Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1881-07-07

| 4AOh 4 W Goo w oe"A w AAnS ~A
other dog |" said Luke Ruddilove
turning away. "But after all, l dom
suppose it makes much difference j
i shuttle out Of this world to-day OF
Eto-morrow."
"Oh. Luke, no difference to youl
wife,"
"She'd be better off without me" he
said, down heartedly.
"But she ought not to be"
Ought and is are two different
things, Mrs. Pratlet. Good night.
amt going to the tavern, although I'll
wager something the Squire thought
l was"
"And isn't it natural enough that
The should think so, Luke?'
Yes, yes, Mary; don't say, but
what it is, murmured Luke, in the
same detected tone he used during the
Interview.
stop" Mrs. pratlet called to him
as his hand lay on the door latch, in a
low voice. "Here is dollar, Luke
Mr.. Pratlet gave it to me for an Ill
Goth to goin front Of the par!or stove
but l will try and make the old one
last little longer. And Luke, for
the sake Of your poor wife and little
ones at home, for the sake Of old times
try and do better. Won't you"
Luke Ruddilove looked vacantly at
the new bank bill in his hand and
then at the blooming young matron
who had placed it there.
Thank you, Mary, I will. God
bless you, he said and crcpt out into
the storm that 1efened without. Mrs.
Pratlet stood looking into the kitchen
FIRE.
II dare say I've done a foolish thing
bat, indeed ! could not help it. If he
Will take it home and not spend 1t at
the tavern, I shall not miss MY oil
cloth"
And there was a conscious flush on
her cheeks, as if she had done some
thing wrong, when she joined her hns-
band in the sitting room.
"Well," said Squire Pratlet, has
that unfortunate gone at last ?"
Yes
"To the Stoke tavern, I suppose?'
II hope not, Josiah"
I'm afraid it's past hoping for,
said the Squire, Struggling his shoul'
ders. But Mrs. Pratlet kept her Sc
cret in her own heart.
1t was six months afterward that
the Squire came into the dln'ng=room
where his wife was preserving great
red apples into Jelly.
"Well, WE'LL quoth be, wonders
will never cease. The Ruddllovea
have gone away
Where p
II don't know-out West some
where with colony. And they say
Luke's not drank drop Of whiskey
for six mouths"
I'm glad Of that" responded Mrs
Pratlet.
ut won't last long he suggested
despairngly.
"Why not ?"
"Oh, I don't know, I haven't any
faith in these sudden reforms ~
Mrs. Pratlet was silent; SIZE thought
thankfully that, after all, Luke ha1
not spent the dollar for liquor.
| X
Six months-six years; the time
sped along in the days and weeks, al
most before busy, little Mrs. Pratle'
knew it was gone. The Ruddi!ovet
had returned to sequosset. Luke hat
made his fortune, so the story went
far off in Eldorado.
"They do say said Mrs. Backing-
ham, "that he has bought that ere
lot down opposite the court-house, anc
be is going to build such house al
never was
He must have prospered greatly,
observed Mrs. Prstlet.
"And his wife, she wears q silk
gown that will stand alone With it's
own richness | can remember wher
Ruddilove was nothing but poor
drunken creature"
"All the more credit to him how,
said Mrs. Pratlet emphatically.
ut is to be all stone, with white
mantels and inlaid floors; and he ha
p,t a ldt NJ naners and things unde,