Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1906-11-28

over the moon 1t had two chimneys
that seemed to stand against the sky.
and saw it once at night when one of
those chlmneys was on fire. which
caused my simple heart to beat fast In
those uneventful days. l had heard my
grandfather say that the minutemen
stopped there on their march from
Worcester to Bunker Hill and were
fed with bread from out of the great
brick oven.
My grandfather told me another
thing which greatly awakened my Gu
riosity. When the minutemen stopped
there on their march to meet the reg
ulars" they We're in need of lead for
bullets. They carried with them molds
In which to make bullets. but they
could not obtain the lead.
The good woman of the house was
named Overfield, Farmer Overfield's
wife. She was called Mis- Overfield.
She had one daughter, 1.-THE, diminu-
tive, beautiful girl with large blue eyes
and lips winsome and red, of such sil1-
gular beauty that ones eyes could
hardly be diverted from following her.
oLS was ehc plcttitot Siii Ill all tuc
country around" people used to say.
And she was as good as she was
pretty.
Her name was Annie-"sweet Annie
Oyerfield" some people named her.
When she saw that the minutemen
were perplexed about lead she ap-
preached the captain and said:
Captain. l could tell you where
there is lead If had mind to. But
what would father say II l should?"
Annie's father came stalking in, in
blue blouse. a New England guard.
ready for any duty.
Father, know where there Is lead.
May tellY'
Eyes, girl. and the men shall have it
wherever it be. Where is it, Annie? l
have no lead, else would have given
it up at once"
''In the clock weights, father"
''Stop the clockv' cried the father.
"Oh, Annie. tits marvel you arer'
The old clock. with an oak frame,
stood in the corner of the diving
room," whose doors faced the parlor
'nns@-titchcn. III mad stood there for
degeneration. 1t was some eight feet
high and three broad in it's upper part
and two in its lower. 1t had brass
ornament on the top, and 1t licked SO
loud as to be heard in the upper rooms
at night. On its face were figures of
the sun and moon. Annie's hand had
for several years wound the clock.
The great clock was stopped, the
heavy weights were removed, and the
minutemen carried them to the forge Of
Baldwin, the blacksmith, where they
were speedily melted and poured into
the molds.
The clock cleaner came to the house
s on the hill 1t was in the fall. He
said:
81 cannot regulate the clock now, but
i will be around again another year"
He went to Monmouth with the ar
my He was gone three years. When
he came back the sylphlike Annie was
gone-where none knew. She had been
gone two years.
Why had she gone? 1t was the old
tale. A common sailor from the prov.
inces came to work one summer on
the farm. He received his pay in the
fall and disappeared, and the day aft
er he went Annie went too.
She had spent her evenings with the
sailor after the moving days by the
grindstone under the great maple trees.
He had sung to her English sailor
songs and told her stories of the Span
ish main and of his cottage at st.
Johns. He was a homely man, but
merry hearted, and Annie had listened
to him as to one enchanted.
She had said to her mother one day:
"Malone"-the sailors name-"has
good heart. find my own in 1t.
wish we could give him better chance
in life."
"He is an adventurer, thrown upon
the world like a hulk of driftwood,
hither and thither," said her mother.
81 pity him. His heart deserves bet
ter friends than he has found. I want
to be his friend. Why may / notY
'Tf you were ever to marry COM
mon sailor, Annie, would strew salt
on your grave. | married common
man, but he has been good to me.
have no respect whatever for those
who marry beneath them and shame
their own Names"
The girl turned away and went out
to the timothy meadows where the
work people were, and sat down amid
s3he mosses under the wayside trees.
1t was fiery day. Her father came
TO the shade of the trees and sat down.
"Annie," he said, you have been
crying"
"Father, l have something to say to
you. Do you object to my being par
tial to Malone? He is an honest man."
'No, Annie. But your mother-she
would take your head off. | am will
ing to see young people choose their