Beno ate
Bellefonte, Pa., July 3, 1914.
The Story ot
Waitstill
Baxter
By KATE DOUGLAS WIGGIN
Copyright, 1913. by Kate Douglas Wiggin
SYNOPSIS
Waitstill Baxter and her sister, Patience
(Patty), keep house for their widowed,
mean father. Ivory Boynton, whose fa-
ther disappeared, is interested in Waitstill.
He takes care of his daft mother.
[Continued next week.]
CHAPTER il.
Deacon Baxter’s Wives.
ATTSTILL frowned, but did
not interfere further with
Patty's intemperate speech.
She knew that she was sim-
ply serving as an escape valve and
that after the steam was *‘let off" she
would be more rational.
“Of course we are motherless,” con-
tinued Patty wistfully. **but poor Ivory
is wcrse than motherless.”
“No, not worse, Patty.” said Wait-
still, taking the bread board and mov-
ing toward the closet. “Ivory loves
his mother. and she loves him with al!
the mind ~he has left. She has the
best blood of New England flowing in
her veins, and I suppose it was a great
comedown for her to marry Aaron
Boynton. clever and gifted though he
was. Now Ivory has to protect her-
poor, daft. innocent creature—and hide
her away from the gossip of the v
lage. He is surely the best of sons.
Ivory Boynton.”
“She is a terrible care for him and
like to spoil his life.” said Patty.
“There are cares that swell the heart
and make it bigger and warmer, Patty,
just as thers are cares that shrivel it
and leave it tired and cold. Love light-
ens Ivory’s afflictions, but that is
something you and 1 have to do with-
out, so it seems.”
“I suppose little Rodman is some
comfort to the Boyntous. evo if he is
only ten?” Patty suggested.
“No doubt. He's a good little fel-
low, and, though it’s rather hard for
Ivory te be burdened for these last five
years with the support of a child
who's no nearer kin than a cousin,
still he’s of use, minding Mrs. Boyn-
ton and the house when Ivory's away.
The schoolteacher says he is wonder-
ful at his books and likely to be a
great credit to the Boyntons some day
or other.”
“You've forgot to name our one great
blessing, Waity. and I believe, any-
way, you're talking to keep my mind
off the earrings!"
“You mean we've each other? No.
Patty, I never forget that, day or
night. ’Tis that makes me willing to |
bear any burden father chooses to put |
upon us. Now the bread is set, but 1}
don’t believe I have the courage to put
a needle into your tender flesh, Patty.
I really don't.”
“Nonsense! I've got the waxed silk |
all ready and chosen the right sized |
needle, and I'll promise not to jump!
or screech more than I can help. We'll |
make a tiny lead pencil dot right in the |
middle of the lobe, then you place the |
needle on it, shut your eyes and jab |
hard! 1 expect to faint, but when 1]
‘come t0’ we can decide which of us|
will pull the needle through to the
other side. Probably it will be you. |
I'm such a coward. If it hurts dread- |
fully I'll have only one pierced today |
and take the other tomorrow, and if it
hurts very dreadfully perhaps I'll g0
through life with one earring. Aunt
Abby Cole will say it’s just odd enough |
to suit me!” |
“You'll never go through life with!
one tongue at the rate you use it now,” |
chided Waitstill. “for it will never last |
you. Come, we'll take the workbasket |
and go out in the barn where no one |
will see or hear us.”
“Goody, goody! Come along!" and |
Patty clapped ber hands in triumph. |
“Have you got the pencil and the
needle and the waxed silk? Then!
bring the camphor bottle to revive me, !
and the coral pendants, too, just to.
give me courage. Hurry up! It's 10
o'clock. 1 was born at sunrise, so I'm |
‘going on’ eighteen and can't waste
any time!”
* * * * * * *
Foxwell Baxter was ordinarily called
“Old Foxy" by the boys of the district |
and also, it is to be feared, by the men |
gathered for evening conference at the
various taverns, or at one of the rival
village stores.
