Decatur Eagle, Volume 2, Number 40, Decatur, Adams County, 12 November 1858 — Page 1

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VOL. 2.

THE EAGLE. HI ■T» l»l PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY MORNING, BY PHILLIPS & SPENCER, 0210?, on Maia Street, in the old School House, one Sinara North of J. & P Crabs’ Store. Ter.ns of Subscription : For one year, $1 sft, in advance; $1 75, within She year, and $2 Oft after (he year has eStpiied. O’No paper will be discontinued uni il all nrrera "es are paid, except at the option of the Publishers, Terms of Advertisine: One square, (ten lines', three insertions, SI on Each subsequent insertion, 25 (EFNo advertisement will be considered less than one square; over one square will be couu-1 ted and charged as two; over two, as three, etc. ■ JOE PRINTING: We are prepared to do all kinds of job-work, n a neat, and workmanlike manner, on the most i reasonable terms. Our material forth completion of Jpb-W6rk, beinij new and of-the latest: stvles, and we feel conliJevt that satisfaction can be Riven. Tns Hebrew —The word Hebrew signifies Transfluvianus. be that cometh from the other side, namely, of the river Euphrates, and is supposed to have been given to Abraham on his arrival in Canaan. The word Palestine signifies the Land of the Emigrant. How prophetically symbolic are the names Hebrew and Palestine! They both indicate that not one man alone was to boa wandering Jew, but that every Jew was condemned to be more or less an exile and a pilgrim. Perpetually is the Israelite a man that cometh from the other side, far, far off, and every land that his foot toucheth is to him •he Land of the Emigrant, where be hath no continuing place of abode. His doom is tragical; let us weep over it — Die Critic.

Oriental Wit —A young man going a jorner, intrusted a hundred deenars to au old man: when he came back, the old man denied having bad any money deposited with him, and be was bad up before the Khazee. ‘Where were you. young man’ when you delivered this mon»y?’ ‘Under a tree.’ ‘Take nby seal and summon that tree,’ said the Judge. ‘Go, voting man, and tell the tree to come hither, and the tree will obey when you show it mv seal.’ The young man went in wonder. After he had been gone some time, the Khazee said to the old man, ‘He is long-<-do you think lie has got there yet?, ‘No,’said the old man; ‘it is at some distance; he has not got theic yet.’ ‘How kno west thou, old man, cried the Khazee, ‘where that tree is. The young man returned, and said the tree would not come. ,He has been here, young man, and given his evidence —the money is thine ’ — Ruble's Oriental. A Hay Field Anecdote.

Tl’ere is a good story which may have been heard in more than one hay field this summer. We heard it one day while on a visit in the country. We went out to show some men how to ‘pitch;’ we had failed, and wilted down under a haycock, nnd lay flushed and fanning the glow and sweat from our features in a comfortable position, when one of the jolly hay makers related the anecdote of the old man who was always bragging ho'w folks used to work in his young davs and challenged hi- two son® togther to pitch on a load of hay as fast as he could load it.

The challenge w;n accepted, and the hay wogon driving round. and the trial commenced. For some time the old man held his own very creditably, calling out tauntingly. ‘More hay! more hay!’ Thinker and faster it caine, whole cock at a time, cloud after cloud overwhelming him. The old man was nearly covered; still he kept crying, ‘More hay! more hay!’ until, struggling to keep on the top of the disordered and ill-arranged heap, it began first to roll, then to slide, and at last off it went from the wagon and the old man with it. ‘What are vou down here for? cried the boys. ‘I came down after hay,' answered the old man, stoutly. Which was a literal fact; he nad come after the wagon load, which had to be pitched on again rather more deliberately than before. When the tree is fallen every man rushes to it with a hatchet.

THE OLD MAN OF THE WOODS. BY SVLVANL’S COBB, JR. You should have known Nellie Clark. She was one of the prettiest sweetest, and most loving girls in the whole village.— Yet there were those who said- she was very far from being handsome or engaging. Mrs. Longpurse, who had three very plain, bin. very mr.rriageble daughters, of uncertain age, solemnly declared it!,... N.IIU n ptatn, uucuuciueo, pretending miss. And the widow Redand j Whitepaint, whose only daughter had j lost a host of lovers, gave it as her fixed I opinion that poor Nellie was a very ordinary girl; while Mrs. Veripious, whospoke |so much in meeting, had been heard to whisper, in a sort of sorrowing way, that i young Miss Clark wasn’t any better than i she ought to be. Nellie knew all this, but she laughed as blithely as ever, and seemed not to lose a particle of her joy.

