Image provided by: Silverton Country Historical Society; Silverton, OR
About Torch of reason. (Silverton, Oregon) 1896-1903 | View Entire Issue (July 14, 1898)
THE TORCH OF REASON, SILVERTON, OREGON, THURSDAY, JULY 14, 1S98. heaped every indignity upon her. said he, “ and here comes a minis F orsaken, desolate and desperate, tering angel bending over me, and she would have fallen an easy prey assuring my old heart th at the i to the destroyer, had not the bronz- 1 world isn ’t all hard and selfish ed hand of the sailor snatched her I th at there’s some good in it vet.” from the snare set for her unw ary Every day Mrs. Congdon sat be feet. side the bed of the sick man and New hope and courage possessed watched hia failing breath, for ¡t S aved by a S ew ing M achine. stroyer of womanhood with all the her, as she presented her order for was evident th a t his days on earth ferocity of an enraged tiger. Isabel Allen wao about to s ta r t| Do you wonder th a t he h it his the sewiug m achine just at the were few. for C alifornia, and not wishing to foe there, bleeding, wounded and hour when the ship on board of G ently, tenderly, affectionately, becum bcrK l with a se w in g m a c h in e ,' w ilb fcarcP|y tbe breath of life in which was Jack H opkins hauled he was watched and cared for hv ehe concluded to follow the exam-1 bin)? W o u ld n ’t you have done the out from the dock. the woman he had redeemed, and pie of num erous religious moieties Palne? U ndpr ginij| ar circum stanc- In d u stry , ap titu d e and patient who, in retu rn , told him her home, and dispose of it by raffle. She e8> wou,d y „ u buvp |pft bj|u a | jvp persistence soon placed Rosa in w ealth, influence and services were readily sold fifty tickets at a dollar at a jp> com fortable circum stances. She at his com m and. H er husband apiece, and W ednesday evening The ,rem bling gil.|_ faintingi sought and obtained all the work joined with her in good offices to was to witness the draw ing of the frigbteued> Htood epe]1. bouud> 8ole she could do, clothed herself neatly, the benefactor of his wife, and as lucky num ber. The tim e came, „ ¡tness of the scene. and by and by had a com fortable sured him th a t if h ealth returned and Jack H opkins was discovered u j i PrP> C1,me w jth me> and do„-t sum in the savings bank. As the he should never again feel compel to be the holder of the fortunate be Hfl.a i d / , , he bone8t. hearled years rolled on, her sweet face and led to wander in foreign lands. But figure. sailor. “ I ’d not harm a hair of am iable m anners attracted , am ong all was of no avail; the shadows “ Good Lord! ’ said he, when the tby young head for all the wealth others, the adm iration of R onald had fallen, aad night was ap fact was m ade known to him, (d C alifornia’s gold mines. Come Congdon, whose esteem ripened in proaching. Mrs. Congdon sat by, “ w hat under the sun shall I do w j|h mp Thou a rt ag safp ag to affection, and he sought her for a faithful w atcher, and as she re with a sewing m a c h i n e t h o u g h asleep upon thy m other’s his wife. called the d istan t past she wept “ W hy, get you a wife, or go into b08olll « H er m arriage with R onald Cong softly. the tailo ring business am i make a I Kl)„ g|lj hard> pr((fanP> fer(x.ioUK don placed her at once in th e best “ W hy do you weep for the old fortune,1’ said Isabel A llen’s hro-I Jack H o p k in 8 _ th a t was , be side and most refined Society, where her sa lt? ” questioned the dying man. *‘*<*r - ■ the world saw; hut th a t night re- native tact and grace enabled her “ I’ve had a long voyage, ship “ B o th e rth e wife, and as for tai-1 vpa|ed bjln gen||ej tender as a w0. to adorn the position for which she wrecked m any tim es and often loring, can ’t do my own sewing,” ( ,,re aa a 8 |a|. was fitted by nature. tem pest-tossed, and now I’m com was his reply, as visions of torn ! Rofa Grey> with tru a ti„g eonfi. R onald Congdon was w ealthy, ing into port, worn, with ragged button-holes, huttonless shirts, rag- dencp> put ber hand confidit,g ,y ¡„ a m illionaire in heart and m ind, as sails and rotting tim bers, but I ged w ristbands and worn sleeve- his, a. .1 he hastily led her froin'lhe well as in this w orld’s goods; and shall be glad to cast anchor in a linings rose before him ; for al- 8pOt where her innocence an d hap- it was his delight t<> lavish t i l the harbor where there are no storms though H opkins was a “ m an-of- pjnp8a bad hpen 8Q 1|ear,y wr,,cked luxuries th a t a rt or money could or raging billows.” w ar’s m an ” , he never could see for produce upon his lovely wife. Pausing a m om ent, he said: into th e a rt of top-sewing and her- u p oor liM legirl|» said he> One day, in th e spring-tim e of “ Rosa, I never took much stock ring-boning. He felt like the m an ingly. “ D o n ’t cry.” And then the year, when the violets m ade in preaching or praying, as it goes who drew the elephant, and what torrents of oaths escaped Him as he the mossy banks frag ran t with per on in the world, hut I ’ve prayed to do or where to store his sewing rem em bered the wretch he hail left fume, Rosa was returning from a and fasted some after a fashion of m achine