The Worthington advance., 1880-10-07


fair dealing tradesman.''
The immediate result of the pump in
cident was that the villa at Finchl7 die
not see Fred for some time, to the won
der and not a little the anger of Nelly
and her guardian being seized with Ii
OF humorous experiment, resolved tha
the ancient litter Of water from th.
depths Of the earth, should be put It
some profitable use. .'.-'.'
Being guardian Of the poor, he hateG
tramps and vagabonds, whom he regard
ed as among the worst Of impostors. and
the pump suggested to him a read,
means of testing their rascality.
Like most suburban places, Finchl1
was infested with tramps Of the mendi
cant class, consequently opportunities
for putting the scheme into execution
were soon furnished in abundance, and
Mr.. Hughes bundle of experiences grew
fast, but extremely monotonous in it's un
attractive bulk.
His mode Of proceeding whenever &
bcggar--a man Of the sturdy class o1
course-came to solicit aims, was to havt
him conducted into the small back ward
where he thus addressed him:
"Iook you here, my man, never give
money in charity, but if you like to try
your strength on that pump for an hour
you shall have shilling.'
All eagerly set to work at first, but
when they found their labor attended
with no result, the expression on thei1
grimy visages was c0mical. The ex.
treme wonder, temper, disgust, rage
shooting forth in turn or together, were
study IN human nature by no means
Improbable.
The most prevalent sentiment among
the entire lot seemed to be that Of indie.
nation at being made fun Of, for howeV'
er much the most depraved of men, al
regard honest labor, may be averse tc
work as work, they have a constitutional
objection to being put to anything which
tends to make them feel small and con.
temptible.
Your lazy fellow and your rogue alike
dread ridicule. And as to the peculiari.
ties Of the natlonalities, Mr.. Hughes had
his humorous curiosity literally gratlfed.
The English, one and all, denounced the
pump as swindle, the national objurga.
ton which for generations was the ter.
ror OF France being invariably added
Many huge fellow swore that he had
rather took turn on ''the mill.'
Tho only Scotsman who tried his hand
at thu business, threw down the handle
at the end Of twenty minutes, and de.
clared it was ian awful waste of human
energy" As for the Irish. who were le.
glon, and generally earned the shilling,
they described the affair as mighty dhry,
and departed, wishing the 1ould gint'
IN warmer place than the one he occu-
pied. Not one in fifty came a second time,
and at the end Of three months, Mr..
Hughes -Pump.handle Hughes as he pot
to be called in the Observation-Disclosures
his newly-created occupation gone, and
the old pump once more stood idle in Its
rusty decrepitude, to the great relief of
Nelly and the servants, for the boys of
Finchlcy had bcgun to launch after them
comments more pungent than polite.
The noise of these proceedings spread,
aud as matter of certainty, reached the
ears Of Frcd's mother, who, resenting the
infrequency of checks, did not visit at
the villa rs formerly, and was in the hab-
it of declaring that her brother had lost
his senses, and ought to be looked after.
"He is as sound as you, or 1,''said her
son; "1ndeed in my opinion good deal
sounder than am, or rather was, tor
there is method in his madness; good,
honest method, which was not the case
with me little while ago, for IN my mad
ness there was a sagacity Of idleness."
His mother, who had never solled her
fingers at the trade behind her fathers
counter, but had married gentleman of
"high attainments, who, having spent
all her money he could lay his hands on,
died, leaving her widow in genteel pov.
erty, sighed, and in the shadows of her
feeble brain wondered what the world
was coming to, when her only and idol.
ized son seemed to be forgetting that on
his fathers side, he came from an excel
lent family.
Fred had altered, and for 80 young a
man wonderfully. That one turn at his
urcle's pump had turned him, as it were,
clean round in his moral organization,
Aimless before, he had set himself reso-
lutely to look something tangible in the
face.
II am not a gcnius," he resumed, "but
surely with health and strength I can
set to work at something honorable and
profitable, and l willl"
And he did. That II will'' of firm
textured brain can bring to it's owner q
power which no magician with his paltry
wand ever called from the vastly deep OF
dark nothingness. Having fair knowl.
edge of several languages, he applied fol
and obtained the situation Of correspond.
ing clerk in city firm, an1 after a few
weeks initiation, found that six hours a
day employment in such an occupation,
instead of doing him harm, did him a
great deal Of good.
His uncle, we'll posted as to his pro.
ceedings, wrote him encouragingly, and
at the end OF the first quarter Of his pro.
baton, insisted on his visiting the villa
as usual. SHELLY wishes it." and that
was enough for Fred; "but,'' added Mr..
Hughes, "let us see what the other nine
months will do," supplementing his re-
mark with a musty proverb which need
not be repeated.
The other nine monthe were evidently
brimful of satisfaction to the uncle, for he
advanced Fred sufficient money to enable
him to become junior partner in the
firm, and what delighted him more, gave
his hearty consent to his marriage with
pretty Nelly We're, whose fortune, how
ever, he insisted should he strictly set
tied on herself.
AS for the pump, it still stands in the
little back yard, the handle carefully
locked TO the side, and Fred, out of graf
itude, has had the frame work renewed
and gayly painted, for to him it will al.
ways be anything but an emblem OF dry
ness"
ALEXANDRIA,, the daughter of the
poet Joukofsky, whom the Russian
Grand Duke Alexis recently married and
was forced to give up to another man by
the Gear, is living in Switzerland with
the Grand Dukes boy, who is pretty
,oiot1,rn ~ hanhhv, 1o0vhoo1