The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-05-31

worm fence and chop wood On the
! otner hand Nash was just as clever as
she at milking, cooking, washing dishes,
securing the floor and making up the
BEDS. In way they were great singers
VI course they had no knowledge of
music, and their songs We're crude varia-
tions OF old time ballads caught from
! their father and mother; but their voices
were naturally strong, rich and sweet,
and they sang without self-consciousness
or restraint, as birds do. Often in the
| little hI1 side corn fields, when hoeing
side by side, they kept time to some
plaintiye melody with their strokes, the
} hoe-blades ringing keenly on the stones
lying thick in the yellow clay soil.
HER FATHER AND MOTHER.
Mrs. Toby, unable to rise from her
bed or her CHAIR without help, was yet
accomplishing and tried to be as little
trouble as possible to her husband and
cnlldren, VINO watched over her and
ministered to her tenderly and lovingly
Mr.. Toby had, however, one grave de-
feet IN his character; strong drink fas-
struggled hard against the temptation,
he frequently gave way and became in
toXicated, returning home IN a maudlin
condition after visit to the illicit still
! house which was hidden in a deep gorge
on the other SIDE of the spur, few mics
distant from the folby CABIN.
This bad trait of her husbands was
source OF much secret grief to the DOOR,
compromising the nature of drunken
ness and the shame of 1t, thought little
OF it, until one day when a strange man,
a lean, narrow shouldered, long-legg5d,
pale-eyed fellow, came to the house and
said that Mr.. Toby had sent him there
from the still-house to deliver a pack
age.
Yer pap won't be home till termorrer
er mex day. said the man to Nash, when
handing the heavy little bundle to him;
but you jes' hide this yer, an hide it
good. wher' nobody kim poss' bly, find it.
An yer pap say at We mustn't open it,
er do thing to it, bust jes' hide it
quick an safe
1t was in May; the evening was warm,
although the sun was down, and the man
was perspiring as if he had been run
ming hard and long.
iGi' me gourd err warter, quick he
painted.
Phebe ran and fetched it from the
spring near the doorway.
The man drank with loud gulps and
then hurried off into a wood behind the
house, where the great cliff rose like the
corner of fortress.
Il reckon at I'd better do ez pap said
fer me to- remarked Nash, still clutch
ing the small but very heavy package.
Hit mus be Lead he added, 'hit feel
so solid an heavy"
yes, hide it quick an good" said
Phebe, who was trembling, she knew not
why.
All of this had taken place on the out
mapping within, knew nothing of it.
Nash acted promptly. He dug a hole
in the ground close TO the cabins founda-
ton with a grabbing hoe and therein
buried the package, smoothing the earth
over 1t very carefully.
By this time it was dark, and much to
the surprise of Phebe and Nash, Mr..
Toby, little later. came home He was
humor He wanted to dance, he said
and made the boy and girl sing for him
while he shuffied awkwardly on the loose
rough floor of the rustic porch in front
of the cabin.
Nash tried to tell his father about hav-
ing hid the package according to order;
but the man only laughed cautiously and
said: ''Yesh, yesh. good boy, Eats it.
sing nuzzer song"
NASH'S MISGIvINGS.
That night after all had become still
in the cabin, and while no sound broke
the silence save the stertorous breathing
of Mr., Toby, Nash found himself lying
awake with an unnatural feeling oppres-
sing him. Somehow he could not get rid
of certain Jingle of mystery left in
him by the lean mans behavior, and he
felt the strange weight of that solid lit
tie package still pressing on his fingers.
Why had his father sent the man with
it? Where had his father got it? What
was it? He remembered now with vivid
clearness how the man looked, how he
he was sweating, how he painted, how
he listened and glared. Why all this ex-
element, haste and worry? cold.
creepy feeling came upon Nash. and he
shivered, warm as 1t was.
The odd part of this seemingly mex
plieable mood OF Nash's was that
trivial defect in the left boot of the lean
stranger kept constantly glancing before
his vision, no matter whether he closed
his eyes or opened them. This heel had
been worn aslant and rudely mended
with piece of sole leather which pro-
jected at one place in sharp angle.
ARRESTED.
Next morning at the peep of day the
family bestirred themselves as usual