JrHspHi ■ BY BERTHA £ BUOH jr.-. p nrson j la th appointed I i day of Thanksgiving for B | this' village that the cruel tide of Indian invasion is £§? ,urnt> d back and our lives aro s P arf,, h" said Mistress gftil Lovejoy Goodwin, bustling WL Ml ' n *° the warm kitchen jpTB where her sister-in-law » R Mistress Prudence Good 's' jg win sat knitting by the fireplace and her listless •daughter, young Mistress Patience Halcomb, bent languidly over the spin ning-wheel. Mistress Prudence made a sign for •Hence, but it was too late. The :faco of the pale young widow grew whiter, and without a word she rose •and glided away. Mistress Lovejoy looked at her sls 'ter-in-law inquiringly. "Hath she not yet become recon ■clled to the decree of God?" she asked. Mistress Prudence shook her head. "Nay," she said. "She saith ever that it is not by the decree of God she suf fers, but by her own wilfulness. If , I jf\ v —Lr-' § TXo 1m I L&i wl : ">! TV m \\ BO Bent Languidly Over the Spinning Wheel. ;ahe had not come away from her hus band against his desires —so she saith ever—she would at least have died with him." "That is wicked repining,' said the aunt sententiously. "She ought to be dealt with by the meeting. She should be thankful that her life was spared when her neighbors were taken. Doubtless it was a leading of the Spirit that caused her to come here e'er the savages fell upon Wy oming. She, above all others, surely has reason to be thankful. You should deal with her, sister, and check this untoward spirit," said Mistress Lovejoy sternly. Mistress Prudence •sighed. "I know not rightly how to do it when she is in such sorrow," she said. "She hath ever been a willful and un reasonable child, but a very loving •one." "You have ever spoiled her, and her husband did (he same. Perhaps this 5s a punishment to you both," said JMistress Lovejoy. Mistress Patience, a bride of a year, "had left her home in Wyoming valley for a visit with her mother in an older settlement. She had begged and pleaded to make this visit with a will ful demand that would uot be denied. 3t was an unusual occurrence. The journey through the wilderness was too long and toilsome to think of vis its. Most of the mothers who said farewell to daughters going to pio aoer homes could hardly expect to see them again. But Mistress Patience— •who was anything but patient in spite •of her name—would not submit to this state of things. She begged and pleaded togo until her husband—to •whom her lightest wish was law —gave his consent. He was the more ready to do this as there were ugly rumors •of alliance between the British tory forces and the Indians and the settle ment of Wyoming, standing on a dis puted traet, and not so well protected as other regions was peculiarly liable to attack. But Mistress Patience did not know this or she would not have gone. She was very much in love with this grave, middle-aged husband, ■who treated his young wife like a pet ted child. Many of the settlers had shaken their heads over Mistress Pa tience's going. "He ought not to let her do it," they had said. "I will only stay a little while. I will come back soon," she had said at the parting, regretful at the last minute for her action. But the sav age Indians had come down upon the village of Wyoming and swept it off from the face of the earth. The houses were burnt, the people massacred or carried away captive. Every day brought h fresh story of horror, espe cially dreadful had been the tale of John Halcomb and 15 companions who had been carried off and sacrificed in a sort of religious ceremony. "She must be roused. She must see people. I would make her goto tha Thanksgiving service," said Mistress Lovejoy. She was a notable manager, and her r.ister-in-law, with all the vil lage, vfirp wont to submit to her away; and Patience went to the serv ice. "There can never more be a day of thanksgiving for me," she thought drearily, as she sat. in her \viilow'» weeds in the square wooden pew. Th§ long, long prayer was finished Patience liked the prayer, for in it she could hide her face, li was never too long for her, although a modern church-goer would be aghast at having to listen to even a sermon of such a length. The psalms of rejoicing had been sung. These had been harder to bear. The preacher had settled into his discourse. lie had turned his hour glass, and was already at "thirdly." "God in his providence has ex ceedingly blessed us in delivering us from danger—he was saying. Pa tience shuddered. What good was it to her to be delivered since John had perished under the Indian tomahawk! A figure appeared in the doorway. Such a figure! Gaunt, tattered, wild eyed. unkempt, barefooted, bleeding— a mere skeleton covered with ragged shreds of garments. It stood in the doorway quivering and motioning strangely. "Patience! Patience!" it cried. " 'Tis some crazy exhorter such as used to come and harrangue the con gregations in my grandfather's time," said Judge Fletcher, whose ancestor had been a judge in the days of the persecution of Anabaptists and Quakers. The tithing-man stalked down the aisle to put out the intruder. Some of the men half rose, but sat down again when they saw that the matter was being attended to. It was a dreadful thing in those days to dis turb a meeting. But