Perhaps, however, Nellie had heard what some other people had said. For instance; there was 'he widow Meekly, who had been laid up with the rheumatics for many years. She said that Nellie's presence had done her more good than all the medicine in the world. Andi then Mrs- Thankful, whose little boy had such a bad hip complaint that he could not walk, often said, with tears in her eyes, that Nellie was an angel. How could her poor lame boy have gone to school all winter if Nellie hadn't, dragged him on her sled? Yes—Nellie knew all this, too; and while the cold winds of calumny w< re shut wholly out, the warm sunshine of the love she earned penetrated to her soul.

But Nellie Clark was poor in wordly goods. Her father ha 1 been dead many years and she and her widowed mother lived all alone in the little dark cot, by liie e.lqe of rlie WOOO, suppuiUug Uieiuselves by such honest labor as they could obtain. Oi'course such a girl as Nellie mu’*, jiave had lovers, though she had not many; for she was only eighteen, and had not been old enough to think of such love a great while. But there were only two whose attentions she could like. The first was Augustus Waxford, and the second was Roland Gilson. They were both born in the town, though they moved in differents pheres now. Waxford l.ad studied law, and just commenced practice in his village, while Gilson bad learned the joiner,s trade, and could only work at building houses.

Somehow Nellie fancied Waxford most. His manners were so pleasing, and his conversation so entertaining; and then he was handsome, and always looked so neat and prim. And we will not say that Nellie Clark, in her pure innocence, did not sometimes fancy that ’would be more agreeble and fashionable to be a lawyer’s wife than the wife of a mere mechanic.— But, be that as it may, she finally prefcred Augustus Waxford, and was forced to tell Roland that he must love her only as an old playmate and a friend; and when Roland had gone away from the cot, and she saw him leaning against the old gatepost in the moonlight, and knew that he was sobbing, she went into her bedroom and wept an hour.

Away in the deep wood, half a mile from Nellie’s dwelling, there was a little old hut, in which lived a little old man; | whose name was Aaron Perry. He had lived there a dozen years, and all that people knew about him was, that he lived very poorly; went meanly clad; and seemed to have no friends. He came to tffe village sometimes to sell berries which he had picked, and once in a while he bought a little tea and sugar. He was a curious looking man, being over eighty years of age; small and bent; with l p ng, white hail and beard, hanging low upon his back and breast; and always walking with a long, stout staff. He was known as the Old Man of the Wood, and many people who knew him well knew him by no other name. Where he came from was a mystery, as he would never give any information upon the subject. One day Nellie thought to herself that •he had not seen the old man pass her

“Our Country’s Good shall evar be our Ain—Willing to Praise and not- afraid to Elame.”

