Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1883-08-04
WEIGHED IN TIE BALANCE.
A TRUE STORY.

solomon Speed was builder by occupation
Woodworking. calculating saving man. who
iiad come TO Belmont when the town was new,
attracted thither by promise of much sccupa-
ton in the line OF his calling He was good
mechanic, very fair architect, competent to
superintend the erection ofany ordinary building,
and able to do much of the better class of work
with his own hands. He was also a shrewd man.
When he had thoroughly inspected the tow n
aud its surroundings, he saw that its possibili-
ties were great, and all the money he could
raise and all the credit he cared to ask were in
vested in land. And he did not mistake. He
lived to see land that he had bought at the rate
of fifty dollars per acre, sold for one dollar per
square foot. He built for himself large and
comfortable dwelling, in the new town. feeling
'sell assured that he was settled down for the
remainder of his life.
Solomon Speed had three children-three
s0nS-Nathan. Thomas. and Peter aged re-
spectively, eighteen. ten and four. This four
years Old son was the child of a. second wife
married after Sir. Speed had built his new house
In Belmont; and we may say here that the two
eider so1s were never quite reconciled to their
fathers second marriage They had Inherited
all his shrewdnesS, and having seen that
wealth was likely to flow in upon their father
they did not take kindly to the idea Of an in
c: ease in the number of his heirs. The step
mother they never ill-treated-tIat they dared
not debut they never liked her, nor were they
heartily kind to her After little Peter mad be-
Come large enough and strong enough to creep
around upon his hands and knees and anon to
stand upon his feet. the two brothers. large and
strong, sometimes spoke pleasantly to him, and
would pick him up when he fell; but they never
kissed him; they never gave him brcthery love.
But the child was not without a playmate of
his own sex. In the family, adopted by Solo
mon speed. was boy named Robert AshwOrth,
q son aud only child Of his-Speed's-Only
sister. His father had died when Robert was
an infant, aid his mother had survived her
! husband but few years. On her deathbed she
| had called her brother to her side and begged
OF him that he would take care of her boy; and
he had promised that he would do So Robert
was at that time five years old, just the age of
Thomas. and from that time he had been one of
the family, enjoying all the advantages of life
and education that his two cousins enjoyed.
But with the dawning Of better times-as the
prospect OF wealth opened upon the family
| the aspect OF Roberts situation changed some
what. As Solomon Speed began to gain more
money than he could spend. he became more
and more inclined 10 save: and he came in time
to look upon his sisters child as q burden which
he ought not to bear And the same feelings
found life in the bosoms of Nathan and Thomas
AS their prospects grew brighter and brighter.
they began to cherish the fear that they mi9i!t
be called upon. in some way, to share with
called him More than once.
Robert AshwoTth loved the bright eyed,
taken haired child. and never tired Of carrying
HIM in his arms. and playing with him in all
sorts of ways n fact. the time came-it had
come at the time at which We open the story
when little Peter and his mother were the poor
cousins only fr!ends-the only ones who loved
him, and contributed to his happiness.
At the age of sixteen Robert concluded that
he had been Il burden upon his uncle long
enough. and he suggested that it might be we'll
Tor MN to go out into the world and seek his
own fortune. Uncle Solomon thought the
same: and Nathan and Thomas both conceded:
and the uncle STIMULATING that the boy should
never trouble him more-shoud never appeal
to him for mOncy-offared to give him one
hundred dollars in money. The lad had thought
his Uncle would give him something: but this
condition aroused his Indignation and he
would not takea penny. He had ten dollars
saved In two years. and lie would make that
answer. Mrs. Speed, who was becoming thin
and pale, and weak. Wcpt with bitter grief as
she held his hand for tie last time: and from
little Peter he was forced to tear himself away.
Time passed or. Mrs. Speed received two
letters from RObert-olic written at st. Louis
and the other away oft toward the Rocky
mountains. She answered them both. In the
last she confessed that she was very weak with
little hope OF life remaining. At the ert! of a
year and a half lie wrote his third letter. from
the Pacific coast, bidding her that she should
going away to the mountains, beyond sonora
but friend in San Francisco would forward it
to him Another year passed. at the end of which
time his last letter to MIs. Speed was returned
10 iliin She WAS dead. and the wanderer wrote
no more letters to his old home
Ten years more had passed, when Robert
Ashworth-,low strong. rugged brown-faced,
fuil-bearded man. OF eight and-twenty-met q
man who had come from Belmont within
year. From this man he learned that Solomon
nxb.lI dnn1
were carrying on the business. They were
both married, and lad families. and were looked
upon as being very wealthy. At all events,
they were proud and aristocratic.
Five years more. aud Robert again heard from
the Old home-this time meeting with man
whom he had known in the days of his boy
hood. Nathan and Thomas Speed were still
nourlshing. their business being simply the
looking alter their real estate and personal
property. and in spreading The glitter of their
wealth before the world Their half-brother.
Peter. had grown to be a man OF onc-and-
twenty. and was hard at work in one of the
mills belonging to them. By some SORT of,hocus
pocus he had been lett poor at his fathers
neutrality-suspicious. entirely upon his elder
brothers. ::obert's informant could not fully
explain; but he believed that Old Solomon by
bis will. had left everything to Nathan and
Thomas. making them joint-guardians to Peter,
the boy at that time having been only nine years
of age
Anu SUN tue years Spcu on. Robert Ash
worth. ill the way Of money-making was fortu-
nate. A strong. heaithfuI. honorable man.
dealing justly with all. and respecting the rights
OF all with whom he came in contact. he made
friends wherever ie went. and made no enemies
i.arly Ill his mountain experience ne struck
iroiilic mine. and bought if. When he erected
hiSshanty on his land there was not another HUI
man hab.tation within fifteen miles of him. At
the end OF twenty years. stiH living upon the
same spot where lie had first erected his simple
cabin Of logs and clay, and birch-bark thatch-
Ing lie was father of a town of four thousand
inhab!tants-its mayor and its chief man In
every way.
Fire-and-thirty years had now elapsed since
Robert Ashworth left the eastern home to seek
his fortune. and the tickle dame had never I'm
all that time. played him false. Only, he had
found no society In which he cared to spend the
calm evening Of his days. His heart turned
longin4ly back upon the old home. In all the
years Of his wanderings he had seen no woman
whom he could love well enough to make her
his wife; and he prayed that he might yet find
faithful bosom upon which he could rest his
weary head ll trustful confidence and love SO
he offered an his Dorado property for sale and
though people were panied to see him leaving
them, yet they gladly bid for his valuable es-
t.f6