The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1888-08-23

| IHt power vi hpoeOH' Auu Luo Olu ldul
irascibly continued, Oh, yes You're
yourself, can see More shame for
you And what have you done with
Annie and the baby, l should like to
know ? A pretty sort of husband You
must have proved yourself, truly, judg.
ing from the look of you Here she
turned suddenly upon the servant
John Matthews, you can get out and
walk to the house. 1t won't hurt you.
And what have to say to this good for
nothing young man cannot have the
slightest interest for you, And tell cook
as the man was obey ing her-that she
Is to have my soup ready in five minutes
from the time you get into the house.
And don't you forget 1t, mind, l want
20 call and see Mr.. Norris as pass, and
so do not suppose that shall overtake
lyou,
John stood respectfully waiting till
his mistress had finished speaking. then
with furtive glance at George,Ot whom
he knew very little, but with otherwise
impertLrbable face, be touched his hat,
and walked quietly away
Aud now the old lady lectured George
soundly and long. And there he stood,
hanging his head, with eyes still fixed
upon the ground at his feet, and hurt
and shamed look on his face, And not
a single word did he venture in reply to
all the taunts and reproaches that the
irate old lady heaped upon him. His
whole bearing said, deserve it all, And
presently the womanly heart within her
began to repent OF the harshness she had
used. But she would not show it yet.
| suppose you know that Susan Grey
is coming to me in about q fortnight
she continued, tn all outward appear
ance as remorseless as ever. A nice
thing for her, poor girl, TO have to own
you as her brother. in law |! And very
lucky thing for her that she has not to
own you as a husband
George looked up at this, and there
was mute reproach IN his moist eyes.
You have no work, as matter of
course2
No, ma'am. Mr.. Norris turned me off
last Saturday week. And George
brought out the words with difficulty.
You don't blame him for that, hope?
And the old lady spoke as sharply as
ever.
No, ma'am, with heavy sigh.
Well, am glad to find you have lit
tie sense Then shaking her lead cross
ly, But thought you were going to the
bad (! Folks that find their best friends
IN the public houses almost always dc,
whether they begin by drinking too
much themselves or not. l always told
Annie 80, young simp!etOn ! But she
wouldn't listen TO me. or course she
knew better-it stood to reason-than
AN old woman who was sixty years old
when she was born But what have
you done with her, asked you just
now Can't you open your mouth,
man
In low, panied tone, George explain.
ed to her where and how they were liv
ing, upon which the old lady screamed
out harshly-
| FTiars Court one room Well i hope
YOU are as ashamed of yourself as you
look, George Taylor and such pretty
cottage az you bad, too But you are
like all the rest. You would rather
spend your time and your money upon
yoIr own miserable, selfish pleasures
than upon your wife and child. sup
pose the truth is that you could not pay
the rent ? That Is to say, that what with
your betting or your gambling, or what
ever it is you do with your money, you
had none to pay And l suppose that
your furniture and everything else went
the way of the rent
| And then, in reply to still closer ques-
tiOning, George at length confessed how
much rent he actually owed, And the
old lady held up her hands, reins, whip
aud all, in angry dsmay.
Dearie mel dearie me she exclaimed,
what is the world coming to ? And now
l daresay you haven't penny in the
world, you foolish fellow
And IN low voice George owned that
he had not.
Mrs. Waller gave her head great toss
that seemed to say, Oh, well, it is no
concern OF mine ! Next she tlicked a
fly from her pony's right ear; and final
y she sat still, looking straight before
her. Then all at once turning sharply
upon George, she rejoined-
Very well. Begin afresh with moth
ing, then Better men than you have
done it. In the first place, go to your
master, and make clean breast OF your
faults. Tell him that you are ashamed
of yourself and that you wish to turn
over new leaf. Tell him that you do
not like the idea of your old sweetheart
coming to see her sister in such plight,
with scarcely gown TO wear, VI be
bound, or crust to eat; and only a
year and half married !
Here the old lady interrupted herself
with some angry ejaculation under her
breath, which George did not catch;
then went on in her harshest tone
But 1t isn't for me to tell you what
you are to tell your master. II what
you say doesn't come from your heart, it
won't be worth much. However, I've
wasted time enough talking to you. ]
must be getting on. You help yourself
George Taylor And when l see you
doing that, may help you, but not be-
fore
The pony carriage had started as
abruptly as it had stopped, and its occu'
pant had not given George 80 much as a
single word or glance of farewell. And
there he stood, motionless in the middle
of the road looking vacanIly after the
pretty little vehicle for at least five min
utes after it had got out of sight.