The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1898-09-23
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! ADduc ted by !
john the Baptist
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3 By Ward RIeS :
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COPYRIGHTED BY THE c. PA
AL RIGHTS RESERVED.
[coNrINuEp.l
XXI
TOM COYNE ABANDONS HIS AR
TILLERY.
Miss Stella sat there In the welcome
glow Of the sun, inhaling the pure
fresh air with great physical delight
while the soft morning zephyr gently
famed and refreshed her like potent
| elixir.
What a restful rest it was! What a
| delight; what a glorious, satisfying
repose! There seemed to be nothing
| in the world left to be wished for-if
she could sit there forever, motionless,
| absorbing light and air and sunshine
| and rest!
Far down within the lost, unmoved
depths of her tranquil mind there was
a faint unrealized inclination to think
of something outside of herself, and be-
yond the moment, in some direction;
but to do so involved an exertion which
she lacked the desire to make. To
think would be to invite fatigue and
she felt so weak that she wished only
to rest forever, with her mind as blank
and still as the placid bosom of an un-
troubled pool.
The lapse of time was unnoted and
the protracted absence of the Prophet
was unnoticed.
"Hullo!"
She looked around and saw Tom
Coyne with his elongated artillery on
his shoulder, HIS presence did not
surprise her; she was not interested In
his presence or in his erralo
thing beyond her own restful rest.
She knew that Tom Coyne was beside
her but that fact was all that she ex-
erted herself to comprehend.
Good morning, Tom"
Thunder! Jerusalem crickets! Stell
Zenith! Where'd you come from?"
She was SO thin and wasted and pale
that he had not recognized her till she
spoke In startled surprise he relaxed
his grasp upon his sun, which fell with
loud rattle and clangor upon the
stones. She was not interested in Tom
or his artillery, but she was too indo-
lent to be actively uncivil, SO she an
swered:
Il came from Barton; from the Let
sons!"
But that was ever so long ago!
You've been lost al given up for good
an all this long t.me!"
Have II"
"Of course you have! Don't you
know you have?"
mo"
"You didn't s'pose they knowed
where you was?"
Il had not thought about it at all.
Hadn't thought about the folks all
the time you've been gomez" Tom was
indignant.
Have 1 been gone long? l hadn't
noticed. You haven't grown UP yeti"
See here, Stell Zenith! What ails
you? You look like billed ghost got
| cold!"
4 guess 1 have teen sick"
Why in thunde, don't you go home
when your pa an ma an Carrie an all
| the folks an that auJutant Teller arc
| just crazy an dyin' about you bein
gone an lost? Why don't you go home
l say?"
His energy aroused her dormant
mind all at once. A great longing tc
be at home with her parents and sis
tiers surged over her soul and she
| cried:
ooh, Tom! Take me home? l can't
| walk; can't you take me home, Tom
| dear. -
"Golly, wish could carry you; but
| l can't! Can't you lean on me an
| walk?"
mo, no; I can't walk; l can't stand
| up. Oh, Tom, take me home? Do take
| me home? Please, Toni"
| She wept and Tom was in great dis
| tfess and began to cry also.
Say, Stell, how d you git here?"
1.-THE Prophet carried me-"
The old thief! I'll shoot pound oy
! shot into him! The old abduction
mo, no, Tom! He is kind and good
| and If it hadn't been for him I would
have died on the hillside yonder. He
carried me up here and has taken care
of me when l was SO sick that I was
crazy and helpless for l don't know
how long. Has it been year, Tom p
"All the same he shall carry you
home right now or l will shoot thai
pound Of shot into him anyway for moi
tellin' us? Where is the old gibber.
| gosher?"
HE is inside. Oh, do run in and ash
him to carry me home. l will die if
have to stay here another night"
Tom went into the hut; through thu
| first room, through the second; into
the third. There he saw the Prophe
| kneeling before the altar. Both hands
rested, palms down, upon the oper
| Bible; the face was upturned and the
| light fell full upor it.
Tom stopped suddenly and sat dowr
in reyerent silence to await the conclu.
sion of the prayer. 1t appeared tt
Tom to become entirely too long for {
reasonable prayer and he ventured tt
| signal his presence by cough which
! was unnoticed by the worshipper. A,
length the boys impatience overcamt
| both his awe of the Prophet and his
| reverence for the Prophets devotions
and he timidly exclaimed:
'.Ameni"
There was no effect and after a while
he ventured again, louder and with
| boldness:
Amen, amen!"
| Still there was no effect, and after {
time that Tom thought very long hi
| got up and noisily moved a stool; ther
he tried coughing roughly two or three
times. Still the worshipper remained
undisturbed.
"Say!"
/. There was no response and Tom be
/ came desperate:
! ''Lookee here, John the Baptist.
want you to carry stell Zenith home 2"
AS he made the announcement he
stood ready to retro 4 and fall back up
on his artillery; BIT there was no dem
/ onstration on the part Of the Prophet
| and Tom walked c.ose to his side and
| gazed down upon him. Only for an
instant; then with CHASTITY face he
rushed out to Miss Stella and in voice
trembling and husky from fright,
cried.
"Oh, Stell! He is dead,"
She sank back against the hut and
silently wept in his memory, for she
lelt now how kind and unselfish and
devoted and tender he had been to her