Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1888-12-26

gles, = or whether some urchin had heard
some elder member Of the family call Job
a pedagogue and had shortened tho word
to Cog as being an easier word for Q boy
of his years to handle, no one could tell.
Even the town selectmen familiarly salut-j
ed him with Hello, Gogp' and there
were possibly people In the village who
knew him under no other name. For nine
years he had taught school, and he would
probably have taught it for nine more
without attempting to better himself ii
fate had not decreed otherwise.
On the afternoon before Christmas he
had dismissed his g family early, giving
to each Of them small token Of remem-
branca
Twenty-Five remembrances made large
reduction in the total sum Of his scant saw
ings, and on this particular Christmas Eve
he was made to feel the fact in full force
Not that he regretted his kindness, how
ever. he was too noble for that to ever oc-
cur to him.
Five minutes after the school had been
dismissed, he had received q note from the
chairman Of the town committee request
ing him to call to see him. The chairman
was Q Mr.. Flint, q man who was rs hard
as his name in business transactions, and
who had acquired the position Of chairman
because the villagers for the most part
feared him. He was rich, and lucky was
the man in Ciderburg whose house and land
was not subject to q mortgage held by the
mayor" US he insisted was his right
title. 49,
Job had hurried home to the farm house
where be did chores for his board and
lodging, and had walked back to the
village center without eat ng his supper,
so great was his fear that he might keep
| the magnate waiting minute.
The roadway laid between two hills and
in the shadow Of one Of Thorn was de-
serted farm house that had been partially
destroyed by fire. It's open doorway
looked like. black, yawning abyss, and
the winl howled dismally around the
building. f
Job felt q creeping sensation pervade
him as he hurried through the gap, an un
pleasant feeling such as he had never be-
fore experienced; something, as he
imagined, one might teel when evil fore
| BODIED; but he shook it OF when he stepped
into the moonlight beyond the bend in the
oadway. A short distance ahead at tie
| end Of the road the church spire stood
forth, tall and white, like Christmas
ghost that did its vigils once a year. The
moon darted behind q teathery cloud, then
| the snowclad scene making it exceeding
" beautiful. Although the evening wind
| was keen and cutting, Job stood for mo.
| ment wrapped almost in worship of the
grandeur Of nature ss it was ctured to
his gaze at the time. The moonlight kissed
the white spire, the snoW-covered mead
! ows, the distant houses. From the bare
hedges and the branches Of the trees hung
great tcicles which glittered like diamonds.
The white-tipped cones glistened in the
pines, the tall dark frs stood out in mar
tial array and stars shone in. the night sky.
| The cold and frost tingled Jobs feet and
! brought him back to earth. He ram. Or
! rather stun bled aud slid, along tho rest Of
the road, and arrived at the Mayors"
house with his homely but honest face
! aglow from the unusual exercise Z
Had he known Of the reception awaiting
him, he could have taken his time; in fact,
| he could have saved himself the journey.
His mind had been visited with hopes that
the SUPERB llious village king might In
crease the yearly stipend he received for
q salary; and he was between hope and
| fear as to whether the chairman's hand
some daughter, the belle Of the village,
had taken exception to Christmas token
he had sent her that afternoon by her lit
tie brother. :,
Dorothy Flint's nature was as much in
direct opposition toher name as her fathers
was IN keeping with It While she was q
dutiful and a6ectionate daughter, she had
mind Of her own and q keen perception
Of the right and many of her fathers
transactions. It grieved her deeply that
her father should be 80 merciless and
hard hearted toward every one save.her,
self; for it certainly was q fact that he
was utterly Indifferent to every one alike,
and, with the exception Of his handsome
Dot, no one could exert the slightest influ
ence over him. ~
| Dots little brother brought home the
Christmas present for her intrusted him
by the schoolmaster, and As Dot was not
in the house, he opened it, as he said, ITO
see fits better'n m le."
| 1t was merely q volume Of poems, nicely
bound in blue and gold, and on the fy-leaf
was inscribed:
ITO MISS DOROTHY FLINT: With best
Christmas wishes OF the giver, JOB PIPP1N."
! Old Mayor" Flint howled worse than
the wind howled around the ruins Of the
deserted farmhouse that Job passed as
he toiled through the snow. He was not
| \ IN Mk~y y @aNA