The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1885-03-04

dered once more. III
"Ay-without pennyw said Mar
rish And well he might say so, if he
meant it, for without getting his full
pennyworth Farmer Marrish, of We'll
stead, had never been known to do
mortal thing. He had always been a
model man of business; up before the
bird, nay, even before the worm, and
early to bed, only for the sake Of saving
candles in those hard times. He had
played ant to Tom Blackthorn's grass
hopper. He had scraped together
penny by penny, pound by pound, field
bv field, until, as now, he could add
farm>to farm; and always in such wise
that he had earned the nickname of
"Miser MarTish" at Manchester, the
market town, where he was as well
known on Thursdays as the parson on
SUNDAYS. The idea OF him saddling
himself, at his time Of life, with pen
niless lass from boarding-school, who
came, to boot, from such wastrel
stock as the Blackthorns, was incred-
ible. No wonder the girls own father
was bewlldered and amazed.
You'll take my Patiencel" he ex-
claimed again, with open eyes.
Look here, Tom Blackthorn. Per-
haps it may look odd, but I'd sooner
have that lass to wife without penny
than ever another with thousand
pound. 1t may seem like q fools
whim; but it's mine. I've watched
Patience grow up from her cradle, as
one may say; and ever since she last
came home from school said to my
self, that's the lass for me-"
"Bless my soul alive!" .
SAY, It's true. You needn't be afraid
/ can't keep a wife, though she does
come from boarding-school. I'm not
a rich man by any sort Of means; but
I'm a hard working honest yeoman,
that isn't likely to go begging or bor-
rowing. any more than he's ike to go
stealing l don't keep hunters, nor
dogs, nor company that's worse than
dogs, TO eat one out of house and home
and then to turn their tails when the
cupboard's bare farm my own land,
and pay no rent and you know me, and
If you don't, you ask Manchester Old
Bank or Lawyer Lake, and see what
they say OF Enoch Marrish, of Welstead.
I'm not rich, but I'm warm enough for
two."
"Bless my soul alive! Does the girl
knowP"
"a girl isn't blind to chaps sweet.
ness on her suppose-ehP"
"Why, you're old enough to be her
father, mani"
"No, no. Not so bad as that. A
mans as old as he feels, and I'm one OF
the wiry ones that are old young, and
young old. Besides, it's bad for lass
to be married 10 young tom fool that
don't know his own mind. know mine.
/ love Patiencei and-you'd best keep
the land"
"Well, I'm"
What he was, Farmer Blackthorn
failed to say. He certainly could not
help seeing that he was being asked TO
sell Patience for Legs Croft. But then
that hard and grasping man like
Enoch Marrish should find Patience
Blackthorn worth buying at such n
price was very wonderful. nay, very
ilattering thing He loved his daughter;
he did not like Marrish-who can like
a creditor that appeals to the law? But
the land the landl II he loved Pa
tience with all his heart, he loved the
land with all his soul. 1t was his relig-
ion; though the land might ruin him he
loved it, not merely as one loves good
and dutiful daughter, but as a mother
loves scapegrace son.
And suppose Patience did or could
like Msrrish well enough to be his wife,
would il not be best all roundp The
Blackthorns had always held their
heads high, and Marrish was-well,
certainly not Blackthorn. Enoch was
the first Of the family who had held land
of his own, while ancient deeds showed
that there were Blackthorns, Of Legs
Croft, farming their own fields before
the time OF the Tudors. But still,
Farmer Marrish was sound mana
safe man, nay, rich man, though he
did not call himself so. He contrived
to raise good crops, somehow, in the
worst years, and, what was more, he
made not only wheat but money breed.
Why should not Patience Blackthorn
become Mrs. Marrish, il she pleased
And then the land-was II not heI
duty, as a Blackthorn, to save the landf
And there was, indeed, no other way
for the owner of Leys Croft had raised
every penny he could find, owed more
than he had spent, and had spent every
penny he could raise. .-.t t.'
at all depends. on the lass-all on
the lass" said he, after long pause,
and battle with himself that could
have only one end. "She'll be some
where about the place; we'll see what
she'll say to II, poor thing"
"Poor thingP"
"You mustn't mind what / say, neigh.
Dor. What with one thing and another
what with the shame Of being kicked
by the old man in London for beggar,
and what with your talk Of losing Legs
Croft, and what with your wanting Pa
tience, my heads all Of twirl. ="
you'll let me have her, thcn?"
"Ay."
II was not a second between Stepher
Harlow's "0h!' and his appearance in
the shed, where he found Patience nc
/ "a Al. hat NJ