He had a small farm of fifteen or
twenty acres, with a pasture, a wood
lot and a hayfield, but the principal
source of his income came from trad-
ing. His sign bore the usual legend.
“West India Goods and Groceries,”
and probably the most profitable ar-
ticles in his stock were rum, mo-
lasses, sugar and tobacco, but there
were chests of rice, tea, coffee and
spices, barrels of pork in brine, as well
as piles of cotton and woolen cloth
on the shelves above the counter. His |
shop window, seldom dusted or set in
order, held a few clay pipes, some
glass jars of peppermint or sassafras
lozenges, black licorice, stick candy '
and sugar gooseberries. These dain-
ties were seldom renewed, for it was
only a very bold child or one with an |
ungovernable appetite for sweets who |
would have spent his penny at Foxy |
Baxter's store.
was not their
the world, to name her Waitstill and
i Patience nevertheless was a sparkling,
, bright eyed baby, who speedily became
He was thought a sharp and shrewd
trader, but his honesty was never ques-
tioned. indeed. the only trait in his
character that ever came up for gen-
eral discussion was his extraordinary,
nnbelievable. colossal meanness. This
so eclipsed every other passion in the
man and loomed so bulkily and insis-
tently in the foreground that had he
cherished a second vice no one would
have observed it, and if he really did
possess a casual virtue it could scarce-
ly have reared its head in such ugly
company. /
It might be said, to defend the fair
fame of the church, that Mr. Baxter's
deaconhood did not include very active
service in the courts of the Lord. He
had “experienced religion” at fifteen
and made profession of his faith, but
all well brought up boys and girls did
| the same in those days—their parents
saw to that! If change of conviction
or backsliding occurred later on that
business! At the ripe
age of twenty-tive he was selected to
fill a vacancy and became a deacon, |
thinking it might be good for trade. as
it was, for some years. He was very
active at the time of the “Cochrane
craze.” since any defense of the creed |
that included lively detective work and
incessant spying on his neighbors was
particularly in his line. but for many
years now, though he had been regular
in attendance at church. he had never
officiated ,at communion and his dea-
conal services had gradually lapsed !
into the passing of the contribution
box, a task of which he never wearied,
it was such a keen pleasure to make
other people yield their pennies for a
good cause without adding his own!
leacon Baxter had now been a wid-
ower for nine years, and the commun-
ity had almost relinquished the idea of
his seeking a fourth wife. This was a
matter of some regret, for there was a
general feeling that it would be a good
thing for the Buster girls to have some
one to help with the housewark and act
as a buffer between them and their
grim and irascible parent. As for the
women of the village, they were morti-
fied that the Deacon had been able to
secure three wives and refused to be-
lieve that the universe held anywhere
a creature henighted enough to hecome
his fourth.
The first, be it said, was a mere igno-
rant girl, and he a beardless youth of
twenty, who may not have shown his
true qualities so early in life. She bore
him two sons, and it was a matter of
comment at the time that she called
thew, respectively, Job and Moses, hop-
ing that the endurance and meekness
connected with these names mizht
somehow help them in their future re-
lations with their father. Pneumonia,
coupled with profound discouragement,
carried her off in a few years to make
room for the second wife, Waitstill’'s
mother, who was of different fiber and
greatly his superior. She was a fine,
handsome girl, the orphan daughter of
up country gentlefolks who had died
when she was eighteen, leaving her
alone in the world and penniless.
Baxter, after a few days’ acquaint-
ance, drove into the dooryard of the |
house where she was a visitor and,
showing her his two curly headed boys,
suddenly asked her to come and be
their stepmother. She assented, partly
because she had nothing else to do
with her existence so far as she could
see, and also because she fell in love
with the children at first sight and for-
got, as girls will, that it was their
father whom she was marrying.
