Middletown transcript., 1896-05-30

and then he said he leckOned he'd GO
out an throw some fodder in TO the
steers, an Bill am I-well, we went
aown cellar to draw that pitcher Nv
cider.
It amt for ne to Tell now nv the
meller sweetness Of their courtin' time;
couldn't do it if Etried. Oh, how we
loved 'em bothl Yet once, in the early
summertime, our boy Cyrus he come
to me and said "Father, | want you
to let me go away for SPELL"
"Cyrus, my boyl Go away9"
"Yes. father; President Linkern has
called for soldiers; father, you have al
ways taught me to obey the voice OF
Duty. That voice summons me now.'
.'God in heaven" l thought, "you
have given us this child only to take
him from usl''
But then came the second thought: !:
"Steady, Reubenl You are man: be
mani Steady. R.llbn' he manl''
Eyer MOTHER" sez /; Yer mother-it
will break her heartp'
.She leaves it all to you father"
"But-the other-the other, Cyrus
leetle Lizzie-ye knowl'
.'She is content,' sez he.
A storm swept through me like a
cyclone. 1t wuz all Bill's fault; that
warrior name had done it all-the cy-
clopeedy with its lies had pizened Bill's
mind to put this trouble On me an
minel
No. no, a thousand time mol These
wuz coward feelin's an they misbecome
me; the ache here in this heart Nv mine
had no business there. The better
part NV me called to me and said: "Pull
yourselves together, Reuben Ketcham,
and be man."
Well, after he went away, lettle Liz
zie wuz more to US IN ever before; wuz
at our house all the time; called Lizzie
mother" wuz contented, inber wom-
ans way, willin' to do her part, wait
in an wa chin an prayin' for him to
come back. They sent him boxes of
good things every fortnight, mother an
leetle Lizzie did; there wuzn't minute
Nv the day that they wuzn't talkin' or
thinkin' NV him."
Well-ye see, 1 mast tell it my own
way-he got killed. In the very fust
batlleCyrus got killed. The rest Nv the
soldiers turned to retreat, because there
wuz too many for 'em on the other side.
But Cyrus stood right up; he wuz the
warrior Bill allowed he wuz goin' to be-;
our boy wuzn't the kind to run. They
tell me there wuz bullet holes here, an
here, an here-all over his breast. We
always knew our boy wuz herol
Ye can thank God ye wuzn't at the
'jinin' farms when the news came that
he'd got killed. The neighbors, they
were there, of course, to kind NV hold
us up an comfort US. Bill an sot all
day in the woodshed. holdin' hands an
lookin' away from each other so; never
said word; jest sot there, sympathiz-
in an holdin' hands. II we'd been
women, Bill an would NV cried an
beat our forrids an hung round each
others neck, like the women folks done.
Bein' we wuz men. we jest set there in
the woodshed, away from all the rest,
holdin' hands an sympathizin'
From that time on leetle Lizzie wuz
our daughter-our very daughter, all
that wuz left to us NV our boy. She
never shed tear; crep' like shadder
round the house an up the front walk
an through the garden. Her heart
wuz broke. You could see it in the
leetle lambkin's eyes am hear it in her
voice. Wanted to tell her sometimes
when she kissed me and called me
"father''-wanted to tell her: "Leetle
Lizzie, let me help yer bear yer load.
Speak out the sorrer that's in yer brok-
en- heart; speak it out, leetle enc, an
let M help yer bear yer load.'
But it isn't for man TO have them
feelin's- leastwise, it isn't for him to
tell Nv 'em. So held my peace and
made now sign.
She jest dropped, an pined, an died.
One mornin' in the spring she wuz
standin' in the garden, an all at oncet
she threw her arms up, so, and fell up
on her face, an when they got to her
all tibet wuz left to us Nv leetle Lizzie
wuz her lifeless leetle body. I can't
tell of what happened next-uv the fun-
eral an all that. l said this wuz in
the Spring, an SO it wuz all around US;
but it was cold and Winter here.
One day mother says to me: "Reu-
ben," sez she sof,like, "Marthy an 1 is
goin' to the buryiu' ground for spell.
Don't you reckon it would be a good
time for you to step over an see Bill
While we're gone?'
'.Mebbe SO, mother,n sez I.
II WIZ pretty day. Cuttin' across
lots, though to myself what I'd say to
Bill to kind uv comfort him. I made
it up that I'D speak about the time
when We WIZ boys together. nv how
We used to slide down the meetin'-
lionse hill, am GO hucklebei lynn; Nv
how jumped into the pond one day
an saved him from bein' drownded; NV
the srellin' school, The huskin' bees,
the choir meetin's, the sparkm' times;
of the swimmin' hole, the crows nest
In the pine tree, The. wood-chuck's bole
In the old pasture lot; Nv the sunny
summer days an' the snug winter nights
when we wuz lNoys an, haupvI And