Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1897-08-20

her knitting needles enphatically
GIVE been pestered with it ever sine
| got into my first teens. It's ben
dretful trial all along"
"Some folks say it'll feep a-Rittin
better when them as is 'hictel gil,
consid'able oldish-not to say You b.
old, Persis." Mis- Marthy' Beckett
added the last clause with gentle apol
ogy. Aunt Persis had come owe
with her knitting to "yisit" on tn,
shady back piazza. The bees buzzet
socially among the honeysuckle vines
and the two old-fashioned rocker
tilted back and forth with fain
squeaks necessarily. 1t was Away
cool and comfortable on Mia Mar
thy Beokett's back porch, even whet
the thermometer hanging on the clap
boards round the corner registere,
heat inexperienced by the "oldest in
habitants. F"
''Pd jest got to the heel-settin' 0
this stockin', an | says TO myself, III
go over m set it on Marthy's piazza
an we can visit together a spell at tn,
same time. Queer, amt it? Som,
folks cau't never knit their heels with
out they caa be alone an kinder onin
terrupted, Now / specify count OF
bein' in good comp'ny when I'm a
knittin' my heels, 1t comes sigh
easier an don't drag So So 1 com,
over--I hope you amt leayin' you
work or nothin', Marthy?"
ooh, no, Mis- Marthy' had said
cordially, 'T'm real glad you've com,
over. l was feelin' kinder lonesome
an a hopiI' somebody'd drop in
There was II stranger in my tea, too
this noon, I'll fetch out my rags an
sew strip"
SO they had settled down in COSY
comfort, and the talk had driftei
around to nearsightedness.
"Oh, I'm old enough, if that's all, )
Aunt Persis said, in reply to mis-
Marthy's' apology, ''But they ain
no lettin'-up in my nj iyhsight's
kin see. l shan't never see sixty
five agin, an it's high time for tn,
lettin'-up to begin il it's ever a-goin
to. | guess I'm goin' to be pesteret
with it till | git to heaven, an ther
mebbe I'll see like other folks. ;
Aunt Persis sighed little. "Not a,
| feel to complain none" she added
The Lords give me plenty o othel
blessings to make up for my nighsee
in. But it's been turrible trial al
these years, Marthy Beckett.
eyes, l s'pose so, Persis, l s'pos,
so. I've often felt for ye when Nv,
seen ye settin' in your pew in III,
meetin' house, holdiI' the hymn book
so clost up to your eyes. I've b'el
real sorry for We, mnny'e the time. I'm
jest leetle nighsighted myself.
"You be? You don't say, Marth,
Beckettl"
Eyes, there's spells when 1 can
make out things to my mind. Now
there was Sunday afore last--I couldn
see the minister's nose at ali, noways
could fix it, an sometimes his eve,
was real cross.eyed to me. 1 fee
kinder worried about it-not that it.,
anythin' like what you hev to put W
with, constant and continual.
ut amt so all the time
"Bless you, no, only kinder b,
spells.
''Then l guess it's your stummick
Marthy, an you better see doctor t.
once, Stummicks an eyes is dretfu
nigh related. You've probably beer
eatin' somethin' that don't agree witt
ye. Or maybe it's this spell o. weather
we've been havin' so long Cam mil,
tea stepped cold is good for kinder
out-o'-orderness in your stummick.
Il know. | got some a-steepin' OF
the dresser this minute. | guess
don't need to see no doctor. Abou
your nighsightedness, Persis, how wa,
you took?"
'Ia [ remember it Jest as plain
II was along in the spring of the yea
l was fourteen, Me N mother wa
washing dishes at the sink, an
looked acrost the room at the soutl
winder. why, ma, says /, look a
all them flies ON that winder pane
an mother, she says, 'Them's drop,
o. rain, Persis Strongp au' they was
l couldn't tell 'em from flies as sure,
you live! Well, after that / found out
| couldn't see much O. anythin' like
folks. It used to be dretful m lrtifyin
when / was young thing. When
was in my tweniies l got some o then
quizzin glasses, but they was dretfu
onhandy, to say nothin' o beiu' secl
sassy lookin' things. l couldn't abide
'em, an SO l up n put 'em in the
kitchen fire."
"Why, Persis Strongr'
"Well, did. l s'pose it warn
real savin', but they was my own to Il,
with. An | amt never wore gllsses
agin' to this day, an l amt never
goin' to now. l recollect that 'twa.
the very day that Arethusy Flint an
l fell out when l burnt them quizzers
up"
Aunt Persis stopped rocking for the
first time. A troubled look crept ovel
her pleasant face. There was quite q
long silence ON the back porch, broker
only by the bees and jubiant little
bird that was singing love song il
the top of an apple tree. Then Mis-
Marthy' said softly.
81 didn't know as twas such long
spell back as that. Amt you never
= snke since?"
Aunt Persis set her thin lips firmly
and took up her knitting again. She
set the needles clicking and the rock
ers squeaking together, but said moi
a word Arethusa Flint was sore
spot-the only. one in her whole CHEEKY
life. There followed another long ST
lehce which Mis- Marthy' finally
broke with little embarrassed cough
and the remark that nighsigtedness
was real morIifyin' She hadn't never
realized it so much before,
"Yes, should say sol" Aunt Per
sis said, starting out of her media
tions. "You can begin to think how
many scrapes it's fetched me into. I've