Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1858-08-14


but mischief.
The widow was therefore obliged TO taE'
three or four boarders, to exc out the scan
ty income, which Of course imposed upon
her considerable labor aud anxiety.
1t is not surprising, then, that under
these circumstances she should now and
then have bethought herself Of a second
marriage, as q method Of betterihg her
condition. Or again, need we esteem It d
special wonder, il in her reflections hpoh
this point, she should have cast her eyes
upon her neighbor, Deacon Bancroft. The
deacon, as we have already said, was in
| fourishing circumstances. He would be
able to maintain a wife in great comfort;
aud being one Of the chief personages in
the village, could accord her prominent
social position.
Some sagacious person has observed,
however, that IL takes two to make a
match, fact to be seriously considered; /;
for 10 the present case it was exceedingly
doubtful whether the worthy deacon, even
if he had known the favorable opinion of
his next neighbor, would have been inclin-
ed to propose changing her name to Ban
croft, unless, indeed, suitable motive was
brought to bear upon him. Here was a
chance for fnessing
One evening after a day of fatiguing la
Dor, the widow Wells sat at the fire in the
sitting room, with her feet resting on the
fender.
Ii ] ever am so situated as not to have
to work so hard, she murmured, shall
be happy. It's hard life keeping borders.
If | was only so well off as Deacon Ban
croft
Still the widow kept up her thinking,
and by-ahd-hy her face frightened up
She bad an ideaj which she resolved to put
into execution at the very earliest moment.
What it was the reader will discover in the
sequel
Henry said she to her son the next
morning, want you to stop at Deacon
Bancrofrs as you go along to school, and
ask him if he will call and see me in the
course of the morning or afternoon, just as
he finds it most convenient
Deacon Bancroft was not little surpris-
ed at the summons However, about ii
o'clock be called in. The widow had got
on the dinner and had leisure to sit down.
She appeared little embarrassed
Henry told me that you would like to
see me- he commenced.
Yes, Deacon Bancroft, do, but / am
very much afraid you will think very
strange of tat least what have to say
to you.'
The deacon very politely promised not to
be surprised, although at the same time his
curiosity was yisbly excited
Suppose said the widow, casting down
her eyes mind, / am only supposing the
case-suppose person should find pot
of gold pieces in their cellar would the
law have right to touch it, or would it
belong to them
The deacon pricked up his ears.
A pot of gold pieces, widow Why,
unquestionably, the law would have moth
ing to do with it,
And the one who formerly owned the
house, couldn't come forward and claim it,
could be, deacon inquired the widow, fur
ther, with apparent anxiety.
No, madam, certainly not--when the
house was disposed of, everything went
with it, as a matter of course
Il am glad to hear it, deacon. You
won't think strange of the question, bnt it
happened to occur to my mind, and /
thought would like to have it satisfied
Certainly, widow, certainly said the
deacon, abstractedly.
And deacon, as you are here, / hope
You'll stop to dinner with US. 1t will be
ready punctually at twelve
Well, no. said the deacon, Pm oblig-
ed to ye, but they'll be expecting me at
home.'
AT any rate, deacon said the widow,
taking steaming mince pie from the oVen,
yon won't object to taking piece of my
mince pie; you must know that rather
pride myself on my mince pies
The warm pie sent forth such delicious
odor, that the deacon was .sorely tempted,
and after saying, Well, really with the
of refusing, he finished by saying,
On the whole, ! guess will, as it looks
so nice.'
The widow was really good cook, and
the deacon ate with much gusto the gen.
erous slice the widow cut for him; aud, af-
ter little more chatting upon important
subjects, withdrew in some mental per-
plexity.
Was it possible thought he, that the
widow, could really have found pot of
gold in her cellar? She did not say SO, to
be sure, but why should she show SO much
anxiety to know as to the proprietorship
of treasure thus found, if she had not hap
pened upon some To be sure, so far as
his knowledge extended, there was no one
who occupied the house would be in the
least likely to lay up such an amount of
gold; but the house was one hundred and
City years old, at the very least, and un-
doubtedly had many occupants, Of which
he knew nothing. It might be, after all.
The widows earnest desire to have him
think it was only curiosity, likewise gaye
additional probability to the suppostion.
i viii wait aud watch, thought the
deacon.
1t so happened that Deacon Bancroft
was one of the directors in Savings In
stitution, situated in the next town, and
accordingly used to ride over there once or
twice a month, to attend meetings of the
board.
On the next occasion Of this kind, widow
Wells sent over TO know il he could carry