She was as plucky and clever and
spirited as she was handsome, and she
made a brave fight of it with Foxy,
long enough to bring a daughter into
start ber a little way on her life jour-
ney—then she, too, gave up the strug-
gle and died. Typhoid fever it was,
combined with complete loss of illu-
sions and a kind of despairing rage at
having made so complete a failure of
her existence,
The next year Mr. Baxter, being un-
usually busy, offered a man a good
young heifer if he would jog about the
country a little and pick him up a
housekeeper, a likely woman who
would if she proved energetic, econom-
ical and amiable be eventually raised
to the proud position of his wife. If
she was young. healthy, smart, tidy,
capable and a good manager, able to |
milk the cows. harness the horse and
make good butter he would give a dol-
lar and a half a week. The woman
was found. and, incredible as it may
seem, she said “Yes” when the deacon,
whose ardor was kindled at having
paid three months’ wages, proposed a
speedy marriage. The two boys by
this time had reached the age of dis-
cretion, and one of them evinced the
fact by promptly running away to
parts unknown, never to be heard from
afterward; while the other, a reckless
and unhappy lad, was drowned while
running on the logs in the river. Old
Foxy showed little outward sign of his
loss. i
His third wife, the one originally se-
cured for a housekeeper, bore him a
girl, very much to his disgust, a girl
named Patience, and great was Wait-
still's delight at tais addition to the
dull household. The mother was a
timid, colorless, docile creature, but
the very center of the universe to the
older child. So the months and years
wore on drearily enough until when
Patience was eight the third Mrs.
Baxter succumbed after the manner of
. her predecessors and slipped away |
from a life that had grown intolerable.
The trouble was diagnosed as “liver |
complaint,” but scarcity of proper |
food, no new frocks or kind words, |
hard work and continual bullying may :
possibly have been contributory causes. !
Dr. Perry thought so, for he had wit- |
nessed three most contented deaths in |
the Baxter house. The ladies were all
members of the church and had pre-
{ Sumably made their peace with God, |
but the good doctor fancied that their
pleasure in joining the angels was mild
compared with their relief at parting
with the deacon.
“1 know I hadn't ought to put the
care on you.* Waitstill, and you only
fourteen,” poor Mrs. Baxter sighed, as
the young girl was watching with her
one night when the end scemed draw-
ing near. *‘I’ve made out to live till
now when Patience iz old enough to
dress herself and help round, but I'm
all beat out and can’t try any more.”
“Do you mean I'm to take your place,
be a mother to Patience and keep
house and everything?’ asked Wait-
still quaveringly.
“1 don’t see but you'll inve to, un-
less your father marries again. He'll
never hire help, you know that!”
*1 won’t have another mother in this
house,” flashed the girl. *"TI'here’s been
three here and that’s enough! If he !
brings anybody home I'll take Pa-'
tience and run away, as Job did, or
if he leaves me alone I'll wash and
iron and scrub and cook till Patience
grows up, and then we'll go off to-
gether and hide somewhere I'm four-
teen. Oh, motner, how soon could 1
be married and take Patience to live
with me? Do you think anybody wil
ever want me?”
“Don't marry for a hows, Waitstill!
Your own mother did that. «ad so did
I, and we were both punisiied for it!
You've been a great hein, aud I've bad
a sight of comfort ont of the paby,
but I wouldn't go through it ngain, not
even for her! You're real smart and
capable for your age, and yon've done :
your full share ef the work cvery day. '
even when you were at schosl. You
can get along all right.” |
“I don’t know how I'm going to do
everything alone.” said the girl, forc-
ing back her tears. “You've always
made the brown bread, and nine will
never suit father. [I suppose i can
wash, but I don't know how to jron
starched clothes, nor make uvickles,'
and oh! 1 can never kill a rooster, |
mother, it's no use to ask me to! I'm i
not big enough to be the head of the
family.”
Mrs. Baxter turned her pale. tired
face away from Waitstill's apnenling
syes. i
“I know,” she said faintly. “i hate
to leave you to bear the brunt alone,
but I must! * * * Take good care of
Patience and don’t iet her get into trou-
ble. * * * You won't, will you?"
