Page 46 - A Hero of Ticonderoga

ground beneath them, yet voiceless as if their perennial cheerfulness was
dumb in the pervading silence. So sick with dread he could scarcely move,

the boy forced himself to approach the spot, and look upon that which he
felt was awaiting him, his father lying dead beneath the huge, prone tree,

that had crushed him in its fall.

The glowing sunset sky and the glistening waters of the lake grew black,

the earth reeled. With a piteous groan of "Father! father!" the boy sank
down as lifeless, for a space, as the beloved form that lay beside him in

eternal sleep.

He awoke as from a terrible dream to the miserable realization that it was

not a dream. Then walking, as still in a dream, not noting how he went nor
by any familiar object marking his way, he bore home the woeful tidings.

Simple as were the funeral rites in the primitive communities, they were not
lacking in the impressiveness of heartfelt sorrow nor in the homely

expressions of sympathy for the bereaved and respect for the dead. So Seth
Beeman’s neighbors reverently laid him to rest in the soil his own hand had

uncovered to the sunlight. They set at his head a rough slate stone, whose
rude lettering could be read half a century later, telling his name and age,
and the manner of his death.

Ruth was left in a sorry plight, so suddenly bereft of the strong arm she had

leaned upon, without a thought that it could ever be taken from her. Now
she had only her son, a sturdy lad, indeed, but of an age to be cared for
rather than to care for others. Toombs had proved better than he looked,

kind enough, and a good worker, and familiar with the needs of the farm.
When his time was out she had no means to pay his wages nor could she

well get along without him. So he staid on, taking a mortgage, at length, on
the premises in lieu of money, and becoming more and more important in
Ruth’s estimation, though regarded with increasing dislike and jealousy by

her son, who found himself less and less considered.

Months passed, dulling sorrow and the sense of loss, and bringing many a
bitter change. The bitterness of Nathan’s life was made almost unbearable