Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1857-10-10

taking more heed, and went crying To her WORK
1t is too bad" said the mother, " that we
must be the ones to suffer always. But father
shall not be the loser by the carelessness of his
people. ! won't put up with it That bad dol
lar came from the congregation, and it shall 90
back TO them"
30 she put on her bonnet, and went to the
genlleman's furnishing store, kept by Mr.. b., a
member Of that church, She bought her hus
band new neck-cloth, which she hoped he would
never know from the old one
That very day the lady called and asked 10
see the Rev. Mr.. -. She told the story OF
the counterfeit dollar and asked if he had seen
anything off H. The minister said that it had
luckily fallen into his own hands, and joyfully
did he hasten to his wifes room.
God verify numbers the hairs of our heads" /"
he said. " He will not suffer one Of mis- little
sparrows to fall to the ground Give me the
bad dollar, for lady has come to give US good
one in its place"
Then came the agony of confession to the
hitherto honest wife. She will weep and writhe
to her dying day at the remembrance of that
look Of surprise aud wounded trust, which her
beloved husbands face wore as he heard it. She
went at once to the lady, and told her ALL 1t
was a brave deed, for she was a minister's wife
with whole congregation watching 10 detect a
slip from uprighness. The lady, she feared,
would report her delinquency, but she had fall
len into merci(ul hands, and her fault was kept
secret. They went together to the furnishing
store
The store-keeper examined his till and desk.
There was no such dollar to be found, and no
one could tell to whom it had been given. One
OF the shop girls had probably passed it without
seeing that it was not good. Tie lady left a dol
lar to replace it, should any one bring it back,
and hnrna IieapnotptaI IIar Inn nd
a magistrate, and she knew that he was so strict
in bringing offenders to justice, that she never
mentioned to him this counterfeit, for fear of get
ting the market woman into trouble for passing
il, knowing II to be such
That night her husband came home from his
office looking exceedingly weary and sad. His
wife pressed to know the reason
oh said he, the duties of my office are
sometimes so painful have just had to send
such a nice, lady-lik woman to the lookup for
the night, because it was too late to examine her
at once. She seemed in great distress about
something but she cant speak a word of Eng
lish, 50 couldn't make it out. think though
that her husband is sick.
why not let her 20, and take her up again in
the morning
We'll, she is accused of serious charge
counterteitng-an her distress may be all sham,
only plan 10 get her husband off. | don't want
him warned. II have set watch about the house,
but can do no more until morning. There are
great numbers of counterfeit gold dollars in cir
culailOn, and this woman, her neighbors say, has
tiled to pass three within a week. ] have been
very anxious to discover the rogues but don't
believe this woman has anything to do with it.
However, ! had to shut her up, the neighbors
are So indignant Tomorrow it will be look ed
into, and the woman set free, have no DOUBT
Perhaps her poor sick husband may die OF
| anxiety and alarm meanwhile.
We'll, put on your bonnet, wife. You can
| speak German. | should feel easier, | confess
If knew more about this matter, and will 60 Ia
her residence.
The wife hastily made ready. They had to
20 TO dirty, narrow court. peopled by the low
est Irish. When they arrived and inquired for
the man, they were shown into a destitute room,
without fire or light, at the door Of which they
had knocked, but received no answer. When
they approached the bed man spoke as if just
awaking, and said in German
Olga, have you Gomez am so col /, and |
have been dying for a drink OF water. l could
not reach my medicine, Olga, and it is long past
the hour. But. poor wife, you have gone through
much, no doubt-and have they paid you 2
The m ,gstrate sent the oiiicious neighbors for
fire and light, while his wife gradually broke the
news W tllC uuSUtIlu, lOI Tie OF his
wife's arrest. The nci !hbors were afraid 10 tell
it to man so ILL., lie was lying, wasted by a
low fever almost to a skeleton. lie seemed hor-
ror-sruck at the idea of his wife's disgrace, and
turning away from the lady, he wept bitterly. -
From ejaculations, and fragmentary sentences,
she gathered that he belonged to a noble family
in some little German prncipality, and had been
obliged, on account of sympathy with Hungary,
TO fly with his wife. They had expended all
their means, before they had been able to get
any employment, and since the failure of her
husbands health, the poor wife had struggled to
support them both, with her needle He turned
TO his visitors again to explain about the coun-
terfels. He said, the neighborhood and market
people gave his wife bad money repeatedly,
thinking shrewdly that she, being foreigner,
would not be likely to know the true coin well
When she ignorantly tried to buy things with
this bad money she was harshly treated. There
fore, when she had another gold dollar given to
| her, he supposed she had shown it to her neigh
bors 10 ask # it were good, and had not been
able to make herself understood by tiem. lie
had not seen her since she left him 10 take home
some shirts to Mr. BIS furnishing store.
The magistrate perceived that these people
were innocent, and went at once to obtain the
woman's release, while his wife stayed and bus
led herself in procuring comforts for the desti-
tute invalid, without consulting him at all about
it, for she saw that his proud spirit Iebeled
against receiving as charity even the means Of
prolonging life
1t was not long before her husband returned
and never was there sadder or a tenderer
meeting than between the sick man and his lib
Grated wife. Although medical attendance was
procured, and every comfort placed about him
the sufferer died that night, blessing with his
last words the lady who had enabled him tc
have the comfort of his wifes presence in his
last dark hour.
The lady herself however, felt keenly self
condemned. She told her husband the whole
story, shedding tears of pain.
What dreadful chain of sin and sorrow ]
have occasioned,' she said
Il do not think you were to blame,' her hus
band replied, for you only left the dollar to be
given to the true passer of it,
'Oh, no | was almost sure the market wo-
man would not be particular. | thought she
would get rid of it the first chance she had
Yet, said, that is no concern of mine 1t was
an indifference to right which has had the force
OF intentional wickedness. See what a series Of
sins occasoned. The market woman gratifed
her revenge first, and did dishonest act be.
sides; then that hateful hypocri'e put II into the
poor-fund in church cheating in the very tenn.
4 a ~