The Butler weekly times. (Butler, Mo.) 1881-1918, 1898-02-17

we iourneyed On together, and your
father was sustained beyond my
hopes, but, awaking at sunrise on
the fourth day, I found him faint
and exhausted He was unable to
proceed; his life had ebbed away
fast, and"
"He died" exclaimed Dorcas,
family.
Reuben felt it impossible to ac-
nowledge that his selfish love Of
life had hurried him away before
her fathers fate was decided. He
spoke no, hs only bowed his head.
Dorcas wept when her fears were
thus confirm &c; but the sho OK, long
a1tici pat d, was on that account the
Less vic 1t
You dug Z gave for my poor
father in tn. wilderness, Reubene"
was tie qles iou by which her filial
piety mtrifcs., i itself.
My hands WEI weak, but ] did
what l colid, replied the youth, in
smoth'red tone. There stands q
noble tombstone above his head, and
[ would to Heaven I slept as sound
ly as he"
Dorcas. perceiving the wildness
of his latter words, inquired no fur
Their at that time, but her heart
found ease in the thought that Rog-
er Melvin had not lacked such funer-
al rites as it was possible to bestow.
In the course of few years after
their marriage, changes began to be
visible 10 the external pr osperity of
Reuben and Dorcas. The only riches
of the former had been q stout heart
and strong arm, but the latter, her
fathers sole heiress, had made he1
husband master of farm under cul,
tiva'ion, larger and better stocked
than most of the frontier establish
ments. Reuben Bourne, however
was a neglected. husbandman, and
while the lands of the other settler.
became annually more fruitful, his
deteriorated IN proportion
The only child OF Reuben an6
Dorcas was a son, now arrived a.
the age of fifteen years, beautiful il
youth and giving promise of glo
rious manhood. The BOY was loved
by his father with deep and silen
strength, as if whatever was gooc
and happy in his own nature had
been transferred to his child, carry
ing his affections with it. Even Dor
cas-, though loving and beloved, wa
far less dear to him, for Reuben
secret thoughts and insulated emo
tons had gradually made him I
selfish man, and he could no longer
love deeply except where he saw o.
imagined some reflection or likeness
of his own.
It was early in May that the littl
family snapped asunder whateve
tendrils of affection had chung to in
animate objects and babe farewell
to the few in the blight of forum
called themselves their friends. Tn
sadness of parting moments bad t.
each of the pilgrims it's peculiar al
leviations. Reuben, a moody man
misanthropic because unhappy
strobe onward with his usual sterl
brow and downcast eye, feeling few
regrets and disdaining to acknowl
, edge any. Dorcss, while she wep
abundantly over the broken ties b,
, which her simple and afectionats
nature had bound itself to every
thing, felt that the Inhabitants o
her Utmost heart moved on with her
and that all else would be supplied
wherever she might go. And tn
boy dashed one teardrop from hi
, eye and thought of the adventurou
pleasures of the untrodden forests
On the afternoon of the fifth da,
they halted and made their simpl
encampment nearly an hour befor
, sunset. Reuben aud his son, Will,
Dorcas made rsady their meal, pro
> posed to wander out in search .
game, of which the days march hat
afforded no supply. Dorcas, in tn
meanwhile. had seated herself nea
thsir fire OF fallen branches. upoI