The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1872-04-19

Duncan was throwing over the palings
a handful of uprooted weeds. His eye
was instantly caught by the glow of the
flower which Rose held in her hand, its
stem wrapped in some wet moss to keep
IL fresh. And when she showed the
blossom, and told him how she found it,
the old mans shrewd gray eyes kindled.
He knew it all i'm an instant. 1t was
Mrs. Harmon's lost dahlia.
'I'll gle you a guide price for the plant,
Miss Rose" he said, persuasively.
"What price?ii asked Rose, wonder
ingly, for It had not occurred to her that
any one would wish to buy the flower.
"Aweel,~ - said the old man, reflective
ly, as he scratched his head-''say one
dollar.n
Duncan was a Scotchman, shrewd
and economical, yet he felt half-ashamed
to impose on the girl with such an offer
for this rare and splendid plant. And
seeing that she hesitated he fancied that
she knew something of its real value.
"You think it's worth mair, may
haps2n he suggested.
"Oh, no." said Rose, with half alb
sent smile; 81 was only wishing il was
worth one hundred dollars"
'sEh, guide guide u.s. One hundred
dollars for Wee fiowerm
So Rose, in defending herself from the
charge of such unheard-of mercenari-
ness, unconsciously told her story.
Duncan had kind heart, and his SYM
pathies were aroused for the lovers,
while at the same time his Indignation
rose against his successor at Fairview-
Watson.
"Pll tell We wha' tits, Miss Rose" he
broke in at the end of her story-"gin
yen gle that flower, and the hail plant,
root, bud an a., I'll nae see We put out
for the want o. Sl00. / hae that, an
mair, i the same bank with that donnie
chief yonder, an I'll be forehanded VII
him, or my names nae Duncan"
So the bargain was agreed to on the
spot, and the old Scotchman, with spade
and basket, accompanied Rose back to
the place where grew the dahlia, and
carefully, as though he were digging up
n buried treasure, removed il without
disturbing the earth about its roots.
"Hech, sirsw said he, with a chuekle
"but it's the Teddy o. Mount JOY wuli
win the prize this time; an I'd gle an
ither Kindred dollars a. maist to see how
Madam Harmon WI open her big black
eyne when they fa' on this at the fair
tomorrow. Dell kens how it came
here, thenw
! 1ne way IN WHICH the rOOI naQ really
come there was afterward remembered
by Mrs. Harmon herself. She had
placed it, together with the dried mos:
in which il had been enveloped, not on
the shelf, as she had supposed, but i'm Q
little wicker basket on that shelf, anC
this same basket the children had that
same evening appropriated for gather.
ing gentian roots in the woods, and wa.
thus lost, with the precious dahlia roo
still within it.
When, late the following day, vii
liam Watson, returning from the fair
presented himself and his five hundred
dollars at the Five Corners smithy, h,
was told that the place had been solo
some hours previous to Robert Ward
And every time he is under the neces
slty of passing that way he behold
/ Robert busily at work in his shop, Will
plenty of customersaround, whilst Rose
! prettier than ever, is equally as bus,
tending to her own garden, setting root
Z and tying up branches, with frequently
old Duncan TO criticize, instruct and as
> sist. The old mans loan has been pai,
! long ago, and he and the Wards ar
great friends. He still shows his splen
r did dahlia at all the flower fairs, and re
lates, with ehuckle, how he game,
? possession of it; and if any one ques
/ tions the strict honorableness of tn
Z transaction, he puts down the objection
with: "Hech, sirsl but il was a. prov
entia', an Pm nae ane to fly in the fac
o. Providence"