Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1874-01-29
ANNIE BELL.
by MARIA j. MACINTC

by MARIA j. MACINTOSH
WHEN John Bell, the old merchant, re-
tired upon capital Of one hundred thou
sand dollars, the people of his native
town thought him a man of almost mex
haustible wealth, for those were times
in which men lived comfortably on an
income of twenty-five hundred dollars,
and luxuriously on one OF five thousand.
John Bell was an old fashioned man. He
had carried conscience into his business,
and, what was perhaps more remarkable,
he had brought conscience out Of 1t.
He knew that he was called Honest
John Bell" and he priced the title more
than he did his wealth--far more than he
would have done the prefix honorable TO
his name, won as he knew that title too
often is by chicanery and intrigue. John
Bell was still hale man of middle age
when he withdrew TO the town of E.,
in New Hampshire, with son sixteen
years old and daughter only eight.
That son was the unsupported cause of
his pausing in the full course of success
full trade, sitting the promptings of am
btion and the eager strivings of an active
nature, and settling himself down to the
stiffness OF country town within sight
of the house In which he had been born,
and the academy in which he had re-
ceived his education. To the great NOR.
LITIGATION of his more aspiring son, the
name OF Robert Bell was now placed on the
rolls of this same academy. To the re-
monstrances of the young gentleman,
who having declined a collegiate course,
and entered the counting,house of a New
York merchant two years before, consid-
cred himself as already In the class of
men, and beyond schools, the father re-
piled:
~ put you there, hoping that 1t may not
be tos late for you TO unlearn some things
that your New York associations have
taught you. If / could only see you y
boy again, should be happy indeedp'
This could not be. The shadow went
not back upon the dial-plate for Robert
Bell A boy in years, he was man In
heart; his strongest desire, to have u clear
field for the exercise of his powers.
my father was only shopkeepcr," he
said 10 his wondering sister, ~ will be
the Napoleon among merchants. A hun.
dred thousand! 1t may do to vegetate
upon in country town, but that will not
do for me. | shall he millionaire, and
then, Annie, will send for my pretty
sister to preside over the most luxurious
establishment in New York"
Such were the dreams of the boy
dreams excited by the silly boasts of his
companions at school, and by the flatter-
ing homage which he saw paid to wealth,
even by those who were reputed wise and
good men. John Bell had hoped, In trans
ferring his home to a country-town, that
It's unsophisticated society, its simple
pleasures and natural modes of living,
would restore to his son the freshness of
his boyhood. But, ere the five years were
passed which lay between Roberts re-
moval to F. and his majority, the
father saw that this could not be, and,
weary of the sullen discomfort of his son,
and fearful of Its influence on the happi-
ness of his pet Annie, he sent the boy. at
eighteen, to New York, consigning him
to the care of an old friend who was doing
very large business in Wall street as q
banker and broker.
Years passed by, bringing nothing but
good to the merchants home, where
Annie Bell grew like some fair young
flower, gathering sweetness and bright
ness from all around her. There
was sunshine In the ripples Of her
golden hair, sunshine In her dimpled
smiles. No fairy dancing in greenwood
shades ever moved more lightly; no bird
eftT CuOlCu ulOTc bWcctly. Anu Uc-
meath all this lightness lay woman's
thoughtful tenderness and a rare strength
of principle. Robert Bel made an an.
nual visit at Christmas to his father,
bringing Annie costly presents, and his
father such letters from his old friend as
made him forget his fears, and rejoice In
his sons ability and success.
When Annie was eighteen, and Robert
twenty-six, John Bell died-died sudden.
", having failed to do what he had often
called other men fools for not doing--to
make will. 1t was of little consequence
people said; he would have left all to
his children, of course, and Robert will
take care Of Annie's portion as well as
his own.
Poor Anniel She struggled to BE-
calm, but the brightness was all
gone as she saw the dear old
home dismantled, the familiar things
hallowed by the touch of the hand she
had loved so tenderly, thrown aside value
less, or borne away as the property O
strangers. But she was young, and life
again grew bright for her In Roberts
home in the city--a home over which q
fashionable, wife presided, and where
there was luxury and display quite new
to our simple Annie. !.
"Why, Robert, how rich you must be =
as she gazed around rooms rich with bro
cadc and velvet, and dazzling with
ormulu, and whose walls we're hung with