Meade County news. [volume] (Meade, Kan.) 1900-1918, 1913-01-02

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getting on at home? Has your sister,
locked you up again7"
mo, sir, she amt" replied Ryan.
"Laviny. she's sort of different lately
She amt nigh $3.50 down on a fell
Ter as she used to be. l can get out
once in a while by myself nowadays,
when she wants to write letter or
somethin'. Writes one about every
once In a week. don't know who
they're to, nuther. She's talkin' Of
goin' up to Sandwich pretty SOON"
"She is? Alone?"
$50 she says"
ITO leave you here? Why! well. I'm
surprised"
"Godfreys mighty! SO be I. But she
says she b1ieves she needs change
and there's church conference up
there, you know. and she figgers that
she amt been to conference she don't
know when. ] s'pose you'll go. won't
you. Mr.. Ellery?"
Probably"
Lavinia got herself elected a dele
gate and went. in company with Cap
tain Elkanah, Mrs. Mayo, and others,
to the conference. She was a faithful
attendant at the meetings and seemed
to be having very good time. She
introduced the minister to one Caleb
Pratt, resident of Sandwich, whom
she said she had known ever since
she was a girl.
"Mr. Pratt's cousin Of Thankful
Payne over to home" volunteered La
vinia. You know Thankful, Mr.. FL
lery."
Lavinia confided to her pastor that
Mr.. Pratt made the best shoes in o.
table county. He could fit any kind OF
feet, she declared, and the minister
ought to try him sometime. She added
that he had money in the bank.
Spring once more; then summer.
And now people were again speaking
of Captain Nat Hammond. His ship
was overdue, long overdue. Even In
those days, when there were no cables
and the telegraph was still something
Of novelty, word Of his arrival should
have reached Trumet months before
this. But 1t had not come, and did not.
Before the summer was over, the wise
heads Of the retired shippers were
shaking obviously. Something had
happened to the Sea Mist.
AS the weeks and months went by
without news Of the missing vessel,
this belief became almost certainty.
At the Come-Outer chapel, where Eze-
kiel Bassett now presided, prayers
were offered for the son Of their for
mer leader.
One afternoon Keziah came into Ell
lery's study, where he was laboring
with his next Sunday sermon, and sat
down In the rocking-chair She had
been out and still wore her bonnet and
shawl.
John" she said, 81 ask your par
don for disturbin' you. wanted to
ask if you knew Mrs. Prince was
sick?"
"No. Is she? I'm awfully sorry
Nothing serious, hope?"
mo, l guess not. Only she's got a
cold and is kind Of under the weather
l thought p'r'aps you'd like to run Ut
and see her. She thinks the world
and all of you, cause you was so good
when she was distressed about hel
son. Poor old thing! she's had
hard time of it. just heard that she
was ailin' from Didama Rogers. Di
dana said she was all but dyin', so
knew she prob'ly had little cold, OF
somethin'. If she was really very bad
Di would have had her buried by this
time, SOS to be sure her news was
ahead of anybody else's. | amt beer
up there, but met her t'other morn
in"
"Didama?"
mo; Mrs. Prince. She'd come dowr
to see Grace"
ooh"
"Yes. The old lady's been awful
kind and sympathizin' since-sinct
this new trouble. 1t reminds her o.
the loss of her own boy, l presume
likely and so she feels for Grace
John, what do they say around towI
about-about him?"
Captain Hammond? Why, If you
mean that they've all given up hope
should hardly say that. Captain
Mayo and Captain Daniels were speak
ing Of 1t in my hearing the other da!
and they agreed that there was still
chance"
"A pretty slim one, though. the!
callated, didn't they?"
"Well, they were-were doubtful, o
course There was the possibility tina
he had been wrecked somewhere ant
hadn't been picked up. They cite'
several such cases. The South Pa
cific is full of islands where vessels
seldom touch, and he and his crev
may be on one of these"
John" she answered, with sigh
sometimes l think you'd better &c
another housekeeper."
What? Are you going to leav
me? You"
"Oh, 'twouldn't be because / wante,
to. But 1t seems almost as If Their
u,oe n hind of fate hanpin' over m