The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1891-10-01

only such town gossaIe az sa.ss N..s-
yer aud Widow Harknway ever sus-
pected any wrong motive On his part.
Why. be was just goodness itself, Moth
er Bisell, and yoa know ho was, ead
low you ars tglrnigg against him"
~ don't believe you would think he
could h. any wrong If you saw him In
the act returned Mrs Bissell with
mild asperity.
Il refuse 10 believe this, mother, for
il Is unreasonable and impossible" and
Anne boldly put on an air OF perfect as
suraGef. He has received this horrid
bill IL change somewhere and hasn't
looked at it. Do you think he would in
criIIIrate himself if he was thief and
had robbed the bureau drawer
Dent seem like it, Anne" said Mrs.
BisseL glooniily, sinking her chin into
the hollow of her hand. 'sBut body
never knows what folks will do when
they think themselves safe from getting
found out, and he came to us perfect
stranger, and we did take up with him
and trust him 10 beat all. It all comes
back 70 me now as clear as daylight. He
was up chamber good while that day
gran 'ther was sick, and the old man is
most blind anyway and in doze. He
woulan't have noticed what the doctor
was doing there round the bureau"
Don't talk that way" cried Anne,
getting up with fury and finging herself
round the room. Its vulgar and low.
l tell you he's gentleman, and I'll stake
my lie on his honesty"
NOW. Anne, you needn't go into hys-
terlcs. Didn't he say he was poor that
day he came, that he was starved out Of
Kettietas2 forgot all about it when /
saw. his nice Office furniture, and the
horse and carriage that cost him over
three hundred dollars. Mebbe he was
wee tempted and fell for the first time,
and a. for his giving me the bill, it was
al q mistake. He was IN hurry and
forgot himself ard pulled out the wrong
one. l can't keep him here any longer,
Anne. I don't know how to treat him
or GvGl how to look him in the face. |
must make some excuse to get him ont
of the house"
Anne felt it was time TO clap on the
ecrews, and exercise the full force of her
daughteTly authority. You won't do
any such thing, Mother Bissell. You
don't mean to ruin his prospects for life.
You doh't want old Carver and the
Widow Harkawsy to trumpet this little
thing from one end Of Littlefeld to the
other. All that talk about his being
starved cut O. kettletas was joke. His
mother as travelling IN Europe and has
means. He told NE SO himself I have
drawn the hundred dollars saved from
my school teachings out Of the bank, and
you are to ray it on the mortgage. put
1t by TO set Gew cloak and furs next
winter, bat now shall make the old
things answer. You are to DO exactly as
I say. You must keep him on here, and
a4>t as IT T1qihing had happened, and I'll
pledge my lie he---:n- L.. l.irnseIf IN
time. ! shall start tomorrow morning
on g visit to Uncle Hiram, at Bells
Cove, and if no doesn't clear himself and
come out bright and shining like the
sun, viii never come back to Little
field SO long aa he stays in town"
"Bnt suppose should speak to him
and ne should try to lie out of it?' asked
Mrs. Bissell, low submissive to her girls
viii. "Oh, dear, did like him so much.
I trusted him as If he had been my son,
and, Anne, am SO sorry for you
Anne did not ask why her mother was
sorry fer her, but she intensified her
autocratic tone. knowing that she was
well under her thumb. You must not
think Of speaking to him, mother. You
must treat him exactly as il nothing had
happened"