DECATUR, ADAMS COIW, INDIANA, NOV, 15, 1858,

-cot for some time, and she wondered why it could be. He had to go Ly there on ] his way out from the wood, and it had j been his custom slop there and rest..— ! Something must b« the matter for it was 'early spring, and the weather was very j pleasant; so she resolved to go and see at i once. When Nellie reached the hut, she found the old man sitting in his chair, with his brow upon his hands. He seemed to I) -.ri v v> uc.. ng uv g seam cd upon b>« . ; face as he saw the sweet look of his fair visitor. ‘Whv, uncle Aaron —what is the mat- - ter?’she asked, sinking upoa her knees ; before him, and taking both his hands in i her own. She looked so earnestly, and so tender, and so loving, that the old ~ 1 ■ man's lips trembled for some moments be- ; . fore he could answer. ‘I have been quite sick,’ he finally said. •Sick! And who has takenc.ire of you? ‘Nobody, ’ ‘What! sick all alone-?’ cried Nellie, j with emotion. ‘Oh—why didn’t I think before? I ought to have known that some-. i thing was the matter. But you shan’t be sick so any more, for I will come every morning and every evening, and, take care of you.’ ‘But I cannot pay you, my dear child i he said, gazing into her face with a sort | of b- wildered look. ‘You are naughty to talk so, sir,’she j returned. ‘Mercy on me, what, should I be good for if I couldn’t help people that needed it?’ ‘But then you ought to have some ppy, j child.’ And as Aaron spoke he Iqoked I very sharply out of his little gray eyes 'upon the lovely presence. ‘And don’t I have pay, sir? Isn’t one word of gratitude from a true heart worth more than mony? If you had money I’d 1>•:-» enmi-bedv to come and take care of ' yon; but as you haven't got any I’ll do it : mvself. So cheer up, and let me be your i nurse. Nellie would hear no more argument, ; but went at work as soon as possible to make the old man comfortable. She made 1 him some tea, and fixed up matters as best, she could, and finally took her leave.; In the evening she came again—and again in the morning. In a few weeks the Old Man of the Wood walked out, but it was only by leaning upon Nellie's arm. She had become, necessary to his very life, and the only regret he ever expressed was that he could . not repay her. •Very well, sir,’ she would say ‘bring: on your money, and I’ll 4ake it and hire J a nurse for you, and turn my attention ■elsewhere; for there are plenty that need nursing who have no money.’ One evening, away into the summertime, old Aaron called Nellie to his side, and hade her sit down. Then he took a silver snuff-box from his pocket, and patted it with bis finger. It was old, and much worn, and quite larire, and seemed to have been once elaborately engraved, though hut little of the graver’s work could be seen now. 'Listen to me, child,’ he said, ‘anil be I very attentive, for I am going to tell }ou something about this old silver box. i Nellie knew by the old man’s look that , I he was going to tell her something of importance. So she drew her stool close up before him, and gave him her whole attention. ‘I think a great deal of this o!.1 thing ■he said patting the box familiarly. ‘My ' father gave it to me on his dying bed. It j was g'van to him by a soldier, whom he nursed in the woods after a hard battle. , So, you see, it is a sort of a memento ol I good—a kind of pledge of gratitude. ] Well—when my father died, I was left al] alone. My mother had died before, and I never had any brothers or sisters, nor did my father ever have any; but mother had a sister—a young sister, wlphassince been married. However, this young | aunt didn’t have a home of her own then and I was thrown out upon the world. I went to sea, and visited foreign countries, i i I had very good fortune, and then I had | ; very bad fortune. I grew old, and had no friends. I thought of my aunt—the. only relative I had. and I went to her,—

She was in a comfortable home, and bad i a wealthy husband; but she did not wish :to know her poor relative. She said she could not be bothered with me; and I left. - Finnally I found this old hut, and here I (determined to spend Hie rest of my days. ■ .Iliad become sick of the world—of its |heardessnes« and falsehood—and 1 want.id to leave it. I had vowed that I w,ould ; jive this old box to the truest frieivi 1 ever had; but for a long time I feared I -'■hould have to bury it in the gromi'u* However, T slian t nave to bury it now. 11 shall give it to veil, my sweet child; and I know you will keep it as a slight token of my Live and gratitude. I can’t live long, and when I am dead and gone lifts must be yours.’ Nellie was deeply affected, and said 'she hoped lie would live a long while yet; I but still she promised to accept the box, ; and assured the old man that she should prize it very highly. ' ‘Where do you go so often into t4ie wood’’ asked Augustus Waxford, as he sat one i evening by Nellie’s side. ‘Oh—l have a patient there,’ she reI plied—‘poor old Uncle Aaron. He has been very sick. You must go wilh me I sometimes and sec him.’ ‘What! Me go? No, no, Nellie—l’m lin better business than that And I wish ] vou wouldn’t go so much.’ ■ ‘Not go, Augustus?’ uttered the maid - 1 <-n, in surprise.. ‘And why not?’ ‘Because there’s no need of it. It don’t look well.’ .‘But he hud no other friend in the world. ' He might die if 1 didn’t care for him. ‘Then let the town care for him.’ ■But be won’t go to the town for help.’ •Tlieu let him go without help. Zounds if we are to nurse up and wait upon evlery poor beggar that happens to fail sick, ' we should have our hands full.’ j J-r. Hie felt as lliOUgll she Io.J Oven a I serpent coil* d up in her companion.' bOouat and she coul ! not avoid the shudder that crept over her. She i->o.n ige-i to change the conversation, but she could not feel easy; and when Augustus went away’she could not for the life of her smile, as had been her wont. Ere long Nellie was told that her lawj yer had been visiting at the great brick : house of Mrs. Longpurse; . and in a little while afterward she met Augustus in the ’street, with Octavia and Cleopatra Longpurse upon his arms. He did not bow t > her—he did not seem to know her. Nt 1lie went home, but she did not cry. She reasoned and philosophized awhile, and ! then put on her hood and siarted for the old cot in the wood. When the maiden entered the hut, whom should she find there but Roland Gilson. He bad come to nail up some of the chink upon the roof through which j the rain could drip, and had just complet!ed his work. Before anything could be i said beyond a mere salutation, a boy came in, short-breathed and flurried, with a letter in his hand. ■Here,’ said ha, as he handed the missive to Nellie; ‘the young ‘Squire gave it ;to me, and told me to be sure and put it ■in your hands. I went to your house and i you’d just gone, so I followed on. Hope : I’ve done right, Miss Nellie.’ Nellie said, ‘certainly,’ and as soon as ' the boy had gone she opened the note and read it. It was as follows: ‘Miss Nellie Clvrk—l am obliged to . request that henceforth you will consider ] all engagements which have heretofore] ■ existed between us at an en I. Ido not. think we should ever live happily as m in : and wife. Our stations are different, and lour tastes are different. I hope you will I see this in the same light with myself.— ' While I trust th it you wiil not object to ! mv seeking an alliance suited to my posi- ' 1 tion iu society, 1 hope that you may be] happy with some one better suited to you. | With sentiments of profound regard, I; remain your friend and well-wisher, Avgustcs Waxfor.’ A tear started to Nellie’s eye, but she , dashed it quickly away; and then her pret- ] tv lips tightly cbmpressed, she deliberately tore the letter into a hundred pieces, ‘ and cast them from her. •What’s the matter?’ the old man asked. ‘Augustus Waxford has found a richer woman for a wife than I am,’ she calmn-'

