Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1878-07-31
UNLUCKY ANTHONY.
~ MARY KYLRR DALLAS,

w'yo nothing to leave you but my
Bible, my child, said Aunt Dorothy,
MS she lay upon her death bed, to her
nephew, who sat beside her, "lve
told 'cm 80, and they told ne they
didn't care Tor shabby old books, be
they Bibles or whatever so I've
wrapped II up for yon, and jest you
take it claspcd aud locked az II Is,
and keepit to remember me by. They
say the house and farm must be sold
to pay your poor unclc's debts. The
things that were mine Of course they
came to be his when | married HIM,
1t seems kind Of n pity ! did il now (;
but you know ! couldn't know he'd
drink and gamble so, and run off after
all with Sally Sparck-nothing but q
servant gal, the bold creature. But,
to be sure, he came back to die, and
aud was mighty patient. It's nursing
him has killed me. And he was hand
some, and folks kept saying Dorothy
Double was going to be sn old maid.
"Take the Biblo,' said Aunt Doro-
thy, "and put it in your trunk. The
births and deaths of all the family are
writin it-away back to your great
great. .gran'ther Double, down to little
Cilly that died last year at two months
old. You can write in my death arter a
while. Now 60 and put in your trunk
and read it through once at least
Now, Two dono all I oan for yon."
That night Dorothy Double died.
and her husbands creditors, who had
held their hands so that the old wo-
man might breathe her last under her
old homestead roof, came down npon
the property, and Anthony Double,
her grand nephew, left the home OF
his childhood with nothing but the
scanty wardrobe he possessed--that
and the old calf.bound Bible, which
he had opened once at the fiy'leaves
to record his aunt's death.
He was not a Bible reader, this
poor Anthony. Year after year pass
ed by, and he struggled on making a
poor battle with the world. Ten
years passed away, and he occasional
ly said, 'Ill have to read Aunt Doro-
thy's Bible through.;" and once he
took it out for the purpose of begin
ing it, but something was the matter
with the wick of his lamp; it would
not burn well, and so he went to bed
instead.
Again the Bible lay in his trunk for
an indefinite time. lie was man OF
thity five when he fell in love with
Lizzie Lee, the pretty daughter of his
master, the carpenter. Then for a
while he became hopful and energetic.
He worked hard, had a few dollars
laid by, and married Lizzie. If he
could but have bought house then,
he might have become a prosperous
man but that was impossible. The
young couple moved into half of a
little hired cottage, and were very
happy together beneath its humble
root. Once few months after their
union, as Lizzie tidied her huband's
things, she called out to him:
"What an old-fashioned Bible you
have in your trunk, Tony, clasped and
locked can't open it."
"Yes," he answeaed, "my poor Aunt
Dorothy Doubles Bible. l promised
to read it through, but / haven't done
it yet"
Naughty boy !" said Lizzie. Lets
do it, Tony.
eyes" said he, "I'll hunt up the
key, or get another if it is lost, and
we'll go through it."
But the Bible was put away, and
time flew fast, and there was work to
do, babies came, and not until his
oldest child was FIVE years old did
Anthony Double repeat his promise.
That was when the baby died and the
minister wanted a Bible. Lizzie, how.
ever, could not fiud the key Of Aunt
Dorothy's, and neighbor brought
one.
That evening after the funeral, An
thony, with heavy sigh, declared be