Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1876-01-21

mood that made her shake her head at the
three figures in the window.

/ mood that made her shake her head at th
three figures in the window.
ooh, there you are I only wish coul
recover the sum your frames cost me. Oh
masters, forsooth!"
The pictures were small and dark, as i
some shadow obscured their original mean
ing, even as brambles and moss might hav'
overgrown the artists grave. The SUI
shot golden arrow in the window as Mrs
Bamber paused, and illuminated the din
canvas Perhaps the radiance of revela
tion reached her soul in that glimpse, how
family, the CLEAN of an angels wing cleav.
| ing the sky, the wonder of the Virgins
upturned face; but the sunset faded, and
temptation of the garish frames ''Some
papish trash" she soliloquized. "W hat.
eyer possessed NE to get 'em new frames
I shall never see the money back, I'll be
/ bound ! I'm sure I would be thankful to
get twenty-five dollars apiece, allowing
twenty for the frames; and / suppose the
pictures are worth five. If they amount
: to anything. Nobody would give that
though
A year before, the shop bell had brought
Mrs. Bamber from her supper to the cor.
temptation of thin, cadaverous stranger
of the brigand type, wrapped in a cloak
| and with broad hat drawn over his brows
The man was faint with cold, and coughed
IoJof,,lIu. l,o bod M N, opov opd M fr;opdc
MRS. Bamber was not the person to send
away such waif' emptyhanded. She
placed him before the fire in her own tiny
kitchen, and made Nanny, her small hand
maiden, serve him with hot tea; she wrote
note to the clergyman. who dispensed
charity, to find a lodging; and she finally
dispatched him with bottle of Bamber' s
Drops as gift. The stranger fingered in
the garnet furnished him, reserved, trifle
sinister, and only known to smile when
Mrs. Bamber preached to him in q Ian
guage which he but imperfectly under
stood.
There came day in rude March. when
many leaves drop from the tree Of life,
UiidU UIlG lOIClS1Cl OCllU LII MID DdIiOCI3
bequeathing to her solemnly three small
pictures set in carved wood.
"They are worth their weight in gold, -
he whispered, and turned his inscrutable
face-in which there fingered a triumph to
the end-to the wall.
Mrs. Bamber had shed few tears, and
oorr;oI bar ~; l,o, o.,,t lonely IF CHI q
held some explosive projectile. The clergy
man surveyed the pictures through his
spectacles, and chilled the possessor's en-
thusiasm somewhat by expressing pre-
ference for engravings. Herecommended
replacing the quaint olive-wood frames
with new ones, and exposing them for sale
in the window. Clergymen are not always
the best financial advisers. Mrs. Bamber'S
face grew very long when she saw the fra
mer's bill. Stoneport was skeptical of
these daubs; besides; the widow asked d
fabulous price for them. Stoneport knew
a chrome and d landscape full of lively
coloring, but such dismal things were not
to his taste.
The last night of the year closed in sad
ly. Mrs. Bamber sat long before the Morn
ing-glory stove in the parlor back of the
shop, slipping her tea, in which beverage
alone lay consolation. A portrait of DR..
Bamber, representing him as d somewhat
wall-eyed gentleman, hung above her, and
opposite cabinet displayed among other
relics several skulls prepared by the la
mented Archibald Her thoughts went
where she had landed with her husband !,
who had been injured by q fall on the voy-
age. The sense of desolate inconsistencies
again swept over her now, twelve years
later, and a gentleman with a good-humor-
ed, rosy face spoke to her kindly. Could
she ever forget that this Samaritan was
Dr.. Platt, of Stoneport, now gone to his
reward? He had asked but few questions,
but had brought the friendless chemist to
his own towr. and established him in bust
ness. No one knew the cost of it all. 1t
was not the good physicians way to make
his charity burden. Mrs. Bamber wiped
her eyes as she slipped her tea by the stove'
and the night closed in.
Up on the hill, the old Platt homestead
was shrouded in gloom, and revealed only
one dim light in the dining-room. 1t was
brick house, with white pillars support
ing projecting roof, shaded in summer
by large trees, and seemed in the clear,
crisp evening surrounded by tender memo
ries. Now it was all to be swept away,
for the doctors purse had been eyer open,
and he had left wife and son iii straight
ened circumstances. The lovers stood in
the window, hand clasped in hand, as if
claiming silent mutual support; while
Mrs. Platt, a stout lady with querulous
mouth, wandered from room to room ga
zing at her precious household gods.
EsEven little Mrs. Bamber owns the root
over her.head, and all owing to the doc
tor" said the poor lady, taking up a IA
vorite tea cup with loving touch.
The young son set his teeth and drew
long breath. Charlotte could only lean
her head against the cold pane If they
knew all! The night brought sorrow, but
the ensuing day was only anticipated with
dread.
Hiram briggs made himself comfortable
on the yellow satin couch of his little par
lor, with decanter Of wine at his elbow
and cigar. If conscience is matter OF
education he should have been wholly at
ease; but there had been an expression In
Charlotte Eaton's eyes as she departed
that day which pricked him smartly even
in remembrance. This look he might new
er forget. The wonderful backward
glance of a Cenci haunts the world. Loung
ing on the yellow sofa, he reasoned him
self out of these fancies. He would gain
at cheap rate a fine home. DIR. Platt was
reckless spendthrift in his day, and his
creditors need not be blamed for that. Al
for Charlotte. he might make terms will