Connecticut western news., 1880-04-21
MR. JONES.
A Story of Retaliation.

A Story of Retaliation.
 He was & commonplace, huliSing fellow, with loutish manners, who had got into 8 bad money scrape, and had come to me with no satisfactory story in his trouble. I knew nothing about him personally, but he had been in one of the colonies, where Aice's husband is Premier or something of that sort, and Alice Is my favorite sister. -s ,,5 It was. an old compact between my sister and me that we should never refuse. each other anything. We made it one evening as we sat beside my poor mother 5 in the garden of her pretty dover house at. Twickenham. My mother joined Us all three together, taking hand of each; and, looking out upon a star which had just risen, she said, in the tend,r, loving way she had: :2'sI want you two to promise ma something, and it Is that in none of the chances or changes. of life you will either of you say no to request 5 of the other. Remember my star shall be the witness between you when am. gone" My mother had fancies of her own about the stars, and had singled out ;. this. one as having some especial in- hqance enher and those she held dearest. Then she knew that l. was apt to be naorose, and that Alice had a high spirit, so she wished us to assure her we would never become estranged. We have both kept the pledge that we made to her. It was among the last her gentle spirit ever asked of us. .sg.. zi .rss.E ..als
 So when MT. Jones bounced into my study one morning, after. tumbling over my man-servant, and a folio of prints which was leaning against the writing 7 table; and when he made known to me that he was in sore distress for money, I got it into my head that Allies had drawn upon me, at sight fora thousand pounds and that I must honor my sisters signNure. Y5g 1GTTHs
 Fdr8it, was a thousand pounds he wanted. could make out as much as l Cha. from his confused talk, which had strong rssemblance to rigmarole cut into short lengthssd gasps and exclamation It was only when he saw me silently take out my check book and write draft for the money that he began togrow profuse s2and almost h1.e1ligible in his language. He. also pulled from the recesses of 8 hard, stiff great-eoat Q packet of greasy parshhents and threw them on the table with loud thud. -Eo
 ..a They are not worth. mueh,p he said growing crimson to the roots of his hair, but they are ,all I have got, and so I brought them. I can go through the legal formalities of conveyancing with ycq5sef fdtors if you will instruct them te Hrepsre the neeessary papers,,
 Hhere is no neediof anything fur tAeksR Fnnswered, co1dly.
 "Oh, but there is, though. Suppose should die; you -mnst-have what I leave, if there is anything remarked the man. ss. .s~, s-s- +.sr
 I.GkAd Ms- Jones 5 st;n l.sssthab before after this speech. He spoke in such a bluff, coarse voice, and was so loud and 50 bumptious that his pretending to take care of my interest only appeared to me piece of grstuitous impertinence. If the imageof my mother and sister, .al- most the last time we met together, had not started up before my imagination with strange fyiyidness, I should have said something rude The fellows very hair was antipathetic to me. It was wiry, it was. tousled, it was obstinate hair, going the wrong way all over his pate and forehead. I felt real sense of relief Ehenhe blundered out of my tran qal library and left me to my pursuits.
 l was making notes for anew edition of "La Rochefoucauld's Maxims, which interested me very much just then, and l asked myself, with, a wry smile, whether should be much grieved if MT. Jones had . it of apoplexy before he could tumble his way to the street door. Still, however, my mother and sister seemed ts look reproachfully at me, and I66t1ld not shake off secret present. ment that my conduct would appear to Alice as that of churl. We have all some soft spot in our nature, and I held to. my sisters esteem not less than to her affection. Still thousand pounds was round sum, and Mir. Jones had got the money when he asked for t. sg +f
 What more could hewant. I never ex- Pected to see it again, but in this part iot the business Iswas disappointed fS He paid the money. I think he even wanted to pay interest, but that was returned to hm n a lawyers letter, which must have cost me 6ss Sd. z.a .lss..,..9 ,.ias .#2s,
 lost sight of Mir. Jones for many Q day. He had got out of my debt, and ]