The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1899-08-02

The life Of Dorcas Heaven, who keen,
the Blue House Lock, is somewhat
lonely and monotonous. Her post Il
more or less OF a sinecure. for but few
Darges pass along that bit OF the canal
Indeed. the canal itself. though wind
ing through the prettiest bit Of country
In the neIghborhood. is only navigable
during a wet season. After a drouth
II grows so shallow that cows are wont
| to stand derisively in the very mid
| die Of 1t, cooling their legs.
Elijah, husband OF Dorcas, is a Ia
borer on a farm some two miles OFF.
AS the path alongside the canal leads
To nowhere in particular, there Is not
much traffic; but when a barge does
come Dorcas ''bustles her about sharp
ish," and there is "A great 10 do. She
looks upon herself as more or less the
hostess of the occupants of the barge.
They change the weather and pass the
time OF day." their destination and
their business are exhaustively dis
cussed, and when at length stiffness
settles down over the Blue House.
when there is no sound but the cry OF
peewit or the rustic OF a water rat I'm
the rushes, Dorcas fetches a chair into
the doorway and sinks upon IL, ex-
claiming: Law, what a palladium IL
have been, TO be sure?"
On Sunday mornings Dorcas does
not go TO church, for Elijah do like
bit o. meat OF Sunday" and Dorcas
Is good wife first and a good church
woman second. She. therefore, defers
her attendance until evening. when
Elijah accompanies her. While the bit
O meat Is I'm course OF preparation, he
stroils round for "a bit of n talk" with
one 'Ethni Harman. licensed To sell
beer and tobacco" whose house OF
cheer lies on the outskirts of the town,
and where the very latest electioneer-
Ing news is TO be had. Elijah has been
heard to express an opinion TO the ef-
feet that there amt no arm in going
TO church twice for them as IL suits.
but once, along OF my missus, be
enough for l."
Had IL been i'm Elijah's nature to be
astonished at anything, he would have
felt some surprise at the amiability
with which Dorcas had lately speeded
him on his way 10 "The Cat and Com
passes" on Sunday morning. She had
at one time been rather given TO incon-
veniently suggesting that them peas
want sticking. and the salery. be ready
for banking" when Elijah would fain
have been summing himself upon the
bench outside Ethni Harman's hospit-
able door. a mug OF cider and n like
minded friend beside him. He usually
fell in with his wife's suggestions. for
n was man who loved "A quiet life.
and Dorcas-when annoyed on Sunday
was apt TO carry on her domestic du-
ties with unnecessary vigor far into
the night on Monday.
The fact was that of late Sunday
had become for Dorcas the |
corner stone Of her week. and in this |
wise; IL did not, as n rule, take long |
TO get Elijah's dinner under way; this |
iore. Dorcas would take her chair into !
the doorway and read her Bible. She |
generally chose the Book Of Revelation |
forming the words with her |
lips and following each with gnarled |
md work-worn forefinger With Dor
,as, as with many people whose lives |
are somewhat hard and monotonous.
he prospect of a suite OF rooms in one /
" the many mansions was extremely |
pleasant. Moreover. the Cotteswold
peasant dearly loves any form of spec
able, and, although Dorcas could not
far less understand. many
II the words she met with. there was a
ense of pageant all around her as she
cad: while her appreciation of the city
which has mo need of the sun. neither
II the moon TO shine i'm it," was as
urely sensuous as that of any disciple
4 Wagner himself.
4
the apple blossoms over the
'ath, and the Sunday silence was
roken by clear child voice. To Dor
as such sound was as the skirl OF the
ipes TO a Highlander i'm far country:
er heart beat quick and her cheeks
rev redder, and she rushed out TO see
tho "was a-coming:" for Dorcas had
put away four" i'm the cemetery" on
he Fletborough road and one had lived
D be four years old. Besides To let
ny one pass the Blue House without
givin of 'em goodday" was n thing
he had never done-"not once i'm twen-
Y year" So she laid her Bible on the
hair. covering IL with n clean white
and crossed the few feet
garden which lay between her cot
lge and the towing path.
A sturdy little boy. In REFER coat and
uffn cap. with round. fresh little face ,
nd cheeks pink as the petals OF the
pple blossom nearest the calyx, dane ,
I with excitement on the bank as he
atched his father gathering some yell
W flags" which grew at the waters ,
lge. The attendant father-pa parents
I'd such were always "A secondary con- =
deration with Dorcas-was not very r
ccessful, as the ground was soft and .
ippery. a
"Is IL wet down there. dad? Can 4
me? oh. get that big one just over I
ere! Won't muth be pleased? What &
rty boots youll have! Shall I hold s
'ur stick for you TO cling on to?" a
Then he noticed DOrcas. Good | N
said he. with gay courtesy. $
sn't IL a fine May morning." n
1T be that surely. little MASTER" an k
cred Dorcas in high delight. Then Il
the little gentleman's dada"--he new b
achieved a separate identity i'm tho n
nd OF Dorcas-scrambled up from q
e swamp in which he had been stand a
2. He. too. proved most approach n
le. and she learned that the youth b
potentate i'm the reefev jacket had b
yer walked so far before. that the a.
nroped out old quarry" just beyond IN
? Blue House was his destination. W
q that he would probably come again fc
xt Sunday. 81
lie came every Sunday morning all III
'ough that summer. and always with :
dad. Some times they went tap
IL for fossils I'm the disused quarry.
ne times they came with butterfly
s and caught tortoiscshells and wall
pwns and upon one great occasion |