Timothy Crumps Ward | Page 2

that we should find a hidden cause, far back in the days when thy
cheeks were rounder and thine eyes brighter, and thine aspect not quite
so frosty. Ah, faithless Harry Fletcher! thou hadst some hand in that
peevishness and repining which make Rachel Crump, and all about her,
uncomfortable. Lured away by a prettier face, you left her to pass
through life, unblessed by that love which every female heart craves,
and for which no kindred love will compensate. It was your
faithlessness that left her to walk, with repining spirit, the flinty path of
the old maid.
Yes; it must be said--Rachel Crump was an old maid; not from choice,
but hard necessity. And so, one by one, she closed up the avenues of
her heart, and clothed herself with complaining, as with a garment.
Being unblessed with earthly means, she had accepted the hearty
invitation of her brother, and become an inmate of his family, where
she paid her board by little services about the house, and obtained
sufficient needle-work to replenish her wardrobe as often as there was
occasion. Forty-five years had now rolled over her head, leaving clearer
traces of their presence, doubtless, than if her spirit had been more
cheerful; so that Rachel, whose strongly marked features never could
have been handsome, was now undeniably homely.
Mrs. Crump, fortunately for her husband's peace, did not in the least
resemble her sister-in-law. Her disposition was cheerful, and she had
frequent occasion to remonstrate with her upon the dark view she took

of life. Had her temper been different, it is very easy to see that she
would have been continually quarrelling with Rachel; but, happily, she
was one of those women with whom it is impossible to quarrel. With
her broad mantle of charity, she was always seeking to cover up and
extenuate the defects of her sister-in-law, though she could not help
acknowledging their existence.
It had been a hard winter for the cooper. For a month he had been
unable to obtain work of any kind, and for the two months previous he
had worked scarcely more than half the time. Unfortunately for him, his
expenses for a few years back had kept such even pace with his income,
that he had no reserved fund to fall back upon in such a time as this.
That was no fault of his. Both he and his wife had been economical
enough, but there are a great many things included in family
expenses--rent, fuel, provisions, food, clothing, and a long list of
sundries, besides; and all these had cost money, of which desirable
article Uncle Tim's trade furnished not a very large supply.
So it happened that, as tradesmen were slow to trust, they had been
obliged to part with a sofa to defray the expenses of the month of
December. This article was selected because it was best convertible
into cash,--being wanted by a neighbor,--besides being about the only
article of luxury, if it could be called such, in possession of the family.
As such it had been hardly used, being reserved for state occasions; yet
hardly had it left (sic) the the house, when Aunt Rachel began to show
signs of extreme lowness of spirits, and bewailed its loss as a privation
of a personal comfort.
"Life's full of disappointments," she groaned. "Our paths is continually
beset by 'em. There's that sofa! It's so pleasant to have one in the house
when a body's sick. But there, it's gone, and if I happen to get down, as
most likely I shall, for I've got a bad feeling in my stummick this very
minute, I shall have to go up-stairs, and most likely catch my death of
cold, and that will be the end of me."
"Not so bad as that, I hope," said Mrs. Crump, cheerfully. "You know,
when you was sick last, you didn't want to use the sofa--you said it
didn't lay comfortable. Besides, I hope, before you are sick again we
may be able to buy it back again."
Aunt Rachel shook her head despondingly.
"There ain't any use in hoping that," said she. "Timothy's got so much

behindhand that he won't be able to get up again; I know he won't."
"But if he manages to get steady work soon, he will."
"No, he won't. I'm sure he won't. There won't be any work before
spring, and most likely not then."
"You are too desponding, Aunt Rachel."
"Enough to make me so. If you had only taken my advice, we shouldn't
have come to this."
"I don't know what advice you refer to, Rachel."
"No, I don't expect you do. You didn't pay no attention to it. That's the
reason."
"But if you'll repeat it, perhaps we can profit by it