Middletown transcript., 1908-10-03

and no Taney had ever cheated q
man Of a dollar. They lent no
money, and they borrowed none;
they never sat at any mans table,
or asked a guest to theirs.
The Taney pew-a front one
was filled every Sunday, come
rain or shine. Mrs. Taney, a
middle-aged woman, with gray
hair in tight little knot behind,
and wearing the same rusty black
gown and bonnet for q dozen
years, was always, like the
others, present. But sometimes
she was asleep. For this was
the one hour of the whole week
when she could sit down on o
cushion and fold her hands. The
air was warm, the music soft and
sweet; no wonder she slept.
Sometimes the words that were
read stirred her soul; it seemed
as if her childhood woke, as If
the tears must come to her long
dry eyes. But they never did.
By the time that she had walked
home with her son William, the
strange story of Bethlehm or of
the heavenly glory to come had
faded in a doubtful dream, and all
that was real was the South
Branch farm, the price of pork,
or the fall in potatoes. After
church dinner must be ready
(piping hot, too, on account OF
the boarder) in half an hour; then
she had the sheep to look after,
and the poultry to feed; then
supper. then m liking. The
Taneys never had any "help." !"
Mrs. Taney had brought up six
children, been sole cook, SEEM
stress, tailor and dairymaid; yet
her husband, old Ben, always had
said, "Sarah's not capable
woman. No Taney blood in her.
Ben had been dead five years,
but his wife went on, carrying a
growing load on the back which
lacked bone. William was
harder task-master that his
father had been; the very oxen
felt the lash oftener, and their
corn fell off one-half. He sat in
the kitchen now, with a book be
fore him.. while his mother and
youngest sister Lefty, were cook
ing the supper.
Take that butter off the table,
he said, suddenly. Molasses will
do. What are you cooking meat
for? It's not necessary. Put it
back in the cellar.
Yes, William, reptile d his
mother, submissively. Only l
thought the boarder-
We can't afford to feed him like
a lord. You'll have to exercise
economy, mother. | can't be al
ways here to look after things.
How am ever to pay for the
meadow lots, if money is flung
about in this way?
In what way, William? Mrs.
. Taney's scared eyes wandered
over the bare kitchen, the esmold-
ing Goals in a corner of the CRATE.
the half-starved face of her little
girl. 1 try to save, I'm sure.
What way do you mean?
Oh, every way closing his
book with a slam. There's a
leak at every corner. Why I toll
and slave the year round. But
with such a lot of mouths to
feed
Mrs. Taney forgot to eat her
dry bread or drink her milk.
The meadow lots! 1t was to buy
these lots her husband had made
their lives bare and hard and
wretched from their wedding
day. The good, wholesome pro-
duce of the farm, which should
have fed the children, had gone
to market, while they ate the re-
fuse; the money, which should
have educated them, had been
put in the bank to buy these lots.
When her baby was i'll, no doctor
was brought and the child died;
the money saved went to the
lots. The mother had begged
for a headstone for the child, but
the money was need for the lots
There was Lefty, growing to be
a woman, half-clothed and half
starved, without a sparkle of fun
or pleasure to tighten her young
life, while poorer girls dressed
and went out and had company,
and enjoyed as the young should,
days filled with comfort and hap
pinees. Every penny thus saved
William laid by for the lots.
Yes! those twelve acres had come
to be the absolute God for these
people. Not a happy life, nor
Gnd NOR heaven