-TOM RYDEirS CHILD
Mr. Marsh, wiiua he was sitting iA the
-village store with the heels of his well
"tallowed boots carefully poised on the
-4ge of the eorrasatw cylinder stove,
Vrxs; far larger man than when he. was
at home. Perhaps it was for that reason
tbat he spent so much time in . the store
A man likes to feel large and to hawk
I expectorate in an independent man-'
When under the protection of his own
-goat this gentleman was very much in
the shadow of his wife. He never
hawked and he never expectorated there.
He shrank np into the smallest possible
compass and seemed to deprecate the
fact that he was 'alive at all. If heconld
have come in and gone ont at the key
kale he would have felt an unutterable
relief. - ' ; r
As it was,- he was in constant fear lest
kn should forget to wipe his feet, or lest
ke should leave a door unlatched. He
often told himself "he'd rother be .darned
any day than to forgit'to wipe his feet
twice." first on the husk mat in the sink
toom and next on the braided mat at
the kitchen door. When Mr. Marsh said
""he'd rather be darned," he meant that
he preferred being consigned to hades.
He often thought it wonld be a -kind of
"relief to be in that place "and done with
it," But he always was very meek in-
j i i i i." .1 : ii i i.
-hill I I l IK .1 J H .J IHM1 . . U l.-V. . OUVW
thoughts. . '
Mrs. Marsh was a large, dark, mns
tached woman,, who was believed by
wme to be a good nurse. She certainly
had the merit of subduing her charges
into absolute quiescence. She boasted
that folks that "she took care on knew
their places mighty quick; n : their
MaceB was w jest- uy ni in .u leb tuts uuru
do as be pleased."
She was fond of mentioning' the Lord
at the most unexpected and irritating
times. She had referred to him on so
many occasions in regara to. ner nus-
"Wnd's bringing in "medder mud" and
ther kinds of soil on the soles of his
"boots that Mr, Marsh was continually
harassed by a fear lest he might become
TWKindined and aramire a habit of think
ing disrespectfully of the Lord. If he
did acquire such a habit, he hoped fer-.
vently and in plain terms that it might
be laid to D'rindy's charge rather than
to his. Dorinda was his wife's name;
'.audit was the name given to each of
five-consecutive daughters who had been
horn to Mr. and Mrs. Marsh and who
aad all died when children.
There were residents in the village
( rho always took friends who came from
a distance to the graveyard to . see the
"row of D'rindies," as this series of
mounds was usually termed.
These continual bereavements- were
very hard to ''bear -during . their occur
rence, but after some years had passed
and the wounds were scarred Mrs.
Marsh was conscious of a certain dis
tinction coming from the fact that she
-was, in a certain sense, owner pf .that
row in the cemetery. She had a pride
in keeping the small graves and their
aeatlstones in the very best condition;
or rather she made Mr. Marsh keep them
u.
When I have seen that woman strid
injr tawttrd the hill alone whpr fr.liA
graveyard was, I have wondered if she
did not feel a satisfaction that there
were five mounds instead of four; live
. made a much more impressive row. If
one of those luibiea had grown it would
doubtless have brought in a great deal
of mud in the spring, snow in the win
ter, and road dust in the summer. It
would have "littered things up jest aw
ful." to use a favorite expression of Mrs.
Marsh. Was it possible that there
were compensations? It is a distinction.
too. to have had a "dretfnl sicrht tt
atdcness' in your family;" to have "notes
' put up' for the sufferer and the suffer
er's friends.
Do you know what it means to have a
note put up? It is to arrange that the
minister shall find, apparently in the
hymn book, a scrap of paper asking the
prayers of the congregation for a family
in affliction. The name of the person is
often given, and then there is a rustling
and a turning and a looking at the near
ant relative who happens to be present.
