THE TORCH OF REASON, SILVERTON. OREGON, 1HI RSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1898. and he stopped him and learned serv an t. “ Look at your hands!’’ she said. how sick his m other was. —. ** Then he felt in duty bound to call “ They are not very black, I know D a u g h te r-In -L a w . on her. He w ent, ami the old lady But they are used to doing house was greatly surprised and, as he j work, m adam , I assure you. Will could see, som ew hat pleased to see i you try m e?” “Oh, come now, N ancy! if I was him. “ Y ou cam e from the city ,” said you I wouldn’t take on! Maybe it’ll But not once did she ask for or M other H aw kins, w ithout answer all turn out right,” said the sociable allude to his wife. ing the question. “ Do you live neighbor, who had dropped in to “ Mother, you ought to have a th ere ?” take a dish of tea, as Mother Haw- “ Yes, m adam .” girl,” said W ill. kins wiped her eyes with her apron. “ W ell, goodness, so I ought;” “ Then what do you know about “ W al, rnebhe ’twill!” sighed the groaned the old lady. “ I told Jo h n farm w ork?” good lady. to get Lucy Jones for a few days, if “ E v ery th in g ,” the stranger an to talk to me.” “ But it don’t seem so now. Sit Mrs. .Jones knew the stubborn he could. But she a in ’t no m anner sw ered,confidently. “ I was brought up, .Mis’ Jones; the cream biscuit’ll old lady well enough to believe o’ ’count if she comes; and where to up on a farm and have only lived spile with w aitin.’ Poor Will! he that. So she sai 1 no more. But get anybody the mercy k n o w s— I in the city three years.” was so fond o’ them biscuits! Pll after she got home she said .0 het- don’t. I ’ve tried everyw here.” “ But them line clothes!” sighed bet she can’t make 'em! ¡'ain’t his own fam ily: “ I think perhaps I could send M other H aw kins. m arry in ’ I mind so m uch,’’she went “ I have plain calico ones in mv “ If I had as likely a son as W ill you out one,” said W ill. “ Good on, as she poured the frag ran t tea H aw k i„„ I wou|d n ’t goback o n ’im girls can sometimes be found in satchel,” said this odd girl. into the th in , old china cups. “ If fur no gal • that ■ ever drawed - . breath; . . town.” “ W hat wages do you w ant?” he’d a-m arried a decent country gal, a n ’ PH het a penny Nancy H aw “ W ell, for p ity ’s sake, do it then. “ W hatever you usually p ay .” an let her come here to live long o’ kins lives to wish she h a d n ’t.’’ I ’ll pay her well, if she’s worth her “ I generally give two dollars and me, I w ouldn’t a-eared. But no! a h alf.” Meantime in his cozy home in sa lt.” he m ust go taggin’ after one o’ them the H w j)| b a |, beel) g]oomiiy “ I’ll try ,” said W illiam . “ I m aj “ Very well, th at will suit me.” finified city gala. N othin’ e l s e ’u’d r(,a(n „g his old m other’s last curt not succeed, but if I can find one “ W hat would you do first if you do him! Mis’ Jones,do have another j , tp|. I ’ll send her out on the noon train. stayed?” lum p o’ sugar in your tea?” I „ Don>t ,e, u worry y0Uj w i |, „ I f you don’t like her you needn't “ The first thing, I would make “ No. Mis’ Haw kins, the tea is Haid big bride> 60()thinglv. keep her, you know.” you a cup of tea and a bit of toast. jest right now.” he|f) ¡( L i,y>>, wag ,)ig “ Oh, I ’ll be glad to get anybody,” Then I would change my dress, go “ W al, take a slice more o’ this |y ,<8he wag g| guch a groaned the sick old lady, tossing down stairs and get to work.” br’.led ham , then. I t’s our own gO(,(j lnother me th a t it h u rts me restlessly. “ F or p ity ’s sake, do it, then!” home-cured pork.” • t() haye her gQ wrong and obgti. Jo h n came hack just then, s a y - • said M other H aw kins, as with a “ T hank ye, I don’t care ef I do ing th a t Lucy Jones was away on a sigh of intense relief she dropped nate.” take a bite more. I don’t eat much “ Go out and see her and talk it visit and c<>uld not be hired; so back upon her pillows. in general; but your vittles is so W ill, who m ust leave at once to The stranger left the room, and over,” suggested Lily, good they kind o’ g.veone an appe-1 ..N everr , an6wered W ill, firmly. catch the up train , promised agaiu in a short time she was back again tite .” with the tea and toast tem ptingly “ Unless business takes me, I shall to do his best to find a girl. “ W al, yes,” said M other H aw never enter my old home, unless “ I reckon I ’d orter asked after arranged on a waiter, and as nice as kins, with another sigh. “ Will you go too. If my m other cannot h er ,” said the sick woman to h e r h an d s could make them . alw ays ’lowed I was a fair cook. After they were disposed of, she receive my wife she cannot receive self after he was gone, and she had And he was th at fond o’ good e a tin ’I me. I t is no use talking to me not even asked him to come hack. brought fresh w ater ami towels, And I ’low he’ll git none o’ it now.” “ But I couldn’t get the consent of bathed M other H aw k in s’s hot face about it.” “ Mebbe he will, Mis’ H aw kins. and hands, and brushed