A CHRISTMAS ON THE SCIOTO

Observer, Volume 9, Issue 522, 22 December 1888, Page 3

A CHRISTMAS ON THE SCIOTO-

A TRUE STORY, lir OaR Religious Editor. w Aft HAT nonsense, Wilkins! I couldn't H* AH f wr it e a Christmas story if I got ten wL wL thousand pounds to do it.' V T ' Oh, come along, Case. lam sure you could if you tried ; and you would confer a very great favour on me.' ' I really couldn't do it. My bump of imagination (if I have one at all) is too small to be discoverable. I might rake up an old family reminiscence, but I reckon it would possess no interest for you or your, readers.' 'I, am sure it would prove very interesting, notwithstanding your assertion. Let's have it ; O'Flanagan has cleared out for the day, and I can spare you a couple of hours.' 'So be it. T need hardly tell you that lam a native of America. I was born at Baton Eouge, in the State of Louisiana, on the 4th July 1863.' ' A good day for an American to be born on.' ' Not a very bright day that year at any rate. My father, who belonged to a good Southern family, was a captain in the Confederate Army ; and the brigade to which he was attached was in Pennsylvania, where a battle was daily expected. As a matter of fact, the desperate battle of Gettysburg was fought the day before, and Captain Case was amongst those severely wounded. . As you may well suppose, the intense anxiety had a trying effect on my mother, who, at no time very strong, seccnrnbed before the end of that year. Ah.it was a terrible time for our country. My father languished for months ma Federal prison, and was heart-broken, on his return to find his beloved wife dead long since. Few would have recognised in him the gallant, light-hearted soldier, who, but a year before* was full of hopes and ambitious dreams. ' •"'■'. . After the war we quit Louisiana, arid settled permanently in Ohio, where some of my uncles , had been located for some time. Our neki neighbour was a Colonel Taylor, a retired officer of the Federal Army, and you may reasonably suppose that between him and the head' of -our family there was little' love^ lost.; It was generally known that Colonel. ; Taylor's sabre was the weapon that had. almost gent .my father to-king-dom come, whiles da^kjß^r.f^at; traversed thegallant; Cqlonel?s . bronzed!'; features :,• was", uh* dohbte,diy my father's tra'demarfc/.These :straiaedj. relations! Between the respective, governors .aid'

not trouble .^tbie } younger '''^boS^^^^K families much. .^lndeed, . I; may;; ; at-^e^t*^ that I was desperately enaraorired^of Colonel's youngest daughter, Sara, & : tali/^liu^ and attractive girl. v My father - frowned BlightlylS when he saw us together, which was pretty.pften^ll as we had many opportunities of seeing .^eaxjb^il other when driving into Columbus. " But I re'aU|SSl think that, if he fully believed my happineßs-.was^ in Sara's keeping, he would supp"res^pe>;B6'iiais|*i prejudices and permit our union. .Notrsq,'! : fio^?r%F ever, with Sara's father. The Colonel was determined, inflexible man, and he: told ' Sara£lt plainly that no son of Captain Case could' eyerie hope to wed Ms daughter. Th:s. was a blackSSS look-out, wasn't it? But our hearts were ypung-^ and buoyant, and marriage was an event 7-4 we need not contemplate for a year or twbt£^ by which time we hoped the hard heart oftsl the stern old soldier would soften. It seemed'^ impossible to us that his, determination would never yield, especially as Sara was his favourite m daughter. In the fall of 1885 my father ; diedr- -^ This sad.event, one would have thought; woaia/^ \ have blotted out the unfortunate difference be- /:^ tween the two families ; but, alas 1 the old maa'i^ resentment appeared to intensify. He allbwed "*''-$ • his daughter one interview to say good-bye to me, s 'S and forbade her ever to speak or write to : mt ; V : J again. Thoroughly crushed, I left the district >« and sealed in Milwaukee,, where some of my ■•'??. mother's family ran a newspaper. It was here ~T<if made my start as a journalist, and a good show:.«' I had, as the paper had a daily circulation o£t?3? eighty-four thousand, American tally, ' I stayed -^ there working hard for some months. Time did nbt>£| hang heavily oh my hands I assure you, for I was -P? hard at it for about seventeen hours out ofth«>s twenty-four. About the middle.of December, th« 4| chief paid me a call and said, • Case, you're look; ing a bit pale, and I think a few weeks' speirwill?-'| pick you up a bit.' I thauJsed him heartily, for % I was really beginning to feel done up. He con- •-?;** tinued, 'The Knights of Labour are going to;; S hold a Congress next week in Ohio. I want 1 ?; you to go to Columbus, and report the;.* [l proceedings, and send us details without delay. "-." It will not occupy much of your time, and you ;£i will have plenty of leisure to knock round and y $ enjoy yourself. By-the-bye, you know the local- V ity, don't you ?' ./< 'You could have knocked me down, with ,^ a feather, Wilkins. . For the past six months,; - I had been so rushed with work that I ; >5 had almost forgotten Sara ; now the. thought of'-M* seeing her made my heart beat, violently, and I „: longed for one glimpse of her dear form. I.; packed up and railed the next morning. The -<'c Congress sat for about a week, ;and all that time" * I was, of course, hard at work. It rose on the jJ 23rd,and I then began to think howl should spend' !"■ Xmas. Upon making enquiries I ascertained, that the Taylors had been spending some weeks at the '^ mouth of the river, about 100 miles distant O? from Columbus. They intended to return, by "3 the river steamboat on .Christmas morning,?^ reaching home in time for dinner at. six o'clock.' r C3 I made up my mind to try and effect a recohcilia-t^ tion with the old man, and started, post-haste IS for the heads. The eventful morn arriYed,^£§ and I took my ticket by the ' Black Angel.' :^a| soon discovered the Colonel talking, to SajflH and thought the sooner I started 1 busi|^HH the better. The warm flush of djfl^H on Sara's cheeks showed that, I. still fl9^H first place in her heart, but the old manj^fl^^Hj savagely as I accosted them. -We QuVB^HHI violently, and suddenly he fell over the fl^^HH the vessel. To this day he persists that ll^^Hfl him over, and I confess that I was so a«H|^H that I really. did not know what I was doin]^B^^H it is quite possible. that I did lay hands on^H^H Sara, with a shriek plunged over after him.J^^H of course, I followed her. . Being one of first swimmers in the Stateß, I had no difl|^H culty whatever in supporting -both father 'aii^^| daughter, but I gave the colonel an occasional;^ bob downwards, and whispered in "his. ear that if - jfjj he did not at once surrender unconditionally, 'I-'- r M should let him go' to tbe bottom. Swallowing TQ his wrath, and a good deal of salt water at the s£| same time, he gasped out, M alwaysdid like joujjjß Case; Sara's yours— God r bless you buth.' ' W&'l'M, were soon picked up and supplied with dry togsi;J|| and I can safely say it proved.the happiest Christ-:;?! mas I ever spent.' . . : ::i^ « And you married Sara after all ?' • o\-v^0 \ -v^ ' Bather; and if you drop round on Christmas;^ Day, Sara will tell you how she felt when she : j=i saw me bob ; down the old man's head in the-^1 Scioto Biver.' . . ' . '^|ii

