The Washington critic., 1886-02-08
THE ATTIC STUDY.

Miss Annie Lyster gave sigh of re-
lief as she placed the last sheet upon q
huge pile of papers and pushed her
chair back from the study table The
doctors table presented that litter
which literary men delight in, and
which no discreet housewife, however
fond of orderly array, would dare to
set 10 rights. Her own table looked
more tidy, though there were a few
blotches Of ink on the pretty crimson
cover. The bright October sunshine
was streaming in through the skylight,
diflusing pleasant warmth, for the
morning had been frosty. Just then
the doctors slow step was heard on the
stairs, and soon he entered his attic
study.
Miss Lyster was still staring at the
armor in deep thought
There was letter in the mail, +"
said the doctor, who loved to tighten
the gravity of age with his little joke
Every good, DOCTOR" said Miss
Lyster, with dutiful appreciation; "but
| IL WOuINi DI DCtttl Cl IL tuC lClttl WCIC
| for me"
ut is for yours truly as you will
no doubt find at the end Of 1t; but no,
| the writing is masculine, man in the
mail after all, and probably something
rather more atlectionatc than the stiff
yours truly winds 1t up, eh?' and he
handed her the letter, which she
| hastened to unseal.
Meanwhile the doctor stepped into
an adjoining room and busted himself
with the contents Of an old chest, from
which he presently removed q large
bundle of papers and returned to the
| study. The young woman had finished
her letter. There was cloud upon
her face and suspicion Of tears in her
dark eyes.
"Well, well, no bad news, l hopeg"
said the doctor.
Yes, am sorry to say, very bad
news. l ought to go home at once;
they are in great trouble there. OH
l don't know what to dol cannot leave
my school, of course, until Christmas
week; so there it is.
"Is it something you can tell me
about, my dear?'' asked the doctor,
kindly. "Perhaps l can advise YOU;
but, of course, / don't wish to interfere
in your private affairs"
"You are very kind, Dr. Warlock-
you are always kind. Yes, will tell
you about it, though you have enough
to think of without being bothered
with the troubles of poor me. You
know my home is in ROCKFORD
Mother and have little farm there,
and we have managed to get along
quite comfortably since fathers death,
but the place is not ours really-that is,
1t is mortgaged for $500. Father died
very suddenly, and his affairs were so
involved that all we had left was the
farm. That seemed to be secure,
but all at once this mortgage was
produced, and that has been a cloud
hanging over us ever since. / have
managed to pay the interest and the
taxes by teaching, and everything
would go on as it has done, l suppose,
If the man who holds the mortgage
would be content. But now he insists
on having his money. We might as
well think of raising So, 900, 900 rs $500.
OH don't know what to do. Mother
is an invalid, you know. and 1t would
kill her to lose her home, but it must
| come 10 tnuu, L Icur.
"You say the interest and taxes are
kept up; what rate of interest do you
pay? %
"Siy per cent, and il has never run
behind. We have been very careful
about that"
"Dear me, / can't see why in these
times, when money is so easy, man
should want better investment"
You don't know the man, doctor,
He is sort of country speculator, and
though he is rich | suppose he has
many schemes on hand and likes to
keep his capital moving. But l be-
lieve If he chose he could let this in
vcstment remain. He doesn't choose,
however. Besides, his father, and not
he, advanced the money and it is part
of his patrimony."
| Young and married?" queried the
dobtor.
Not so very young, and-unmar-
ried, replied the school-mistress, with
Il downward glance.
unmarried, but not because he
hasn't asked, ell? 1t is the old story
over again, the hard hearted miser,
who, because he can't get n loving
glance from pair of bright eyes,
threatens vengeance upon the pretty
orphan and sick mother and so forth,
ct cetera? That's the diagnosis, eh?'
said the doctor, with mischievous
smile. Come, come! in these days
that sort of wooing isn't the thing.
There's no romance in that, as Tom
Hood says. But your letter was ad-
dressed in masculine hand. Haven
l n I, .,v1, s,,l
things right"
mo, DOCTOR" this time with fiery
blush. "It-you see-well, mother
cannot write without difficulty, and she
had friend of ours write for her"
"Ah, yes, / see. Nothing more
proper And now ! am awfully in
quisitive, but always insist upor
learning all the symptoms. In this
case allow me my prerogative rs doc
tor In short, who is your young
friend ?"
II did not say he was young, doctor
Really you are too bad. Hc-well, hi
name is John fleetwood, and he owns
n small farm near ours. He is no
wealthy, but"
But will be if he keeps on in tn,
industrious way he has started, o
course; that is what you were going tC
say broke in the listener. 20
course, he could not raise the money
and equally, of course, you could no
ask him to do So.
Certainly, we could not think o
such a thing replied the schoolmis
tress.
Both sat silent for few minutes
The doctor finally spoke in his CHEEKY
way.
"Well, my dear, I've been in brown
sindN-ihnnrh This Is an nncnmmnnl,