Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1882-01-14

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They went into the quaint, old fashioned |
parlor, which had already been transformed |
by Susan's care, so that much of its shah.
biness was hidden. When all were seated, |
and Samuel Flint perceived that none of |
the Others knew what to say, he took a
resolution which, for man of his mood
and habit of life, required some courage.
"Three of us here are old people" he
began, and the two young ones love each
other. 1t was so long ago, Lucy, that 1t
cannot be laid to my blame if l speak OF it
now. Your husband, see, has an honest
heart, and will not misunderstood either OF
US. The same thing often turns up in life
it is one of those secrets that everybody
knows, and that everybody talks about ex-
cept the persons concerned. When | was
young man, Lucy, loved you truly, and
| faithfully meant to make you my wife.
81 thought so too, for while, said she,
very calmly.
Farmer Meadows looked at his wife, and
no face was ever more beautiful than his,
with that expression of generous pity shin
ing through it.
You know how I acted, I" Samuel Flint
continued, but our children must also
know that l broke off from you
without giving any reason. a woman
came between us and made all the mis-
chief. | was considered rich then, and
| she wanted to secure my money for her
| daughter. | was an innocent and unsus-
pecting young man, who believed that
every body else was as good as myself and
| the woman never rested until she had
turned me from my first love, and fastened
me for life to another Little by little l
discovered the truth | kept the know
ledge of the injury TO myself quickly
got rid of the money that had so cursed
me, and brought my wife to this, the lone
lest and dreariest place in the neighbor-
hood, where l forced upon her life of
poverty. thought it was just revenge,
but was unjust. she really loved me
she was, if not quite without blame in the
matter, ignorant of the worst that had
been done Il learned all that too late), and
she never complained, though the change
in me slowly wore out her life | know
now that | was cruel; but at the same
time l punished myself, and was inno
Gently Furnishing my son. Bat to him
| there was one way to make amends. i
will help him to a wife, | said, who will
gladly take poverty with him and for his
| sake | forced him, against his will, to
saw that he was o hired hand on this place,
and that Susan must be content to be
hired housekeeper. Now that know Susan,
| see that this proof might have been left
| out; but guess it has done no harm. The
place is not so heavily mortgaged as people
think, and it will be jacobs after | am
gone. And now forgive me, all of you.
| Lucy first, for she has the most cause
Jacob next, and Susan-that will be easier
and you, Friend Meadows, if what [
have said has been hard for you to hear"
The farmer stood up like a man, took
Samuels hand and his wife's, and said in
broken voice
! "Lucy, 1 ask you, too, to forgive him.
and ask you both to be good friends to
each other"
Susan, dissolved in tears, kissed all of
them in turn but the happiest heart
there was Jacobs.
1t was now easy for him to confde
to his wife the complete story of
his troubles, and to find his growing self
reliance strengthened by her quick, intel
ligent sympathy The Pardons were bet
ter friends than ever, and the fact, which
at first created great astonishment in the
neighborhood, that Jacob Flint had really
gone upon journey and brought home
handsome wife, began to change the atti.
tude of the people towards him. The old
place was no longer so lonely the nearest
neighbors began to drop in and insist on
return visits. Now that Jacob kept mis-
head up and they got fair view of his
face, they discovered that he was not lack
ing, after all, in sense or social qualities.
In October the Whitney place, which had
been leased for several years, was adver-
tised to be sold at public sale. The owner
had gone to the city and become success.
full merchant, had outlved his local at
tachments, and now took advantage of
rise in real estate to disburden himself of
property which he could not profitably con-
troll
Everybody from far and wide attended
the sale, and when Jacob Flint and his
father arrived rybody said to the former,
s'0f course you've come to buy, Jacob"
But each man laughed at his own smart
ness. and considered the remark original
with himself.
Jacob was no longer annoyed. He
laughed, too, and answered I'm afraid
1 can't do that but I've kept half my
word, which is more than most men do"
''Jake's no fool, after all, was whis-
pered behind him.
The bidding commenced, at first very
spirited, and then graduslly Stacking of,
as the price mounted above the means
of the neighboring farmers. The
chief aspirant was stranger, well-dressed
man with a lawyers air, whom nobody
knew. After the usual long pauses and
passionate exhortations, the hammer fell,
and the auctioneer, turning to the stranger,
asked, "What name p
Jacob Flint %
There was general cry of surprise. All
looked at Jacob, whose eyes and mouth
showed that he was as dumbfounded as the
rest.
The stranger walked coolly through the
midst of the crowd to Samuel Flint, and
said, "When shall | have the papers
drawn up,"
"As soon as you can," the old man re-
piled then Selling Jacob by the arm, with
the words, Let's so home now p he hur-
ried him on.
The explanation soon leaked out. Sam
uel Flint had not thrown away his wealth,
but had put it out of his own hands. I5
was given privately to trustees, to be held
for his son, and returned when the latter
should have married with his fathers con-
sent. There was more than enough to buy
the Whitney place.
Jacob and Susan are happy in their stately
home, and good as they are happy. If any
person in the neighborhood ever makes use
of the phrase q Jacob Flint's Journey"
he intends thereby to symbolic the good
fortune which sometimes follows honesty,
reticence and shrewdness.
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