Hand County press. (Miller, Dakota [S.D.]) 1882-1893, 1882-05-31

Dont go away, she said; cit
would break my heart !"
And then he kissed her and ran avay.
There was sorrow in the house on
Christmas morning, and the pie went
uneaten, for Dudley was gone, and he
had left little note in which he de-
clared his intention of returning no
more.
He never did come back. His mother.
who loved him more than he knew, shed
bitter tears as Christmas day came
round each year. The father, who had
hogged him, grew old repenting it.
There was general impression in the
family that Dudley had not been good
boy, but the doubt as to his fate softened
their thoughts of him. Probably he
was dead. Poor old Grandmother Bar
berry believed that he had starved to
death.
When Clara married-yes, mean it
when Clara married tho consumptive
young clergyman from Bristol, and went
away, she went mp to the garret to look
for winter cloak, and found there the
pie-dish yet brilliant with its geranium.
And she sat down on the floor and cried
over it, and remembered the innocent
child love she had given the painter,
and then, wiping her eyes, carried the
dish downstairs and put it into her
trunk. Itwas souvenir, If melancholy
one, Of the past.
"If he is not dead, he must have for
gotten me" she said to herself. "He
is 2G years old now If he lives"
And. though she highly respected the
Rev. Jacob Bird, she sighed once or
twice even on her wedding-eve.
Settled in Bristol, she was very happy.
She liked the people she met One day
somebody saw the pie. dish. 1t was an
artistic lady, who had gone to take her
hat off in the spare-room of the parson-
age.
"What lovely plaque" she cried.
"But why don't you have it glazed9 II
will be spoiled"
The pie-dish, promoted to plaquebood,
was glazed next week, and on its back
was painted the name of the boy who,
from the Burberry point of view, had
spoiled it.
The Rev. Jacob Bird ell young.
He was good TO his wife while he lived,
and she mourned him; but there had
been no romance in their courtship, and
they had never been congenial.
The widow recovered her placidity
soon, and lived contentedly on her small
income. amid circle of attached friends
The last survivor of the Barberry family
-Dudley's mother-came to live with
her, and Mrs. Bird had pulled two gray
hairs out of her curly black hair, when
the great bazar of st. Susan's Church
took place, and committee called to
beg her to contribute something.
"I have plaque" she said. 1T
was painted long ago by somebody who
must nave become very great artist II
he lived, think. I'll give the plaque.
The more see of art the better ! know
that it is good, aud there are associa-
tons with it that make it painful to
aunt to see il"
The committee expressed their thanks,
and the "pie dish" went to the fair,
where it was greatly admired.
Now, Dudley Barberry had not
starved to death on the road, as his
grandmother always believed. He had
sold his watch, had lived until he found
his old friend the artist, had become his
pupil, and had gone to Italy with him.
While unknown TO the people of his
little town. he had made name in the
great world of art He had made a
moderate fortune also, and ore day he
went back to his home, expecting to
find all the Barberrys there--a little
older, of course--and to become the
pride Of the family.
Instead, he found the house occupied
by strangers, and was told that his
parents were dead. His informant was
stranger, who did not know who he
was, and who thought she spoke the
truth, and he did not stop to ask ques-
tions of those who could have told him
the truth.
The woman had also told him that
Clara was married, and he left the town
that night, feeling at once guilty and
ill-used.
He made his way to Bristol soon after.
and was taken, rather against his will,
to the ladies' bezar at st. Susan's Church,
where pretty girls besousht him to buy
pincushions at prices that would have
Mortified even Duke.
Among his prizes we're Topsy doll