The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1880-01-24


/ halting pace for this advice and it is not
on record that he got any more moiasses
I than he expected to: but when he got
back to the poor house he told Mrs.
Wells that molasses had riz and yarn
hadn't: Samwell Paine told him 50.
! \ village store-fhe store-is not Il mat
ter of hazard. but a vital necessity
There is no competition to he dreaded III
place like Bassett. Nobody else had
| capital or experience to set up an opposi-
ton shop: there was no better place to
trade within twenty miles, and it was by
the very doors of Bassett people; if they
did not quite like the way things were
conducted they must still abide by it,
for there was no help. And III many
things the business was nightly inn
proved since ST Jones time; the shop
itself was clean and orderly; cod fish did
not lurk in a dusty corner behind patent
ploughs, and tea leaves did not fall into
the open flour barrel: if sand was sus-
IeEtet III tiIe HuSdi. tIlelc Nele Gel t'iLil y
10 chips Of tobacco in its grainy mass:
and calico and candy did not live on the
same shelf, or raiScns. bar soap, and
backing occupy a drawer together; the
floor was swept. washed, and sandcd, the
counters secured off. the cobwehs ban
ished, the steps repaired, the windows
kept bright and clear, the scales shining.
If S. Paine's clerk had hard work for a
lad of eighteen his employer could quote
Scripture with tremendous tiuency and
fitness when the boys old mother rcmon-
stratcd.
"Well, Miss Bliss, don't deny John
has to work. SO do |: so do |. 1t is
good for man to bear the yoke in his
youth, Scripture says. There amt moth
in better for no man than work. BY
the sweat o thy brow, We know. The
sperrit an principle of the golden rewl is
my sperrit an principle: dos you be
done by. Yes, yes; eff was Il boy again,
I'd want ter be fetched up jest as | was
fetched upon hard work an poor Twin
That rouses the gilt, tell We. I'm a
dom by John jest as | was done by. so
dom We reset it, Its fur his best int T.
est, soul an body" With which chop
ped straw poor Mrs. Bliss's motherly
heart was forced to content itself. for
there was no other refreshment.
Perhaps in this application of the
golden rewl Samuel Paine forgot how
his childish flesh had wept and cringed
under the hardships of his early life; how
his childish soul had famed with rage
under the torture and insult OF the un-
Justly applied shingle, and the constant
watching of stern and pitilcss eyes. He
may not have remembered how his grow
ing bones ached under heavy burdens.
and his spare flesh craved enough even of
such diet as pork, cabbage, and rye
bread to allay the pangs Of childish
hunger and the demands of daily growth.
But if he did not, is that excuse? Is not
the command explicit to ''rememeber all
the way the Lord thy God led thee and
is forcetfulness without sin?
But the man kept on in his respectable
career buying and selling at
the lowest rates and selling at the high
est: faithful externally to all his duties:
ever present in church, never late at his
Sunday school class. never missing a
prayer meeting, 4 Jealous cXhorter, g a
master hand at prayin'," as Widow Bliss
allowed: deeply interested in the work
of missions. and stated contributor to
the Bible Society: but at homc-no, it
was 10 home-at his store, strict in
every matter of business. merciless to
his debtors, close and niggardly even to
his best customers, harsh to his clerk,
and greedy of every smallest profit
Nobody ever went to him for friendly
offices: nobody asked him to be neigh
borly; no subscription list for poor man
with broken leg OF burned down barn
ever crossed the door sill of the store.
When all other young men went to
cuttings and sociables he Staid at the
desk, amusing himself with his ledger,
OF Il ponderous law book borrowed from
Squire Larkin. So he lived-or existed
till he was thirty years old: and one fine
day Squire Larkin died. and left behind
him an only daughter, a goodly sum of
money, and Il vacant office of postmaster.
| Now was SamueIs time again. He at
tended the funeral, and appeared to be
deeply affected hy the loss of an old ac-
quaintance. lie called on Miss Lucy as
early as was proper, and made an oitel
for the Squire's law books. They were
useless to Lucy now, and she had not
| thought of selling them; the nearest city
was full thirty miles away, and she had
not even friend in it's busy sphere; no
body in Bassett wanted law books. SC
Samuel Paine bought them for quarter
of their value, and Lucy never found ii
| out. His next step was to petition fol
the post office: here again nobody inter
iered. 1t would be very convenient to
all concerned that the post office should
| he in the store: that was its natural and
fit situation. When Squire Larkin took
| it into his hands. his old law office stood
closed by 81 Jones place of business: but
| that tiny tenement had been burned this
long time, and the mails carried to Mr.
| Iarkin'S house and distributed in the
south parlor. where also his books and
| his few clients found place Now if s
Paine got the Office, it would be lever
lastin' handy" everybody said: 50 every
body signed the petition, and Postmaster
Paine WAS sworn in.
Lucy Larkin was no longer young; she
was twenty eight at least-a gentle
faded, pretty woman, with mild blue
ewes, and thin soft hair OF dull brown
and soft trembling lips. She was moi
forciblc or energetic; she pottered about
the house good deal, and had head
aches, and went punctually to sewing
circles, Her literary tastes were moi
violent; she was fond of Upper and the
Lady's Booa, and every day she read {
chapter in the Bible, and tried with al
her simple heart to be good. But she
had not much vitality in body or soul
and after her father, who had Away:
been her tender companion and guide
left her to herself. Lucy was dreadfullS