When things by land and by sea have
been prayed for, when people "scattered
tap and down this sinful earth" have been
meutioned.thenjthe minister changes his
tone to one of more feeling, and petitions
that this dear xis r whose child is on a
bed of sickness may be strengthened to
endure, and that, if it be so decided that
he be called upon to give up that be
loved one, she may be enabled to bow
her head to his great and glorious will.
-and to bless him, even though he slay.
There is a great sameness about the
. words used in response to this asking for
prayers, but who shall say that those
phrases do not sometimes touch healing-
ty a sore heart?
Reuben Marsh never missed going to
meeting a single Sunday during all the
times when his children were pining and
dying.
Sometimes he would far rather have
topped at home, being possessed by that
piteous and natural feeling that he, with
all his strength and -vigor, might in
aome way give of that strength to the
poor little thing moaning on the bed.
But his wife had made him go. She
had even found time as usual to fasten
bis collar and button on the rusty black
necktie. ' . .
. And he had always heard those pray
ers in answer to the note he had put up.
He held himself rigidly upright. His
heavy, bearded" face was impassive to
look upon. People who looked at him
curiously saw nothing but the calm,
rough face. His hands were thrust into
the big pockets of his loose sackcoat; the
.great, knuckly . fingers writhed : and
twisted as the prayer proceeded.
Mr. Marsh heard the words going on
and on over his bead. He felt as if he
were groping in horrible darkness. All
the time he was saying to himself: "O
God, let her live! O God, let her live!
I can't live if you take this one, toot"
-' He -thought he could not live. But
that one, too, was taken, and still the
aun continued to rise and set on Reuben
.Marsh,, and still Mrs. . Marsh hectored
gionally reminded him of wliat a mother
suffered in the loss of a child. She said
she s'posetT afather had some feeling,
but how corild a father know a mother's
heart? " ' 1
Evidently there was no answer to this
question." Certainly. Mr. .Marsh attempt
ed to give none.
. Mrs. Marsh talked a great deal to her
husband and to the"ueighbors generally
about the fact that all her children had
been born without any constitutions.
She didn't know why it was, for all her
folks were made of iron. She often in
quired how it was that a child with no
constitution at all could be expected to
live. She told Reuben it was too much I as if they were not straight. ,. -to
ask. She gave every one to under- I Something that felteold and wet, like
stand that' Reuben, seemed, to believe i
their children ought to live; bnt she knew !
they couldn't. f
As the years went-by she made Mr. j
Marsh keep those little graves,-and their '
headstones, and their lettering of "Dor-
inda, daughter of Reubeu and Doriuda j
Marsh," more -and more "trigged up."!
When Mr.' Marsh was hot at home nor V
at the store it was well known tiiat he
must be "to the cemetr'y triggin up
them graves. ;
It was one mild day in winter that j
Mr. Marsh put On his overcoat apd his j
rubber boots. He' said he was going j
down to the store and guessed he should I
just stop in at the graveyard before he !
came home. The hill sloped to the
south there, and it was warm and sunny,
almust like a snrimr dav.
The man had. it in his mind that there i
was just a chance that some snowdrops
might be blossomed, or at least budded.
But if lie should tma a bloom tie was
not so crazy, he told himself , as to take
it to his -wif e, who would only'consiiler
it as some kind of "litter." He should
stop at the . store, as he said, and he
should probably see Tom Ryder's for
lorn little girl shivering about, and he
should give the flower to her. Then her
small, ' pinched face would suddenly
lighten, and she would smile in that ra
diant way that always went like a knife
to Reuben Marsh's heart. He wondered
if" any of those Dorindies, if any had
lived, would have had such a face and
such a smile as that. If they "took
after'' their mother they surely would
not
Once after Mr. Marsh had seen this
transformation take place in the. face of
Tour Ryder's daughter when she had re
ceived a kindness he had ventured to
speak about her to his wife, with a wild
hope in the bottom of his heart that they
might adopt Ryder's child, for Ryder
was only a drunken ' wretch whose wife
had long since died of a broken heart
and too much work. 1 '
Mrs. Marsh made it very plain indeed
to her husband that she had no opinion
whatever of that nasty Belle Ryder.
