Pomeroy weekly telegraph. [volume] (Pomeroy, Meigs County, Ohio) 1860-1866, 1865-02-09
| hour for closing the bank was drawing near

fair weather friends; but bitter thoughts
would not pay his note. a }a 80 @1'
he sat down, and wrote in his fieiiiorah.
dunn book the names of such friends as he had
not called upon, who, he was certain, might
help him, if they would He went to one and
another with heavy heart He was not cor
daily received. One had been disappointed,
money promised him had not come--a second
was very short" that day--a third had just
paid his last five dollars on little account,
several heavy bills had been met that day AT
length the harrassed merchant became dis.
couraged, and to usurer he went determin-
led, at some rate, to havethe moheyhe needed
The. psurer knewhe hed,sa desperate man, to
I fdealwit and he drove q hard bargains i Ho
took Judgment note at twenty days, and Mr..
Farley had money enough to meet his obliga.
tions. and buy his wife new bonnet 49,
He went to bed that night with heavy
heart, but when, in the morning, his wife
greeted him with q cordial Happy New
Year" his heart was cheered and it gave him
pleasure to see how much Joy she wotld have
when the new bonnet and the new dress, he
had bought as New Year gift, were sent
home. She did not say word about pres
ents, but there was peculiar twinkle in her
eye, and halfknowing smile, half expressed
on her lips. 5a
1t was yet rather early for callers when the
door bell rang The wife was too impatient
to wait the slow motions of a servant, and she
answered it herself A little boy. had caused
its welcome tintinnabulum, and he had band
box under his arm.
| A happier wife there was not in the World,
She bestowed upon her husband the fondest of
catesses, and could only speak of him as a
dear sweet man. He forgot usurers and notes
in bank, and went to the theater, and saw ev-
erybody admire his pretty wife in her new
dress, with such satisfaction as doting hus-
band can alone appreciate. The New Year
bonnet was "a little gem" in the opinion of
all Mrs p folks, and that added another
large drop to the cup of joy, from which the
young wife drank in the fullness of grateful
love
One month in the new year had not passed
before she drank from another cup--a cup of
bitterness Her husband was not at home
regularly, and when at home, he was gloomy
always sometimes sullen; he became hag-
gard in his appcarance-he denied his wife
any confidence in regard to what weighed mp
on him She had no surmise of the true cause
of his depression of spirits and she borrowed
grievous trouble about it. The new dress af-
forded her no comfort now-shc had no Joy in
her "love of bonnet balls and concerts
had no attractions-the husband made show
of chccrfulncss to the wife, and the wife smiled
family in return, but both recognized mutual
deception and the once happy home became
n place of torment to its occupants The
husband stunned it, and the wife wept on it,
The note given to the usurer meantime fell
due. He would extend the time at the same
high rate of usury on which the money for it
was given, and this bankrupt policy was ne
cessity of the merchants circumstanccs--he
dare not let his business creditors know that
he was the victim of "kccn shave and
week after week he paid the usurer money,
which, if invested in his business. would have
relieved, while its loss created additional en,-
bnrrassment t
Every day the load of care which he carried
from the store to his homo increased the weight,
and at last he became 80 morose that his wife s
patience was tried beyond endurance She
became rs pcevish as he was sullen. The
poor itiah did not condemn hcr but he could
not always brook her pcevishncss, and the
smooth current of domestic felicity which had
flowed through the household was changed
into a brawline stream, whose waters were
cmbittered with discomfort and peeyish biek-
erngs. .r uH Il .r-
Tie wife neglected domestic duty, and the
merchant neglected business, till he was sorely
pressed to pay the usurer the weekly sum
which kept sheriff from his store. res
One dav he was in very unhappy mood.
He had been home for his dinner, and every-
thing about the house seemed to reproach
him. He was tempted to open his heart to
his fading wife, but his courage failed hm-he
returned to his store, thinking of what his
fashionable acouaintances might be saving
about the marked change which had come over
him and his wife. 4 a.a9.. "a r4
He had not vet been able to cast out such
perplexing reflections when the usurer's col
lector, with a bow and patronzng smile, en-
tered the store and presented the uneasy mer-
chant with n recent for another instullmcnt of
interest ..s,T
The merchant snatcbed the niece of noncr
and fore if into small fragments verv del;ber--
ately, while the astonished collector thrust his
hands verv deem into his breecbes nockets -
mGat ont of nv storel, cried the morcbart
500 and toll vonr master ri ,never nav him mn,
other cent. He can sell me ont "a sooh as he
pleases have paid him now in interesf
more than half the original sum. Tllpay him
no more | tell YOU; let him ret if all Leave
nv store, sir" y.
Ont went the collector in nervous trenida.