Northern tribune. [volume] (Cheboygan, Mich.) 1875-1885, 1880-04-17
PAYING OFF A CHURCH DEBT,
y BY EMILY HUNTINGTON MILLER.


much frescOing, and too much organ; a |
case partly of necessity, since being the
First church it could not in the very |
nature of things be the second, hence |
the steeple, and the organ, and the much |
frescOing; case of pulling down barns |
and building greater when there were |
no crops to bestow in them, hence the |
debt.
Matters had gone from bad to worse,
until at last it was whispered at the |
sewing society that there was actually
mortgage on the church, and every
woman stood aghast with horror. They
could comprehend debts; people paid their
debts when they could, but they might
move in good society without doing it:
they were not unfamiliar with failures,
but people had been known to fail, and
yet wear better clothes than before; but
mortgage was like ole of those awful
cOmpacts wherein man signs himself
over to the evil one, with the certainty
that he may at any time fOreclOse and
ny away with him. Worst of all, a mort
gage on the church, TWAS undoubtedly
the "abOminatiOn Of desOlatiOn" spoken
of by Daniel the prophet standing where
it ought nOt"-a sure sign of the last
days.
Something must be done, something
should be done and with this determina-
ton burning in her heart, every woman
went home. From that hour a notice
able sOlemnity brOOded over the hearts
and homes of Acadia. Meetings were
called, papers were seen to circulate,
committees met and separated; there
were consultations in the synagOgues
and the marketplaces; and as the faces
of the women changed from look of
anxiety to one of confidence, the faces of
the men began to brighten also. When
a woman would she would, and already
the brethren saw in prospect the mort
gage lifted and the reprOach rolled away
from Zion.
IF they'll only. persevere; great gains
come of small savings" said Deacon
Doubtful, but repented of his wisdom the
next moment, when his wife decided
against the plum pudding she was con-
templating, concluding she might as
we'll put the money into her mite box,
and give the deacon a wholesome, plain
dinner.
Nobody could say they did not perse-
we're. They laid everybody under cOntri-
button, from the lord high mayor who
paid taxes, to the Jones' baby that was
brought up on bottle. They saved i'm
unheard-Of ways. Servant girls were
put on short allowance of waste paper
for lighting fires; ancient bones were
scrutiniZed with an eye to possible soups;
and the man who ventured to return his
cup of coffee with "a little more sugar,
my DEAR" was met with reprOach that
withered his heart strings. More sugar,
when the church was mOrtgagedl The
man who could have asked for it would
have danced when Rome was burn
ing. 1t was strongly suspected that
Mrs. Greatheart herself took no sugar at
all, and there were hints of cooking
clubs that were secretly experimenting
on sawdust buildings without eggs.
The savings, however, were nothing to
the earnings. Every continuance for en-
ticing the coveted dollar from
the pocket of the unwary and
the wary was resOrted to. Moth
ing was too hard or too high. Fairs,
festivals, lunches, bazaars. concerts,
sOciables, lawn parties, pound parties,
tea parties, parties where you paid for
the privilege of talking; oyster suppers,
strawberry suppers, ice cream suppers,
everything in season and out of season
was made to minister their gains. The
brethren smiled upon them. sometimes
with far-Off smile of lofty cOndescan-
sion and amiable liberation for feminine
weakness; but still they smiled, and
bought tickets and paid fees, and ate
and drank herOically, and winked at
any addition to the grOcer's bill. which
might have been supposed to balance the
gain to the church fund.
The results were marvellous and aston
iShed even the women themselves, who
shook hands over the footing of figures,
laughed and cried and went home brave
for another year of work.
Next morning, Mrs. Greatheart sat at
her breakfast table pale and exhausted;
there were three little wrinkles between
her eyes and dozen gray hairs about
temples. Greatheart, stirring his coffee,
in vain hope of extracting little more
sweetness from the bottom of his cup,
watched her cOmpassiOnately.
my DEAR" he asked gently, show long
is thing to last?"
Mrs. Greatheart would have scOrned
to ask, what thing% There was for
her but one object of thought, and she
answered promptly, "as long as the debt
laStsw
Greatheart sighed, did it ever occur
to you, my dear, that you might not last ?
You are growing perceptibly smaller;
tHclc dlc HI yOul yOu
eat less than healthy canary; you talk
in you sleep of interest and mortgages
and weekly payments. Ibelieve another
year will kill you"
Mrs. Greatheart smiled compassionate
ly, as martyrs have smiled when adjured
to give up ther faith to escape torment.
"Greatheart," she said absently, will
you call at the Office of the Trumpet, and
leave this notice for our meeting of
managers? have new plan that will
eclipse all of our undertakings"
The meeting of managers was enthu-
siastic. Mrs. Jones had the rheumatism
Mrs. Smiths baby was threatened with
Group, Mrs. Smart had left house full
of visitors, and Miss Sally Volatile was
ging east for the winter. The few that
were present listened to Mrs. Great.
hearts new plan in OminOus silence
and Mrs. TimerOus fused and fidgeted
and at last spoke:
1.-The fact is, ladies, i sometimes Won
der, if all this pays. My husband says
it doesn't and he.hasn't a particle OF
patience with the whole thing; so that
fairly dread to let him know of fair OF
festival. He says it all comes out of thu
men anyhow, either i'm grocery or doctor,
bills or buying things, after we hal
kill ourselves to make them; and tina
any man would sooner pay So out of hi
pocket than have his wife try to earn 1t
when she has all she can do, already
And he saws a woman who wOuldn,
think she could give half dollar vii
bake a cake that will cost 70 cents, ant
make herself sick i'm doing 1T, and thel
eXDact her husband TO nav 30 cents m0r'