The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1885-10-30
mortgage interest taken out. You
have always seemed cozy and comfort

able"
"We always have been. But wehad
the garden you know, and the COW;
i that gave us two thirds of our living.
Aunty was wonderful housekeeper,
though. Isn't it a great deal cheaper
to feed women than men? She always
said So"
81 suppose it is. Men are carnivor-
Gus. A diet of tea and vegetables don't
suit them very well; they are apt to
| grumble for something more solid.
| Well, my dear girls, our summing up
isn't very satisfactory. Even without
the mortgage, you couldn't live on fiji
| ty dollars year,"
"No. And I've been thinking what
we could do. So has Cree, though we
haven't spoken to each other about it.
L might teach district school, per-
haps. And Cree"
II could take place as plain cook.
There isn't anything else could do SO
well. Plain cooking, with dripping
and soapfat by way of perquisites;"
and l gave q laugh which was meant
| to be merry,
"It is hard" said John, with q
| moody look on his face which was
| foreign to it's usual frank brightness.
| GLOW much O. little money, would
sometimes do for people who can't get
it, and how little it is worth to other
people, who fling it away without a
| thought of it's value! A thousand dol
lars, now Any rich man would con-
slider it a mere bagatelle in his expen-
ses; but if could command the sum,
it would make us three comfortable
for life."
Chow do you mean? What would
you do with a thousand dollars if you
had it, John?"
'I'll tell you. Langworthy is going
to sell his practice"
"Oh!"
''It is q large practice for the coun-
try, you know. 1t brings him in six
or eight hundred a year-sometimes
more. He has chance to go into
partnership with his brother, out
West, somewhere, and he'll sell for a
thousand"
"But, John, some people like you
better than they do DR.. Lang
worthy"
eyes, some peopledo But thequ
tion is, will they like me better than
the other man who buys DR.. Lang
worthy out? If 1 were that man I
should command both practices. 1t is
a chance, don't you see? But new
man coming in has his chance to cut
me out"
II see. What can be done?"
Nothing" with rueful glance.
''That's the worst of it. 1 can only
keep on and hope for the best. But
it is hard, when with this miserable
thousand dollars I could double my
chances and make nice home for you
two. Sue, darling, don't cry"
She had laid her cheek down on his
arm, but she wasn't crying, only look
ing sadly into the fire.
''If we sold everything, all this which
aunty left us-the home, everything-
couldn't weget the thousand dollars?"
I asked desperately.
John shook his head. 'I couldn't
let you do that, Cree, in any case.
You'll want your share some day
yourself; it mustn't go into buying
practice for me. But, apart from
that, houses sell so badly now that
this wouldn't realize much over the
value of the mortgage at forced SALE
And the furniture, though worth a
good deal to keep would go for moth
ing at an auction. That plan would
not do at all for any of u.s."
"Still, there's no harm in thinking
about it, and seeing what we have,
and what it's worth" I urged, 10th to
give up any ghost of a chance. "We
may do that, mayn't we, John?"
"Of course. That is thing you
must do sooner or later. Look over
the house, and make a list carefully,
and we'll consult and fix on approxi-
mate values. Don't hurry about it,
though. Next week is time enough,
and / know you need rest"
Crest is the very thing l don't need
and can't take" cried, impetuously. |
Something to fill up the long days
and keep US from thinking and getting
blue is what we want. Well maket the |
list tomorrow, john
A little more talk and he rose to go.
.Did you stop at the post office,
John?"
"Yes. There was nothing for you"
Not even the Intelligencer?" asked
Sue, languidly.
~ forg to tell you. There has
been great fire in New York, and the
is burned out. Abner
brought the news over; it was tele- |
graphed to the Junction. They say
the building is a total loss, so I sup
pose there won't be any publication
for awhile-some days at least"
s"Poor aunty! how sorry she would
bel" sighed Sue. ''Aunty took the pa
per ever since it began-forty-five
years ago. She never missed num-
Der. There it all is upstairs-stacks
and stacks of it. She was SO proud of
her file. It's no use at all now, sup
pose, is it, John?"
''The ragman will give penny a.
pound for it," I suggested; ''that's
"We'l weigh the lot one OF these
days and see what we can realize"
said John. "Good night, children
1t was a ghostly task which we set
out to do next day. The past itself,
the faint fragmentary past, seems to
be wrapped up and enclosed in those
bundles of time-worn articles with
which elderly people cucumber their