Millheim Journal. [volume] (Millheim, Pa.) 1876-1984, 1879-10-02
The Last Sixpence.

know. mCsher dear, yoO woUld not feel
hSgapy Il con cnnla Dos contribute Your mite
sid the FsslC-fsced girl II twenty, pressing
inio her Syea cNaYSnion's hands the sin
F.euce which constituted all the monetary
WeSllh tliey PoSSeSsed There's quite
enough lread and butter and tea for break
fSS I'm the morning. and If | get up very
czrly. ~ L mcAn 10 no. 1 shall have finished
Ms Smiths dreSS by three O'Clock, and
shes sure Io pay me dirccIly | take it TO
her.
->But we've no candle ar firing in the
h0Gse
--Dml you trSul,le about that when We
cme hack from church it'll be quite time
fsr h4rd-WOrking folksEike US to 20 to bed; d;
~ thai We shant want a light, and our
lzndla6y vii lend Us shovelful of Goals
for to-mOrrow; 50 don't say anything more,
t,ui take the sixpence and come along, for
the church bells have almost ceased "
For few seconds the aged woman hesi-
rnied teaween her charitable inctinations
and saliciiude for the orphan girl who call
ed her mother: bu. looking earnestly into
her companions face, and finding written
there the same desire that predominatcd
within her own hre=4Si. she placed the coin
i'm her pocket
Without word more on either side, the
two females Quilted the room they occu-
pied- and proceeded through the narrow
streets teeming with human beings To the
Oh uch. whittier the bells had invited them.
To nesrly every depth it is said there is a
deeper sIn, but Mrs. Willis and her pro-
te-e, Lucy Marks, were certainly among
the PcOuest in that very poor district.
Adversity makes us acquainted with
strange companions, and Alfred Willis,
when he quilted England two years previ-
ously 90 SEEK his fortune i'm Australia, little
dream that the comfortable home in which
Inc had left his mother and bethrothed wife
would have been so soon broken up, and
thaR by slow but sure degrees they would
have sunk TO the poverty they now exper-
ienced.
From the AGE OF fourteen Lucy had been
able 90 earn her own living, so that when
Alfred, after losing nearly all his capital
gave ND the grocery business he had been
delnded into taking, his only anxiety was
prsyision for his mother. The >, 500 he
had left when he was clear of his business
he. i'm too confding moment, lent to a
man i'm wlr~m me trusted to the utmost,
with directions that the interest therefrom
must be paid t0 his mother but ere AL
fred had reached his journeys end his friend
was bankrupt, and Mrs. Willis was pen
!. nilesS
Troubles seldom comes singly, so Just at
this time Lucy was seized with rheumatic
fever, and for SIX months was unable to
touch her needle.
They were alone in the world, for Lucy
was an orphan, and Mrs Willis whilst
having no relatives of her own, knew moth
ing OF her late husbands family, who years
before had founded home in another
land
Rapidly their few worldly possessions
were disposed of, until at last they were
glad TO find shelter in the small-the very
small-front room they now occupied.
They had heard several times from the
much loved Alfred; but owing to the un-
certainty of his movements they had not
/, been able 70 reply, 50 that he knew moth
ingO the misf0rtunes that had befallen
them His last letter was bright, cheer
full epistle, fun of hope, announcing tina
he was now far better circumstanced than
when he left England; that he intended
returning home Ivy the Juno, the next
steamer leaving Melbourne. -
To crown their sOrrows, a month before
his expected return news came that the
Juno had fOundered i'm mid -ocean-some
dozen men, among whom Alfred Willis was
moi included, alone surviving to tell the sad
tale.
What sweet relief was il to enter the
portal of Gods house, and leave behind
them the crowded streets and the mob of
listless l0iterers and frivolous pleasure seek
erxs Outside all was noise, hustle and
confusion, within, a peaceful calm, broken
aEly by the silvery tones Of the aged minis
1er. as in simple earnest language he plead
ed cause very dear to his heart.
The sunday service was the one relaxa-
non Mrs Willis and her adopted enjoyed ;
wet fr fipe they were never absent; and an