American citizen., 1873-08-09
VOL. XXIU.
AN ANTIQUE VASE.
BY MAMIE A. HEPwoRTH.

MY dear, it exceeds anything | eve
knew in the way of extravaganza. If MI
Rogers is allowed to do so, he will rs
Suredly lose his influence; it is SO incon
sistent, and "a minister should be especial
" careful of his reputation. | called a
Mrs. Pratt's on my way home, and whel
| told her about it, she suggested writin.
him an anonymous letter. You know
| she's president of our sewing society, ant
says she won't make her eyes ache stitch
ing for any parson or his family while h,
can afford to spend money like that sh,
thinks he'd better hire Il seamstresS! why
it will be the talk of the town. I've
mind to see two or three of the ladies' Jus
TO get their opinion about the MATTER
and Mrs. John Lester paused for breatl
while she handed her husband a cup o
tea that looked most inviting served il
the delicate china which had been hel
last Christmas gift.
The evening was warm. but through the
open windows came the fresh country air
| sweet with the fragrance of the clematis
that shaded the west end of the piazza
| Every surrounding of the supper-roonl
| spoke of ease and luxury. Mr. Lester for
got the close business office; forgot the
| dust and filth and noise of the city when
he drove into the little village where he
had made his summer residence. Hard
| work had brought him fortune, and
when he married his partners handsome
| and wealthy daughter, the world counted
him as one of the happiest of men. Yet
| the worlds judgment is often wrong, and
| well for some of us that its standard of
| happiness lies beyond our reach, else we
might labor to catch the glittering bauble,
and after heart and hands and feet were
| bruised and bleeding in the search, grasp
| it but moment, to find it only-gold.
John Lester was a man in the highest
sense of the word. He held his influence
in the village, for he was generous of man.
ner as well as means, and rich and poor
alike respected him. He who seeth not as
man seeth, who looketh not on the out
ward appearance, Judged which was the
noble act-the donation of a thousand dol
lars toward the new church, or the hearty
Good evening, Tony" which always
made the coachman's dark face Tighten
with smile. Tony had a sunstroke one
season. When the fever was raging, and
Eunice, his young mulatto wife, could not
control the strong, excited frame, Mr..
Lester staid all night by the coachman's
bedside. Did Tony ever forget MatP
Mrs. Lester was an estimable lady. Her
husband loved her, for he was too honest a
man to have married for any other cause.
She, too, had a power among the village
folks, but it was the power which money
gains. She was courted and quoted; and
perhaps lame Teddy, the washerwoman's
boy, gave the correct reason for it when he
questioned, Mamma, isn't Mrs. Testers
teapot tiH of pennies ~
Poor Teddy. On the top shelf of their
one closet stood a useless teapot, the re-
ceptacle of each occasional spare cent.
The child's acme of happiness centered in
IA chair which he could wheel himself,
and his faith in the teapot increased with
every addition to its contents. 1t took a
long time to cover the bottom, and the
coins did not yet bes in to reach the hole
where the spout ought to have been.
There was something most touchingin his
wanting the one five cent piece given
him by his old grandmother changed into
pennies, because they would "help fill up
sooner" And Teddy lay back on the
lounge as the Lester barouche passed by
the tenement house, and wondered if it
would not seem just like Heaven to rest
against those soft cushions and look right
up into the blue sky instead of getting a
peep of it through the small window, for
the poor boy spent many wearisome day
alone.
Mr. Lester had been glancing over the
evening paper, and dropping it to take
his tea, became conscious that his wife
had been addressing him.
"What is it, Edith? You are extrava-
giant, and everybody is saying So"
Il extravagant, Mr.. Lester! and I've
only had two silks this summer! BY the
way, don't forget my check for two hun
dred in the morning; I'm going in to the
city. What was l talking about? Just
this, l called at the parsonage this after |
noon; one of the ladies tries to go in every |
day to look round a trifle. Mrs. Rogers is |
young and needs advice, though she won't |
always take it Why, she had her shades |
drawn up to the top of the sash when Mrs. |
Hill was there the other morning, and |
when demonstrated with upon the plea
that sun would fade her new Brussels, ac-
tually said she must have light, whether
the shades have been up exactly the same
every day since. Very good sense you
think Mrs. Rogers has? and is that all l
have to say? Oh! no; but the beginning
Of the remainder. While / was waiting
for the minister's wife, | noticed in cor
ner of the parlOr something new-an an
Lique vase, as curious as beautiful. 1t
must have cost 50 very much, and the
bracket that held it was elegantly carved
by hand; we have not a more expensive
piece of workmanship in our whole house
Certainly, my dear; I've no fault to find
with her having all she can get, but it is
with the giver. The idea of Mr. Rogers
ioing anything as extravagant as that!''
Mr.. Lester had become accustomed to
MS wife's volubility. Sometimes he qui-
etly listened, sometimes argued, and at
others tried to check the disposition to-
ward gossip which so evidently ruled her,
md was increasing rather than diminish
ng. Just now he wondered if all women
,eally were like his Edith-certainly not
rs handsome and no one could grace
able well as she. Even now, as she
sat talking, there was charm about the
tipping of the dainty cup. Surely he was,
md ought to be, proud of her; yet there
was not the rest he needed in the talk with
which he was being entertained, far
ample of each evenings experience.
Knowing but little of her sex, he ques-
ioned if all women found pleasure in so
criticising their neighbors. He
lad no sisters; his mother died when he
vas boy, and boarding school, college,
md hotel life ill-servtd to show him wo-
nan as she is when worthy of the name
he bears. John Lester had anticipated
laving a home. Had his ideal been too
beautiful? He had asked for wife Had
he found the one he wanted?
The parsonage! And with the thought
If 1t he queried within himself if the
modest little wife were season.
ng her husbands supper with comments
lpon their parishioners. No; he was
ure not. The night -he sat up with Tony
Yrs. Rogers had brought some jelly to the
ick man, and he was very certain that the
weet voice which had comforted Eunice,
that any one heard it, could
ever say ill against another. With the
isioH of the little woman came a resolve
D be more of man than he ever had been.
Ie would not longer sit at his own table
nd allow his neighbors to be slandered
yhen they were above rcprOach.