The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1876-06-08

area-gate by Mr.. Perks shop-boy relative to
the invalid's progress; and at last, when the
roses began to appear on her cheeks, Mr..
Perks himself called. He blushed deeply
when he encountered the gaze Of cook, and
pleaded that he had given his boy holiday;
but cook was little bit too experienced to
be deceived by such an excuse as that.
She asked Mr.. Perks if he would not step
into the kitchen to rest himself just for few
minutes, at which the grocer hesitated; but
after desperate effort he followed his friend
down the area-steps. He had not expected
to see Susan, or Of course he would not have
come into the kitchen; but when he was fair
ly inside the door and saw her wasted form
enveloped in warm shawls before the fire he
could not retreat with dignity without speak
ing. just at thatmoment cook remembered
that there were some fowls to be dressed for
dinner, and that she must see about them
without delay; SO giving Mr.. Perks hearty
grip Of the hand, and informing him that he
knew his way out when he wanted to 90,
closing the door behind her, left the young
people alone.
It was very awkward and in their inner
most thoughts both considered cook stupid,
blundering thing.
The topic of the weather is soon exhausted,
and Perks delicacy would not allow him to
converse much about Susan's Illness, know
ing the causes that had led to it. So they sat
silently looking into the fire until Susan,
with her face suffused with bushes, said:
81 have for a long time been wanting to
confess to you that was in the wrong when
we quarreled, but have not had the courage
to do so. My illness has taught me much
among other things that ought to acknowl-
edge wrong when committed, and that
tn int f3CY,o 1v md
trusting heart. Mr.. Perks"
No, Susan, call me Tom. as you used to
do," interrupted Mr. Perks, his face glowing
with as much color as the flaming Goals into
which he gazed.
"well, then, Tom, if you wish it. I feel
you distress Of mind at the same time; but
am heartily sorry now, and want you to for
give me. VIII yonw
She raised her face as she concluded and
looked SO pleadingly at him that Tom Perks
felt big lump rise in his throat which rem
dered him speechlcss; but he seized her hand
and gave it so hearty shake that his fervor
ton.
"Tom," she added, when she had rccov-
cred little, "yOu warned me once against
making mistake. / was foolish girl then
and disdained your advice; had l been wise I
should have needed your words, for they have
proved only too true"
"But," gasped Mr. Perks, "mistakes may
be corrected, and it is never too late to mend.
Let US suppose the past eighteen months
have passed in q dream. In short, Susan. let
us be to each other as we were once. My
heart beats as warmly as ever for you. Will
it take me long, do you think, to regain your
love%
smile of happiness passed over Sussn's
face as she held forth her hand; and as he
eagerly grasped it, it really seemed as though
the past had been a dream, for even when
Kiddini'e influence was strongest upon her
there had always been lingering thought OF
Tom Perks in her memory; and now that he
was again by her side she experienced a
sense of peace to which she had long been
stranger.
How pleasant was the story told in Mr..
Jobbins' kitchen that autumn morning! And
yet twas an old tale. But whether whispered
under shady trees, in drawing room, attic or
cellar, it has the same interest as Of yore, and
ultil time itself shall cease will remain ever
fresh and dear.
The following year, when spring was laps
ing into summer, another wedding party set
out for the parish church; and this time there
was no interruption to the service nor OppO-
sition on the part of Mrs. Jobbins and her
daughters, who persistently expressed their
opinion that in marrying Mr.. Perks Susan had
indeed acted wisely. The f4O in the savings
bank was not required, and in that secure
depository the money remained for many
year afterward. f*S
As for Kiddini, he IS about the country
pursuing his profession, but Susan has never
seen him since the memorable occasion at
the church-porch, and save at Christmas
time, when her husband-now the owner of
three grocery establishments in the metrOp-
olis-takes herself and the children to see
pantomime, her thoughts never revert tn
harlequins or their associations.
Amid her prosperity Su IAN does not forget
her old acquaintances, and there is always
hearty welcome for cook whenever she likes
| to CALL Susan's sympathetic heart often
bleeds for her friend, who has married
house-painter, earning in his best times
| twenty-eight shillings per week, and who is
given to spending his wages In drink, and
then ill-treating his wife. Perhaps the time
| is'shOrtly at hand when cook will leave her.
husband and take up her abode permanent
| ly with the Perkses.
Thus Susan, after nearly committing an
act which would have wrecked her future,
has become transformed from the trimmest
housemaid to the happiest wife In the district
Of Bloomsbury.-Belgravia Annual.
In nothing has the advance Of practical
science been more clearly evidenced than
| in the extent to which substances formerly
wasted and lost are now reclaimed ard
made to constitute an important element
| in the profits of the manufacturer. One
Of these applications consists in the re-
covery of the soap-suds from the washings
of wool in woolen factories. These were
formerly allowed to run down the sewers
and into the streams, to the great pollution
of the latter; but in Bradford, in En-