Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1886-05-13

rooms was all they had to shelter them;
and Maud's dainty fingers, that had
been won't to sweep the piano and do
the most delicate fancy-work, toiled
wearily at plain sewing to keep the
wolf from the door.
1t was in one of Arthur's sober and
repentant moods that Maud made the
proposal, and he caught at the sugges.
ton as drowning man clutches at a
straw. She had faint hope that if
removed from old haunts and associates
he might yet reform; and so they went
to Rockville.
Maud pawned her watch. 1t was
about the last relic of more prosperous
days, an exquisite little time-piece and
a gift from her father, but it furnished
means for their removal, and there
seemed no other way.
They hired small tenement, and
while Arthur obtained a place as copy
list in a lawyers Office, Maud put out a
modest little sign, informing the people
of Rockville that she would do plain
sewing with neatness and dispatch.
They were strangers in a strange
place, but it was not long before she,
too, found employment; and for little
while she was encouraged. Her hus-
band brought home his wages and
there was prospect of living more
comfortably than they had lately
done.
But Arthur formed acquaintances in
the place, and it was not long before
the temptation to drink When invited
became too strong to be resisted, and
Maud Leavenworth's hope of her hus-
bands 8 reformation vanished like the
morning dew. He lost his place, and
her earnings were insufficient to meet
their demands.
One day a carriage stopped at their
door, a splendid equipage, and from it
descended lady elegantly clad. She
rang the bell, and Maud Leavenworth,
with strange futtering at her heart,
opened the door.
A glance and then the two women
were clasped in each others arms for
the lady was the wife of Philip Argyle,
the great architect, and Maud's sister.
Only six years since Ruth had left
her fathers house to we'd a poor me-
chanic Disnherited because she choose
to become the wife of a man who toiled,
and bringing disgrace,ln the estimation
Of her father and sister, upon their ar
istocratic name and standing.
There had been no communication
between them. Ruth had been thought
of as one dead, and-behold the meet
ing!
Maud had married rich man, had
lived in prlncely style, but the tickle
wheel of fortune had reversed their po-
sitions.
Ruth Argyle's husband had become
one of the most famous architects of
the day, and his work commanded fab
ulous prices. AS his wife, Ruth might
be, if she chose, a leader in society,
while Maud Leavenworth, who could
not think of associating with the wife
of poor mechanic, now toiled for her
daily bread, and to her had Philip Ar
gyle's wife come, on the recommenda-
tion of a friend, to engage her as a
seamstress for her family.
The meeting was scene full of sad
and tender pathos, for Ruth had no
feeling of elation over her own good
fortune; she was thankful for her hap
piness, but her sympathy for her sister
was profound, and she insisted upon
taking her to her own home, but Maud
would not leave Arthur.
For better or worse, Ruthie,," she
said at parting, though tbs all worse,
but shall stay with him
And she did; but not long, for
death freed him from the shackles that
he had weakly and vainly tried to shake
off. 1t was death caused by his excess
es, and Maud Leavenworth was free;
but it was a sad hearted woman, who,
after the lapse of four years, returned
to her fathers house.
Ruth accompanied her, at the urgent
entreaty of her father, who had long
mourned over his unkindness to her,
and with her went her two beautiful
children, thejoy and pride Of their par
ent's hearts, the Jewels of their house
hold. They awakened the tender af-
fectlon of the old mans heart, and
when he came to know Ruth's s husband
he was forced to acknowledge that
worth, rather than riches, makes the