Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1885-07-10

Chloe as he sunk back among the bill
| lows. They summoned the doctor.
sent for Lord Layton; but Rogco y ane
only lived an hour. 55
j At suitable time there was, . search
among his papers for his will. but
none was to be found, and no one
knew Of any property save the old
! mansion Of the Orchards. il II.
There is the picture, = Ruthie said,
timidly. to Lord Layton. ..It is worth
a great deal Of money, is it not? I'm
Gle said s and she repeated Roscoe
Vane's last words.
>.'Of course Uncle Roc intended that
it should be disposed Of for our bene-
tit'' put in Ray. +
'.My dear girls said the gentle
man, kindly, Il grieve to disabuse
your minds of a pleasant idea, but the
truth is, the picture is comparatively
worthless, but he was mistaken in his
estimate Of his own ability. His de-
fusion that this picture was great
one, no one who loved him could bear
to deprive him of. SO great was his
qualification in it: but beyond few
| pretty effects the canvas has no merit
among cennoisseurs, and would not
bring ten dollars - r..
Ruth looked astounded-Ray an
II knew it, said the latter. II
| guessed 1t long ago, and you and Iare
beggars, Ruthie! A pretty set Of men
the Vanes have been, to leave two
girls nothing out OF such propertyr'
She went down into the garden, and
Lord Layton followed her. ~. -.
1t seemed to Ruthie that she would
never get over the shock OF the news
concerning the picture. Was she then
so poor, even poorer than she had
| feared. and must she labor for her
bread? She could sew exquisitely-
but sewing-girls starved. Well, She
! could give music lessons. And when
she had decided this, in the dim
watches of the night, Ruthie fell
asleep. ,5.
The next day, Ray announced that
she was going to marry Lord Layton.
''He asked me- long ago, and I told
him Yes last night, in the garden.
We are going to New York. You can
come with u.s." she added; cor you
can live here. For myself, I repudi-
ate the old home and everything there
is in it. If Uncle Roc's picture were
sold, suppose it would buy us pair
OF shoes apiece!''
''Dear Ray, should like to keep it,"
"You may have 1t, then. I never
want to hear of it again. Sell it or
keep it, as you choose, and everything
else in this dismal old barrack. am
provided for; it is only fair that you
should have what there is here.''
So Ray was married and went away,
and Ruthie remained in the old man
sion of the Orchards. and gave music
lessons for her bread. She made a.
nice little teacher, and every day
golden-haired girls came throug III the
little garden into the low, broad par
lor, and chatted gayly while they
drummed their exercises. Ruthie had
learned herself, and then taught Chloe,
to rub the window panes, clean the
brasses, and dust the old mahogany
furniture, and, in the chilly fall eve
nlngs, Llsle Staniels would come and
bear her company by the bright hearth
stone of the lonely home.
| :%Dear Ruthie," he SAID, 1--WE might
be married if were not quite 80 poor.
|
Ruthie.
land I only bread and cheese and
kisses for my SHARE" returned Lisle.
"My practice grows so SLOWLY
But they thought Of the bread and
cheese and kisses until they determ,n-
ed to try them. Ruthie was able to
help her husbands modest income
along by continuing her music lessons
for nearly near; then there was d
little one in her arms, and added ex-
pense.
Poverty is no disgrace, but I, for
one, shall never write poetry to it,
said Lisle, ruefully, one day, when the
grocer's and butchers bills both came
due, and he had barely money enough
to buy himself q decent new suit in
which to visit his sick.
''Lisle,'' said Ruthie, walking the
floor with Baby Lisle, who was teeth
ing and worrying, "there is the pic
ture I would like to keep it; but I
know how you are harassed for money,
and yesterday I asked Chrome &
Crayon what they would give for it.
They said seven dollars. Let it go. I
had rather see you relieved than to
keep IT,
Chloe brought it and set it against
the wall, upon table. The rich COL
ors and gilded frame attracted Baby
Lisle's blue eyes, stopped his crying,
and as Ruthie stood before it, he
made sudden plunge upon it with
both chubby extended hands. H.
stantly there was collapse, a crash.
The canvas had fallen out of It's frame,
and the floor was covered with strange
gray things.
'Money!'' exclaimed Lisle.
'Bank bills!" gasped Ruth.
There were hundreds. The back of
the picture had been lined with them,
and careful search produced note.
"MY DEAR NIECEs.-When your
grandfather died he left this money,
not with me, whom he had little
reason to confide in as man OF bust
ness, but with old Peggy. 1t was
never to be invested-he had lost
much by unfortunate Investments of
his own-but was to be divided be-
tween you when the elder reached her
twenty-tirst year. 1t has been great
care and trouble to me since Peggy
died, and place it here, for the pres
ent, for safe keeping.
ROSCOE VANE."
The date was but a few daye pre-
vious to his death. None who knew
Roscoe Vane could doubt that the
possession OF so large sum Of money
was a source of great discomtit to
him. His life annuity-which had
supported the household-had per.
ished with him. He had had little use
for money himself, and no wish for it.
Ruthie Instantly wrote to Ray
proHering her half the sum now in he1