The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1891-09-30

| y
| NAM"
family the i:cad Of which presumed
look ,io:rIi on the Greens.
Having ccme to this kind OF terms on
both sides. the elder Blatchford, the.
banker, and the elder Green, the farm
er. strutted about with Us much pom
posity rs they could command, each
doing everything in his power to show
how vastly superior he was to the
other. and each succeeding to perfec-
ton in making himself ridiculous in the
eyes Of everybody but himself.
Thus it went on for Il year, the two
old men passing and repasslng and nev-
er speaking. or deigning to look ut each
other In the meantime the two lovers
met ciandestinely, and enjoyed them
selves fully rs well if not better than
they would if their parents had acted
with more sense. They met, courted
! and married-married two or three
wears sooner than they would have done
| if they had not been iuterfered with
but had been allowed to continue their
courtship uninterruptcdly. So much
for ti,. wisdom of their parents.
john held 4 position At 4 fair salary,
and had saved up money enough to buy
and furnish neat little cottage home.
Here the couple settled down rs happy
as two lovers could be. and Mary laid
aside her rich attire and easy life, and
readily transformed The bankers caugh-
ter into the poor clerks wife; and she
felt none the worse by the change. She
took up the duties Of housekeeping and
soon b.:came quite proficient.
tanker Blatchtord and Farmer
Gre-n, as soon as they learned that
their children were married. projected
forthwith to disown them Mary made
one attempt to win her fathers for
giveness, but he refused her petition.
saving she need no longer consider him
in the light of q father, nor, indeed, IL
any other light save that Of 4 total
stranger.
You have married as you wished,
and not as I would have had you." he
said, 80 go your way and I'll go mine.
You have chosen to disregard my ad-
vice and desires, and have tied yourself
to pennilcss wretch, and from this
time forth know you not. You must
look to John Green for everything, and
when poverty aad want overtake
you, as they certainly will, don't come
to me for assistance, for swear that
you shall never have 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 .ove
and forgiveness, only She knew that he
would repulse her if she did.
Johns father, not to be outdone by
Blatchford, notified his son never to
come back home, but to consider him
self disinheritel and disowned. This
notice did not quite crush John, since
home had never been particularly pleas
ant, and to be relegated from it was not
such a terrible blow as his father might
have supposed; and as to being disin-
herited, well, that was little short of q
Joke, for the elder Green's possessions
were extremely limited, consisting in
the main of forty acres Of poor,
mortgage-ridden land, and a dozen farm
animals, none of which we're very
| choice.
So, disinherited and aisowned, 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 point of mar
velous perfection, and had q 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
Law 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 in the land and
| cmplovment was hard to obtain, with
an army of suddenly-discharged 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 tc
feel the effects of want, and having nc
other means of raising money to live on,
they gave a 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 II
! deeply, the place was sold.
Then John and Mary, with then
child who had been born to them the
first year after their marriage. collected
together the small possessions that
were left them and joined the swarm o.
eastern people who We're on their way
! to Kansas to take up claims and make
homes on the great western prairies.
They went away out near the west
line of the state before they We're able
| to find any government land that hat
{ not been granted" to some railroad
company or other corporation, or hat
not been leased to some cattle king
whose right to make a fortune Off pub
lie land must be considered and pro
tccted no matter what became Of tho
poor man who wanted few acres o;
land for i home.