Wilmington daily gazette., 1873-08-06
DAILY GAZETTE.
How the Mortgage was Redeemed

say himself, always prominent figure anV-
Wnere, from his tall, muscular form, bold. res
o oiuts taSe. AT his right, their elbows leaned
VI. ING CaDie, Whereupon lay whiting materials
with sundry folded and crossed napefs' sat
TWO men, one of them idly toying with a nen
Whlch ne held in his hand, He was a sli9ht.
uarK,sKlnned man, with short bushy hair and
Wnis9ersEthe latter of the mutton-chop stvle
--and Doth OF them OF the color denoninated
as pepper and salt He had brioht olert
race ana clear, blush grey eyes. and his name
law. "'OoinoS-"'-
Inc man at his side offered the strongest
possible contrast lie was tall and loosely
AHllt with slight stoop in his heavy sfonI.
ders. He had florld complexion, with small.
SleePylOOking pale blue eyes a heardless face
ana long, lank, sandy hair pushed behind his
eaIs'sald ears being modelled on a generous
pan, as regarded size, and If may use the
expression placed In the most favorable nossI-
BE light t9 show adyantageonsly. And as he
carried MS head little down, they gave him
Tue appearance Of listening coyertIv without
appearing Interested. This mans name was
MH.Soni,EAmQs mos Wilson, and though you might
NOT tnlhk IL from his dress or general appear
anee, he was rich man. mean, Of course.
Tich IOr MS locality. He might not have been
Ilcn IN new ork, bat for Dalton, q small Wes-
tern township, he was a perfect Cresus
hesldes those, there was a small colony Of
pt whom, pretty Della Lindsay, stood behind
IVY mother's chair her arm thrown over her
99uioglueI ~ pretty, protecting way. Mrs.
ih;..4HSay il,.4,, hau Deen an Invalid since Harry's
yntl, Iour years, and Della was practically at
.lo ,i,Ia nSau OF tne household. 1t was, moreover
NO lHnG Thing to be at the head OF the hOuse-
nolh. There were beside herself, seven child
fsn, ,n1I1kEIng' with her father and mother, and
faul Leicester, who had been with her father
Toe tAe summer, just eleven in the family
sn seSHeu udS g tp!s was the care Of dozen cows
Ahu 1dded to that the fact that the state of
their finances would not admit of their keep
ng servant. And this question of finances
Drings me to the real subject of my story.
ouIl excuse me, Wilson, for being little
doYn-hearted about this thing" Mr.. Lindsay
Rs wHa Q faint depreeaHng emile, ~
geealss Ilke signing away my hearts bl6od to
give stranger d claim on the old homestead. Z"
slow red burned itself through Amos VIII
sons cheek. wish you wouldn't speak of
me as stranger he said hastily, with an in
voluntary glance at Della, which no one but
faul Leicester saw.
meant any one not relative, Mr.. VIII
sqn, replied Lindsay, soberly. "YoH know
mad hope of help from my cousin in New
Vneans. ! mentioned it to you,'
fully.
."Well, the fact that have applied to you
shows that hOpo has failed me, and so we'li
say nothing more about 1t. Perhaps you had
HeEeeF wrlte the deed now, Mr.. Sel4On.H u
Mr Seldom bowed pleasantly, dipped his
pen lnthe ink, and for while the faint
scTagcn OF the pen on the paper, and the loud
ticking of the kitchen clock, were the only
sounds in the house. ErT,4
Mr.. Lindsay leanedhis face on his hand and
looked steadily to the floor, the slight tWitch-
ing pI the muscles about tie mouth being the
only Sign OF emotion one could discover Mrs.
Lindsay. white and still as a statue, her facv
Slntles dropping, say few feet 10 the left OF
her husband, while Della retained her oldposl-
tlOn Dy her mothers chair, a troubled shadow
IN her soft brown eyes, and over the sweet
young face. Harry, aWed and perpleXed, hid
his face IN the folds of her dress. while in q
group at the open window were gathered the
rest of the childfdny
How unnaturaliy still 1t was. How in con-
frast to the freshness and brightness of the
SKY and airI Looking from the open windows
one saw long reaches of softly undnlati1g
prairie bathed in tho golden light, while away
to the right, blue, sparkling river BentInel9d
with cOtt0awoOdS and, sycamOres. and over
hung with pale, translucent mists, flashed and
rippled between its VelYety banks. s.
No wonder Dean Lindsay shrank from the
thought Of his fair heritage being c0mpromis-
ed, bu ttiero was no help for It, and he had
got to make up his mind to think of 1t as no
longer his, but rs subject to Amos Wilson's
authority, He could Hardly keep from groan-
Ing aloud aS'he ran over his mind the half
score or more of fine farms belonging to Viii
son, all of which had first been mOrtgaged to
him, as his was being now, to raise the neces-
sary money to keep them from being given up
altogether. And then Oheafter the other,
they had been given up, and Amos wilson was
the poss0ssOr.t Would hisg0in the same way?
Would there be few years Ofstruggle with i'll
luck-blight and drought, and mlldew--and
then his children be homeless He started
With Q nervous shpdder and glanced up
Amos Wilson was leaning a little forward,
looking steadily at Della, with strange fire
lightning his sleepy eyes, ~ t3.
THE deed Is ready for your signature /; Mr.
Lindsay Seldom said, brlskiy, "yOurs and
His voice broke the weird spell which had
seemed to hold them, and Paul Leicester got
up from his seat by the kitchen dOor, and came
aud stood by the table while the deed was sign
ed, and the money, seven hundred dollars,
counted and given to Mr.. Lindsay, who, In
turn handed over the mortgage Of the hpme-
stead to Mr. Wilson. Then he turned abrupt
ly and went out. Mr.. Seldom looked after
him with his quick, bright eyes, but no one
else appeared to notice It as being anything
unusual that hired man should intTude his
presence on such an OCCASION
And now that business over, will take the
opportunity of saying word about this same
Paul Leicester. aeas et Cs
First, he was stranger in Dalton; that is
he had been there but little over two months
having come early in April. He had seemed
so anxious for employment, and offered to-
work SO cheaply, withal, and upon such easy
tearms-not asking for payment until Snrlst-
take him, BE cOnld not work the large farm
alone, and was especially anxious to do a
good deal this seasoa, to try and recover him
self.
MT. Leicester was not very much used to
farm, it was quite evident, but ne was SO ready
to learn, and so quiet and persistent about
everything he undertook, that Mr. Lindsay
was delighted with his bargain, He was ex-