The Cape Girardeau Democrat. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1876-1909, 1891-10-24
POVERTY AND RICHES.

am constrained to remark that the
fellow who mventcd sleep was a
dandy. | was fed and fostcred on
such old saws as .eariy to bed and
early to rise and 1.-The early bird
catches the worm" but my experience
has been that the early worm gets
caught, and this worn of the earth
never leaves its nest as long as there
is a ghost Of an excuse for not getting
up. sometimes ] get up to my will
dow and pity the poor fellows that 90
trudging by with their dinner pals
in hand. and hen | go back to bed
again and wonder if they are such
very poor fellows. after all. Let u>
look AT il a moment. There is the
working chap that | saw going down
in the rain the other morning. What
is the matter with him: lie looks
sometimes as if he was down on his
luck, he don't wear the best ofclothes.
and his lot may not be a perfectly
happy one. But its not all blacknesS
and darkness for him. Ii You had
seen him any other morning but that
rainy one You would have sccn by his
side a dcmurc little lady with a face
that makes one think of a blush rose.
little past its prime. but mighty
sweet to look upon. She wcars n mite
of a white sun bonnet. clean rs fresh
fallen snow and starchcd and stiff Is
the best peal gloss can make il. The
cape of this cute little bonnet shades
a round white throat, and the strings
are tied beneath the chin III a ravish-
ing bow that stands guard over a
dimplc. She has been married quite
ten years, and they say that the two
little children who were Graded tor
a few happy mouths on her soft breast
are waiting and watching for her
coming the other side the river. Yes.
that was part of their bad luck, but
as you see her going part way with
him every morning. both of them
have a smile on their faces as she thus
gives her personal .'God-speed" to
him on the march of his daily grind.
lie works downtown in a factory,
and he makes hardly enough money
each week to keep you in cigars, my
good friend. or your wife in novels.
1t would do YOUR heart good TO see
her kiss him good bye. lie looks n
little shamefaced sometimes, but she
stands and watches until he is well on
his way, then waves him a final fare
well. and trips back home in the serene
shadow of her little bonnet. Now
YOU may ridicule that love and call
it "spoony" and silly" but, tell you.
a legacy of gold or a hatful of dia-
monds could not begin to o~utvalue
such love in a mans home. God
bless the two. say ], and roll round
the joyful day when love and its free
and beautiful demonstration shall take
the place OF the cold conventIonalities
that God never meant to have a place
i'll his beautiful world. No, no. lie is
not necessarily a poor fellow be-
cause he is not rich in cash. Such a
wife AS his is n treasure untold. IF
there were many such l would be
tempted to get married myself But
that is not all he has. The world is
his. On these summer mornings it
lies before him like a blue and gold
lnusic-boX. wound up by angel hands
and warranted to run to all eternity.
in il and abont it is his to
if not to possess. lie owns
very bird note, every inch of blue
every ose that blossoms, every
grass blade that lifts il green banner
10 the SUM-. He owns the sunlight
md the moonrise and the dawn: the
clint of the far-spreading sea is his.
md the sunset sky, when it slowly
fall the petals of its failing rose.
But he hasn't a million dollars. nor a
,ank account, nor any real estate. lie
5 poor, so far a. material riches GO:
WINS no fast horses, nor fancy stables,
Tor private watches. And so you call
i'm poor As well might the heir
+ all the Indies be called poor, or the i,
OF the Kohinoor be commits
In the light of Gods love the !
'orld is as We take it. Poverty and +
iches are arbitrary terms. That man : :
poor who Turks in the shadow; y.
.ches lie in the direction of the sun. $