A Gift of Love
Before breakfast one summer morning, ten year old Joe was looking at the dining room table when he spotted something different on it. A pair of silver salt and pepper shakers sat on the table where the old wooden ones usually sat. He picked the salt shaker up and looked at it carefully. There was an inscription on it, but the letters looked different from the ones he knew, so he walked into the great room where his father sat smoking his pipe and reading a book. "Pa, where'd those new salt and pepper shakers come from and what's the writing on them say? The letters look funny."
"I brought them with me from Boston," said Abel Stoddard, descending the staircase. "Now, before I answer your question, I have one of my own. Are your chores done?"
"Yes sir," replied the boy. "I filled Hop Sing's wood box with enough wood to last until he cooks supper. I gathered the eggs and he's cooking them right now. I filled the kindling box so high that the lid wouldn't shut. I mucked out Midnight's stall, gave him his grain, and brushed him until I could see myself in his coat. I'm not big enough to use the pitchfork yet, so Adam or Hoss have to give him his hay."
"Well then young man, it seems to me that you have earned a story, providing of course that your father has no objections," he said, winking at Ben. Joe loved listening to the old sea captain's tales so a bargain had been struck. If Joe got up every morning and did all of his chores without complaint, Abel would tell him a story from his many years at sea.
"I have no objection to you telling your stories to Joe," replied Ben, pulling Joe to him and hugging him. "Even though I've heard many of them before, I always enjoy them. They also seem to have motivated this young rascal to wake up early and do a thorough job on his chores."
Abel sat down in Adam's chair and opened his arms for Joe to sit in his lap. "Are you comfortable lad?"
"Yes sir, I sure am."
The captain chuckled. "Well then, I guess I had better get on with the story."
"Many years ago shortly after the Revolutionary War ended, a young man knocked on the door of a farm house just outside of Boston. A woman opened it and pointed a musket at the man. "What dost thou want? Begone before I set the dog on thee."
"I am right sorry to bother thee Mistress, but wouldst thine husband be at home?"
Joe looked at Abel and asked, "Why did that man call the lady mistress? He wasn't her slave. And why are they talking so funny? They sound like that Shakespeare stuff Adam reads."
Abel ruffled Joe's hair. "That's the way people talked back then. Instead of saying Mr. or Mrs., they said Master or Mistress."
"The woman didn't want to tell the man that her husband had been killed in the early days of the war so she said, "He shall be home directly and we want no deserters here. Now begone with thee!"
"Upon my life I am no deserter. The war is over. I was with General Washington at Yorktown when General Cornwallis surrendered to him."
"Dost thou speak the truth or art thou telling a lie?" she asked, still pointing the musket at him.
"I speak the truth. General Cornwallis surrendered to General Washington on October nineteenth. I have been walking toward Boston these two months past. I am cold, tired and hungry and only stopped to beg a meal and be allowed to sleep in thy barn this night. In return, I shall do thy chores and split wood for thy fire."
"That thou shall, but first thou must tell the town of your news. Come and warm thyself by the fire whilst I fetch my cloak." As soon as the woman put her cloak on, the pair rushed to the town and went straight to the church. The minister and his wife lived in a house a few yards from the church so the woman knocked on their door.
The minister opened it, saw the woman and man and asked, "Mistress Wood, what art thou doing about at this time of day? Thou shouldst be home tending to thy chores."
"This man came to my door to beg a meal and sleep in the barn in return for doing the chores. He has brought the most wonderful news and I thought that thou shouldst hear it from his lips."
"What sayest thou?" asked the minister, looking at the man.
'The war hath ended. General Cornwallis surrendered to General Washington at Yorktown on October nineteenth. I do not know why a messenger on horseback hath not brought the news. I have been walking these two months past.'
"Art thou telling the truth?"
"As God is my witness, I do not lie."
"What is thy name?"
"Michael Stoddard."
"Thou hast indeed brought good news. I must ring the church bell so all might share thy news." The minister rang the church bell and when everyone had gathered, he told them the good news. "Today is Tuesday. On Thursday, we shall have a great feast of Thanksgiving for the good news that Michael Stoddard hath brought to us. Tomorrow, the meeting hall shall be made ready for the feast." When all of the people had returned to their homes, the minister looked at the woman and asked, "Mistress Wood, what dost thou intend to do with this man who brought us this news?"
"I shall honor his request and provide him a hot meal and quilts to keep him warm in the barn." When the minister looked at her sternly, as she was not married and should not have a strange man in her house, she said, "Did not our Lord command us to feed the hungry and clothe the poor? How then could I give thanks for the food He hath provided me knowing that I turned one of His children away cold and hungry?"
The minister had no answer and simply said, "Go then and see to thy guest's needs. Master Stoddard, I thank thee again for thy wonderful news."
They returned to the woman's house where she fed him, gave him some of her late husband's clothes to wear, and several quilts to keep him warm. In return, he did the chores that evening and the next morning. He stayed at her farm, sleeping in the barn and doing the chores for her. The two became friends and she learned that he was a tinker who worked with soft metals such as tin and pewter. He noticed that the wooden salt and pepper shakers she had were poorly made and beginning to crack. He did odd jobs for the shopkeepers in Boston and was able to save enough money to open his own shop where many of the townspeople brought him items to be repaired and also to have him make new things such as pitchers, bowls, and salt and pepper shakers.
The longer Michael stayed at the woman's farm, the more he liked her and began falling in love with her. He learned that her name was Elizabeth. She also realized that she was falling in love with him. One day he walked into Paul Revere's shop and asked him to make a wedding ring for him to give Elizabeth. He also asked Paul to help him make silver salt and pepper shakers to give her as a gift. The silversmith was happy to do both things. Michael began coming home late, which worried Elizabeth. He smiled at her and told her not to worry as he was working on a very special order that had to be done in a week's time. Once his and Paul's work was complete, he asked Elizabeth to marry him and she happily said yes. On October nineteenth, seventeen eighty two, one year to the date after General Cornwallis surrendered to George Washington, Michael Stoddard married Elizabeth Wood. When they returned to the farm, he handed her a package. When she opened it, she was delighted to see a pair of silver salt and pepper shakers inscribed, with the words and date, "Michael and Elizabeth Stoddard, October nineteen, seventeen eighty two," inside of a heart.
Those were my great, great grandparents. Adam's mother was named for her great, great, great grandmother. Even as a child, she loved those salt and pepper shakers because her name was on them, so I gave them to her when she married your father. When he left Boston with Adam, he did not want to take them with him for fear that they would become lost or stolen. So I kept them and brought them with me. It is my hope that when Adam marries, he will give them to his bride, along with my great, great grandmother's wedding ring, which is in a safe."
"That's a great story. Thanks for telling it to me," said Joe, hugging the old man.
Before the conversation could continue, Hop Sing announced that breakfast was ready so everyone went into the dining room to eat.