Lyon County times. [volume] (Silver City, Nev.) 1874-1907, 1888-09-01

dress The husbands and fathers had bu
few changes to make. Their aprons, If the,
were fortunate enough to have them, were
off, and their cveralis; their sleeves Uerj
rolled down, too, revealing the wear of storm
and sun on the cheap stuff of which tht
clothes of the poor are made. But the young
men had, most of them, some ia5hy color
about their necks and wore some thread BARE
black coat, with here and there a whole
snowy suit, bought regardless Of the poverty
that stared them in the face. The higher
classes had taught them the lesson that &
poor man can expect no consideration o.
respect anywhere, and each human creature
whose spirit is not all broken, will save his
scant pennies to disguise i'll the livery of the
! prosperous the poverty that the world makes
: at once his misfortune and his disgrace
Most of the girls, too, had gilt or rubber jew
elry in abundance, rich looking chains about
their rechs, and the most elaborate and
massive earrings. They wore flashing rib
bons of the most startling colors, and for
dresses cheap hinsy limitations of the most
costly stuifs
All had gathered near the Breton mansion
The door was hung with black Grape in vol
luminous folds. A melancholy hearse, with
plumes waving the insignia of woe, was at
/
were happy, even gay, and the murmur of
their voices had no cadence of sadness. Yet
for one moment they were quiet. It was
when eight bareheaded men, with awe in
their faces, the awe of mortals in the pres
ence of the grand mystery Of death, came
slowly out of the Grape hung door bearing
between them tho deposad lord of the house.
Then appeared at the door the face OF the
heir young Philip, pale and grief stricken,
! and an involuntary hum of greeting met him
from the people who lined the roadside and
hustled the carriages in waiting. He was
their hope, their trusted deliverer, their
friend who had seen how hard their lives
were, and had once promised to help them.
His words that night Of the fire had sunk
deep into their hearts and been re-
peated from mouth to mouth, with many
an addition of an eager imagination. 10
be sure he had done but little to fulfill his
promise But there were the fire escapes to
bear witness to his honesty, and his father,
the one they were expected 10 mourn for, was
a hard man to move. Had the youpg man
not admitted in their meeting he vas too
weak to help them: Now he was untram'
laeled; the unlUastiOned owner Of The Breton
Mills: his wish was the sole authority hence
forth, and he wished kindly TO them. His
word the only law throughout the great
factory, and he had given his word to help
them. Not soul but believed in the dawn
of vague day of general happiness. Few
had clear ideas of the elements of their long
wretchedness They thought everything was
wrong in the system under which the poor
were so unhappy, and the remedy that oc-
CURED to their minds was, of course, to
change everything. No more long hours no
more scant pay, no more favQritisln; all
should have alike. No more strikes or con-
flicts or complaints or bitterness were
dreamed of, for there would be no hardships
left.
Philip thought of Bertha. At first it
seemed a year since he had lost her, and he
wondered with dull ache in his heart where
she could be after so long time.
Then it seemed but an hour, SO fresh was
the wound in his heart. 1t was her place,
that empty seat by his side, in this supreme
moment of his desolation. She could com
fort him in his loneliness, the most terrible
crushing loneliness, that in the midst of
multitude. Perhaps he was weak, too weak
for the stern requisitions of his destiny. Per-
haps there was not enough of the sturdy ele-
ment in his character. He would rather
have leaned on some other brave heart than
stand out alone before the world, better
formed for the gentle graces of a friend than
to WELD undismayed the ponderous weapons
of wealth and power. He would have been
better to nurse the sick and comfort the
fallen. than to be ordered to the front of the
battle, where to be still is infamy and to
fight death to some pitied foe. And there
was not one human being near or dear
enough to him to instil one spark of new
courage into his heart, or brighten by one
smile of love the darkening desolation that
seemed to have settled over his life. Ii
Bertha had only waited another day she
could not have gone. She would have staid
and learned again for very pity to love him.
If she had only waited another dayl Bat no
doubt the very weakness in him that cried
out for her made him incapable of holding
her love. 1t is hard to confess to oneself, his
soul is too poor and small for the woman of
his choice to love. But that was the depth
of humiliation Philip Breton had reached as
he lay back on his carriage cushions. At
least he was generous to make an excuse,
even at the moment OF his greatest need, for
the woman who had deserted him.
| He heard voices from without. He had no
interest in what any one in the world might
say, he thought, but these words were the
first words that fell upon his ear.
/ "Sick is it, Wen, cheer up, girl, the young
boss will make it all right Yer all tired out
and ye niver was fit for much anyhow"
"Will he give us doctors, toos'
"Why not? he hss 'em when he's sick. It's
/ just as right we should as works our best for
I him when we're we'll"
Philip was fairly startled into momentary
forgetfulness of his sorrow. But the carriage
moved along few feet and stopped again.
/ Were the people mad Z Was it his duty to
keep free hospital and teach the sick to
come whining to him for charity, when illl
! Wouldn't it spoil them, to say nothing from
tie business point cf viewl He began to
sympathize more than ever with his fathers
perplexities, and to feel that perhaps, after
all, his solution of them was the only prac-
ticable one. But he heard the rustic of a
woman's dress beside his carriage where it
waited. ....
isn't it splendid to have a whole holidayP'
said fresh, girlish voice.