Weekly commercial herald. (Vicksburg, Miss.) 1884-18??, 1886-06-04
nv.

L
THE RECTOR AGREES WITH MRS. TEMPLE. Z
Her flying wheels next ceased their swift
revolutions at the door of the rectory, and
the little woman alighted with the step of
~five-and-twenty. She shook her head as she
marked how the once brilliant flower beds lay
neglected, and the stone steps, once white as
porcelain, were turning green with neglect
Dead leaves strewed the path; the blind of
the dining room window hung awry; what
ever she saw told her that the enchanter Gold
had wandered off with his wand to other do
mains, and that his successor, Poverty, had
already marked all things for his own.
II should just like Sophia to see this place"
our moralist said. ut would be a lesson for
nor" She spoke as solemnly as if she had
been the pensive and didactic Mr.. Hervey
walking among his tombs. "a few months
ego everything was trim and shining with
money; noy-and this is poverty, pious pow
erty!' she said, with inexpressible scorn in
her face. II hate poverty"
The door opened, and instead of the man
servant Of other days, well clad, well brushed
and obsequious, there stood before her an ill
dressed girl, whose skirts, tucked up on one
side and loose on the other, told of work
hastily left. Mrs. Barbara Temple noted the
red bare arm and the dirty finger nails; she
lost sight of nothing, and all she saw turneds
into a moral lesson.
~ like to live" she thought; "but better b
dead than poor" &
As she was going into the library a Whit
from the kitchen tickled her ~nostrils, but not
gratefully.
"Soup, l suppose" she murmured again.
"Well, l have not to eat it, SO 1 need say moth
ingl"
The part she had here assigned herself was
none Of the easiest, and she felt she must be
discreet and guard her lips. Mr.. Brent ad-
vanced to meet her, and tried to put on his
old CHEEKY smile, but the conspicuous failure
made the attempt more dismal than a plain,
honest sigh. Mrs. Barbara conversed with
her usual spirit and gayety for a few minutes,
until the question came naturally;
Have you any news of your SOM
"None since the vessel was last heard Off
h, answered. "At that time he was tolerably
we'll"
q" liked that young man" she said. III
never regretted anything in my life more sin
cerely than having to abandon the hope Of
calling him a relation"
"Has your daughter abandoned It'll" Mr..
Brent asked, with a faint smile.
"How kind of you" she thought; "you
have said just the word l wanted"
"That question" she answered, ais one
which I cannot reply to as readily as I should
wish. We know what young people are;
there is always a great deal of sentimentality
about them. 1t amounts to nothing. In time
it wears off. While 1t lasts, however, it makes
their management difficult. OF course, you
are of my opinion, that the keeping UP of
this engagement, even in the remotest way,
would be injurious both to your son and to
my daughter. No good can ever come Of it,
and the sooner it is finally settled the better
for both of them. Don't you think so2D
II do" the poor clergyman replied.
He had no spirit left. Never a man of In
dependent will, he was now reduced to a
mere animated machine, worked in matters
Of this sort from the outside.
"My daughter has a wild romantic attach
ment to your son." Mrs. Temple continued.
"Now you can help me to put an end to this
affair. You only can put an end to it, but
you can do So"
NJ can, can II" he replied.
eyes; tell Sophia that you % not approve
Of it, and shat you consider it likely to be in
furious to Percival, which it surely will be.
Say with perfect truth also-you can-that
you are tolerably certain that even If she 70
manned constant to him he would not remain