The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1855-08-02


Now look at it t;--you have taken fifty
dollars from Lowell, and what have you
given him in return?'
81 gave him the same chance to gel
fifty dollars from me. Was not that
fair 2"
"Wlll you answer me few questions
candidly ?''
Certainly. AS many as you like, -
answered Mark, for he could not with.
stand bis wife's aileclionate entreaty.
"Then,' commenced Mary, with an
eager, anxious look, "were not you sure
Popwel would be elected when you made
this bet with LoyelI?"
"Of course | thought he would
"Then you expected to win Loyell's
money from him"
But he felt just as sure that Popwell
would not be "elected, and, of course,
just as sure that be should win my mon
ey."
"Very likely; but it makes no odds
what he thought. Your moral code is
not fashioned after his If A wishes to
pick your pocket, or knock you down and
rob you that's no reason why you should
pick AS pocket the first time you see him,
or that you should pursue the more sum-
mary method of knocking him down and
robbing him. You believed Popwell
would be elected. and you believed you
would get fifty dollars from Sam Lowell
without rendering him any sort of an
equivalent.
but what Of all that? Lowell knew
that believed so,-he knew that had
full confidence in Popwells election, for
| told him so
But you knew he was blinded The
more sure you felt of the election of your
man, the more you snned against Low
ell, for the more sure you were that you
should take his money from him"
"Pshaw ! It's just an even thing, Mol
ly, and you can make nothing more oft"
/" Is it an even thing for you to take
fifty dollars from a man whose family are
suffering from its want, and to return him
nothing? Is that what you call even o.
"The chances, l meant, were even
"But they were not. You felt sure
they would not be. before you bet. And
now answ. c one more question, Mark.
Did l1lg M hope that Lowell would
lose
"Il ia not likely that l hoped | should
lose.
mo, I suppose not. From the first
you meant to make fifty dollars out ot
Lowell if you could, and that you should
succeed in SO doing you firmly believed
in the beginning"
Now, Molly, you are too hard. You
put the whole affair in wrong light
81 only put it in the light of truth,
my husband. o, why will you not leave
it off 1t is the most insdious species of
and no good can result from 1t
but evil. you lose, it is
evil to you, for you know you cannot af-
ford it. If you win, it must be evil for
some one else, and you are holding mon
ey which, perhaps, comes from the very
soul of some poor famiIys comfort If
nobody wins, then there is foolish whim
a great danger courted, just
for nothing, / would not gamble. !
would have every morsel Of my daily
bread honestly earned and then could
eat it 10 peace, and ask God to bless it.
At that moment Mark Hanscom pulled
a paper from his pocket and called his
wife's attention to very funny thing he
had found in it. Mrs Hanscom saw
that her husband was getting uneasy
beneath a fire which he could not sue
cessfully return, and SO she let him go
for the present.
One day, not long after be ator@oA1-
versaion had taken plac,, a n John
Percival called in to see Mary nans,om.
lie was an uncle to her by marriage
good hearted, plain.spoken, honest
man, about forty years of age, and a law
yer by profession. For some time he and
Mary conversed upon various topics, and
at length something was said about bet
ting. One remark led the way to anoth-
err, and at length Mary confessed to her
uncle how much uneasiness she felt on
account of her husband S betting propen-
sites. Mr.. Percival well knew Marks
impulsve character. and he saw how
dangerous this habit mil ght become to
the peace of his family.
"There are men. he said TO his niece,
" who can engage in these things and
come out with full pockets. They are
cool, calculating, cold-blooded men, who
know nothing Of sympathy, and who
only care for self, never caring whether ,
they live upon the folly of fools, or upon
the tears Of widows and orphans. But
in a soul like Marks those very impulses
which we love when rightly used, are
the most dangerous when misdirected - {
must give him lesson. Has he any
ready money I"
eyes" ;
"How much ?" J
eight hundred dollars. He has saw. .
ed it up to make the last payment upon !
his house, only one hundred more being +
wanting"
"And that he has in the house ?"
eyes"
Mr.. Percival remained silent few {
during which he seemed to be ,
deeply engaged in thinking, and at the
end of his meditation he said, while {
smile broke over bis features 6