Mr. Marsh had fallen into his ordinary
-home mood of dull, cowed silence. He
sat with his slippered feet on their wood
en cricket,: and hung his head, pulling
bis beard slowly and wondering what he
was living for.
He supposed men never hated their
wives. He supposed there was no man
in the world whose wife was such a good
cook, who kept her husband's clothes so
well mended and so clean as D'rindy
did, but be said plainly to himself that
"he'd ruther be flogged than to be where
she was."
Often, as he " sat there pulling his
beard and watching D'rindy as she made
everything painfully clean, he told him
self that he must have been even more
of a fool than most young men to have
fallen in love with a girl who could turn
out to be such a woman as that. He
also asked of his own soul how it would
be with him if it were possible for a
man to hate his wife. " -
When he walked slowly through the
mud of the main street he was conscious
that there was more than the ordinary
down his heavy feet with an air of bra--i
vaao wuen ne reacnea tne store, tie i
took in a lanre auantitv of mud. and he I
talked so loud and spat so emphatically !
that the storekeeper winked at the mau
next to him, and said in a whisper that
D'rindy must have been carryin' an un
common high band with Reuben that
day.
But for all this extra swagger Mr.
Marsh was aware that he was greatly
depressed. . It did not seem to exhilarate
him to have his heels on the stove. He
did not understand himself today, and
he left the store much earlier than wus
his custom. One of the men actually
got up from his broken backed chair and
went to the window to watch the re
treating figure.
"Something or other's the matter of
Reub Marsh," he said pityingly. 'l
never seen him miss his aim a-spittin' be
fore, 'n he missed it every time today."
The storekeeper was chopping off a
piece of tobacco. ' He nodded his head.
He said he was sorry for Reub. He
s'posed he was goin' np to them graves
now. He hoped it wa'n't wicked, buthe J
did think 'twould be jest aa well if there
was a sixth grave in that row and
D'rindy was laying in it. , For his part
he'd like to help trig up D'rindy Marsh's
grave, whether 'twas wicked, or not.
Then they tell to talking ahoutToui
Ryder, and of the fact that he had been
gone a week, nobody knew where, on a'
worse spree than ever.
"I guess they'll have to takn the little
one to the poorhouse this timxj, and no
mistake. Somebody ought to. speak to
the Selectmen, V have her seen to.
Mr. Marsh walked on mechanically up
the road. He did not know why it was
that he could not throw off his wife's in
fluence when be had left" her, as he "was
usually able to do.
Some strangely desperate mood was
upon him. He put his hand to his head,
and said if ho didn't know better he
should almost think he had been drink
ing. Just before he reached the cemetery
he passed by the house where the Ryders
lived, an old place with low eaves that
looked as if they Would always drip
with unhealthy moisture. Some of the
window panes were stuffed with rags,and
a cat walked with ostentations misery
among the puddles near the front door.
. Mr. Marsh wished ' he had 'brought
as he had nothing be went on atann
vainly about in the hope of seeing Belle.
In a few mihutetf'aibre he was stand
big by the row .of graves and looking
sharply down at the sodden ""turf for the
snowdrops. There "were' the green leaves,
lie knelt - and pushed - aside the brown,
wet -grass. - His . heavy face took on . a
pathetic look of eagerness.-. No, it was
too early: the sun. had . not been warm
enough. There were no . blossoms not
even buds. '' '".
"It's too bad too bad!" he' muttered.
"How she would er liked 'emP ' ' '-'"'-.