■ ■ ' ■ ■ ■ " „'? ■ ■■ —The juvenile element of the West Eu<l;|tl suburb was in high feather on Friday evening, the -Si occasion of the Children's Fancy Dress Ball heldl^f in connection with the Ponsonby At Homes." The?fi Terpsiohorean festival was a. • great success;'-^ Dancing continued till the witching hour of mid- '^f§ night, interspersed by toothsome refreshments. jfS The music, supplied by Mr Adams,, would have-lfi tuned the most Jaflrgfard feet to trip the light fah^P tastic. ' The decorations were poems in florairl|| Btanzas. Great credit is due to the oommittee'^il Mesdames A. Devore, D. F. Evans, T. Blasefleld;^^ C. Macindoe, andE. Buchanan, the arrangements^! being perfect. Amongst those present were :r^^ft Ladies : Miss B. Devore, Serpolette (a charmiiig^S costume) ; Miss Laura Dixon.Pol.ish girl; Misa ;'Ajclaf|§i Dixon, Mary Hamilton; Miss Dixon, Normandy^S Peatant; Misa Katie Ja'eale, IvyV xxfisa Freda^^H Langsford, Swiss Peasant;. Miss. G. Masefielcl;^^ Queen of the Fairies, (the prettiest dress inith^tlS room).; Miss Mabel Maoindoe; Painting : -Mil^-^ Emily La "Rouge, as Eed Riding Hood, lo^le^ill sweet enough to tempt the appetite of a yege|sS;r^^ ianiwolf ; Miss Porter' Sea Nymph ; Miss.rEflil^H Holland, The Maid was" in the Garden~Han'ffifi^^^ Out the Clothes (a unique conception, eic«llSnii*^S well carried out ) ; Miss H Gibbons, Marga'eriteit^S Miss Mclndoe, ¥lora : ' Mis^ Q/ Cramm'on^'^ Normandy^ Peasant ;, Miss ,L. .Langsford." ditißS^ Evening dress :* Misses AOweii (:who ahared^th'tfj^S honours aa belle ),;Langsford, Brighanij- 1!. W.alß r^S n«ttL. WalJnutt, Maekay, Devore, V/iJabre/ - ; M;i"l§|| Dacre, Holland, A. Tye, J. Braithwaite, Pensy;S3 Evans, L. .Gill, Lottie Gill, Epbins6n,^Beale>:^H Upton, Conway,' Masefield, t^^anna^f^^^fipsfffli^^ man, L.' Bell). pud: Eva Evans, ,■ ■•'•Gen<|^tentln'^B oharacter :, Masters Butters^a-hd^Macindwj^P^^lrlk^S G. Dixon, ,' Gricketer ; L;; Beale^Jabfe^sh^oriE^^^ Evening dress .; .•« Messrs. Masefield r-Orof i^HQwa'r^l^^ Broadbent, R. Cla'ytc'n ; ! HaVard^OlaYk^LW^^ , .Clark, J,.. S.. Brigham,' Hos^S Beal^Whitt, Foster, ©}oo:mfie^ra^|;jE:Mlws^^B j ri^TrGH^iTCHl' <-GosoM^WmM^^m Mp&i^Z&g worm, tetteraCaltTfiiuMS^Ws^W