Middletown transcript., 1922-03-18
: BY THE WAYSIDE {
BY MARGARET A. SWEENEY
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D. 1922. by McClure Newananar

was spending few days In the
'aiiey or the Naugatuck. jauntine
about the highways and the byways In
nlvver, with only dog and a cam
era Tor company. One morning, ON a
lonely bit of road that rims the river
came upon an old gardcn-a garden
run to weed, where few roses of an
carrier day still struggled for their
snare OF the sun. At the entrance to
grass-grown path that led to an old
mousse there stood two ancient ash
trees.
sat down upon the wide stone door.
way, and 1t, too, was covered with
wlld, green things-creeping tendrils
from fallen vine that lay twisted on
the ground like huge brown snake.
In the tall, waving grass l saw the
tip of my dogs white tail moving stiff
~ He was stalking some wild crea-
lure. | sat very silent.
"Who built this house and who made
this garden, and why are they allowed
to run to ruin?" These and other
questions drifted into my mind as l
sat there under the indefinabTe spell Of
this old place.
Suddenly my meditations were inter.
rupted by the, yelping of my dog. He
was Hereby disputing the right of q
tall, white haired man to enter the
garden. As quickly as l could | made
my way through the weeds and bram
bles again. The dog, his sense Of duty
saflshed, wagged welcome The old
gentleman Che looked like country
doctor) cupped his hand behind his
ear and shouted: Are you one of the
Randals-the New York RandalsY
NO. I'm not" l shouted back. "Is
his their placer"
"Yes, this is the old Randall house
l was driving past and l saw you sit.
ting In the doorway and thought that
That you might be one Of Miss Abby
Randal's relatives from New York"
And then, with the loquacity of the
aged, he told me this:
ABBY Randall, very beautiful won.
an. the last mistress of the old place
was born there about 40 years ago
When she was Z girl of nineteen or
twenty she was engaged to a young
man named NelsOn-Peter Nelson of
Naugatuck. Nelson was fond of horses
anu he rode II fine saddle horse. It
was his custom to ride out from Nau-
gafuck to the old Randall place every
evening.
Ohe evening, the eve of his we'd
ding day, his horse came dashing into
the Randall yard riderless and covered
with foam. Abby, sensing that some
thlng had happened TO her lover, hasti-
ly saddled her own horse and started
out toward Naugatuck about half way
she found Nelson lying in the road,
cut and bleeding, but conscious.
Help was summoned and the in
jured man was carried to Miss Ran.
dals home.
"Throughout the night Abby Randall
never left his side, and the next morn.
ing. Mt the request of the dying man,
she became his wife. At nightfall she
was widow.
1.-THE girl-widow, dry-eyed and silent.
smut herself In her room-she wanted
to be alone.
I'm the morning the girl lay crum.
pied upon the floor, sleeping as peace
fully as little child. Kindly hands
helped her into bed, and all day the
girl lay in profound sleep And when,
toward evening, she awoke. she seemed
to have lost all memory of what had
befallen her She complained of a
headache, and of having had a fright
ful dream-that was all.
"1n few days she was busy about
her accustomed tasks, not exactly the
same as of old, but doing things In a
dreamy, automatic way. She never
spoke of Nelson and her family and
friends avoided mention of his name.
She seemed happiest when working
alone among the flowers in the garden.
give years went by. her mother
died and Abby Randall lived on in the
old place with only an aged servant
for company.
"Nelson had been dead about ten
years when one morning Abby Ran
dals memory came back-part Of 1t
came back.
"She had come down to breakfast,
and when old Mar. brought In the
coffee Miss Randall said: I'm going
away today, Mary. My husband, Mr..
Nelson, came back. He was here this
morning, and he is coming again this
evening. But you may live here, Mary,
as long as you like
"In her old heart Mary rejoiced, for
the doctors had said that, eventually,
Miss Randal's memory would come
back. and now there was glimmer
of 1t.
Just before supper Mary saw her
mistress gathering roses-white roses
from the bush near the birdhouse
When supper was ready the old serv
mt went to the door, but Miss Ran
lal was not in the garden; then tn,
I'D woman walked down the path anf
here under the ash tree-the one a.
the left as you go outlay Abby Ran
dal, just as she had fallen, the white
roses In her hand.
"She had gone ont TO meet Nelson