The Red Cloud chief., 1879-12-25
be sure. I thought you would know Of

be sure. / thought you would know %
it."
doctor. are YOU sure II ,his?" aske,
Jack. a little uns,eadily.
"Of course. I am. Mrs. buckingham
told me: and ! have even more positive
proof, for / have jus, left th. house
and Miss Msrgery was nursing the young
man"
After that Jack staid in Baxter only
long enough to see. from the door IF th'
little shop opposite. Margery taking leay'
If Mrs rockingham, at the head Of The
great flight If stone steps. Then he ,hu'
his sore heart up within An iron will. and
went back la California.
The year that followed were 4 long
and dreary desert in his life. Pcrhap,
God permits Us Ia live through such
years If blankne-s and WEAKNESS Il
show u by contrast the exceeding
preciouSness 81 the Joy he has in store
for u. And 50 Jack lived on until ia,
autumn If which We have been speak.
ing. Then all his misfortune seemed "a
eliminate. lie could nowhere find en-,
ployment and he was very poor. A. 4
last resort, he accepted the position II
bartender in a saloon. IL Wa new Il
the business, and the proprietor
proceeded To- give him some in,
struciions. The veteran in drinks fir;
concocted a mint julcp, after some in
falliblc recipe If his own.
"Thcrein said he. TRY that.
young man. and own up that You never
tasted any thing like il in your life"
81 would rather You would ta~t" and
see if it is right, sir" replied Jack. \
proposition readily complied with by
the compoundcr Of intoxicating bcycr-
ages, and followed by a fright
full scene of choking and cx-
pectoration. There is something
wrong about the mint" he suffered /;
and then, examining the pail Of green
spays upon his counter, he exclaimed
- Blessed if that stupid markct-woman
hasn't left me sweet marjoram instead
Of spearmint!'
The word sweet marjoram recalled To-
Jack the dear girl for whom it always
seemed Ia him that the little plant must
have been named. What would she have
thought of his present occupation? And
then and there he resigned his position
rs bartender, obtaining from his would
he employer the little bouquet IF sweet
marjoram and pressing it between the
leaves Of his neglected Bible. But now
he had nothing Ia look 10 for sul>i>t-
cncc, and be strollcd di,consola,cly to-
ward the depot, wondering what would
be the next scene i'm the strange drama.
The train from the mountains was lust
in, and >pringing from it Jack Wa sur
priScd To see his old friend, Fred Fruth-
ingham. The two Young men greeted
each other pleasantly. Fred said that he
had been spending the summer in Cali
~fornia, and had invested in Il fruit
farm, which he had hoped Ia visit oncc in
two years, and that he was now in
search of some N Ia keep it for him.
81 am the very nan you want" cried
Jack, impulsivcly. And then, a. a sud
den thought struck him. he asked:
"Shall you bring your wife with YOU,
when you come, Frcd?"
"NIy wife died five years ago" re-
piled Fred. gravclv.
Jack staggered rs though he had been
struck. "Margcry dead" he exclaimed.
"Margcry," reiterated the other. in
surprise. "My wife was Rose Batcman.
| would not tell every one, Jack; hut
Cousin Margcry refused me, and
after | met Rose ! was moi >Orry for it,"
And so il waS settled that Jack should
keep the fruit-farm for his friend.
"Thcrc is a very pretty cottage on it,"
said Fred, "and. with all those pears
and grapes, YOU will soon be Il rich
man lie was surprised that Jack was
not willing To inter upon his duties AT
once: but the young nan insisted on
purchasing a ticket To BaXter's with the
advance money which Fred gave him.
And this was how it happened that
there was Il Thanksgiving dinner that
year ut Margcry's, and that the Sultan
left his prison in the kennel. and wa
decapitated on the same evening with
his generals of the ~oft-rcpcatcd name Of
PaSha.
"Dear me-" said Margcry, in dis
may, as she dressed the turkey. land
To think that among all my herbs. |
haven't a sprig of sweet majoram for
the stuffing."
"But l have replied Jack, as he
brought forward his Bible with the lit
tie sprays pressed between its leaves.
The tears stood in Margcry's eyes aS he
told their story and l do not think one
of the precious leaves would have been
used in the Sultan's stufling had she not
thought that nothing was too good for
her wedding dinner.
Fred rockingham was at the we'd
ding. "And now you can UNDERESTIMATE
said Jack to him, "why | was 81 any
iouS Ia come East. Even in "A land flow
ing with milk and honey one may long
for cold water, and all your orchard Of
pleasant fruits could not make me for
get Il little garden of herbs"
"And you wanted To transplant one
its flowers to the Pacific Coast?"
queried Fred.
"What flower?" asked Margery, un-
consciously.
A peal of laughter ran round the ia
BILE, and Jack passed up his plate (for
Margery had insisted on carving the
Sultan herself), with the demure re-
quest: "My dear, if you please, | will
lake Sweet Marjoram."-Liern ".
Champney, an the independent.