Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1904-12-21
~
The Hermit
n A Story Of the Wilderness
y BY CHARLES CLARK MUM \
Author Of Pocket lsland" Uncle Terry''
and Rockhaven'
CHAPTER XII,
copyright. lsos, by LIZ and Shspard.)

CHAPTER XII.
AUNT COMFORTS ASYLUM.
Meier! Nezer!" called Aunt Com
fort, from the kitchen door that June
Sunday morning, but no answer came
Il declare never see the beat O. tina
boy" she muttered, returning to thu
sitting room, hes never round 'ceptin
meal times, n then he's allus under
foot"
What is it, auntie," inquired 8
younger lady, dressed in gray cash
mere, and drawing on well-worn
glove, anything can do for you?"
Il want a sprig O. fen1el and bunch
O. them laylocks 10 put on the pulpit
n the last bell IL be ringin' in q
minute" the elder one responded in
clustered" tone, while glancing into
a small, gilt-framed mirror.
Without word Angie gathered her
skirts up, barely showing trim ankles,
and, tripping into the garden, soon re-
turned with a cluster of fennel still
moist with dew. Then, stepping out of
the front door, she broke long twigs of
bushes fanking the porch.
'I'll go on ahead, auntie," she said,
placing her fragrant bouquet on the
stone step while she drew on the other
glove, land you and Hannah can come
when she is ready"
Angie had always gone ahead" in
Aunt Comforts home, ever since she
had reached the close of school days.
And now, little past "old maids COR
ner," but not looking it, she ruled the
household.
1t was an odd collection, too, for
Aunt Comfort, large of heart as per-
son, had, in the sixties, contributed
husband and only son to the nation,
and to console herself in part had es-
tablished sort o. 'sylum for the
homeless" as Greenvale would put it.
First came Hannah Pettibone, hope
less splnster, so angular of temper and
features that no one but Aunt Com
fort would have her around. Then
Angie, tot of six, who one morning
had awakened to complete orphanhood
and dese.tiOn in the house near the
mill, and scared, hungry, and in tears,
had to run to her aunt's with her tale
OF woe and the first news of her
fathers disappearance. After Angie
came Haas, an import, who walked
barefoot Into Greenvale one hot sum-
mer day, his possessions tied in a red
bandanna, and he unable to speak 8
word of English.
1t mattered not, however, for as
Aunt Lorena" Thorp phrased it, IF
tramp was lookin' for hum, he'd find
Aunt Comforts door OPEN"
Her last addition to this motley COL
lection was Ebenezer Talmage, or
"Nezer," whose father had been sent
to jail for stealing, and whose mother,
discouraged by poverty and cough,
bad gone hence, leaving him a town
charge.
AS was customary in Greenvale,
Meier was then bound out" to the
highest bidder. That is, some land
owner gave bond for the boys main
tenance, agreeing to allow him so many
months schooling until he reached the
age of IA, and, in lieu thereof, to re-
ceive his labor until of age. In this
case David Curtis became Nezer's pro.
pr1etor, but as David's table board was
notorious for it's "thinness," the hun
cry boy was soon driven to secret Wis
Its pantryward, to end in discovery,
whipping. and bread-and-water diet
for three days.
But Meier was not the boy to en-
dure this for long, and one cold winter
morn Aunt Comfort found him half
starved, at her back door, crying and
begging for food.
How her notherly heart opened, how
she warmed and fed him beside the
kitchen stove; how he pleaded to re-
main, willing to work and sleep in the
barn; and how she, with misgivings
as to 'the law on IT," finally consented.
is numbered with her many Good Sa-
marian acts.
tits burnin' shame to treat a Door
orphan that way" was her comment.
en- If David Curtis wants him back.
let him come n fetch him. If he
does, he'll git piece O. my mind"
But David made no effort to reclaim
Meier, and as no one else cared what
became of him, Aunt Comfort added to
her assortment of unfortunates. and
set about bringing him up according to
her light. He was hard problem to
solve, however, for once fed and
warmed, his sole ambition was mis-
chief OF the most diabolical kind. He
ahod Aunt Comforts cat with clam
shells, fastened by grafting-wax, and,
with flsh-line for halter, gave that
unhappy cat her first lesson in skat-
Ing on the mill pond 1t was Joy SUI
preme to Meier, while he watched his
victim humping, yowling, and vainly
clawing the smooth ice, as the wind
drew her across, only to be dragged
back and repeat the exercise. When
early spring came, he found a nest of
black snakes, still dormant, and put
ting them in bag, took them to An
g1e's school, where he was a pupil, and.
slyly tucking them under the Franklin
stove, awaited developments, which
came in due tiw9}ee, and resulted in every
girl, including Angie, seeking safety
on top of benches and desks and
screaming with delirious fear, while
the big boys enjoyed a snake-killing
bee.
Nezer's star act came later, however,