her hair There was a touch of the old la- i my own m ind to do it, nohow.” I ’ve knowed some o’ them cit y folks Jo h n scraped up w hat he could neatly back under her cap. d y ’s stubborn spirit in the son, you what was fust-rate cooks, a n ’ liked for dinner, and about 1 o’clock he “ There, th a t is better, isn’t it? ” see. the country, too.” Mother H aw kins was a stout, cam e upstairs and said, “ There’s a she asked. “ Oh, yes! they all like to come fleshy old lady; but she did all her lady down stairs to see you, m um .” “ Yes, indeed,” sighed the sick out for a week or so while berries is “ A lady? Good gracious! a n ’ me woman. except for a few weeks in sum m er, ripe. But you fetch em out a n ’ set . . . . , , “ W h at's your name, c h ild ? ” , . , . , e . . . when haying and harv« sting came in this fix. W ho is it, Jo h n ? ” em to cookin’ for harvest hands J “ I h a in ’t no idea who, m um .” “ M ary S herm an.” on. when it’s right hot, a n ’ you’d see!” “ Well, fetch her up, since it’s got “ Well, M ary, if you do as well T his season, right in the m idst of “ W ill’s wife m av not be one o’ haying, Mary Jane, the hired girl, to be; there’s no help for it. I hope for the rest as you have for me, I th a t kind, Nancy. , . .. . , , , .... , • , tt e 11 , 1 Rd* ° u t of the haymow-, where she ’ta in ’t no com pany come to stay,for sh all think it was the L ord’s massy “ Bet she is! He found her ’tend- . . . . . „ sent you here.” had been hunting for eggs, and I co uldn’t keep her if ’tis.” in ’ a boardin, school. An’ jest think Jo h n departed, presently re tu rn broke her arm , and of course she “ I shall try to be useful, hut it of it! they do say it is a Infidel had to go home. Not another girl ing with a tall, handsom e lady, will take me a few days to learn school into the bargain. Oh, I black cash- about things in the house.” could be got for love or money, and dressed in a stylish V know w hat kind of a giddy, harum - so M other Haw kins had to do all mere. “ Mebbe I ’ll be down by that scarum thing she m ust he. A n’ I herself. “ Good d ay ,” said Mrs. H aw tim e,” sighed M other H aw kins, as a in ’t goin’ to have an y th in g to do 1 he two hired men could get the kins, seeing she did not know the she settled herself for a nap. with ’em —th a t’s flat! An’ I told u r„ « . .. e . wood and do the m ilking and lady. But she was not down in a dav \\ ill so when he writ for me to , . B “ Good afternoon,’’ said the lady, or two. It was four weeks before churning. But Mrs. H aw kins had come an ’ see ’em m arried.” to sweat over the stove, and the pleasantly, advancing toward the she could be helped down to the “ La, Mis’ Hawkins! d id n ’t you “ I suppose you are Mrs. sitting-room . But everything had w eather growing hotter every day. bed. go?” And one m orning Mother H aw kins H aw kins?” gone on as orderly under M ary’s “ No, I d id n ’t. Here, have an o th “ Yes, I be.” And the sick wo h an d s as if M other H aw kins had could not get up. The hired men er spoonful o’ this honey, Mis’ Jones got the best breakfast they could, m an wondered w hat was coming been m istress herself. A nd no sis - —do. I t ’s made o’ w hite clover, and then Mrs. H aw kins sent one of next. ter or m other ever had more u n tir a n ’ as clear as can he. There! No, “ I hear you are in need of a g irl,” ing care th an she gave to the sick them for the doctor, bidding him to I d id n ’t go, a n ’ I writ to W ill he stop on the way home and see if said the stranger. woman, who felt th a t indeed she needn't fetch her here, neither.” “ Lord knows I am !” groaned Mo had found a treasure, and couldjnot Lucy Jones w ouldn’t come and stay “ Now, Mis’ Haw kins, you d id n ’t, until she could find a girl. ther H aw kins. bear to th in k of the tim e when M a really?” “ W ell, your son, Mr. H aw kins, < Now it so happened th a t import- ry m ust go away. “ Yes, I did,” said the old lady, a n t business brought W ill Haw- sent me out from the city to see if W illiam had w ritten twice to I would suit you.” dogged ly. “ I know a hull lot o’ kins out to Downport th at very know how his m other was, but he them university graduates — a- m orning. H e did not intend to “ A ou!” M other H aw kins sat up had not been down again. sw itchin’ a n ’ a-draggin their long- visit his m other; but he saw John in bed, in surprise at this elegant I he day th a t M other H aw kins tailed gowns, a n ’ a-hangin, their J coining out of the doctor’s office, woman asking for the place of a went to the table for the first time M h a ir when their heads ought to he hanged, a n ’ a-hum pin’ them selves up with hustles, to look like a cam el, a n ’ the Lord knows w hat all,fur I don’t. But I set my face agin ern. Will is a-tn ak in ’ money there, ftn> there he’ll stay till she spends ¡fc a y Then be»u WHnt to come bilck to hi„ ,44 m am m y. But he ca|J»l do j j f. l«-ft his m other an' tO()k Up wj(h her, a n ’ now’ he may .pgt fetjck t<) her, a n > make tbe be8t Q, hjH bad bargain! ’T ain ’t any use irg