The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1878-07-04

mef,. IL nothIng happened. a Hz4T zfH
Something did happen. It will hap
pen to all of us some time! Aunt Mar
tha had not expected it so soon, and
none OF her relatives had thought of her
dying for years to- comet But the caIl
came for her suddenly, and she went
away in the darkness of a winter night,
and there was no coming back Ifroala
journey like hers.
Ruth and her mother were 'at the
funeral. The lawyer invited all the
relatives to tarry to, the reading of her
will. That had been her request. 81 aas.
4 'To her dear nephew j ohm Hunt, she
gave the sum of thirty THOUSAND dollars.
to her dear niece, Ruth 'Gerfish, she
gave her Bible, with all the papers
therein contained. That was the sum
and substance of the docuiment. 'atA
Ruth took her legacy, which was found
in AuntsMartha' room, securely tied up
in a thick wrapper, with her name upon
it, as the win stated, and they went
back home
"I wonder riwho has the homestead e'H
said, Mrs. Gerrish, that evening. stsAnl
the property willed to John was in bonds.
and notes prs ~A s5|ANcs g. zsf* u esRh Z ~
Rodney, Craig came in, and Ruth
brought out her legacy to show him,
She reindved the wrapper, and they sat
down, together to look the well worni
Bible over. A paper fiuttered to the
floor. Ruth pick edit up and read: ''siii
MY DEAR NIEcE,RUrH:. / believe that
the woman VINO is true to the man she loves,
even if he is ponr and hasn't but one arm,
is an honor. TO her sex, Ii YOU had been
willing to marry john, and give up Your
lover, | should have despised you. As it
is, respect y 0u, and as token Of my ne
speet | givesyou this old Bible and all you
viii 1fid it, and pray that you viii be
happy, as you deserve to be. 3
,T6tIS ~ 10 g MkRsfIfA FIELpIN CT Il
Then, of course, Ruth had to tell Rod
ney all about it. She had told her
mother before How his eyes shone'
when he knew the sacrifice she had
made for his sstke. And he said some.
thing about it inf q broken voice = but
she stopped him., L.
ssI madeno Sacrifice atialf," she said !
II didn't do it for yonr sake, eitherssIIII
did it for Lore's sake"
itThe Bible Slipped from his kHessto
the floor, and several documents slipr
ped oussupon the carpet. He picked
them up to replace them. Rnthotdak
them from his hand to examine them. :,
"a 0 mother!- Rednayttr she cried ,ex-
citedly, ss,'tbey're desdst 'n'T9 f@uuaf4
And, sure enough, they were! The
old homestead in the village, and the!
farm, mile or two away, were leftrto
'srav dear niece, ,0Ruth Gerrish," and
Aunt Mastha had had the deeds made
OUT before her death A slip of paper
wrapped abeut them said thatcMri Jef-i
sfreys, her Lawyer, seould tell Ruth. any
thing she wanted TO know about the
property 9 She. could take possessionsat
saoh, we'ree ,r4iSchfaac cried Ruth, Wifi
happy eyes. t..Deari Aunt Marthat Her.
heart was kinder than any of us thought,
/ hone she knowsi all about it, is1fi siiel
does, I'm sure she isn't sorry fer5 what at
she's done. -
ssIt never rains but it, ,poursa,li Next
day came a letter, TO Rodney from the
publisher of The Spaper III the village
where; Aunt Martha'' s nhome. had been.
He wanted some. one to. take the posi-
ition1of editor, atf te a6efal salary, con-
sidering the, ampupt of work to, be doneE
Miss Martha Fielding fiad advised him,
some time ago . to9offer the position to
him.; Would be eonae, up and talk the
matter over p "0'N shaic "*
Rodney oweht, and so did Ruth and
~her mother. And they are living there
now, much happier, ISthfhk, than 5they
would baye been il Rodney had TAX ca
the cferkship, which appointmIle,nt. came
.when;it was no longer neededd I" And
Aunt Martha is not forgotten, you may
sbe dhite stire.-Ebest E..' RetJorid, IN fss
Domestic iKaathlg.3 s1B 8I98i ~
Il S. gs3Ii5w 5TSd ETs5ii bi1c