Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1888-06-07

Cfuncher unlucky nleceP Then he
laughed at his own chivalrous nom
sense. He could imagine the type of
young lady the one in question would
be; addicted to jet beads and loud
ribbons; fond of yellow backed
| novel, and consid Tered finished must.
clan by herself ard friends. owing to
her taking manner of rafting off four
or five waltzes and the airs most af-
fected by the barrel-organs. In those
halcyon days before the quarrel with
| Uncle Raymond, Owen had known a
higher type of womanhood than he
was likely to be thrown with now,
and he smiled bitterly at his interest
in the probably fictitious misery of
Cruncher's niece. Why should. he
give two thoughts to the veal or woe
OF girl he had never seen? He was
astonished himself
Nevertheless. he presented himself
before Mr.. Cruncher, and after a
sharp cross-ques tioning. was engaged
to fill the post vacant in the off ce.
From a fellow-clerk Owen soon
| CLEANED all there was to gather con-
corning the history of his employer
He was not liked in the place; he and
his family kept closely to themselves
in their house outside the town; they
had no visitors, and people let them
alone. There was niece. a pretty
looking girl of the name of Lee; J ack-
son. the clerk. had heard some tales
of her being ill-tre ated, but he sup
| rncoH If idlo cvoroir,
| Owen was inclined to believe that
these rumors were not mere gossip.
since he had had the pleasure of MAX
ing Mr.: Cruncher's acquaintance. He
was cold. fish-like man, with a cruel,
shallow, light-blue eye. and manner
that kept children and dogs at a dis
Greet distance. Owen. not having
much food for thought during his
leisure hours. was prepared to believe
old Cruneher capable of any de-
pravity.
The following Sunday the young
man had an opportunity of seeing
the entire Crunchar household in
church. Pater and naaterfam,tias. a
scowling, cross eyed little boy of four,
| ih VI lloSI I'LL
portance in OWENS eyes. an ex-
ceedingly pretty girl of about
twenty. She was very shabbily
dressed. and had weary, sad look. quite
unsuited to her age; still. hers was to
Owen the sweetest. Ioveliest face he
had ever seen. As he had kind OF
haunting conviction that he would, he
began to love her from the moment
their eyes met in that one quick, COM
prehensive look which sees so much.
The pew in which Owen sat was at
right angles with Mr.. Cruncher's. so.
without dislocation of his neck. the
young man could study the form and
features of this girl who already had
such strong influence upon him.
When the service was over. Mr..
Cruncher stalked grimly forth, follow
ed by the silent members of his family.
each and all evidently in great awe OF
him. He vouchsafed not the shadow
of recognition to Owen. who was 20
more to him than any other piece of
ce-furniture. The young man had
cherished dreams of a possible intro
duction to the object Of his admiration.
but he now saw how idle such fancies
were.
Louise. hold Tommy's hand tight.
You stupidity let him trip on the step,
last Sunday!' said Mrs. Cruncher, in
petulant tones, with q look to match.
to her niece as they passed Owen.
1t was some consolation to have
learned her name. Louise L ee-it was
a pretty name, and suited her. Was
her life made unhappy by that solemn
old brute of man? The thought was
torture to Owen. Could any one who
was not very unhappy have such a sad
look about mouth and eyes? And the
tone of the old woman in addressing
her was harsh and unkind. The state
of affairs for the poor girl seemed as
bad. if not worse, than the gosslps re-
ported. Owen longed for money and
power and influence, and all the good
things of this life. to take her away
from her present bondage and give
her a home fit for n 2 rincess. But
none of these blessings came to him.
and he had to content himself as best
he might with seeing Louise once a
week at church. She never appeared
elsewhere. and in the gloomy red
house was inaccessible rs the Sleep
ing Beauty before the arrival of the
Prince. A zeal for regular attendance
at church. hitherto foreign to him,
seized upon Owen, making him an OBJ
iect of praise of more than one moth
erly old lady and eligible spinster in
the place.
He had observed that it was Louise s
habit, sanctioned by the elders of the
family, to draw pictures for the amuse-
ment of the youthful Tommy during
the oermon-a practice probably con.
sidered more beneficial to the young
gentleman than slumber Neither
Tommy's parents nor The Abigail took
the least interest in these works OF
art, and they were quietly inspected
and destroyed by Tommy only, each
Sunday.
One morning Owen lost his way
hopelessly in the labyrinths of the
hymn book AS he was struggling tt
recover himself pretty hand in E
shabby glove-Louise's hand-held
toward him a book with the place
marked by scrap of paper. Over
was uncomfortably conscious of blush
ing as he accepted the offered civility;
but it was SO more than charming te
be noticed. even in the most common
place way, by her.
The bit of paper between the pages