He did not know. He had bleeding upon the pavem ent. S ud drive to the woo Is, laden with my own. M aybe it was right and no tim e to look about, for he was denly he thought of his sewing m a ground-pine, velvety mosses, feath rnayhe it was wrong. I don’t know, ordered on hoard ship the next chine, and th a t it m ight possibly er f< rns and trailin g arbutus. She but I ’ve tried to do as well as I m orning. As he sauntered along benefit the weeping girl beside him. rode past the General H ospital ju s t knew how, and anyw ay, it was w histling, “ Can ye steer such a craft as a as a sick man was lifted from a honest. And if I should happen “ A life on the ocean wave, sewing m achine?” he asked. | wagon, preparatory to taking him to wake up in some foreign land, A Home on tHe rolling deep” , “ Do you m ean, sir, can I run a to the sick ward. and the captain calls me to give an suddenly He caught the wicked, sewing m a c h in e — can I m ake it “ S urely,” thought Rosa, as she account of myself, I ’ll ju s t tell him serpent gleam th a t Hashed from the sew?” looked upon the em aciated form, how it was, and I won’t forget to sinister eyes of a fash io n ab ly d ress “ Yes, th a t’s what I m ean.” “ I have seen th a t face before!” and let him know how I thrash ed that ed m an, as he whispered to his “ W Hv, no, but I could learn, all the way home, the pale atenu- m iserable scam p — and gave you com panion, a poorly-clad hut h an d m aybe, if I had one to work w ith.” ated features haunted her. W hen, my bottom d o llar and — a sewing some girl of not more th an sixteen “ W h at’s your name?” j where, had she seen th at m an? m achine, and m aybe he won’t he sum m ers. A strange im pulse “ Rosa G rey.” The dim , shadow y past, with its very hard with me. Good-by! The prom pted H opkins to tu rn and fol Leaning against a lam p post, the wonderful changes, passed like a storm is over, th ere’s blue skv ven der, and ’t is my watch below!” low the couple through m any w ind sailor wrote an order to Isabel Al panoram a l>ef re her, hut still sh e John H opkins never spoke again. ing streets until they paused before len, instructing her to deliver to could not locate the stranger. R est Rosa reverently folded the rough, an elegant m ansion, from whence Rosa Grey His sewing m achine, and less, uneasy, she resolved to visit scarred hands above th e pulseless issued sounds of music and laugh signing the paper, handed it to the the hospital, and discover, if possi bosom and closed the eyes of the ter. I t was a cloudy night, m isty, bewildered girl. ble, who trie stran g er was. Upon brave-hearted sailor. dim and dark, a night well a d a p t She had the rem ains robed and “ Here, take th is,” said be, “ and arriv in g there she inquired of the placed in an elegant rosewood cas ed to wickedness and crime. The go get your living,” and then with clerk the nam e of the gentlem an ket, and conveyed to her own beau street lam p shed its light full on the lavish generosity of sea-faring brought there th a t forenoon. “ Jo h n tiful home, w here ap p ro p riate serv tHe faces of the couple. men, he placed in her hand a bur.ch H opkins,” was the reply, after ex ices were held ere the body was “ V illain!" hissed H opkins. “ Mv of crum pled greenbacks. placed in its last resting-place. “ Better am ining his register. little sister, my only rem aining rel th a t she should have it th an the In Mrs. Congdon’« parlor, in an It was the nam e of her benefac alcove, there stands today an old- ative, as fair a hud as ever blos grog shop,” he m uttered, as he tor! and in an in stan t she had re fa^hioued sewing m achine, covered somed under sum m er skies, lies in turned and went his way, leaving called all the scenes of th a t event over with purple velvet, whose the chill and m ould of yonder Rosa Grey alm ost petrified with ful night that had so changed the fringe of gold sweeps th e costly ch u rch y ard tonight, and you sent astonishm ent. G reat drops of rain Upon the top of cu rren t of her life. H er request M ilton carpet. her there! I t was years ago, but m ingled with her fast-falling tears, th a t she m ight see him was g ra n t the velvet cover rests a solid silver plate, encircled with a wreath of I ’ve not forgotten her or you. And as if the heavens wept in sy m p a ed, and precious tears of joy drop flowers. It l>ears this inscription: now’ you seek th e destruction of a n thy. ped upon th e old sailo r’s neck. He “ Sacred to the m em ory of John o ther with th e poison of your de The poor girl was an orphan, wept, also, as she told him her H opkins.” ceitful tongue, you smooth-faced friendless and alone. Driven from \\ hen the curious ask whv she nam e and related how he had sav m urderer! la k e th a t, and th a t, the m iserable shelter th a t she call- ed her from sham e and infam y. keeps th a t old-fashioned machine so choice, she answ ers reverently. arid th a t!” an d the heavy blows ed home by a merciless stepm other, “ I thought I was old and poor, “ It is my s a v io r!” — fSugan H. fell thick and fast upon the de who, since her father’s death, had i sick and friendless and forsaken,” . W ixon. Our Secular Story. NV