The Washington herald., 1907-05-05


OF that, the short thick grass on elthel
side held a fairy path fragrant will
pennyroyal. that most vlrtuous Of herbs
tail hedge of Usage orange bordereC
each side of the road. shading the trav-
eler from the heat OF the sun, and fur
nishing nesting-place for numberless
small birds that twittered and chirpeo
their JOY in life and love and June. Oc-
casionaliy a gap in the foliage revealed
the placid beauty of corn, oats. and clov-
er, stretching in broad expanse to the
distant purple woods. with here and
there field Of the cloth of gold-the fast
ripening wheat that waited the hand OF
the mower. Not only is it the traveller
manifest duty TO walk slowly in the
midst of such surroundings. but he viii
do. well if now and then he sits down
and dreams.
As I made the turn in the road and
drew near Aunt James house, I heard her
voice, high, sweet, quavering treble,
Ike the notes of an ancient harpsichord.
She was singing a hymn that suited the
day and the hour:
Welcome. sweet day Of rest
That saw tha LoEd arise.
Welcome to this rev1ing breast
And these rejoieing eyes."
Alingling with the song I could hear
the cCeak of her old splint-bott0med
chair as she rocked gently TO and fro.
Song and creak ceased AT once when she
caught sight of me. and before I had
opened the gates he was Hospitality plao-
ing another chair On the porch and smil-
ing welcome.
Come in. ehHd. and set down" she
exclaimed moving the rocker SO that
might have "a good view of the bit of
landscape that she knew / loved TO look
at
'Pennyroyl, Now child how did YOU
know ! love 10 smell that2" Sine crushed
the bunch in her withered hands. buried
her face ia it and -at FOR "a moment with
closed eyes. Lord, Lord,' she exclaim-
ed with dcep-drawn breath, IF ! could
jest tell how that makes me feel,
been smcHu pennyroyI al my lifc aud
now when I get hold of a piece of IT.
sometimes il makes me feel like a little
child. ana then agriu it brings up the
time when ! was syirl and if 7 was
10 Keep ON settin' here ana rubbin' this
pennyroyI in my hands. believe my
whole life'd come back To me- Honey
suclles and piuks and roses aIn't any
sWeeICr u me. lIo ana old Uncle Harvey
Dean was jest alike about pennyroyI
Many time I've seen Uncle Harvey
searChin around in tine fence corners i'm
The early part o. MAY TO see il the PEN
nyroyl was up Vet. and i'm pennyreyl
time You never saw the old man that
he didn't have a bunch of il s0moWheres
about him. Aunt Maria Dean used 20 say
there was dried penHyroyI in every peck
ct OF his coat and DE used TO put bis
bunch of it on his piller AT night sun
days il looked like Uncle Harvey could
not enjoy the DrcaChin' and the singin' un-
less he had spris OF it in his hand
and ! Ticollect once seem him git up
durin the first prayer and tiptoe out
O. church and come back with a handful
O. pennyrOyI that he'd gethered across
the road, and he'd set and smell ii ana
look as pleased as child with a piece
o. candy"
Piercing sweet the breath Of the
crushed wayside herb rose on the air. I
had "a distinct vision of Uncle Harvey
Dean, and wondered if the fields of as
phOdel might not yield him some small
harvest OF his much-loved earthly plant.
or il he might not be drawn earthward
in "pennyroy'. time"
Il was Jest settin' here restin'." re-
sumed Aunt Jane, 'and thinkin about
Mily Amos. / reckon YOU heard me
singin ft TO scare the crows as you
come along. We used 10 call that Mnly
Amos hymn, and ] never can hear it
without thinkin o. Milly"
'Why was it MiIly Amos hymn?"
asked
Aunt Jane laughed bIitheIy.
Id, chiId"' she said, don't you ever
git tired O. my yarns Here il is sun
day. and YOU tryin' To git ME started
talkin'; and when l git started you
know there amt amy tellin when I'll
stop. Come on ana les look at the gyar-
den; that's more httin' for Sunday evenin'
than telln yarns"
So together We went into the garden
and maUeled happily over the growth
of the tasseling corn. the extraordinarily
long runners on the young strawberry
plants. the size Of the green tomatoes.
and all the rest of the miracles that
sunshine and rain had wrought since my
last visit
The FIRST man and the first woman were
gardeners, and there is something wrong
in any descendant of theirs who does
not love garden. He is lacking in a
primal instinct But Aunt Jane was in
this respect a true daughter of Eve, "A
faithful cO-w0rker with the sunshine,
the winds, the rain, and all other forces
OF nature.
What do YOU reckon folks'd do" she
inquired IF il wasn't for plantin time
and CROWN time and harvest-time2 I've
heard folks say they was tired o. Twin.
but as long as there's a gyaTden 10 be
planted and looked after there's some
thin 10 live for And unless there's
gyardens in heaven I'm pretty certain
amt g0in' 10 be satisfied there"
But the charms of the garden could not
divert me from the main theme. and when
we were seated again on the front porch {
i returned to Milly Amos and her hymn /
You know. l said, that there isn't
any more harm in talking about thing /
on Sunday than there is in thinking
about 1t. And Aunt Jane yielded 10 the
force Of my logic
i reckon you've heard me tell many
time about our choir she began, /
smoothing out her black silk apron with /
fingers that evidently felt the need OF /
knitting or some other form of familiar /
work John Petty was the bass. sam /
Crawford the tenor. my Jane was the al |
to, and Milly Amos sung soprano. ri
reckon Milly might a been called the 4
leader Of the choir; she was the sort o /
woman that generally leads wherever she /
happens 10 be. and she had the strong /
est, finest voice in the whole congrega-
tion. All the parts appeared 10 depend
on her, and it seemed Ike her voice Jest 1
carried the rest O. the voices along Ike I
one big river that takes up all the little
rivers and carries 'em down TO the ocean.
I used 10 think about the difference be