The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1877-03-15

hap fn1l0 upon u'et ~, STR or J6ne
| dGht Mn ~ tKm1I11o0U Wolf Mo I'D
prowIod . nr1foW 1o1gD fcr ~ III 1vo
year,. We Saltod our cups e ehosity
06ered COLES With on ienrs, I'D wGfo
III y ~ ch1EQs Of ~ cokee hoepiln.
bly tf6<eS1 upoI hs. 4.
Nel6hbon ked u y 0lEse a5vicG
and consolation. and W Were foucn
By most gen6f0uS offts Of home I'D food
from esveFel, unfi1 Ne coold sslcok up Z
Whnef What eDuld 10 lookf@f Our
fonly hope ~ in ashe15 eur s0le posses
si0ns were entirely consumed
/ For three days We were numbed by de-
spairing sorrow. We, means the thzee
women. for Freddie seemed to look upon
the whole business a. & pleasurable
change in the monotony Of his existcnce.
He had not been 50 well fed-indeed, !
may say well stuffed--in ive years; for
all the neighbour called him In, whenever
he passed, 70 offer tid<bits. He had an
Eentire suit Of clothes that were out grown
| BY one Of the richer boys, and, fitting
Freddie, clothed him better than he had
been clothed since his father died, and,
best Of all, he took holiday, nobody hav-
ing sufficiently recovered their wits to
send him to school.
As soon as the ruins Of our home were
cold enough to admit Of visiting, parties
of boys began to dig in the ashes for half
burned property, and Freddiej narrowed
our sensitive feelings fifty times day by
rushing in with buttons, scraps Of meta,
and ruined treasures of every description.
Meta and summoned up sufficient en-
/ ergy on the third day to visit my en-
ployer, who agreed to take my sister for
. short time as q ealeswoman. We came
back to our temporary home, somewhat
encouraged, to find Brent had been there,
and fully enlisted mamma on his side.
While she was repeating .his argu-
ments, and Meta listened with smile Of
quiet happiness at her lovers consistency,
Freddie burst in.
Come, quick! quickp' he cried.
We've found a big iron box under the
chimnev-placel / can't lift it, it is SO
heavy. Oh, comep'
He fairly dragged mamma from her
seat, and hastily throwing shawl around
her, she followed him, Meta and myself
bringing up the rear.
| Truly enough. there was large box
under the chimney place, in hollow,
bricked all around, which had evidently
i AAesss tsAA OPSAAhS WC A0Q ACVCl SCCAs IL
was large and heavy, requiring the whole
force of the family to pull it from its
resting place, and carry it to the barn,
| where we put it down on the floor.
There was no key, but strong lock,
and, after due delibcration, we sent for a
Ratchet, and, by dint of much persever-
ance and strength, cut it open.
Within--as by that time we half-ex-
Dprtpd-yya fou,,d TTprlo se l. 90 4
| treasures. Bonds to the amount of G1O,.
900, e120 In gold, case of uncut gems
not very valuable; package of private
letters, an old-fashioned watch and chain,
and miniature portrait of lady, open
ing out field for our speculations as to
some romance of the past we had never
| suspected in our uncle's life.
There was no one to dispute our moth
er's claim to the property, all safely de-
posted in bank before sunset, and our
troubles seemed at last to be over.
John Ellis, whom hate most cordially,
and shall while live, called upon man.
ma in few days, and most gracefully
withdrew his opposition to his sons mar.
| riage. We took his condescension for ex.
acuy what it was worth, but were more
than happy at the thought of rewarding
Brent's faithful love.
Our new house, built upon the site of
the old one, is but roomy two-storv cot
tage. but home like and cozy, and our
house-warming was the wedding of Brent
and Meta, where Freddie and OBLIGATED
as groomsman and bridesmaid, and dear
mamma seemed to throw off twenty years
of her age when she put on a lavender
silk dress and wound her heavy hair in a
| pArnnQt hav hpad in. ~ r.,