The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1889-03-23

ply meant not rich. Now she wa
amongst rags and dirt and misery
forced to stand still for a moment ant
lCok at 1t. At first, the only emotion
it excited was disgust. But as she wa
about to seek passage through tn
squalid crowd, words fell upon her ca
that arrested her attention.
'Forty dollars I've paid you on tha
machine, and now you'll not give mt
time. | only ask time. I'm an homes
woman. I'll pay you. Man, do yor
know it's all there is between US anc
starvationP Let me have the thing
back. It's but $40 owe you"
"You've owed that two months" re.
piled the man. "Come, let go Missus
| don't want to hurt you. I've got tc
obey orders. Money or the machine
was what the boss said.'
But the woman did not relinquish
her hold. Still clutching the machine,
she turned her agonizing eyes upon the
bystanders.
"Forty dollars" she repeated, "and
the machine but fifty, and he's taking
it. | never failed until Jim broke his
leg, and his work stopped, and his
wages with it, and I'd doctors bill and
ALL"
"No, that she didn't" cried voice
from the crowd. "I'm knowing to
honesty"
'And he'd better be off with his cart"
cried man who had stalked out of the
entry OF the house near which the crowd
had gathered, rolling up his sleeves.
"Look here, good people" exclaimed
the man who held the machine, 81
don't want to do this. l obey orders
or lose my position and my bread and
butter. She'd better go to the boss and
talk to him-not to me-"
GIVE been," said the woman. "He's
made of stone. | told him he'd starve
US. He will. There, what is the use
OF my fighting like drunken body in
the street-a decent woman They've
more than the worth of the thing now,
Gcd knows; but they've the power.
Take it." And she let go her hold and
covered her eyes with her hands.
But in the place of these rough, red
fingers, others, dainty and small, and
well gloved, came down upon the cover
of the machine. Emma Rome had
pressed forward, and now spoke:
Stop" she said. "Will you let this
woman keep her machine if l pay you
ten dollars?"
"Tnem's the boss's orders, Miss, :"
replied the man, "and I'd be glad to
do it, too"
Then, while the crowd gathered
close, and the woman who had told
her piteous tale sobbed with Joy, Emma
drew the sum named from her purse,
received a receipt, which she gave to
the poor woman, and experienced for
the first time the delight which the per-
formance of an utterly unse!fsh act
brings with it.
Moreover, when the machine had
been borne up stairs, Emma, who had
exchanged few words with its owner,
followed her to her miserable room,
noted its poverty, heard all the bitter
tale. 1t was a true one-the hot tears
told that.
"But don't mind anything now,
Miss" sobbed the narrator. "Now the
machine is my very own. | don't mind
how hard | work. And the only great
tug is the landlord-four dollars a
month for rent"
GAS much a month as yard of that
trimming" thought Emma, with a little
pang.
She questioned the woman further,
and found that her landlord "lived Just
down stairs" And before she turned
from the door she had emptied her
purse and had paid three months rent
in advance.
"Your husband will be well and at
work by that time" she said =; and
there were no regrets for the lost fringe
as she made her way homeward. Nay,
she was not even stung to the soul
when Madam Farine remarked, with a
glance that said volumes:
"Ihe black lace from your old gren
adine dress? Certainly, since it is your
taste"
The dress, however, was not unbe-
coming, despite the refurblshed lace,
and Emma wore 1t to the party. She
was quite conscious that every woman
OF her acquaintance knew what the
dress was trimmed with, but her con-
science whispered to her that she had
done right. Moreover, the light of the
better thought was on her face. Some
how Arthur Maine found himself more
than ever before attracted by it, and as
she drove home that night, Emma felt
the marguerite which had said to her
che loves" had been no false prophet.
She had learned two lessons in a lit
tie while. One, that the poor might be
clothed and fed from the trimmings OF
the rich the other, that extravaganza
in dress never yet won any mans heart.
She never forgot either.
1t is estimated that there are 365
| colleges in the United States, 1886
institutions of learning, and 65,7IS
| r.,,lnn,. -, +b,,,,