the drapery pro-
vided for it's hours of retirement, anu
in one corner was lofty pile OF
sleighs. of various patterns and sizes
On the same side of the door stood
the eaunt frame Of an old-fashioned
hand-loom, and high in state before
1t was seated the mistress of the farm
house. Many happy solitary hours
Mrs Merritt spent there.
She 'loved to weave" she SAID, IN
her gentle, meditative voice.
But this love was not merely for the
weaving. 1t was more for the pleasant
sights and sounds of the summer
weather, and for the kindly leisure
Of lifes afternoon. The peaceful task
belonged to summer as much as did
the swaying of the daisies and the
hum of the bees. In winter the loom
stood neglected and forgotten, but in
the late days Of May, when the grass
was already deep and green by the
footpath, and the apple trees had shed
their last lingering blossoms, the long
Ing for the dreamy, delightful task
would awaken, and Mrs. Merritt
would bestir herself to set up
"web"
The old loom had come to her by
inheritance, and she valued it as she
treasured the ancestral homeSpun
linen, and the family traditions which
extended back even to the inevitable
''three brothers that came over from
England"
She had often told her daughters of
the remote grandmother who, When
- =, r.v f,nd inc 6yT0r
tently carried off the pick of the house
hold armament on an excursion to
Ticonderoga and Crown Point, de-
Tended her home and babies with an
axe. To such deeds the Merritt sis,
ters felt themselves quite adequate
had need arisen, but they could see nc
reason why their mother, should sii
in the barn and weave rag-carpetins
in the fact that the loom had been
framed of oak timber cut when all
the hillside beyond Roaring Brook was
a wilderness. But if "mother" pleased
it was all right.
And Miss Sarepta Toker even was
welcome to bring her knitting-work
and sit in the doorway, and tell who
was dead, and who was married, from
Roaring Brook to the Nepash. Fol
Serepta possessed married sisters ant
cousins in half the towns of the coun
tY, which gave her. an immense ad
vantage as y Apurv Bof news.
She was a. meager little woman, who
had never been credited with much
alertness of mind or body. 1t added
a little brightness to her existence
even to look on from the outside a
the life and stir, and coming and go
ing, at 'the Merritt place."
And in the intervals when "S'repty'
sat and knitted, with her eyes shut tt
visible things, she was no more hin
drance to the placid musings Of Mrs
Merritt than would have been a cat
doing in the sunshine.
Back and forth moved the shuttle
then follow ed the dull stroke Of the
batten. Occasionally the weaver
would descend from her seat to turr
the ratchet Of the beam upon which
the fabric was wound.
"How nice you do beat up you
weavin'r' exclaimed S'repty, rousin.
herself to admiration. "Mis' Mink
don't do her'n, and RoSala has said
time and ag'in, she wouldn't send an.
more rags to her; but then She
kinder sorry for her."
cts hard for her to struggle along,
said Mrs. Merritt. eff her childrel
had lived, it would have been differ
ent.''
"Your loom got kind O. crowded ou
of the house, didn't it?'' said S'repta
''The old furnitoor has got to go. Re
minds me of what cousin Spencer Doc
little said when Square Lane fugle
round an got him turned out Of tn
gallery to the Baptis' meeting house
He'd played the bass viol to lead tn
singin' for forty year. There ain
no room left for the stable foundation
of order sez he. Folks mus kee
underminin', an counterminin', al
improvin',' sez he"
"It was my notion having the 1ooI
set up out here" said Mrs. Merritt
''He says it's my amusement for sum
mer weather, that I have to have
just as the girls play croquet and ten
MIS-"
Another long, dreamy silence, ex
cept for the shuttle that went o.
and on.
There was a sound Of wheels AN,
all semblance Of slumber fed fron
Sarepta's eyes as there appeared a
the front gate very shiny top-buggy
And when in few moments a slende
shadow fell across the doorway, an,
Lois Merritt entered, no detail of he
appearance was unobserved. The giI
was tall, like her mother, with tn
same large, serious cast of counte
nance.
"What awful little bunnits they b
a-wearin'!" said Sarepta, as if obey
ing an Irresistible inner prompting
Lois received placid1y this implie,
criticism of her new summer millinery
and her mother thought complacently
"Lofs don't mind S'repta. Emma an,
Lucia amt so even-tempered. They,
have flared up"
It required but little urging to in
duce the visitor to stay until .afte
tea. 1t had been one of the grea
treats Of Sarepta's childhood to g
home from school with Lucinda
ST don't see. mother" said Emm
Merritt, as with sigh of relief sh
watched Sarepta's departing foot
steps, chow you can like to have he
come here SO much It's just to Sc
and hear, and then go and tell. An
she doesn't miss anything that's goin
on, for all that she keeps her eye
shut"
'sThere isn't any harm in S'repty,
said Mrs. Merritt. 'Ive alway
known her, and it kind O. interest
her to come here
'.She takes too much interest in m
affairs" persisted Emma. "And every
where she goes she tells about 'Si
and EN- and Lucindy,' and so or
as If we belonged to her."
'sNever mind, Emma Jane" replie,
her mother, 81 guess there's room
enough in this world for you an,
S'repty, too.."
"Oh, mother. motherl you're to-