ly replied, ‘and he hopes—no, he request me to consider all engagements Between us at an end. He says he is going to marry some one nearer his own station, and he hopes 1 may do the same.’ Roland Gilson started up from his seat and went and looked out through the little square window. ‘Are you very sorry?’ the invalid asked, ‘No lam very glad. I knew a long ’ while ago that we were nqt suited to each Ollier 1 u J f "’ : ish. I OUldlt to have known that he was above me in ' station.’ | ‘Yes—=o he is,’ replied the oi l man, I wilh a slight twitching of the face, ‘as « boy is above his class when he stands on the disk, with a fool’s cap upon his head. But—here—let me whispsr in your ear: When I talked to Roland about you, he cried. He isn’t above you in station.— What? crjing? Well, I declare. But, never mind. I see, I see, I see. Nou’ii take Roland with the old snuff-box, won’t ye?’ It was near dark when Nellie went home, and Roland walked with her — i They said but little and even that was ! concerning the Old man of the Wood.— But they walked often together along the narrow path after that, and Nellie began to feel happier than ever before. 1 One day Augustus Waxford, Esquire was married to Miss Octax.i Longpurse. All the aristrcracy of the.town w re present tit the interesting ceremony, and the thing was done up in the most fashionably strle. The tt irty-odd years (Mrs. R.c---d. r.rl V'l.iti-paint said over for*y)oft.he bride were partially hidden by paint and curls, and she wo i d have > interesting if she hadn't possessed such a j tenacious faculty looking almost everything < Ise. j And at the very time when '.he wedI ding guests were assembling at the great ! brick bouse TLJnnd and Nellie were walk- . linqhome from the old hut in the wood.— , R.,1 .:.d la.d a-ked the qm.-‘ tion which he I nc.-.-pr] on*'“ bpforp, a n- l Jvllie hns-ivcrtu [ him with tears and smiles —noti i ‘.i tears .|as were shed in the time agone; but bap- [ P v , j°y ous ones, which were quickly kissaway as the vows were sealed. In the early morning, when Autumn had come, Nellie stood alone by the bedside of the Old Man ol the Wood. The invalid’s came slowly and heavily, and , ; his eve had grown very dim. ‘Here is the box,’ he whispered, drawline the old silver memento from beneath the coverlid, and handing it to his fair nurse. ‘Take it and keep it in memory in memory of me. You know why I give it to you. Guard it sacredly, for it is a trust which 1 put into your hands.’ With a trembling hand Nellie look the ] box and put it in her bosom, but before j she-could make any reply the old man was seized with a sudden convulsion, and seemed to be in deep pain. At that moment the doctor, whom Nellie had sent for, enticed the hut. Tt. is all over!' he whispered, after he had felt the old man’s pulse awhile. ‘And must he die?’ ‘He is dead now, my child.’ Nellie Could hardly believe it, but when she saw how still he lay, and how dull his eves had grown, and that the breath was hushed, she knew that her charge had passed into better hands. The old I man had died almost as he ceased speak]ing. The doctor promised to send help, and Nellie waited there all alone with the dead until it came. Then she saw all done that ' could be done, and when night came she left watchers with the body. Aaron Perry was buried in the village churchyard, and, though few followed | his mortal remains to their final rest, yet ■ warm tears were shed upon his grave. ‘Roland,’ said Nellie, after they had been married a week, and had fully entej red upon the happiness they so well deserved,‘see what I found in the silver 'snuff box old uncle Aaron gave .me.’ — and she banded him a slip of paper upon . which was written, in a tremulous, scrawj ling had — I 4 could not use this, though it is the

