Tazewell Republican. [volume] (Tazewell, Va.) 1892-1919, 1901-03-07

fOrgetY. sac aOoee, Ma y
With a patient sigh the daughter
obeyed. How many weeks, months and
years was it she had gone through her
useless task?
"He'u come tomorrow" the old
woman uaurmured, half 70 herself.
eyes. tomorrow he will come. sure
answered cheerfulH.
.'-Itwas almost stsreotyped. their brief
talka REPEATED daily. For years the
mothers heart had yearnedand waited
for the absent or the dead. But each
morning life renewed Itself and hope
sprang UP again in the clouded mind'
Each morning of all those long years,
rTo-day. tomorrow he will come!
In the meantime the hamlet had
grown from a struggling settlement to
almost the proportions of town. The
narrow. congested main street, where
butcher and baker had huddled togeth-
err. in confused proximity had been
widened. and more pretentions stores
and Offices had taken the place OF the
rnallsr wooden structures of 20 years
since Factories and mills had their
clustering shops, and workmen's dwell
ings and long fringes of Oh wing srests'
with more or less ornate,viiias and cot
tages. had succeeded to rural lanes or
short onts across the common.
+ The street on. which our cottage was
stua4ed had been graded and curbed to
the foot of{he hills which it was meant
to climb, but had faint-heartedly given
out, and though approached on the 9th:
er side by.many more showt residences
the.cottaRe still held it's own and looked
out across the fields as + had cone
when first built on what then seemed
almost a prairie. It and the inclosed
Mot on which it stood was > pattern OF
neatness which brought no shame and
even set worthy example to its larger
neighbors.
= Trees and vines had grown about IT,
but. they. were kept sharply trim med
All necessary repairs were promptly
ATTENDED to and each new coat of paint
reproduced. as nearly as might be, its
predece ssor. No. changes within or
without showed themselves. no added
Injuries or adornments crept into any
I OF the four rooms or the little mother
grew restless and unhappy, and what
remained for poor Mary but to guard
her peace:
Nearly 20 years ago father, mother
son and daughter, had occupied the
home The father. somewhat teciturn
and cold, had unbent little to his EMIL
dren ana @frowned upon what he con-
sidered Youthful follies; when, IN the
case of the son. his eldest born, folly
sometimes deserved q stronger name
he removed fiercely and perhaps unrea-
sonably. The boy, fred with the inde-
pendence Of youth, resented and re-
belled, and quarrels ensued till it end
ed in the fathers turning his son out
of doors with the injunction never to
let him see or hear from him again.
Too literally had his behest been fol-
lowed. The mother idolized her boy.
and under the strain of silent grief her
mind gradually gave way. No word
had come back from the-wanderer. He
had,writtento his N other seyeral times
but the father. had destroyed the LETT
1 ters without handing them to her, and,
when finally one was returned 70 Lemu-
ell unopened, be wrote no more. He
! fried to drown the memories OF his
4 youth in wild designations, and, sober
ing down at last, he tried to put away
his old life from his thoughts amid
new scenes and surroundings. "a
/ To his whereabouts neither mother
nor sister held any clew, so the great
silence had fallen between them. The
! fathers heart was sore, but he gave no
sign. not even on his death-bed, which
followed in less than second twelve
month. i Hue
~ For years and years the two women
1 had lived on together, the SHOWS OF
age whitening the mothers hair, while
tthe roses of youth departed from
| Mary's face. The whole village knew
4 the story and even the stranger passing
by would shake his. head and guess
tsomething of its pathos as a woman''
I voice rang over the fields: "Lemu-ell
fLemu-el! oh, Lemu-ell"
* Was it a stranger, the bearded man
hfhat one day came along the road, with
( Slow steps, looking here and there as
| If half in a dream? Back from the hill:
eame a faint echo "Lsnue !"-and ~ht
tstarted and pressed forward. He
( turnedidnsFr gly into the gate. passed
through the open door, and. throwing
| himself on his knees, buried his face ir
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