Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1903-02-11

larry flower gardens, and tending them,
mending furniture, painting indoor
woodwork and making odd toys which
children particularly adored. In fact,
he did all these things and others I'M
commonly well, else in this slave own
ing community he would have had
nothing to do. He never had much, and
the war had not increased his income,
but he lived some way in the queer
little hut he had built himself in
wornout abandoned field ut ''the edge
of the town." and he had SO far re-
deemed n portion of the exhausted
land as to have flourishing bit of gar
den at his door, which of course was Il
great help for the summer He did not
return in kind the good natured curious
contempt Strathboro felt for him. No;
In his muddled way he was cosmopoli-
tan and felt for his neighbors regard
that in some cases was almost affec-
ton. And now today as he stood in
the middle of the old turnpike and
watched his feeble and saddened fell
low townsmen as they started with
their armed escort upon their long, hot
march his heart yearned with anxiety
for them. He had nursed Mr.. Patten
through that spell of typhoid fever that
had left him SO weak; he remembered
Jimmy Pembroke's broken leg, never
properly set, and how much walking
always started it hurting; he looked up
at the lofty head of old Judge Caldwell
with plying awe and wondered how
the soldiers could thus humiliate digni-
ty and worth. But it was when his eye
turned back to the hollow eyed, staring
women, hanging over gates and out of
windows and forth from gallery steps
to see the last of the prisoners, that his
feelings choked him. He alone was left
to care for them.
In after years this whole incident
took a humorous tone in Strathboro
traditions, but the comical side of it
was pretty well lost sight of at the
time. Several citizens, on suspicion of
aiding in the depredations of soldiers
and bushwhackers, had been shot re-
Gently in that same Tullahoma camp,
and now the wrathful general was
swearing he would keep his commune
cations open if he had to kill every
man along the whole line of the rail
road. The sunlight seemed a glare
rather than a radiance in Strathboro
that day.
Over the hill the marching men
passed out of sight, leaving a faint
trail Of dust, like smoke, behind them
Blossier went up the street and stopped
at Mrs. Pembroke's gate. She was q
widow, and Jimmy, whose lame leg
Blossier so sorrowfully remembered
was her only son. She sat on her from
steps, her gray, disordered head in hel
hands. Blossier barred his as he stool
there silent.
ooh, they didn't take your was Mis-.
| GATHERINGS salutation when she final,
saw him.
"Non, madame. / rest here for t,
protect re ladies. l am rejoice to ait
| you Of any maniere. Ze gouvernmen
regard my country, VOLTA je--how 70,
say-I is here. Command Blossier
madame"
"There amt anything you can do
said Miss Catherine YEARLY, and sh'
got up and went into the house. Sh'
thought it hard that she must be both
cred by old Blossy just then.
AS evening drew on Blossier reflected
that in the long silent stretch of tn
night would lie the severest trial t
'the ladies'" strained nerves. lie pu
himself in their place and conjured Vi
what. he conceived to be the fears hov
ering in their imaginations. His goo,
offices had not been rejected Away
during the day. He had helped one VIC
man with her fretful sick child; he ha,
brought wood and water for others VIII
We're deserted by their servants. Blu
what could he do at night?
He was sitting in his cabin, gain,
westward into a serene, cloudless
primrose sky. AS he got up and turne,
indoors his eye fell on a queer, BIZ
something in dark bag in a dusk,
corner. He had an inspiration! In tina
bag was an old viol, double bass,
relic of time, draped in the mists o
antiquity, when Blossier had "assist
ed" in theatrical orchestra.
Perhaps few instruments are les
adapted to the purposes of a strollinI
serenader than double bass, but a
Blossier caught sight Of his it was to
night of serenading that he dedicate,
1t. He would systematically patrol tn
town, and from that double bass Shout,
issue strains assuring the poor ladie
that a friend was near and on th
watch.
10 be sure, as he considered til
scheme he felt keenly the musical linn
itations Of double bass. He knew
that his was not even good Of its kind
He had regretted before that Fate a
the time she made music his resourc
! had not thrown more companionabl
instrument into his hands, but neye
before did he feel Its CALLING deficien
cies as now. Why, fife would be bet
| ter!
Blossicr felt the picturesque and pc
etical element in his plan and that i
was odious to be obliged to depend OF
such means for its execution. How
ever, there was no chance of getting {
fife and learning to play 1t within al
hour so he soon contrived more opti
mistlc views of the case as it stood. a
bass viol gave forth at all events q
very strong masculine sound, well cal
culated to convey assurances Of protec
ton.
He put himself again into his ragged
coat, again took up his ragged straw
hat and started forth to inform the Ia
dies of his intentions. There would bt
nothing comforting in it if in the might
! that heavy scraping boom took then
unaware -'tout au contraire," he sale
| gravely to himself.
1t was not hard to spread the news
The women were concentrating theil
weakness for the night. Scattered rel
atiyes were foektng together to spend
81 6Iii