'.TT.lt&J
THE COURIER
II
A storm swep' through me like a cyclone. It wuz all Bill's fault;
that warrior name had done it all the cyclopeedy with its lies had
pized Bill's mind to put this trouble on me an' mine !
No, no, a thousand time no ! These wuz coward feelin's an' thoy
misbecome me; they ache here in this heart uv and mino had no
business there. The better part uv me called to me an' said: "Pull
yourself together. Reuben Ketcham, and be a man !"
"Well, after he wo went away leotle Lizzio wuz tmro to ua 'n ever
before; wuz at our house all the time; called Lizzie mother; wuz
contented, in her woman's way, willin' to do her part, wait in' an,
watchin' an' prayin' for him to come back. They sent him boxes of
good things every fortnight, mother and leetlo Lizzie did; there
wuzn't a minuto of the day that thoy wuzn't talkin' or thinkin' uv
him.
Well yo see I must tell it my own way he got killed. In the
very iirst battle Cyrus got killed. The rest uv the soldiers turned to
retreat, because there wuz too many fer 'em on the other side. But
Cyrus stood right up; ho wuz tho warrior Bill allowed he wuz goin
to be; our boy wuzn't tho kind to run. They tell mo there wuz
bullet holes hero an here, an here all over his breast. We always
knew our boy wuz a hero !
Ye can think God yo wuzn't at the 'jinin' farms when the news
came that he'd got killed. The neighbors they were there, of courpe,
to kir-' uv hold us up an' comfort us. Bill an' I sot all day in the
woodshed, holdin' hands and lookin' away from each other, so; never
said a word; jest sot there sympathizin' an' holdin' hands. If we'd
been women. Bill an' I would uv cried in' beat our foreheads an'
hung round each otln r's neck liko the womenfolks done. Bein' we
wuz men, we just sit there in the woodshed, away from all th rest,
holding hands and sympathizin.
From that time on leetlo Lizzie wuz our daughter our very
daughter, Jl that was left to us uv our boy. She never shed a tear;
crep' like a shadder 'round tho house an" up the front walk an
through the garden. Her heart wuz broke. You could see it in the
leetle lambkin's eyes an' hear it her voice. Wanted to tell her some
times when she kissed me an' called me "father" wanted to tell
her: "Little Lizzie, let me help yer bear yer load. Speak out tho
sorror that's in yer broken heart; speak it out, leetle one, an' let me
help yer bear yer load."
But it isn't for a man to have them feelin's leastwise it isn't for
him to tell uv 'em. So I held my peace an' made no sign.
She jest drooped an' pined an' died.
One uicrnin' in the spring she was standin' in the garden, an" all
at oncet she threw her arms up, so, an fell upon ner face, an' when
they got 1 1 her all thet wuz left to us uv leetlo Lizzio wuz her life
less leetle body. I can't tell uv what happened next uv the funcr
al an' all that. I said this wuz in the spring, an' so it was all around
us; but it wuz cold and winter hero.
One day mother sez to me: "Reuben." sez she, softlike, "Marthy
an' I is goin to the buryin' ground for a spell. Don't you reckon it
would bo a good time fer y ju to go over an see Bill while we'ro
gone?''
"Mebbo 60, mother." sez I.
It wuz a pretty day. Cutting across lots, 1 thought to myself
what I'd say to Bill to kind uv comfort him. I inado it up that I'd
speak about the time when wo wuz boys together; uvhow we used
to slide down the meeting house hill, an' go huckleberry in"; uv how
I jumped into the pond one day an' saved him from bein drowned;
uv the spellin' school, the huskin' bees, the choir meetin's. the
sparkin' times; of tho swimmin' hole, tho crow's nest in the pine
tree, tho woodchuck's hole in the old pasture lot; uv tho sunny sum
mer days an' sung winter nights when wo wuz boys, an" happy ! An'
then
No, no ! I couldn't go on liko that ! I'd break down. A man
can't bo a man moro'n jist so far !
