Saint Mary's beacon., 1880-01-08

greatly facilitate ny takEAr e -
Dai;ons during M soiourn II So
burbs or this great city. And anst
be- that You win keep The house sery
still during The hours which dsFsss to
study"
Here nv wife looked Il re 1aasls
thinking 81 little Johnmy and The aby.
"Nerer mind, my dear, 1 remA a
sefl0 rofee 1--WE can easily g lza
| boarded ous somewhere
sAnd. wens @ lhe EexeFeab
speskweIl. ~ shun|d -
u horse and buggy could be proedse6
for my daily use when going to Doc
tor Dosem, in the city. As the motion Of
the trains disagrees with my nervovs
system. -
81 don't happen TO own . carriage I
said |. "But might buy one.''
Thank you, thank you. cousin
Poyntz!'' said Mr. SPeakweIl. bland
~.
"And IL there's any other little thing
you should happen 10 waat," | added,
"pray don't be backward in mentioning
it."
No, / won't, cousin Poyntz,' said
The reverend gentleman, with the Of
most gravity.
And am bound to say that be kept
his word. 49,
For three days endured the swarm
OF visitors which literally infested nv
home, and then made up my mind
that patience had ceased to be vir-
tue.
.'I'll put q stop TO this thing" said
l.
came home one night with tragi-
cal expression on my face.
"Katherine," ! said to my wife. Il
am ruined %
"Whatp' cried all the company Al
once.
"Those shares in the Western Union.
you know ?" said |. shifting my fore
head.
"Yes. dear" gasped Kitty.
"They have gone down." | said
"Not worth penny"
"Oh John!"
"I wish | had taken your advice and
LET 'em aIone." said l. "But, alter all,
il doesn't so much matter, as If had no
friends"
looked beamingly. around at my
wife's relations. They returned the
glance by the blankest of stares-
I'll borrow two hundred dollaCs
apiece from al these dear kindred k
saidI, with obstrusiye cheerfuInes
"and request Uncle Silas 20 endorse my
business notes"
4 couldn't think Of such a thing"
hurriedly interrupted that gentleman.
al should be most happy to Oblige.f
said cousin Joab, ''but am quite out of
funds at present"
"And l." said the Reverend Mr..
Speakwell, pushing back his chair,
must save what little share possess
of the worlds filthy lucre to pay my
passage and that Of my family back to
Minnesota" rss-.
Surely" cried I, "you would not 90
away and leave me in such pecuniary
straits as these 7"
The Reverend Mr.. Speakwell signi-
ficantly buttoned up his pockets.
at is every mans business to look
after himself, cousin Poyntz," said he;
sand don't scruple TO say that it Is
downright dishonesty for a business man
like yourself to get into such financial
difficulties.
And IN fifteen minutes every cousin
of the lot had, upon one excuse or an
other. vanished from the room, to pack
up and prepare for immediate departure.
! looked at my wife; my wife looked
at me. burst out laughing; Kitty be-
gan to cry.
"My dear" said 7. ''ii's an easier job
than thought ii would be. 1 didn't
know but that il would be necessary
for me to to catch the smallpox. be-
fore could get rid Of your relations" :"
"But are we very poor, John' And
must We give up this dear little COT
tage. Oh, how cruel It is OF cousin
Joab, and MIR. SpeakwelI, and uncle
Silas, and all Of them. not TO help you
know that Mariana Wilmerding has
Eve thousand dollars that she wants 20
put out at interest. for she told me so
only yesterday and"
ayes, exactly" said /. "Bui proba-l
bly, she doesn't regard me as good in
vestment."
AFTER all have done for them :"
sobbed my wife.
Relations are only human, my dear" /"
said /.
The company took their leave with
out much ceremony Of adieu; and that
afternoon my wife came to me, with
tears in her eyes.
John" said she, "wiIl you tell me
bow much money you have lost IN that
horrid Western UnIon stock 7 Because
had much rather know the worst at
once" A
Lost i'' repeated I. looking up from
the newspaper, which was reading In
uncle Silas' favorite easy chair, now
vacated for the first time in many days
s'Who said that hadlO anything r.
ssYou did" ss
Excuse ne, my dear; said nothing
of the kind. merely stated that the
Western Union shares were not worth
q penny. Neither were they, 10 me. a.
had sold out all possessed more than
q week ago."
~JOhn!''
eyes. my dear.
"How could vou ~
'Very easily. = said !. with q latent
smile. MY dear, ihlnk if your FeIa-
tives had stayed another week, should
have committed suicids.'