The Washington herald., 1907-06-09

D
years Mary and Haryeyd been keepin
+ house. And there was a lot of ole
i brooms. nothin' but stubs, tied together
Jest like new brooms in the store. Anc
there was all the childreu's broken toys
dolls, and doll dresses. and even some
glass marbles that little Harvey used tc
play with The dust was lyin' thick and
! heavy over everything. and the spider
webs looked like black strings hangin
from the ceiln'; but things of the same
sort was all lyin' together jest like some
woman had put the place in order.
You've heard tell of that bird, child
that gathers up all sorts o. rubbish and
carries it of 10 its nest and hides il.
Well. | thought about that bird. and the
heap of old iron reminded me of a little
boys pocket. when you turn il wrong side
out at night and the china and glass and
doll-rags made me think Of the play
houses I used to make under the trees
when I was a little girl I've seen many
/ curious places, honey. but nOthiu like
/ that old cabin. The moldy smell remind
cd me of the grave. and when I looked
at all the dusty old plunder. the ragged
clothes hangin' against the wall like so
many ghosts. and then thought Of the
dead man that had put EN- there, tell
you il made my flesh creep.
! well. we stood there, me and Mary
straiRin our eyes tryin' to see into the
dark corners. and all at once the meanin
Of it come over me like a flash: Harvey
! was a miser,"
Aunt Jane stopped. took of her glasses
and polished them on the hem of her
gingham apron. I sat holding my breath;
! bat. ali regardless Of my suspense, she
| dropped the thread Of the story and fol-
/ lowed memory in one Of her capritious
/ backward flights.
| Il ricOlleCt a sermon I heard when I
was gyirl." she said 1T amt often.
/ reckon. that a sermon makes much i'm
/ preston on gyirls mind. But this
wasn't any ordinary sermon or any ordi-
mary preacher. Presbytery met in town
| that year. and all the big preachers in
| the State was there Some OF 'em come
[ out and preached 20 the country churches,
and old Or. Samuel Chalmers Morse
/ preached al Goshen. He was one o.
! the biggest men i'm the PresbyteTy. and
/ I ricollect his looks a. plain as Z ric0llect
! his sermon. Some preachers look fest
/ like other men. and YOU can tell the
minute you set eyes on 'em that they
amt any wiser or any better than COM
mon folks. But DR.. Morse wasn't that
kind.
you know the Bible tells about people
walkin' with God and taIkin' with God
II says EnoCh walked with God and
Adam talked with him. Some folks might
find it hard to believe. but II seems Jest
as natural to me. Why. many a time I've
been fin my gvarden when the suns gone
down, and il amt quite time for the
moon 10 come up. and the deW's faliin
and the flowers smelln' sweet and I've
set down in the summer-hoUse and looked
up 20 the stars; and If I'd heard a voice
from heaven It wouldn't a. been a bit
stranger TO me than the BLOWN of the
wind.
The minute I saw DR.. Morse I thought
about Adam and Enoch, and / said 10
myself He looks like a man that's
walked with God and talked with God
Il didn't look at the peoples hats and
bonnets that day half as much as I usU-
ally did and part Of that sermon stayed
by me all my life. lie preached about
NebUchadnezzar and the image he saw
in his dream with the head of gold and
the feet of clay. And he said that every
human being was like that image; there
was gold and there was clay I'm every
one of us. Part Of us was human and
part was divine. Part of us was earthly
ike the clay. and part heavenly ike the
gold And he said that IN some folks
YOU couldn't see anything but the clay.
but that the gold was there. and If you
looked long enough you'd find H. And
some folks. he said. looked like they
was all sold. but somewhere or other
there was the clay, too, and nobody was
so good but what he had his secret sins
and open faults. And he said sin was
jest another name for ignorance, and /
that Christ knew this when he prayed on
the cross, Father forgive them. for they
know not what they do He said every /
body would do right. if they knew what /.
was right 20 do, and that the thing.
for us 10 do was 10 look for the gold /
and not the clay in other folks. For the /
gold was the part that would never die. |
and the clay was jest the mortal part /
that we dropped when this mortal shall .
have put on Immortality.
Child. that sermons come home 70 me .
many a time when I've caught myself /
weighin people in the balance and fndin' /
'em wautin'. That's what I'd been dOin
all them years with pore Harvey. I'd
let in a little light on his life and Marys. /
but the old cabin made IL all plain as
day. and it seemed like every piece o.
rubbish in It rose up in judgment against 4
me. I never felt like cryin' at Harveys |
funeral, but when ! stood there peerin'
around. the tears burnt my eyes. and I
says to myself, Clay and gold, Clay and
sold"
The same thought must "a struck
Mary at the same minute it did me, for
she fell on her knees moanin' and wringin' /
her hands and cryin':
" God forgive me, God forgive me: I
see 1t all now. He couldn't help It, and
I've been a hard woman, and GOd'H
judge me as I judge Harvey
The look in her eyes and the sound Of
her voice skeered me, and I saw that the
quicker I got her out O. the old cabin
the better. I put my hand on her Shout
der and says I. Hush, Mary. Get up
and come back 10 the house: but don't
let the children hear you takin' on So
You might skeer little Harvey
She stopped a minute and stared at
me. and then she caught hold o. my
hand. and says she: No no, the children
mustn't ever know anything about IL.
that awful place. Come. quick" SAYS she:
and she got up from her knees and pulled
ne outside Of the door and locked il and
dropped the key in her apron pocket
Little Harvey come runnin up 70 her.
and I was in hopes the sight Of the child {
would bring her to herself. but she walked ]
m as If she hadn't seen him; and as
soon as she got upstairs she fell down in I
1 heap on the floor and went 70 wringin' / :
Ter hands and beatin' her breast and {
'ryin' without tears
Honey. II you've done a wrong to a
ivin' person. you needn't set down and I
yTieve over il. You can go right 10 the s
'erson and make it right or try TO make
{ right But when the one you've '
yronged is dead. and the grave lies be-
ween YOU. that's the sort o. grief that I
freaks hearts and makes people lose their I
minds. And that was what Mary An :
lrews had 10 bear when she opened the Y