Weekly Calaveras chronicle., 1866-09-22
THE LOST WILL.
Through the whirling snowflake

Through the whirling snowHakes
little Harry Randall pushed bravely on
He was a.little fellow, all mufHed an,
coated from his feet, which we're en-
cased in big, stout boots, to the fine lit
tie head hidden beneath the huge tippe
and tight fitting skull cap.
Under his arm could be seen the en-,
of bundle, which his dear mother ha,
given him to take to the tailors fo
whom she worked, for Mrs Randall wa
husbandless and little Harry fatherless
and therefore she was obliged to earl
her bread, and make shirts to pay tn
rent, the woodman and grocer
And Harry was dutiful little son
never bewailing his hard lot as is tn
case with others Of his class, but thank
ful that he had a good mother and
home, even though it was humble.
Mrs. Randall was aChristian, and sh,
tried to instil into Harry's mind Chris
tianl y virtues, and she succeeded, too
for Harry loved his mother, and alway1
obeyed her aaa ir
10 Mr.. Shippers, the tailor, Harry
was now on his way. Mr.. Shippers wa.
one of those mean characters that infes
the great city in large numbers, and who
give out shirts and other articles o.
wearing apparel to be made. and pay
for the same very poor sum, sometimes
insufficient for the wants of the pool
people who perform the work.
Harry's mother was one of those pool
women who take in shirts and receive 8
bare pittance in return. Often had she
sat up until the great city clock solemn
ly tolled the hour of midnight to finish
the dozen she had promise to have hand
ed in by the next morning; and wher
done, she would say, in tones thai
ought to have melted the heart of he1
employer:
"Thank God I have them done al
last -
Harry was not aware of his mother
destination Though the room in which
they lived was very mean, tine furniture
very poor, the meals very scanty, and
the thought entered not once into bis
little brain that it was poverty.
Poverty! | regard it as a curse! A
curse to suffering mankind. And next
to it regard as mean the rich man,
rolling in wealth, that refuses poor
loaf of bread, cord of wood, or barrel
of -four, which might alleviate the suf-
ferings of thousands; aye, refuses the
common necessities of life to the poor
woman who asked for little to feed
her starring child-to save it from
death.
There are many such. The sainted
hypocrites Processing to be all that S
good and pure, and yet SO devoid of all
those true virtues that little child,
possessing even the least dr. p of heav-
emily piety might overwhelm and cast
them down in their base, hypocritical
schemes
MIR Shippers was soon reached, and
stamping the snow from his boots Har-
ry bravely turned the marble knob and
entered.
The tailor was behind his counter,
and to him Harry presented his bundle.
MIR. Shippers, with an air of import
ance, cut the string, took off the wrar-
per, and then began to examine very
closely the shirts to see if they we're all
neatly stitched and made. Not flaw
could the tailor's lynx eye detect; SO he
said sa sd
"All right, boy. I suppose your
mother wants her pay-dont she ?"
eyes, sir" returned Harry.
"One dozen shirts at six cents apiece
-seventy-two cents"
And the tailor proceeded to count out
the change. t.- ...,-.-
"There it is" he said, showing the
coins toward Harry; ''and your mother
wants some more-does she ?" he ad-
ded.
"Yes, sir" said Harry.
Mr. Shippers then proceeded to tie
up dozen more shirts in bundle
which he handed to Harry, who took
it, and then went out into the sun-lad-
en- air, and moved rapidly down the
street Doe tfa no aa isf's
Turning street corner, our hero es-
pied, nearly covered up with the falling
snow, white substance, which upon
examination, proved to be parchment
upon which were some characters en-
tirely unintelligible to Harry. 4
be Not able to make them out, he thrust
the paper in his pocket, and walked
rapidly on, determined to show it to his
mother when be arrived at home
In due time he reached the little
hovel in an obscure street which be
called home.
Mrs. Randall stood at the window,
looking out through the whirling snow
fakes for her dear sod, and when she
saw him, she ran and opened the door,
and received him with open arms press
ing tender kiss upon his fair round
cheek.
After relieving Harry of his street
attire, and taking the bundle and money,
Mrs Randall seated him at the little
table, upon which were the remainder
of yesterdays steak, few slices of
bread, and one solitary pickle.
Why, Harry, p suddenly exclaimed
his mother, holding up the paper he
had picked up in the street, which she
had just produced from his pocket
/" what's this ?"
"Oh! 1 forgot to tell you about that.
It's all covered with marks 1 picked