The Opelousas courier., 1898-05-14

How anyone ever came to take II
his abode at Hoepatchie I am sure
don't know.
Peter Miles, on being asked for hi
opinion III the premises, replied
"Waal, I donno. It's desput hand,
for clans, to say nothin' about til
farmers precllvities Of the sile."
But Peter Miles pretty daugltew
Beulah, declared she believed tn
original settler had come there to hat,
himself to death in peace. but, failin!
in that, had left the spot to his de
s%cendants, who had grown poorer ant
poorer, till now they could not ge
money to carry them a mile further K
the poorhouse.
Possibly, Beulah exaggerated. Hoe
patchie was Economically situated
upon Cape Cod, a crooked projection
which may be said to form the nose
upon the face of New England, re.
markable only for the vast quantities
of sand and fishermen to be found
thereupon.
H~oepatchie had the appearance that
somebody, in a fit of insanity, had
wheeled a truck load Of brown earth
from some more favored portion of
Massachusetts and distributed it as
evenly as possible over the surface of
u dozen acres Of sand.
A local poet, struck suddenly by
the muse, undertook a description OF
the place, and his endea.or amounted
to the following doleful doggerel:
"The sile in Eoepatchie is poor and thin;
When the rain m down it rattles like
An I've often been told by the dwellers
therein
That the crop was worth less than tho seed
they put in
Some writer's, happy at description,
will fascinate n with the spot they
choose to locate their story upon; but
| fear my genius is not sufficient for
the task, and I shall give up trying
here and now.
Peter Miles home was an ancient,
implanted structure, SO low that the
winds from the ocean storms passed
over it almost without touching the
shingles, and a tiny barn which shell
teredthree scrubby COWS and a mulish-
looking yellow horse.
Inside the house a bright fire blazed
i'll the stone chimney, and the light
fickered out over the sanded floor
and the white home-spun curtains and
lighted up the tall old clock in the
corner, which said: ''Twilight-twi-
light-twilight,' as plainly as the
words could do.
Over the fire and out to the round
table in the centre Of the room Beulah
Miles fitted like a bird, with her
blue dress and white apron futtering
about her.
Her eyes were blue, and her hair
black, and her cheeks looked bright
and smooth as the last red cloud out
over the water. She was singing a
queer old tune:
II never loved you in my life,
never loved your baby
was compelled against my will
TO become your welded lady"
The door opened, and there entered
a man, so tall that another inch upon
his slight brown head would have OBJ
liged him to stoop in crossing the
room. He placed his hat in the win
dow ledge and came over to the
hearth.
"You seem to be very happy to-
Beulah," lie said, by way of
greeting.
"Well, don't know" Beulah an
swered evasively. "How have things
gone in school today?"
"Nicely, as usual"
Looking at him you would have
seen that he would compel life to 90
with him.
No more was said by either, but his
deep gray eyes followed her figure till
preparations for supper were COM
plete.
The old nan was sorting potatoes,
only you might have mistaken a great
many of them for peanuts, as he sat
On the milking stool and handled the
subers over, for it was getting too
lark to separate them by sight. Not
90 dark, however, for Beulah's bright
young eyes to see the great tears
which rolled down the old mans nose
md FLASHED upon the floor. r.
"What is it, father?" Beulah in
anxiously.
Nothing MUCH" he replied, as he
wiped away the glistening drops with
he back of his rough hand. \.
"Tell me, father" pleaded little l
3eulah with her arms about his neck. /
"Nothin' new, Beulah. Yon know
he mortgage is about out, an they {
int nothin' to pay it with, and moth I
50 bad that I am afeared 'twould
ill her to move in this cold weather. '
was thinkin' perhaps I could sell c
aters enough to pay rent till spring t
t you think you WON'T" )
"Won't what, father?" a
"Marry John Mellen." !
Beulah shook her head. ssYou S
now / cannot do that she said, tim t
aly. II have told you so every time a
have spoken Of it. have told /
i'm so, too" \
Il can't see Why" said old Peter; G
he's worth the most of any man in ?
an will give me the deed. t
air and square, of this place the day I
QUILL marry him." p
"But, father, he is my cousin and 40 a
ears DID," objected Beulah. P
'sWhat Of that? Amt Hoepatchie n
Il cousins? So I don't see who YOU c
an take that's better, an as for his G
ge, that's nothin'; jest the prime Of t
fe, you may say"
Il shall not marry my cousin any