Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1881-10-11

"What good man he must be, said
Elsie. "Do you suppose God told him
what 10 put in the papcr' did not
know that God told people what to print
in newspapers"
~ don't know" said Tom; lets
write the letter"
"Well, you write il" said Elsie.
"No, YOU" said Tom; "you spell
better than do"
81 failed in spelling this morning"
said Elsie, land you didn't" But she
was prevailed upon to write it, and this
is what they sent;
! "DEAR Mr.. GODFREY IL know that
you are good man or else you wouldn't
have put 1t into the paper. And we do
want some money ever SO much. We want
S2 900, and our house has got mortgage,
lust as you said. Tom and will work real
hard TO pay you, and II we don't have the
money well have TO go away from our own
house that we have always lived 10, and
maybe we won't ever have another one 10
live in. We don't know what the six cents
means. Our house cost more than that,
and It's got mortgage, too.
TON AND ELSIE RICHARDS"
This was their letter, and they put 1t
in the Office. They never thought. OF
stamp, so when the postmaster looked
over the letter that night, so they should
be ready for the early mail in the morn
ing, he found one letter without any
stamp. lie was just going to send it to
the dead.le,ter Office in Washington, but
he put on his glasses and looked at 1t
again, and noticed that i, was in child's
writing IL suppose some little child.
and perhaps its grandfather too, would
be disappointed" said he. Il guess 1t
won't hurt me to do kind thing once in
a while" and he put three cent stamp
on it, so the letter went TO New York,
and in a little while some one carried 1t
with fifty Others away from :he office 10
a little room with desk and high stool
and not much other furniture in il. After
awhile il was the turn Of Elsies letter TO
be read The man who was opening the
letters was Mr.. Godfreys agent, who did
all his business for him. He read tie
letter twice, and then he whistled and
made some very comical wrinkles in his
forehead. Its that old mortgage OF
Wilton in Belshire," y" he said to himself.
- guess this is case for Godfrey him.
self: III send it down to him just for the
Joke OF the thing" SO he put It into
a large envelope, sealed it, and sent it to
Mr.. Godfrey, who was in Washington
with wife and little daughter.
So the letter really went to Washing
ton after all, and the pos,man brought 1t
10 Mr.. Godfrey, one evening just after
tea. His little daughter always thought,
it was her right to open all the letters,
and tell her father which to read first,
and so it happened that Elsie's letter was
left till the very last, because the envel'
ope was SO big and ugly. Mr.. Godfrey
read il more easily than his agent, for he
had little girl himself, and knew better
how to read childs writing Then he
uniolded the copy Of the mortgage which
his agen, had sen. him and read ,ha,
very carefully; then he said, Just see
here, Marion" to his wife, who had just
come into the room, and read them both
10 her.
The dear little things" said she.
Couldn', you do it, Will: We should
never miss it.
why, the mortgage is mine as 1t Is,
and then he read the copy which his
agent had sent Adams says he bought
i, for mere song with 10, Of old papers.
The face of it in the first place was no,
much over $500, but it seems TO have
been utterly forgotten, and no interest
has ever been paid, until now it amounts
to nearly $4,000. And, Marion, there's
one thing more perhaps this is what we
call pu,-up-job, that the parents have
gotten up that letter and had the child
rem send it, or perhaps there are no such
children as Tom and Elsie"
Il don't believe it," said Mrs. God
frey, promptly. mo one but child
ever wrote that letter, and it's an Elsie,
too, the same name as our child
"lf that isn't just womans reason
ing," said Mr.. Godfrey, laughing. "Well.
Marion, there's one way to fix it. If
you really care so much about it, We
might 90 there for little while, or ra-
,her you might take Elsie and go. Ii is
too warm to stay in Washington any
longer, and l have always heard Of Bel
shire as in the midst of lovely scenery.
You might 20 now, and | would come as
soon as finish up this case, and bring
Fletcher and Adams for the trout fish,
ing. You could get acquainted with
this mythical Tom and Elsie, and find
out if the family are really deserving
help"
They talked it over a little more, and
then it was really decided to do as Mr..
Godfrey had proposed, and in week or
two from that night Elsie and her mo-
ther set off for Belshire. You can guess
how it ended, for Mr.. Richards called
upon them, as they were strangers in
town, and then Tom and the two Elsie g
met, and became so fond Of one another
that Mrs. Godfrey said she must either
adopt the twins, or their mother must
adopt her Elsie.
Tom and Elsie were for little while
much disappointed that no answer came
to their letter, but after a while they
were so busy playing they forgot all
all about it, until few days before the
three months were to be over, and ther
Elsie Richards told Elsie Godfrey s''Jou
their writing it out under the beer tree