The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-11-23

EtaNtyhlN, "H'!f ~ hH'" Il'i''' az
the lonr ago. ani read lc inScril-
tions upom tlo ,clni. aud study over
the irull, .iat ,he-c viii call to
mind.
Br wn an! wen, iacL to our old
homc will. tllc fnll intention Of Stay
ipy a week. bu' everything was 50
changed tl.at Nc were clad 70 leave in
day. A. We passed along the roads
VIC used to travel il was but natural
10 ask for the folks wr l;.G huown.
and We found - often that tLcy were.
dead HAT we thuurit The lr~i place
Tor rs 10 see anything We had eyer
known was in the graveyard, aud
thcrc we went Familiar name, were
there And wrr, about all we saw on
our trip tha; va, familiar. These
names stirred ur many memories
some pleasant and some bad The
good old people whom We had kuown
and who caused no surprise at finding
dead, these were remembered with
feelings sadly sweet, and we fingered
at their graves the longest. In some
OF the names We found those whom
we had known as young and ronpin.
youths, and now and then we would
come TO q baby s grave where we knew
that all it, kin had moved away and
lnft -
ed for a long while among these graves
and were just fixing to leave when we
saw Upon Il ii,wiy erected 5:,,.. he
name Lucy Dawson
We knew Lucy and felt what "a
mockcry there might hc sometimes in
the glitter Of these tombstoncs. We
knew her when she was baptized in
the old pool at Hebron and VIC knew
her when she was the pet Of all the
settlement, and we knew her father to
be rich and knew that she was raised
as tender as n tiny flower, but We
knew her ending, as We read, Erect
ed by her husband" VIC both at once
muttcred, "Mockcry, mockcry!'
Yes, I saw Lucy when she came
along the road moving to her new
home soon after she had married John
Dawson, and perhaps there might be
some good in telling her history. She
was rosy and blooming then, and she
looked 80 happy when she pulled back
the wagon sheet to speak to me and
Brown that it would have took harder
hearts than'eve 'ours have been not
to have wished them happy life for
che future. And for while John
did so well and made most devoted
husband, but later, and sad it wars, he
got acquainted with four or five rowdy
fellows and that association grew
stronger and stronger until it ended
as am going to tell. At first John
met the advances of these wild fellows
timidly and ooldly, but after a while
he came to rate them as generous to a
fault and to excuse their rowdy ways.
The associations grew from just AN
occasional hunt together, with now
and then a meeting at the black
smith shop, to one Of friendly at
tachment, and so familiar did John
become with these rowdies that his
little wife ;took notice Of it and re-
solved that she would stop it if she
could.
John promised at once to break off
from these rowdy fellows when Lucy
made mention Of it, and he took her
on his knee and kissed her, stroked
her pretty hair and laughed at her for
being scared that ever he would have
anything to do with drinking whiskey
or Of forming any habits that would
cause him to forget or neglect his
young wife, and really John did be-
licvc everything that he said, for he
was a good fellow, and this should the
more Impress my young readers with
tic danger that turks in evil associa-
tions.
More han a month had'ra>scd since
John had made these promises to
Lucy and She looked happier and
swcctcr than shc had ever looked be-
fore, and new gates and pretty orna-
mcnts around his place spoke we'll in
favor of John $ new ways, or his "new
leaf, as he called it, but cursed be
she ties which bind to evil ways-the
poison was there and the fruits would
come.
1t came when John was at work in
his new ground out Of sight Of his
house. He was whistling as he work
ed and was no doubt thinking Of the
sweet wife at home, when the rowdy
f,noxpo ~, n n ~ o;r op~ooroc.o ~