He stood np. "He" brushed a "mist from
his eyes that made the headstones look
ice, touched the hap d that hung down
by his side. But he did not notice the j
touch until it was repeated, this ttme'ac- j
compamed by a wnine. '- Mr. - Marsh i:
aroused himself and patted the lean, nn-1 -
happy looking cur that stood beside, hin. j
"Hullo, Jack," he said, "where'a your
little mistress.-" . . ; ;i
Jack wagged his tail and made' as if
he would trot back home, but as Mr.
Marsh did not follow him he returned
-and licked his hand again. - He went
through these movements so many times
that the man at last walked after him,
the dog continually looking behind, un
til he had led his friend to the "back door
of the Ryder Tiouse. This door stood
open. . ''
.. Mr. Marsh had not heard that Tom
Ryder was "pa a spree," and he expected
every moment ro ue greeted dv tne own
f this place, whom he despised and j
whom ' he "always wanted to kick every
time he sa w him. - .. - j
Instead of a masculine voice, however, j
a piping, feeble treble sounded from one 1
of the front rooms.
"Oh, J:ick, don't you leave me tool j
Don't you go 'n' leave me tool";
- Reuben Marsh stood suddenly still
from sheer weakness. His great, tender
heart seemed to choke him. He heard
the dog wining joyfully and .scuttling"
about the room he, -bad entered. He
breathed a long breath and pushed the
door further open, apparently taking but
one stride from the door to a "trundle
bed" which was in a corner. On the bed
was a child who stared wildly for an in
stant at this intruder, then a flush of
joy overspread her face. She put out
two bony arms to the man bending over
her.- She laughed.'
"I've jest be'n praj in' for a friend,"
she crieJ feebly. "I kep a-prayin so
hard that God had to hear finally."
Mr. Marsh gathered the child to his
breast. His heart glowed., His eyes
sparkled as he felt the frail form leaning
confidingly against him.
He took a frayed blanket from the bed
and wrapped her up until she was like a
mummy. He was Bmiling all the while
he was doing this.
" Where's your father?" " "
"I d' know. He's been gone ever so
many days, I guess." .'.
"Ain't you hungry?"
"I was hungry after 1 et np all there
was, some bread 'n' Bausage. Thou I got
faint; theu I was so awful kind of sick."
The child leaned her head on the man's
shoulder and shut her eyes. He held her
yet closer. j
"I'll take ye right home," he said. ' v . '
He stepped out into the mild, damp
air. He held his head very high,. and
his eyes sparkled more than ever. - He
walked down' and into the village street
as if he had been a soldier coming from
a victory." He nodded at the few ac
quaintances be saw, and who looked , at
him wonderingly, but he would not stop,
to speak to any one. '
The storekeeper saw him, and said to
a customer that there was Reub Marsh
with Ryder's little girl, 'n' he guessed
Reub 'd -ketch it when he got home.
Mr. Marsh still held his head up when
he entered his own kitchen, tracking in a
good deal of mud as he did so, for he did
not e a the huskmat. nor yet at the
- . .,, . ,
"Brmg me a cup of milk with a drop
ff ff .water m,U'
he said, sitting down
in the large rocker by the stove.
Jack had entered also, and he also had
brought in mud. He sat calmly on bis
dirty haunches on the shiny oilcloth by.
the chair which held Mr. Marsh and his
mistress.
Mrs. Marsh stood a moment in bewild
erment) then fibs brought the miLki
Her face softened somewhat as she
looked at the pinched features on her
husband's shoulder.
"She is b tarring," said Mr. Marsh,
shortly.
'We'll give her a good meal, 'n' then
yon c'n take her right back," remarked
Mrs. Marsh, with her usual decision.
She added that Reuben . could go right.
over to Mr. Wallis, who was one of the
selectmen, and have the child taken to
the poorhouse that very night.
In ten minutes the girl ' was sound
asleep. 'Mr. Marsh laid her on the lounge
and covered her with a shawL He fed
Jack, who ate very hastily and with tba
utmost greediness and then curled up on
the floor by the couch.