John Halcomb's widow, unmindful of disturbance, start ed up at the cry and fairly ran down the aisle. "it is John! It is John!' sha cried. Never had a religious service in Hetnleliem ilill been broken up like this one. The minister stopped in the very middle of his most important sentence. The dreaded tithing-man himself, who bore upon his soul the awiul responsibility of every man and woman, boy and girl in the meeting house, forgot it all and cried out like a frightened boy: "It is a ghost!" But it was not a ghost. It was John Halcomb himself, safe. The story of the Indian attack on the village of Wyoming in 177S is a story of marvelous escapes as well as of torture and massacre. N'o adven ture in it seems more marvelous than that of John Halcomb which is >Mae of the well attested stories of his tory. With 15 other captives, John Hal comb had been ranged around a large flat stone while a woman fury called "Queen Esther," who seemed at the head of this ceremony of sacrifice of prisoners, crushed the heads of one after the other with a great stone death maul. Two of the captives sud denly leaped to their feet and dashed into the forest. The Indians pursued them but did not shoot, probably be cause their plan was to bring them if - . H l/JL i If < \ —-—- 1 •. -."• ' . I ' . ; | A Figure Appeared at the Doorway. back alive and torture them to death. One of the two —and it.was John Hal comb —tripped on a vine and rolled down the steep river bank. Then he gave himself up for lost. But the fall, instead of bringing him to death, saved his life. He lodged under the heavy branches of a fallen tree and the pursuers, sure that he was ahead, dashed past it without discovering him. He lay concealed in this lucky hiding place until darkness came. Then wounded, lame, and almost fam ished, he started out on the journey of days through the trackless forest in fested with hostile Indians that lay between him and Patience. A man less brave of heart would have given up a score of times, but there was no give up to John Halcomb. He might be so weakened that he could only crawl, but he crawled on. Tottering, stumbling, crawling, dragging him j self along his painful way by inches j and in danger of his life all the way, I he covered the toilsome miles and came to make for his wife Patience a real Day of Thanksgiving. : iCopyright 1!K)7, by Wright A. Patterson.) Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving makes our prayers bold and strong and sweet, feeds and enkindles them as wilh coals of i fire. —Luther. OUR NATIONAL P.! RD3. "May one give us peaae lb <&11 OUI States, i The c-Hior a piece for all ou= mlaW 3 CAMERON COUNTY PRESS, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 1907. IM G \ v \ \ ! / / ' / / N v \ By STANLEY WATERLOO. »>-^\V ~Behold-t h c r;o wnin g\o year! The harvesting - is'Miere,— . A ,mighty and-abundant"yield. _N-c>r war' nor/ pestilence\has. come; > /; ,-tf / 11' V 1 . \ V s - is 1 ft. \-Zr 'Peace still abides throughout the) land;-y STidtilii'we' O I^ord,-be-creaturcs dum they' who jefpt "understand r / \llV\\)Jllgr 1 he bins with pasturesCijold x tKcir, floclcs, and-.herSs; They've borne/ their fruit, have^ plain, r- - ' yA U\ L- J A C_ione but the .summer/zand the birds: ,;*,// , The fire's alight!,inV^e^K The sun - the T •'? \ V lt \ \-V ,\I r> •^ V/"® < .V\ . - w-Life's fabric warp and woof MM WW Of what hfe;. Unbar^d^^fc/licacl^nwln pped Vhe-back,-^ U nkno,\vn y ,the/ B1 essed among 'earth's creaturcs,';\vc7-- -:• r^'^i r \ Y\-'i ■ In pleasant yp I ace our lines are-cast Should^e,^ not/know 'it all from /AncfAvorshipl Thee unto tlie jastr/J^." /(Mm fk-'i- V& 1 Lord, when fortune-fat, ~ - and gear have rrlade us coarse. In \hol/tfd 1 ne'ss, O, teach /us thatj remember source. Sturdy in/ trust, welcome-today,^ Nor come ,-w'ith ralterine and tears, But in proud gratitude, and pray y The bounty of the future years! (Ct bj Wright Patterson.) The Secret o!j Thanksgiving By MARGARET AYER [-"""] SOLITARY and impatient »-w traveler paced the plat form of a deserted sta tion. t ™S3^" a It was tho evening of Thanksgiving day, and through some mischance he had missed the early 1 rain that was to take him to town and to Thauks fnjjkwß giving dinner. ftrihSMß The spirit of the day was not with him, for he had two long hours to wait, and it was bitter sold, and for some unaccountable rea son the station was locked. A flagman came to wat ch for a pass ing express train. Seeing the travel er's plight, the flagman invited him to come into his shack and warm himself. The flagman's home was a tiny place, fitted out with the barest nec essities, but, in varied contrast to the surroundings, along one side of the wall was a rough pine bookshelf con taining well thumbed volumes of all that the world holds greatest in liter ature, philosophy and science. After a short conversation the trav eler marvelled to find that the flag man possessed a fund of knowledge on most subjects, and of the classics in particular, which would have put many a college professor to blush. "Why don't you leave this solitary life ot hardship and come to the town, where with your learning you will soon be one of the great lights?" asked the traveler, wondering at the flagman's lack of ambition. "Have you no desire to better