Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1893-02-03

late, and I shouldn't be surprised il
something came of it.
81 hope So" returned Mrs. Merivale,
languidly, "for he has lots of money,
people say"
ooh, Hoburton is a bright young
man and will make his mark yet, there
is no doubt about that, and he may be
able to help us out of our miserable
debts" said Mr.. Merivale.
The speaker went to the window and
for some time stood contemplating the
the landscape. "The painters have
been working on Robertson's house, "
said he, finally, land everything looks
brand new"
eyes," said Mrs. Merivale, "and it
makes our place look simply wretched.
You must borrow some money, Cyrus, and
get things fixed up or we shall be So
cially ostracised."
81 will see about it," said Merivale,
in a detected tone, ''but 1 don't know
where l can get any. I wish Kate and
Jack were married; they might help to
keep up appearances"
The keeping up of appearances had
been Mr.. Merrivale's lifelong hobby.
This and tendency for risky specula-
ton had kept him poor, but he lived in
anticipation of future opulence and pos
sessed the cordial sympathy of his
wife, so things were not as bad as they
might have been had the domestic tastes
of the couple been less harmonious.
AS their daughter Kate grew in years
and stature she became so decidedly
beautiful that the parents hopes grad
ually conferred in her. She had many
admirers, but Jack Hoburton was the
favorite. Jack was a steady young
man, good looking, well-educated and
the possessor of a nest egg that in the
minds of Hates worldly parents would
be sure to hatch unbounded wealth.
The parents were gracious and paved the
way to an excellent understanding be-
tween the young people, SO the next
winter when Kate went away to board
ing school and Jack went to seek his
fortune in the great West, matters were
eminently satisfactory all around,
eyes" said Mr.. Merivale to his
daughter, "Jack Hoburton will make a
model husband, one that will tend to
it always should be. l would be very
mucn panied to have you marry anyone
poorer than ourselves"
"Why, papa" said Kate in reply, 81
am not going to marry Jack because he
has little money. am going to marry
him because love him."
That's right" laughed her father,
'tbut the money is requisite that must
not be despised, for without it love
would be very tame affair, indeed. If
Jack were below you in worldly station
there would be a grotesqueness about
love that would soon destroy it. In
marriage the social equilibrium should
always be maintained"
About two years after Jacks engage
ment to Kate, and year previous to the
proposed celebration of the nuptials,
Mr.. Merivale startled the bosom of his
family one day by suddenly entering
their midst greatly frustrated and per-
spring from every pore. He threw him
self into a chair, and after prolonged
silence that nearly frightened the mother
and daughter out of their senses iu-
formed them that at last "the goal was
in sight"
''What goal3" they cried.
cat last" said he, ''we shall rise to
our proper station. Henceforth we have
no need to envy Robertson. The credi-
tors who have logged me for the past
ten years shall be relegated along with
bills marked paid back to their misery
level. In fne," he added, ave are
rich"