The Cooperstown courier. (Cooperstown, Griggs Co., N.D.) 1902-1913, 1903-07-02


hair and skinny neck. Worked hard
in the home and in the field, and has
reared q dozen or more Of sons and
daughters to wear out their lives In
patient ton, even as, she has worn
out her own. And, mon ami, IL is q
sad sight, this worn-out old woman,
sitting all alone in that feeble ray
of light, peering into the darkness
with her wistf,ll, old eyes. But she
was not always old, non! You would
never dream it, but once she was
young. Mails oui, younger than you
or ] could have ever been-even In
our babyhood. Young and fair and
sweet, this old, old woman. And she
was ambitious, yes. She would learn
to read and write her name in clear,
bold letters, even as the priest had
written it in the parish register. So
they sent her to the public school,
because she cried to go. She trudged
her four miles daily with q happy
heart, and learned fast-the teacher
said. All, but she grew faster than
she learned, and youth is so short
for 'Cajan girl. She is q maiden at
IA, married woman at Is and-la
vieux ever after.
ESQ it CHANGED, mon ami, that ou1.
pretty young thing was a maiden be-
fore she reached the third reader.
A maiden sitting just where the old
woman is sitting now, listening for a
footstep, SO strong, SO swift, that
was sure to come. It came, and that
night there was moonlight on the
cotton fields-such moonlight as a
woman may see but once in all her
lifetime, mon ami. i,
"Ah, well, he was very brave and
beautiful, this boy lover Of hers.
Slow to anger, but blind in his rage
when once you reused him-as true
'Cajan should be. And was there
ever lover SO faithful and fond?
So absorbed in the wee-bit home he
was making ready for his bride. For
they were to be married when an
! other school term had swept its en-
Tightening length across their lives.
with the new term came q new
, teacher. "A man, SO he called himself,
and SO people supposed him to be-
a being of unbounded ambition
checked by poverty. At odds with
.. his fate, on the lookout for bouc
emissaire. For something to ,soothe
his wounded pride, and feed his FAM
ished vanity, and his eye fell upon
the lovely little girl in. the third
class-who was engaged" =
Chen the girls ambition =began to
change color-no longer to read and
write, but to wear shoes oil day
long, and to have white hands; then,
too, the 'Cajan lovers brow began to
darken. Soon there was only moon
shine falling upon the cotton fields,
and the little home that was build
ing stood neglected as 81 deserted
nest. But yet the teacher was not
satisfied. He must needs boast his
triumph down to the store And
then, mon ami, there were hot, pant
ing words in broken English and
fierce blows dealt by a. bare fist, and
presently pistol shot.
They carried the boys body home
| to his mother. The good priest
buried 1t at the foot of his fathers
and sprinkled holy water over his
grave-but the case was thrown out
of court. Not murder they said,
but self-defense. And, n'importe, it
was only q 'Cajan, anyway.
$50 tho teacher returned to his
race and rose high-high enough to
sit upon the supreme bench. He sits
there to-day, bearing his white head
bravely above an august assembly
but he is a hound at heart, as he
has ever been. And yonder in the
/, feeble flare Of her little tin lamp sits
the woman whose life he-lost! Out,
certainment, there was wild weeping
and piteous cries, when they told her
that her lover was dead. Vain self
reproaches and equally vain prayer
for death. But she did not die-ah,
que non. She married, and became
the mother of many daughters. One
of these daughters is now my
mother, and II is I. her grandchild,
that she is waiting for tonight,
scarcely hoping to see me-there is
SO little strength left for hope in her
J battered old heart, but She is my
grandmother, even as the man who
the proud old Judge is your father.
And his blood is in your heart, mon
ami. Did not look into your eyes
when you asked me to come here to-
night? And, bon soir, mon ami"
! The man started up and stretched
: out his arms. Madeline! Not" he
cried, hoarsely. But he was alone,
utterly alone, save for the mist walk
!, ing upon the, face Of False river. Is
The dumb-bells and clubs she can WELD BY
the hour,
Developing muscle" and giving her
power
But If mother says broom now. what do
you think? s.
The poor girl is 90 tired she's ready to
sink. ess-s s,@
Yes. she who can fence, and can bowl. row