Bristol news. [volume] (Bristol, Va. & Tenn.) 1867-189?, 1873-06-03
EARNING A FEE.

A DEAcoN's PLOT.

EARNING A FEE
A DEACON's PLOT.
&L7a reasonably good man was Dea-
| SlnEsy con P1lsey. as times went, but.
! 9l1Ak if he had weakness, it was
NlN2 for making things in general
| rssS4Ss9 go about as he wanted them to
1S5oS go. Not an overbearlng man
by any means, and certainly nota vio-
lent one, but with wonderfully cute
and quite subtitle ways of his own. by
which he brought matters about with
out letting other folks knoy how the
thing was done. When q man is ac-
customed to have his own way, he
makes up his mind pretty easily but
there was one point of all others upon
| which Deacon Pilsey had been set and
fixei for years, and the care of which
lay heavy on his I1iHd, for the time
had come when, in his Judgment.
something deep required tobe planned
and all his skill exercised in carving
it out. To mind like his, that had
taken perfect measure of every other
IN tie village, and for miles around it,
J there could be little difficulty in select
! ing. his tools and assistants, and he had
] nv AlONA vi COuiCCt%llS. ndb WAS HOW
! he came to be talking so confidentially
with Joe Gaines, as the two stood by the
yard gate.
"Why, Deacon, !" said Joe; az always
| thought you liked Bob Humphrey
! He's a tip-top fellow, and good match
for any girl l know Of"
$50 he is, so he is" said the deacon.
"Can't say a word agin him. Knew
him from boy. Can't forbid him the
| house, or any of that sort of nonsense;
| but then he can't have Irene Wyer.u
II don't see how you'll help il, ttea-
con. YOU'RE only her guardian, and
she's about ofage."
Not for year yet. that's how the
will reads-and she's in my house, you
know. / guess l can az some things,
specially if you'll turn in and helpme.
You're lawyer, Joe Gaines but you're
4 young one yet, and III give you the
( fattest fee you ever dreamed of, If you'll
only hitch teams with me, and see that
Bob Humphrey don't get the upper
hand"
..Well if that's what you're after; so
its all right and square, I'd as lief earn
a fee one way as another. What's your
programme ?"
I "Well, you know, there's nigh on TO
thirty thousand dollars coming to
Irene Wyer, in her own right, and
I've took the best kind of Eeer of it
It's bin mighty sight of trouble, and
all along I've thought of my son
Scott"
Scott Pilsey?p interrupted joe
why he's in California;"
He won't be long. He's coming
home inside ofsix months, and want
TO keep Irene safe for him. They used
to be wonderful thick, and he writ to
her regular ever so long after he went
away, and. so she did to him"
do they correspond now" asked
Joe. etI
No, not now. There's the rub
That's one reason I'm looking SO sharp
after Bob. NoY, I want you to just
take hold and try and keep Bob off till
Scott gets back. 'Twont be long, and
Irene ain'tsuch bad company nohow."
" don't know, said Joe. "There's
| Maggie and her mother. / cou1dn't
be particularly attentive to Irene with
out their knowing if. And Bob Hum
phrey will be round most OF the time,
and it won't be long before have the
whole village talking the matter up"
Never mind that, Joe, never mind
that. tn be all right when Scott
gets home. III give you the biggest
kind of fee.u =
Well, deacon, y coolly replied the
young lawyer, Its a pretty tough
case, but I'll take it on one eondi-
ton"
What's that?'' TgS ~
Why, so long as it's only fun, and
all that, I'll go ahead; but if it seems
as if was doing any harm, anything
real bad, you know, L im to be at liber-
ty to back out"
Wen, / don't mind, SO long as you
let me know in time "
And so the deacon and the lawyer
discussed their plot to their satisfac.
ton, and when all was settled, the lat
ter took his way down the broad and
grass grown street of the village.
The old shark :" he muttered, as
he strolled leisurely along. What on
earth put it into his plotting old head
W pitch on me for his tool? He new
81 was more'n half decent to me be-
i Du ! reckon I'll earn my fee, but
riro oe iaIT and square with Bob Hum
nly. W hat would Irene say if she
hiac,, a,,oa vas Up? Wouldn't those
W., q "a hers strike firein
now lt happened that of late nm
known, perhaps, to the deacon there
had been growing up more tKs,, . IL
tie closeness of intimacy betwaa,, : Ia..
Gaines and Bob Humphreys and ~
ii was treachery to his friend as wa1S
as unfairness to the pretty heiress rs
which the young lawyer had aiIoweJ
himself to be bribed by the deacon,S
| promised fee.
A deep fellow was Joe Gaines, and
a marvellous manipulation of social af-
fairs. Again and again, as days and
weeks wentby, did Deacon PfIsey con-
graduate himself on his admirable Sc
lection, and ehuckIe In his Utmost be-
ing as he witnessed the well-contrived
success of .Joe's rnaneuvres. There
were picnics, and drives, and parties.
and entertainments of various kinds |
but in vain did Bob Humphrey invite /
or propose; the young lawyer was
sure 10 be beforehand with him, and II 1
almost seemed as If sweet, unassun1-
ing, quiet little Maggie Pilsey herself.
the deaeon's daughter, had Joined the
secret league against her friend Irene. /
so often was the same excuse devised
by which she was made to appear in
the latter's stead. =
Then, too, wore the home evenings at
the deacOn's house, when the subaemin-
II III n