The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1891-11-19

| thought of that mortgage came back
| in full force and they were troubled
! on account of it. Though they tried
to deceive each other they could not de-
ceive themselves. and, look at it as
unpromising.
CHAPTER H.
| pIsINHERTrED
| John and Mary Green had married
against the wishes of their parents.
Mary's father objected to the match be-
cause John was not as high in the
scale of life as he thought his daughter
might aspire. for she was bankers
daughter and John was but common
clerk. Then. to even up matters. Johns
father rctaliated by declaring that no
son of his should ever marry into a
family the head of which presumed to
look down on the Greens.
Having come to this kind of terms on
both sides. the elder Blatchford, the
banker. and the elder Green, the farm
er. strutted about with as much pom
posity as they could command, each
doing everything in his power to show
how vastly superior he was to the
other, and each succeeding to pcrfec-
ton in making himself ridiculous in the
eyes of every body but himself
Thus it went on for a year, the two
old men passing and repassing and new
or speaking. or deigning to look at each
other. In the meantime the two lovers
met clandestinely. and enjoyed them
selves fully as well if not better than
they would if their parents had acted
with more sense. They met. courted
and married-married two or three
years sooner than they would have done
if they had not been interfcred with,
but had been allowed to continue their
courtship uninoerruptedly. So much
for the wisdom of their parents.
John held position ut fair salary.
and had saved up money enough to buy
and furnish neat little cottage home
Here the couple settled down as happy
as two lovers could be. and Mary laid
aside her rich attire and easy life, and
readily transformed the bankers daugh-
ter into the poor clerks wife: and she
felt none the worse by the change. She
took up the duties Of housekeeping and
soon became quite proficient.
Banker Blatchford and Farmer
Green. as soon as they learned that
their children were married, proceeded
forthwith to disown them. Mary made
| one attempt to win her fathers for
giveness. but he refused her petition,
saying she need no longer consider him
| in the light of father, nor, indeed. in
| any other light save that of total
stranger.
You have married as you wished,
and not as ! would have had you.' he
said. 80 go your way and III 90 mine.
You have chosen to disregard my adj
vice and desires, and have tied yourself
to penniless wretch. and from this
time forth know You not. You must
look to John Green for everything, and
when poverty and want overtake
YOU, as they certainly will, don't come
YOU shall never have a penny or a
crumb from me-
That quite settled matters between
! the rich, proud, old banker and his low
ing. tender-hearted daughter and from
that time forth they were strange to
each other: and though for two years
they lived in the same town, and often
met and passed on the street. no sign
of recognition was shown by either.
Poor Mary could show pride and def
ance enough when she WAS in her
| fathers presence, but no one ever knew
what tears She shed and what heart
aches she suffered when she was at
| home alone. She loved her father next
| to John, and even after his cruel speech
| she would have gladly thrown her arms
/ about his neck and plead for his love
and forgiveness, only she knew that he
would repulse her if she did.
Johns father. not to bc outdone by
| Blatchford, notified his son never to
come back home, but to consider him.
self disinherited and disowned. This
| notice did not quite crush John, since
home had never been particularly pleas
ant. and to be relegatcd from il ,:as not
such terrible blow as his father might
have supposed: and as to being disin-
herited, well. that was little short of a
| joke, for the elder Green's possessions
We're extremely limited. consisting in
the main of forty acres of poor,
mortgage ridden land, and dozen farm
| animals, none of which We're very
choice.
| So, disinherited and disowned, John
and Mary Green went to work on their
own responsibility and for a time sue
ceeded remarkably well. They brought
| their little home up to a point of mar
| velous perfection, and mad neat sum
in bank to which they were regularly
| making additions. They were content
ed, and even happy. in spite of the fact
that they were strangers to their par
ents.
But by and by reverses came. First,
Mary took with fever and for weeks
lay in the edge of deaths shadow
Then, after she recovered. John lost his
position on account of the house with
which he was connected failing.
Months Of idleness followed, for there
was business crash i'm the land and
employment was hard to obtain, with
an army of MISUNDERSTANDING en-
ployes tramping the streets of every
town and village in search of work
The little store in the bank began to
melt away, but to make short work of
that the bank failed. Then John, dis
heartened and worn out, fell sick, and
| for months was unable to leave the
house. In this condition they began to
| feel the effects Of want, and having no
other means of raising money to live on,
they gave mortgage on their home.
Other sickness and other misfortunes
followed. SO that John was never able
TO release the debt on his home, and in
time, when the interest had eaten in