result of vein s ol toil and Imrilsl ip. I had hoped to spend it with* my aunt, but she turned me from her. 1 give it to you because you are the dearest friend I have io lease behind me, and the first who has shown disinterested love for me since my father died. Aaron Perry. •But what does it mean?' asked Roland after be had read the note. •Here it is. I found this neatly rolled up in the box with it. I confess I can hardly understand it.’ Nellie handed to her husband a small, paper coverid hookas sb? spoke; nrrd when he opened it be found it to be a Savings-Bank book, and within was acir* litieatc of deposit of forty-nine thousand an.! some odd dollars. It was in the name of Nellie Clark. Fi r a long time the young couple puzzled over the stranre hook in perfect wonderment; but finally it was arranged that they should both go to the bank on the following dav nnd find out what it meant. So early the next morning Roland brought a wagon to the door, and he and Nellie rode off. The bank was nearly twenty miles distant, an-l they reached it in season to do their business before dinner. The mystery was very soon cleared np. From the officers of the bank they learned that nearly twelve years before, Aaron Perry deposited with them over twenty thousand dollars, and that it had remained untouched since that time, and had now more than doubled. Also, they learned that during the summer last past the old m,:.i hud had the whole transferred to Nellie Clark. ‘A nd is it all mine?’ Nellie asked in bewildermen t.

‘Yes,’ replied one of the officers. ‘lt :s all vours, to do with as you please.— You cun draw it all on: immediat -ly, or you can draw just such sums as you want at such times as you ph ase.’ It was some days before the emotions of Nellie and her husband became calm enough for cool calculation They weru i very happy and vety grateful, ■Bui noi a whit happier than before/ ; said Roland, stealing a kiss. ‘Only a new source of happiness,’ added Nellie, ‘from which other* shall re- ] ceive as well as we.' By-and-bv Augustus Waxi’orJ. E-q” j opened his eyes to a most extraordin irv pair of facts. The first was —he had r.iar-ri-d a shrew of an advanced age, whose wealth lay buried wi:h her youth, she not ( possessing a hundred dollars in the world. The second was—The poor, lowly Nellie . was worth fifty thousand dollars in her ‘ own right, and he had lost her all through his own foolishness. ‘Confound it!’ he mattered, as he pondered upon the subject, 4 wouldn’t have been in this .scrape if I’d known what that old man was made of.’ Perhaps it was at the very same time that Nellie said to her husband — ‘Oh—l’m so glad I didn’t know that the Old Man of the Wood was rich, for if I had, I shouldn’t have enjoyed all the care I bestowed upon him.’

Steam Waooxs —The Washington Union thus alludes to a new euterpiise on foot in that citv: We understand that the turnpike between this city and Baltimore has been purchased by a company of gentleman who intend to put down a plank-road for the purpose of running the newly invented steam wagons just coming into u®e — A train of these wagons will be run every hour after the road is once completed, and fare will be reducted to 81. m in Counterfeit quarter-eagles are said to be in circulation, they are brittle apd if thrown smartly on any hard substance will break like glass. An acquaintance of ours says that since he dismissed his handsome doctor and employed a plain one, his wife and daughters havn’t got sick half so often as they did before. An individual advertises for sale 100 barrels of whiskey which he bad ‘procured expr ssly for his own use.’ He intended to have a jolly good lime. Little strokes fell great oaks.

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