The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1889-10-25

81 uncOmlO table. Being so Door
himself | can't feel hurt at his re-
minding me that am poor, too but
| wish he wouldn't
In return for the kindness of the
Goidens. poor Mr.. Moss was ALWAYS
ready to do a thousand things He
was handy with hammer and nails,
and had wonderful faculty for mend
ing shoes. Once or twice Ellen
thought he must have been a shoe
maker, he SO ably cobbled her dis
carded walking-boots; and she had
fancied him a carpenter when he put
the kitchen closet door on its hinges;
and a jeweler when he reset the
amethyst in her dead mothers ring
which she now wore in memory of
her. Once she said:
"How did you learn to do so many
things?"
And he answered:
Nothing saves man so much
money as to be Jack of -all-trades
Still he was not saving himself
money when he dug her garden and
put new bricks in her range. And he
did 1t with the same alacrity with
which he sponged and pressed his own
clothes. and recovered his own UNI
brella
When he came home at night he al
ways went to work; and they learned
that he made his own bedstead. and
his three-cornered table, and stuffed
his own straw mattress
"A penny saved is a penny got, ="
said Mr. Moss. And Mr.. Golden, who
never yet had found himself quite
able to pour himself cup of coffee,
or find his own slippers, and who,
though he had been prosperous
commercial gentleman once, would
have been as apt to sweep his own
chimney as to mend any thing about
the house, stared in amazement
HE appears to be a gentleman by
education" he said; '.he is we'll read
in the classics; he understands music
as few save professional folk do; and
stocks-my dear, / think he knows
more about stocks than any one l ever
met. What an invaluable man he
would have been to me in my business
l would gladly have had him for my
head clerk. He might have saved me
from failure; yet see to what pass
he is reduced himself"
Mr.. Moss certainly was mystery;
but, since he did not choose to eA plain
himself, the Goldens were too polite to
ask questions; and whether 1t was the
fact that there was something to
wonder at in him, or whether his
dark skin and black eyes were the
proper contrast to her complexion and
blue orbs, Ellen Golden found her.
self thinking of him a great deal.
eff he only would forget money, or
the sound of it, how nice he would be, ~
said she.
And one day-but this she had
never told to any one--he had said to
| her:
If man were rich enough he would
happier-but it is unwise to marry il
one can not afford it. It is so expen-
| sive thing. Don't you think sop
And she had said:
'Oh, yes, it certainly ISL and
had not known whether to laugh or
| cry.
Somehow, she thought to herself,
knowing Mr. Moss is like meeting the
enchanted Prince of the Arabian
Nights who seemed flesh and blood
Prince, but who proved to be one-hali
of stone. So there were soft. and
gentle. and kindly things in Nj. Moss
almost loving things at times-but
when he spoke of money the petrified
half of him came TO view.
''Yet it is trouble that has made him
So" said she. 1.-The enchantment-or
perhaps | should say the disenchant-
ment-of loss and disappointment. 1t
hurt papa. but not in the same way"
1t was queer life that the girl led
with these two men. one old, one
middle aged, and yet it was not an I'M
happy one.
Mr.. Moss had no other friends, save
a portly, bald-headed gentleman who
came now and then with important
looking papers and envelopes in his
hands to spend half an hour in his
| room.
"His employer, doubtless" said Mr..
Golden.
And once. in going away, this gentle.
man had said aloud:
Excuse me, Mr.. Moss, but you
should have room with fire. 1t is
dangerous to sit so much in the cold.
/ am nearly persisted, l assure you"
And Mr. Moss had answered meek
ly:
do you know the rent they charge
for rooms with CRATES, and do you
know the price of coal per ton, Mr..
| Macklin?'
And Mr.. Macklin had laughed lit
tie, cruel laugh.
..He is paying Mr.. Moss almost moth.
ing for his toll, I suppose said Mr..
Golden.
'.And, dear papa" said Ellen. lido
you know really think poor Mr.
Moss must have some claim on his lit
tie earnings-some poor relative to
support. for whom he deprives him
self of comfort we must be very
good to him, papa But won'tyou-you
are older than he-won't you edviss
him to leave that odious III. MacKi.a
and go where they will give him etter