Why did mother send me over to see Bill? I'd better stayed at
homo ! I felt myself chokin up: if I hadn't took a chow uv tobacco
I'd 'ave been crying in a minute.
The nearer I got to Bill's tho worse 1 hated to go in. Standin' on
tho stoop, I could hear tho tall clock tickin Bolumuly inRtde "tick
took, tick took," just as plain as if I wuz sitting aside uv it. Tho
door wuz shot, yet I knowed jest what Bill wuz doin'; ho wuz sittin''
in the old red easy chair, lookin down at the tloor-liko this.
Strange, ain't it, how sometimes when you love folks you know jest
what they are doin' without knowin anything about it !
There wam't no uso knuckiu, but I knocked three times, so;
didn't say a word, only jest knocked three times, that a-way. Didn't
hear no answer -nuthin' but tho ticking of the tall clock, an' yet I
knew that Bill heard me an that down in his heart ho was say in' to
me to come in. 1 1c never said a word, yet I knowed all the timo
that Bill was savin' for me to come in.
I opened the dor, keerful like, an slipped in. Didn't say nothin';
jest opened tho door softly liko an' slipped in. There set Bill jest as
I knowed he wuz settin; lonesome like; sad like; his head hanging
down; he never looked up at me; nevor said a word -knowed I wuz
there all the time, but never said a word an' never made a sign.
How changed Bill wuz oh, Bill how changed ye wuz ! Thero
wuz f urrers in yer face, an yer hair wuz white -as white -as whito
as mine ! Looked small about the body, thin an hump shouldered.
Jest two ol' men, that's what wo wuz; an wo had been boyB to
gether !
Well, I stood thero a spell, kind uv hesitatin' like, neither uv us
savin' anything, until bimeby Bill ho sort uv made a sign for me to
sot down. Didn't speak, didn't lift his eyes from tho floor; only
made a sign, like this, in a weak, tremblin, way that wuz all. An'
I bet down, an' there wo both set, neither uv us sayin a word, but
both settin' there, lovin' each other an sympathizin' as hard as wo
could, for that is tho way with men.
Bimeby, like we'd kind uv mado it up aforehand, we hitched over
closer, for when folks is in sorror an' troublo they liko to bo closto
together. But not a word all tho time, an" hitchin' closer an closer
together, why, byemby, we set sido by side. So wo set a spell longer
lovin' an sympathizin", as menfolks do; thinkin uv tho happiness uv
tho pat an' uv all the hopes them two children had brought us.
The tall clock ticked, an' that wuz all the sound there wuz, excep'
when Bill gin a sigh an I gin a sigh, too to lighten tho load, yo
know.
Not a word como from either uv us; 'twas all we could do to sot
there, lovin' each other an" sympathizin.
All at oncet for wo couldn't stand it no longer all at oncet, wo
turned an' groped with our hands, this a-way, faces t'other way an
reached out, bo, an' groped with our h;nds, this a-a way, till we found
and held each other fast in a clasp of tender meanin.'
Then God forgive me if I done a wrong len I wisht I wuz a
woman! For, bein, a women, I could have riz up, an' standin' so, I
could have cried. "Come, Bill! come let me hold you in these arms;
come, let us weep together, an let this broken heart uv mine speak
through these tremblin lips to that broken heart of yourn, Bill,
tellin' yo how much I love yo an sympathize with ye!"
But no! I wuz not a woman! I wuz a man! An, bein' a man,
I must let my heart break; I must hold my peace, an' I must make
no sign.
Gloves, hosiery, corsets and millinery at prices that will mako
Miss Economy sweetly smile, at the Famous.
I
F YOU
w
WANT ANYTHING IN EUKS GO TO
Lincoln's Only Manufacturing Furrier.
He can give you satisfaction in quality, workmanship and prices. 12th and N Streets
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