The Penn's Grove record., 1884-10-11

N1bb AAARA = -
BRIDES ears as she started upon her hon
eymOOn.
Two years passed, and they were, on
the W ole, happy ones for Grace. Fer
husbands affection for her was so ten
der, his attentions were 80 constant and
delicate, that the young wife could
cling to him with an entire sense OF
trust and love. Gradually her peace Of
mind returned, and she discharged the
duties of her new station with serenity
As often as she could she went to see
her little girl /; but these visits excited
no suspicious, for the chlld's nurse was
Grace's foster sister. and Grace was
godmother to one of the woman's chill
dren. Martha Toose-such was this
PERSONS name-was a ~red-cheeked hon
%est-hearted thing, who felt devoted
towards Mrs. De Roy, and treated her
child with the utmost kindness. passing
it off as an orphan niece of her hus-
band. 1t had been thought better to
let this arrange ment subsist rather than
remove the little girl to Mr.. S~weeney's
house, where, as Grace well knew, it
would not get such careful tending as
from Martha. Soon, however, Grace
was enabled to see her child frequently
at Roydale, for within a twelyemOnth
of her marriage a baby-boy was born to
her and as Martha loose had had an
addition to her family few weeks be
fore, Mr.. De Roy himself suggested
that his wife's foster sister should be
engaged as wet-nurse. So Martha came
to Roydale and two or three times a
week honest Richard Toose would
trudge over from the village in the
afternoon, bringing his children to see
their mother, and with them little Rosy
''the orphan.n Mr.. De Roy. who was
fond of children, liked to see all these
brats racing about his house and
grounds and, from the first, he took
a particular fancy to Rosy, who was
not shy before strangers like the other
pumpkin children, but would Chamber
on to his knees whenever called.
So all would have gone on as well as
deceit can go, if, %unhappily, the mind
of Richard loose had not got disturbed
by prosperity. So long as he was poor
he had worked hard and been a we'll
behaved fellow but since Mrs. De
Roy had been in a position to make his
wife secret gifts of money, he had
worked less and taken TO drinking.
When Martha obtained her situation
at Roydale, Richard ceased to work at
all, and spent almost all his time at the
public-house. He did not prate in his
cups, for his rustic shrewdness warned
him that he might kill his golden-egget
no lx- TpaanfiNu1 faJklnn . hl1f hia
dull soul became infiamed by ambitious
ideas. He wished to become a farmer (,
then he settled down to the notion of
owning a public-house. The proprietor
of the Trotting Donkey in his village
was going to retire from business, and
offered to let Toose have his fixtures
and goodwill cheap. To Grace's dis
may, Martha was as much seduced by
this scheme as her husband. 1t pleased
her to think of becoming the mistress
of a thriving roadside inn. and she an
swered sharply when Grace combated
her whIm, saying that she could not
bear to let Rosy be brought up in a pub
lic-house.
81 s'pose, marin, your child woan't
keteh more harm there than moline, -
replied Martha in her broad dialect.
But, Patty, see how your husband
drinks. And he will have more temp
tations to do 50 if he becomes a publ
can" rejoined Grace, coloring.
"Moy nan doan't drink and faint
your bis'ness if he dew" answered
Martha rudely.
This was the first unciyil word she
had ever spoken to her mistress, and it
cut Grace to the soul, the more so as
she felt her helpless dependency. She
had to desist from her opposition and
meanwhile, the loose couple having
eircumvented Mr.. De Roy, obtained
from him a Snm of money to buy the
public, house. AS soon as Grace's baby
was weaned, they entered upon the pro-
prietorship OF the Trotting Donkey and
from that day a shadow fell on Mrs. De
Roy's life.
There was a GOODNESS between her
and Martha, and it increased as the
Tooses began TO lose more and more of
their honesty in their new trade. They
had no t. lents for business and feeling
that they would always have the De
Roys to fall back upon if things went
ill, they were neither industrious nor
prudent. Their house became a booz
ing den, where credit was given to the
lowest village tepers, with Whom loose
and his wife would sit drinking by the
hour. Then gambling and fights took
place on the premises, and the police
had to make a bad report OF the house
to Mr.. De Roy, who, being a msgls-
trate, took the thing to heart, and re-
monstrated with the Tooses. They an
swered with an independence which
shocked him but Grace pleaded for
her proteqes with what sickness of heart
Heaven knows j, for she feared being
debarred from seeing her child. AT
first the TOoses had continued to bring
Rosy to Roydale nee Or twice a Week
but soon they left off, saying they had
not time to go out. Then Grace had to
go and see the child at the inn, where
she perceived that it was getting ne
elected, dirty, and was learning ugly
words from the ''Donkey'sn ~disreputa-
BILE customers. One of the worst pangs
that a mother can know, that of seeing
her child ill-cared for without being
able to remedy the evil, thus fell to
Grace's lot (; besides which, now that
the inn was always crowded with loaf