yourself?" '"No," replied the other, "I am con tent with my lot. I have outdoor work, indoor quiet with the compan ionship of my books; I make enough to live on and I want nothing more. 1 should be out of place among your city folk. My friends are here in the village. What more should I want?" For hours the traveler argued with the flagman, and his home-bound train passed unheeded. He was Interested in trying to save this great intellect for the world, as he termed it, and trying to awaken some spark of am bition in tho man, but the flagman re fused to be disconcerted. "Are you satisfied with your posi tion in life—are you contented?" he asked the traveler. "01 course not," answered the trav eler. "I should consider myself lack ing in spirit if I were satisfied and lid not want to rise higher in life. I shall never be contented until I reach .lie top of tho tree." Ti on," sairl the flagman, "you are net .-eilly thankful for the blessings that you possess, but merely loolt up- on them as stepping-stones to other things. I am grateful for what little 1 have and am content to enjoy jjach day as it comes. You go out into the world, conquer it, and find your hap piness in the anticipation of your suc cess. Leave me to give thanks for what I am enjoying now, while you go and fight for what you want and hope to enjoy later." So each man went his way. The traveler in this incident is typi cal of the spirit of push and advance ment which is almost universal in this land of ours today. A fine spirit it is, too, for it means a chance for development for the race, but it also includes the spirit of dis content. There is about us a perfect con tagion of dissatisfaction which is nec essary to progress, but some of us are running a fair risk of being swamped in the discontent and losing the high aims that prompted it, all because our aims and demands can not be gratified at once. There are few of us who, like the flagman, are content with our place in life. Most of us are striving for more blessings of one kind or another, spiritual, mental and worldly. Would that Thanksgiving were held every day to remind us of the daily blessings of wiiich evqry one who lives enjoys at least a few! AT THE THANKSGIVING DINNER. Mrs. Duck —You say it has been nearly a year since your husband dis appeared? Mrs. Turk —Yes, the last we heard of him was that he was seen at the white house. Thanksgiving Date. The last Thursday in the month of November, as a rule, is the day set apart by the president, and the govern ors of most states, in their supple menial proclamations, abide by his de cisions. In some states, however, the governors see fit to observe it at other dates. In a Boarding House. Mrs. Haslily—Mr. Starboard, will you dismember the turkey? Starboard —Ask Skinner, ma'am; he's been taking a course in wooi carving. U : WE have the best stocked general store In the coun.ty and if yon are looking, fbr re liable goods at reasonable prices, we are ready to serve '* yon with the best to be found. Onr repntation for trust worthy goods and fhir dealing is too well known to sell any II Onr stock of Queenswaxe and China ware is selected with great care and we have some g H of the most handsome dishes 8 ever shown in this section, both in imported and domestic makes. We invite yon to visit us and look our goods over, B | Balcom & Lloyd. | 1— !—i ! II—L 11-'-! li.Ml.Ljm Jl—JUJ—ULi'lj- BIJJULJJLU ILUWBBB |J LOOK ELSEWHERE BUT DON'T FORGET || THESE PRICES AND FACTS AT p LaBAR'S i U '■ 5? m P4 We carry in stock * i M fc jj the largest line of Car- . nM - p.j bgi pets, Linoleums and fi/_ l^^lfnwrnTfflla £2 Mattings of all kinds »■ f3 ever brought to this 112 gpj town. Also a big line §A very large line ot -FOR THE 1 M Lace Curtains that can- A *?««««•■ J not be matched any- where for the price. UNVKIRSiI UWBIBQ 112. fra -Art Squares and of line books !n a chrfce IJJsjapy jj^ Rugs of all sizes and select the Idealpattef-njojM^Es- W kind, from the cheap- Wernicke "EJjtstlc" M est to the best Furnished with bevel raSich gftj plate or leaded glass doors. ||| Dining Chairs, «>" •»«»» g^g Rockers and GEO. J. LajSAB, j£| fcj# High Chairs. Sola Agent for Camerou Oountj. Igjil A large and elegant 1 ■■ Eg line of Tufted and Drop-head Couches. Beauties and at bargain prices. |3O Bedroom Suit*, COC S4O fVdeboard, quar- If solid oak at 3>/j tered cak 3011 if t-® |2B Bedroom Suits, tfU $32 Sideboard, quar- fflßjf' $ solid oak at 4>ZI tered oak jfcgC %% |26 Bod room Suits, Ofl |22 Sldeboarjd, qnar- ««c N | solid oak at .j)/U Cored oak *» N H A large line of Dressers from Chiffoniers of all kittda and M N |8 up. | all prices. fcij? ——■— h The finest line of Sewing Machinps on (f# the "DOMESTIC." and ''ELDRiß'Gfc.' MoSSf- K heads and warranted. 5a A fine line of Dishes, common grade and ©hina, in *2 6ets Py l^e piece. KS &jl As I keep a full line of everything that Qpee t® fe|B Sm| make up a gpod Furniture store, it is useless to ctiwrn |'| erate th'em all. Jjj'jg £'| Blease call and see for.yourself that lam K 3 r o you the truth, and if you don't tu.y, there is no done, as it is no trouble to show godds. |./jj g GEO. J .LaBAl. I g* Z3 H? !F&!EE\ TTSf est„ il kjfojlw. WUCttO Mk m AlkAJk Hfctiitu" A>ahil t ■am.A, vm«.j 3
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers