The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-02-18

their ever blessed recourse of wranCling
| upon the exhaustless subjects OF lust
titication,' and immersion" which were
still bitterly upon their poor old lips as
I they closed in slumber in their little
single beds at opposite sides of the best
room :" giving Dick and Dot lOnged-for
/ opportunity to stow oway the children in
! the folding bed in the same room near the
dining room door, push the table over
against the mantle, pile the chairs upon
II. and let down from the partition wall
their own creaking folding bed Tor the
night.
Now Dot, dear, for that plan of yours. ."
said Dick, eagerly, when they were alone.
DO you know that thrust about the farm
nearly broke my hearth After we had
paid 81 800, and S400 more would have
saved it, It's awful, DOUr'
rs the mortgage forecIosed, Dick2"
No; but might as well be- Four hun
dred dollars, or 400 cents, it is all the
same"
Dick, are you brave man? 1 mean
| morally brave, dear7"
Try me and see"
IF asked you TO sacrifice something.
something almost as dear to your heart,
| to your very life, as your children, as-as
your wife, Dick, do you think you could
do 1t, now; now, husband, when there
might be happiness, prosperity, perhaps
even the little farm yet, for US, where the
old folks might have little-well Just a
little more room Dick; and where we
could at least be safe from this horror of
deception, of want, of being turned into
| the very street, Dick Could you! Would
| your"
She had never talked like this to him
| before; and he looked at the little mite
of woman beside him in amazement.
But he also rubbed his glasses furiously
and nodded his head determinedly
| She tripped into the kitchen and al
most instantly returned with a curious
! little, apparently legless, table in her
| hand. With few deXterious movements
its hinged, crossed legs came into place
with click, its hinged, detached, stout
cross bar joined, and with little Jump,
| she landed herselfin sitting posture upon
isn't it lovely, Dick2 And stout2 NV!
Just see here!" She gave herself a vigor-
/ Gus shake. Did a little sewing for Mrs
Jack Plane, eleventh floor front, and her
husband-he's a cabinet maker, Dick
| made this for me; l mean for you, Dick {"
! "Chocolatesl Jumping frogs2 Sea
! beansl Jewelry2 Playing cards? Lamp
chimney cleaners? Horse radish2 What
what line, Dot}' he inquired lugubriously.
| She pointed to huge pile of books upon
| shelves above the doOrways, piled upon
the mantel, dangerously crowded upon
the top of the folding bed and stacked
! high, where the book case had been along
the hallway partition wall.
"Gewhillikinsw
Richard Hardy, literator, sprang into
the circumscribed atmosphere Of his little
dining room as though an explosion had
occurred in Eighth Floor Rear, fiat
below.
BY the time he was on his feet again.
| Dot had one arm around him and was
leading the dazed writer to this pile of
books and that; but the poor fellow could
not see rightly for little, and Dot went
on soothingly and bravely with her plan
Il knew 1t would almost break your
| heart, Dick; not the standing in the
streeJ-you're too much of a man to be
ashamed of thatl-but letting your treas
ures 20 into other hands; almost as if
they were Bob and Nellie, Dick Dear,
dear old booksl How we have loved
them! But knew, in this dreadful hard
times choice of sacrifices, you'd only
have toto think of it, just once, Dick
| Why, you must have paid thousands of
dollars for them, 1 have been all over
them; just S14 volumes. And just look
here, husband! I've got all these pretty
price-marks lettered and ready. Some Of
these single volumes ought to pay a
months rent of this fiat. landlords
pressing us too, Dick. And l found
SOu0 EOdl llLtl6 CuTlOS, II Lne
right folks only come along No
use at the 'second-hands.' Dick,
dear, forgive me! but I've tried
them; just to get prices, you know
| Not buyin,' nom; nor sellin' neitherp
was the reply from all. But along Print
ing House square, or Park Row, or around
there somewhere, Dick, there are Just
oceans of editors and lawyers. Why,
| Dick, they're always buying books. And
here's a nice oilcloth I've hemmed and
got ready, in case it sleets or SHOWS. You
| won't mind little snow, now that you've
got that lovely Irish frieze, will YOU,
Dick. The pockets will be just lovely for
little volumes and lunches! And Dick,
dear, best of all, here's a whole dollar-a
little mending for Seventh Floor, Rear,
dear-to start with ~
She had not dared to look up at him,
before, brave soul though she was; and
now that her eyes met his, she saw his
face was deathly white. Well might it
be, when the life dream of a writer is in
an instant so blackened and effaced!
"Oh, Dick-hus band What have I
done! What have 1 done!" she sobbed,
sinking piteously upon the little table
beside her
"Done" he blurted out after a mighty
gulp, while stroking her head tenderly.
why, bless your precious soul! You've
done dead right. It's a go! Street-stall
goesl Books go Friends go-drat them
Literature goes Everything goes, Dot!''
What face of joy, of hope, of love and
OF blessing was the one she turned to his
as she faltered out, Tomorrow Dick2'
Tomorrow Gewhillikens! This holy
minute, If you say so, Dot"
Dot could not say that; but she did say
countless good and sweet things of ar
rangement, of classification of booklets,
of prices fitted to the hard times, of re-
tanning the most precious and most neces-
sary volumes to the last, and, particu-
larly, of one strange little volume, no
bigger than her dainty hand volume of
scarcely more than thirty pages, done
with the pen on parchment through years
of patient research and labor, byone Mar
eel, crown advocate of France, as a gift
to Louis, LIE Grana; "Tablettes Chronolo-
giques' was its title, and it comprised a
record of succession of all the papes, en-
perors and kings who reigned from the
birth of Christ to 100. the year of its
presentation to Louis XIV. genuine
curio bound after the fashion of that
luxurious time, its edges richly gilt by the
stylus; a volume recording the birth and
theological influences, the death, manner
of death, the length of reign and the his
torians of all these mighty potentates
and altogether containing vaster, more
exact and wonderful information than any
other equal number o. pages the world
ever knew; in fact, a marvel volume of
profane history, for personal study by the