"
Regularly she asked me about the cows, and if the goats had been
milked, the eggs gathered, and the pigs fed. She remembered and planned
the work, but did not regain strength as rapidly as she wished; nor did
she resume her place in the corrals, even after she was up and around,
but had a way of coming unexpectedly to see if her instructions were
being carried out.
One day she became quite angry on finding me talking with a stranger.
He was well dressed and spoke like a gentleman, touched his hat as she
drew near and remarked, "This little girl tells me she is an orphan,
and that you have been very kind to her." Grandma was uncivil in her
reply, and he went away. Then she warned me, "Beware of wolves in
sheep's clothing," and insisted that no man wearing such fine clothes
and having such soft hands could earn an honest living. I did not
repeat what he had told me of his little daughter, who lived in a
beautiful home in New York, and was about my age, and had no sister;
and his wish that I were there with her. I could not understand what
harm there was in his questions or my answers. Did I not remind him of
his own little girl? And had I not heard lonely miners tell of times
when they gladly would have walked ten miles to shake hands and talk a
few moments with a child?
CHAPTER XXVII
CAPT. FRISBIE--WEDDING FESTIVITIES--THE MASTERPIECE OF GRANDMA'S
YOUTH--SENORA VALLEJO--JAKIE'S RETURN--HIS DEATH--A CHEROKEE INDIAN WHO
HAD STOOD BY MY FATHER'S GRAVE.
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