The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1877-03-28
OUR TREASURE.


fully served, nor SO thoroughly well salts
fed as now. Every one told lis that we
had a treasure" and her very manner OF
opening the door to visitor was be.
witching; while grocers' young men and
the milk man and butcher seemed tc
]inger entranced when they came to de-
liver their wares. Mary took their com
pliments calmly, and had a ready smile
for them all, without departing from the
quiet dignity of her ways, and we felt no
shadow of coming evil, until matters be-
gan to look serious with the one-armed
postman.
This same postman had delivered our
letters regularly for the last two years,
always in the same business like way,
never lingering for moment, never by
any possibility smiling or exchanging a
word with either of us, and yet we look
ed. upon him quite in the light of a
friend, and speculated about his history,
as lonely women will about those with
whom they come in contact. He had
been in the army and had lost an arm
this was all we knew about him, except
that he was evidenly German, and
quite good looking-not to say scholarly
in his aspect.
"Were you aware" asked Brunhilda
one morning, that Miss Murphy speaks
German ?"'
"Speaks German p I repeated, in
amazement. "And pray how did you
find it out p
"By hearing her address the postman
in that tongue, was the reply.
81 shall nip this in the bud" said I,
severely. But presently better thoughts
came to me. I remembered my own
youth, and I remembered Crawford.
where Miss Matte, after the death of an
oil lover, softens to Martha and allows
followers.
A week or two passed, and I was at
tending to my preserves one day in the
kitchen-it was pleasure to do any
thing in Mary's kitchen, everything
looked so Immediately clean, almost
poctical, I thought-and l approached
the subject uppermost i'll my mind by
saying, carelessly:
$50, Mary, you know German, it
seems. How does that happen?
Marys pretty face was oversprcad by
q rosy cloud as she replied, in q low
tone: Il picked it up myself. I had
some German books once"
Then she sat down and cried, very
much to my bewilderment; and present
ly she exclaimed: '-I should like to
tell you something, Miss Darlingford;
I shall feel better when you know all. "
~ hope" said I, with vague expec-
tation of dreadful developments, " that
,'all is not very bad, Mary %
The flush deepened on the pretty face,
but for answer she took from her bosom
black ribbon to which was fastened a
plain gold ring. I dropped my preserves
in amazement; the girl looked SO
young.
"You are widow, then?" said I,
with feeling of tender pity. "Poor
child
81 don't know whether am or not, "
was the reply, with a fresh burst of
tears, "and that is what troubles me
3d."
turned to my preserves again, with a
smile, as [ thought of the good looking
German postman.
"NIiss Darhngford, continued the
girl, more composedly, 81 want to tell
you everything, and am solry now that
didn't do this at first. But L felt that
it would be against me, and had to get
place. have boy six years old y
"In the name Of WONDER" / eXclaim-
ed, chow old are you yourself?"
"I am twenty-five" she said, little
proudly; "and Mr.. Blumenthal prom
ises to take care of Willie; he wants me
to let him pay his board now"
Here I sat down hard in chair to col
lect myself. People have other things
besides greatness thrust upon them; and
I saw that I was destined to prove most
unwilling benefactress to the one-arme1
postman. Why is it, I thought, bitterly,
that if one ever does happen upon that
rari avis, O model servant, all the pow
ers of darkness seem leagued together to
spirit her away?
"Where is your child?" asked, with
strong effort.
"I have put him to board little way
out of town." replied the girl, sadly.
"He is with friend of mine, who takes
good care of him; and l always 60 to
see him on my afternoons out; but I do
miss him so %
And here she broke down agan.
"But what does it all mean?" con-
tinued, for my sympathies were getting
dreadfrlly worked upon. "Why are
you not living with your husband, if he
is alive? or why do you not know it il he
is dead? Just tell me the whole story,
Mary, from beginning to end
At this point Brunhilda, who always
scents q romance from afar, appeared
upon the scene. and gracefully estab-
lshed herself upon the kitchen dresser.
"Seven years ago." said Mary, "whcn
I married William Murphy, [ thought
there was no one like him in the world;
and I should think SO yet if he hadn' t
nearly worried the life cut of nc. But
I shall always believe that his mother
was to blame for it all. She was that
jealous of Will that it sometimes seemed
as if she would like to scratch my eyes
out. We lived with the old people for a
year or two; but after little Willie was
born I had no peace at all for his grand
mother, who insisted on having her way
with him, and naturally thought that I
had right to mine.
"The old. people had money, and
lived very comfortably, and Will and his
father carried on coal yard together;
but Will fell into bad company, and took
to drinking, and his father and mother
were 80 bitter toward him, it drove him
to desperation. You see, they were peo-
pie who had always been respected, and
they. couldn't bear the disgrace; and
many's the night I've sat up watching for
viii, so that they shouldn't know when
he came in. taught myself German,
by way of amusement, on those lonely
eveninrs Some one gave the books to