The true northerner., 1875-01-08

OndTleb DhuRnUOD uTeW IrOIu his
pocket the shabby pocket book, and
knotting it fast to the string of the
package of toys and candies he carried,
put it before the door of the room.
Mattie's weak voice greeted him as he
stopped, saying:
"God will provide, mother -
A rap at the door startled both
women, but the widow, candle in hand,
opened it at once. Nobody greeted
her, for Charles Haughton was hidden
behind a curve in the wall, but her foot
struck the bundle and she looked down.
With a cry of Joy that thrilled the
heart of the hidden listener, she lifted
IL, saying:
Matte Matte it is here -
Your money, mother ?"
"My pocket book-tied to bundle -
"In her excitement she left the door
open, and from his hidden place her
old lover could see and recognize her.
She was very thin and pale, and her
hair was thickly strewn with gray, but
it was the shadow of the face he had
loved twenty years before. The open
door showed him the wretched room,
the two children asleep upon a mattress
upon the floor, and the pallid woman
upon the bed.
With trembling fingers the mother
and daughter united the pocket-book.
cit is all here, Matte" the mother
cried, "and folded paper Matte
Hill, from an old friend, and inside |!
am L awake Matte it can't be true.
A hundred dollar BILL"
Mother T.
cit is here-look Now, Matte,
you shall have fire at night, blanket,
and some nourishing food. You will
get well, Matte p
And here happy sobs came too fast
for words. Matte drew her mother
into close embrace.
"Come, you forget your bundle, I"
she said gently. "Oh, only look, Ed
dy's ball, and such a beauty A doll
for Minnie, and lovely one, too top
and tea set And pounds of candy -
Then a violent fit of coughing re-
minded the mother of the open door,
and Charles Haughton, shut out in the
dark, crept softly down the stairs, full
of kindly resolutions. Before he had
reached home, several stores had had
call from him, with orders for the NOR
row, and he bent over his own sleeping
darlings with heart happier for the
evenings work.
1t was long after midnight when Mrs.
Hill, still wondering who her "old
friend" could be, lay down to sleep,
only to rise at dawn half afraid her hap
piness was all dream.
Before the breakfast was over, while
Minnie watched her doll, and Eddy
held his ball fast in his hand, the neigh
bors wondered if the Hills had come
into fortune.
For, first of all, a ton of coal was
dumped into the widows coal box, with
a load of wood for company. Mr.. Hart
sent in supply of groceries that seemed
inexhaustible. A dry goods wagon
brought pair of warm blankets, rolls
of cotton and flannel, shawls and q
great square of thick, warm carpet. A
market basket was left with an enormous
goose, oysters, celery, oranges, grapes,
jellies and other good things too numer-
GUS to mention. Ard last of all, q
wagon brought sewing machine,
marked like the note, From an old
friend"
No need to touch the note, which
Matte put aside carefully for rainy
day.
Matte, conforted and cheered by
this sudden influx of plenty, rallied
little by little, gaining strength in the
well warmed room, with good food aud
an ease of mind long stranger to her.
Nobody knew the story of the old
pocket-book, and Matte did not guess
who sent her such noble New Years
gifts but the rich merchant finds no
happier thought in his record of the
year than the generous act that opened
it, and the memory of Mattie's happy
face and voice as he last saw them from
the dark entry of her dwelling-house.