“I'll be careful,” promised Waitstill,
sobbing quietly. “I'll do my best.”
*You've got more courage than ever I
had: don’t you s’pouse you can stiffen up
and defend yourself a little mite?
Your father’d ought to be opposed, for
his own good, but I've never seen any-
body that dared do it.” Then, after a
pause, she said with a flush of spirit,
“Anyhow, Waitstill, he's your father
after all. He’s no blood relation of
mine, and I can’t stand him another
day; that’s the reason I'm willing to
die.”
Ivory Boynton lifted the bars that
divided his land from the highroad and
walked slowly toward the house. It
was April, but there were still patches
of snow here and there, fast melting
under a drizzling rain. It was a gray
world, a bleak, black and brown world,
above and below. The sky was leaden;
the road and the footpath were deep
in a muddy ooze flecked with white. |
The tree trunks, black, with bare
branches, were outlined against the
gray sky: nevertheless, spring bad
been on the way for a week, and a few
sunny days would bring the yearly
miracle for which all hearts were long-
ing.
Ivory was season wise, and his quick
eye had caught many a sign as he
walked through the woods from his
schoolhouse. A new and different color
haunted the tree tops, and one had only |
to look closely at the elm buds to see '
that they were beginning to swell.
Some fat robins had been bouncing
about in the schoolyard at noon, and
the sparrows had been chirping and
twittering on the fence rails. Yes, the
winter was over, and Ivory was glad.
for it had meant no coasting and skat-
ing and sleighing for him, but long
walks in deep snow or slush. long even- i
! ings, good for study. but short days
and greater loneliness for his mother.
He could see her now as he neared the
house. standing in the open doorway.
her hand shading her eyes, watching,
always watching, for some one who
never came.
“Snrine is on the wav. mother. but it
{Continued on page 7, Col. 1]
Nature's Objection Lesson.
In almost every community will be
found some one woman who is a splendid !
example ot perfect health. She knows |
nothing of diseases which afflict most !
women. Motherhood to her is pure joy
with scarce a pain-pang to mar it. She
can enjoy life to the full, eat heartily,
sleep soundly and throw her whole
energy into work or play as it may hap-
pen. That woman is Nature's object
lesson. She has no privilege above any
other member of her sex. No rights that |
do not belong to every woman. This
fact has been proven in thousands of |
cases in which women have been lifted
from misery up to the high level of robust !
health by the use of Dr. Pierce’s Favorite |
Prescription. The possibilities of perfect !
health inhere in every woman. Its devel-'
opment is obstructed by local diseases. |
“Favorite Prescription” removes the ob- |
struction and makes weak women strong |
and sick women well. |
i.
: 7
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FOR A
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The Centre County
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~ A Bank Account is Life’s
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Banking Company.
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Yeager’s Shoe Store
“FITZEZY”
The
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Sold only at
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Bush Arcade Building, BELLEFONTE, PA
58-27
Dry Goods, Eic.
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get your money im-
requires determina-
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Open an
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Checks are the most
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Account
business man and
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Summer
| Clearance Sale
Owing to the continued cold weather we be-
gin our Summer Clearance Sale now. The
hot weather stuffs must be sold in the next
six weeks. We are cutting prices in every
department.
Coat Suits.
25 Coat Suits, all this Spring styles, in the
new blues, tan, navy and black, at quick sell-
ing prices. We never carry any stock over
in this department.
Children’s Coats.
19 Children’s Coats from 6 to 14 years, all
season’s styles. Fancy checks, green, red
and pretty plaids at frices to clean up the
: stock.
Muslin Underwear.
Night Gowns, Corset Covers, Combination
Corset Covers and Drawers, Corset Covers
and Petticoats trimmed in lace and embroid-
ery, at clearance sale prices.
Rummage Table.
Shirt Waist and Dress Patterns on this table
at less than actual cost, also a line of Muslin
Underwear. Everything on this table must
go regardless of cost
| Lyon & Co. .... Bellefonte
ARR