The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1894-03-14
SOMERSET, PA, WEDNESDAY, MARCH IA. 1894

"Let him leave it in the hall, Jessie, :"
answered Lucilla.
The maid withdrew. Mrs. Field
glanced at her husband.
II don't want that box" she said.
"On the contrary, my love, l shall be
very glad to see those dragon vases your
aunt was so kind to leave you," he re-
piled.
Arthur" said Mrs. Field, 'yOu don't
think am fretting because of the mere
moneys loss ?'
"You can scarcely speak of money as
lost which you have never had, Lueilla,"
replied Arthur Field, with his Glow,
sweet smile.
He took of his coat and made a fuss
about opening the box-he perpetrated
two puns while he lifted the lid, and
Lucilla's mirth was no longer found.
The vases had been packed evidently
with great care, and Field lifted them
tenderly out of their receptacle. They
were tall-quite two feet high-their
shape was very peculiar, their coloring a
deep and rich amber.
The dragons which claimbed around
the stems of the vases had something
brilliant about their coloring, which
gave them the effect of being set in
Jewels Arthur Field said:
Il never saw any china like this be-
fore; should not be surprised if it was
valuable. When Power comes will ask
him to take look at it."
"Oh, it is hideous /" said Lucilla; sit is
not the least valuable"
Il don't know that" replied her hus-
band, ''but valuable or not, it is very
quaint. think it will give our drawing
room a decidedly unique appearance.
1t will just fit, too, on that carved oak
shelf which l put up last week"
Field was a very poor man, and that
thing presently happened TO him which
is always disagreeable, but especially so
when it comes in the train of an empty
purse. Arthur Field got into bad health
he was not dangerously i'll but he began
to suffer from what he termed 'the COM
plant of the age"-his nerves got out of
order.
The poor man can neither take change
obscene nor do his cares often slip off his
shoulders. Field was obliged to stay in
town. and whether he liked il or not. he
had to work.
One day Field came in and said with
shadow of his former brightness.
"By the way, Lucy, l ran up against
Powers to-day on High street; be is stay
ing here until tomorrow. l asked him
to come in this evening and look at the
vases"
"What vasesP" asked Lueilla. She
had absolutely forgotten her old aunt's
yellow dragon vases.
Those that your aunt left you, my love"
replied her husband. "The more look
at them the more certain am that they
are irresistibly quain. and uncommon.
Powers is a Judge Of china, and l would
like his opinion on them"
AT the appointed time the guest ar
rived. He was little man with red
hair, keen intelligent face, and a bright,
brisk manner He and Field had been
at Trinity College, Cambridge, together.
After afew words Of conversation, Field
fetched a stepladder, and, mounting it,
carefully removed the two vases from
their shelf He took out silk hand
kerchief and busted them tenderly
then he turned to his friend and looked
anxiously at him for mis- verdict.
Lucilla, seeing the solemn expression
on her husbands face, began to laugh.
arthur is quite romantic over these
irishtf1l things" she said to Mr.. Power.
Pray, put him out of his misery at once;
it is only merciful TO quench false hopes.
The things are hideous, are they not?"
'Not at all" said Powers.
He lifted one Of the vases in his hand,
turned it to the light, tried to discover
some sort of inscription on the base of
the stem, twisted it round and round,
and finally replaced it on the table.
swell" said Field.
"They are valuable" said Power, sud-
denly. "How valuable cannot tell
you. should like to take them to
Christie's."
Lucilla clasped her hands.
"What~ she exclaimed, her color COM
ing and going. "Do you mean-do you
think those-those frightful things would
fetch-money?
"They may" he said, slowly. ayes, 1
am inclined to think they will fetch
something"
"But how much? DO-do tell me-"
ut is impossible for me to say"
"a ten-pound note. perhaps?" queried
Arthur Field.
Power gave him lightning glance.
81 feel confident you may reckon on
that sum-" he said. "If they are valu-
less from a collectors point of view, the
soloring is so rich that they are sure 70
De bought for purposes Of decoration"
"Oh Arthur" said Lucilla. She went
up to her husband and impulsively laid
her hand on his shoulder.
Field made no answer, but, leaving
the room, he returned in few minutes
with the wooden case in which the vases
had been sent from Red Cross House
some months ago. The two men packed
them with extreme care, and the next
day they travelled up to London under
the care of John Power.
There was a good deal Of illness in the
large manufacturing town where field
worked, and he was so busy just now
visiting the sick and soothing the agonies
of the dying and of the bereaved that be
quite forgot the yellow vases.