Reuben Marsh rose from his bending
position over the lounge.. He looked his
wife squarely in the face, a thing he
had not-done for years. - , -
She gazed , back at him with some
thing bike consternation slowly growing
in her mind. . ' . .
"I'm goin to do one of two things,
D'rindy," he said very slowly, "and it's
for you to say which itU be. Fm goiu'
to keep Tom Ryder's child if he don't
take her away from me, 'n' I guess he
won't. I'm goin to keep her here if
you're willin'; if you ain't willin' I shll
go where I can keep her.- 'N' she's goin'
to be Ideated well too. . Now which shall
it be, D'rindy?"
Mr.. Marsh, with that delicious love for
the child in his heart, looked very big
and manly. . -
Mrs. Marsh 'mechanically brushed the
the stove hearth with a turkey wing be
fore she replied.
"I ruther think, Reuben, she said,
"yon might's well keept br here. " New
York Tribune.
. " Jiinmieboy has swallowed one of my
poems," said Rondow, in despair,
"That's all right,'' said the doctor.
"Mush is good for childran." nck.
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For those . wishing to see the quality
and color of the above paint we call their
attention to the residence of S. Tj.' Brooks,.
Judge Bennett, Smith French and others
painted by Paul Kreft. . .......
Snipes A Kinersly are agents for- the
above paint for The Dalles. Or. -
Health is Wealth !
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fund the money if the treatment does not effect
a cure. Guarantees issued only by
KLAKELEVJl HOUGHTON,
Prescription DruggistH,
17S Second St. . The Dalles, Or.
Don't Forget the
MacDonalfl Bros., Props.
THE BEST OP
Wines, Liquors and Cipts
ALWAYS ON HAND.
Real Estate,
Insurance,
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Opera House Block, 3d St.
HURRAH!
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--' - - -; - -. . '
; WHOLESALE AND RETAIL
Liquor v Dealer,
MILWAUKEE BEER ON. DRAUGHT.
The
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gy, industry and merit; and to this end
we as& that you give it a fair trial, and
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The
four pages of six columns each, will be
issued every evening, except Sunday,
and will be delivered in the city, or sent
by mail for the moderate sum of fifty
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Its
Obi
will be to advertise the resources of the
city, and adjacent country, to assist iifc
developing our industries, in extending
and opening up hew channels for our
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helping THE DALLES to take her prop-'
er position as the
Leading City of Eastern Oregon. -
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criticism of political matters, as in its
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We will endeavor to give all the lo
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rash assertions of outside parties.
THE WEEKLY,
sent to any address for $1.50 . per year.
It will contain fronr four to six eiglit
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THE DALLES.
The Gate City of the Inland Empire is situated at
the head of navigation on the Middle Columbia, and
is a thriving, prosperous city.
ITS TERRITORY.
It is the supply city for an extensive and rich agriy
cultural an . grazing country, its trade reaching as
far south as Summer Lake, a distance of over twe
hundred miles.
THE LARGEST WOOL MARKET.
The rich grazing country along the eastern slope '
of the the Cascades furnishes pasture for thousands
of sheep, the -wool from which finds market here.
The Dalles is the largest original "wool shipping
point in America, about 5,000,000 pounds being.."
shipped last. year.
ITS PRODUCTS.
The salmon fisheries -are the finest on the Columbia,
yielding this year a revenue, of $1,500,000 "which can
and -will be .more than doubled in the near future. '
The products of the beautiful Klickital valley find
market here, and the country south and east has this
year filled the -warehouses, and all available storage
places to overflowing with their products. , -
.; . ITS WEALTH .
It is the richest city of its size on the coast, and its
money is scattered over and is being used to develop,
more farming country than 'is tributary to any other
city in Eastern Oregon. ' -w--'
: Its situation is unsurpassed! ' Its climate deligh.tr ' :
full - Its possibilities incalculable! . Its resources' un
limited! , And on these corner stones she stands.
i
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