The daily morning journal and courier., 1894-10-27

upaoEutiCs uuHpics pAsiuhby Ae"sS ASs complaint or curse. and timidly bearing q few letters in her hand to the master of Hammock Manse. The pale. bent little woman looked at 'Struther Hammock in fear and trepida- ton.
 He took the letters. glared at their bearer as if to fathom her thoughts and said. with pretence of rough joc- ularity:
 Susan. I was just practicing my part. in case any of those young scala wags come around here with their Hal loween doings tonight. I've made up my mind to have no more of 'em; not any. mind"
 "Yes, brother Anstruther." 'T'll lame some of 'em for life; for life, mind. No pranks tonight. now. And if that boy and young woman of yours are up to anything, you better get 'em to bed early. Are they up to anything. now. Susan?" He turned on her with the question so suddenly and savagely that the wo- man retreated in fright, faltering only,
 "Yes. brother Anstruther."
 And yes. brother Anstruther, what?" he returned, glaring and snap ping like an animal at the helpless wo- man before him.
 "Only-only some little innocent amusement, I'm sure, brother Anstru- ther. But, I'll stop 1t, sir. Oh. I will stop 1t, sir, if it annoys you; indeed willw
 She pleaded so, in her tones, her man. ner, her very cowardly and worn-out helplessness, for some responsive man. hood and compassion in the remorse- less image of man before her, that her very pleading angered him. He railed at her, at her children, at her dead husband who lay in the wind swept graveyard beyond the manse walls, at countless things he had railed at over her covering body and spirit without ceasing before. until livid with passion and rage; and then, instantly changing his manner, snapped at her like some vicious animal:
 Get outv'
 Scarcely before the door had quickly and softly closed, he snapped out again:
 Come back herew The door now only partially opened and the voice behind it, in which was mingled the tremulousness of tears, submissively asked: "Well, brother Anstruther?" "Who brought these letters?"
 ''Mr. Penruth, sir."
 "Oh, of course, MT. Penruth! That fellow haunts this house like 8 specter! Sparkling Edith, s'pose? Now, what's up tonight? Out with it, or you'll re- gret 1t, Susan Hammock" "Yes, yes, yes, brother Anstruther;" she faltered, half beside herself with fear. "The young folks thought you wouldn't mind if they used the kitchen its the largest room in Millvale-and they'll surely bring all the apples and nuts and such things themselves; and we'll be very sparing of the wood and lights" ..
 "who'sLwho's doings is this. wo- man?" ..--....-
 "Oh, sir, it's mine and Edith's and Herbert's and-and MT. Penruth's-"
 "That scoundrel! And you beggars dare do this in Hammock Manse, with out my permission?" Here 'Struther Kannock's voice merged into something like howl of rage, rose into gurgling shriek and died away into a gasp of impotent con- demnation and detestation. T'll see about this. I'll see about this!' he growled. ''See here, now. You keep that cur of & schoolmaster in the house half an hour or so. may want to look him over 8 minute. Un- derstand?"
 "Oh, yes sir."
 "Then get out"
 'Struther Hammock tossed the letters upon his desk and paced his room, con- sumd with passion and anger. But there was a certain cowardfce and impotence in his rage which rem dered its expression puerile as it was brutal and inhuman. Something re- strained 1t, held 1t just within the bounds of actual objective outbreak, curbed it from it's own natural trage- dies and their punishment; and so these storms were driven more wildly and mercilessly through his own unpitying heart. When this storm had died away he plunged into the arm chair and betook himself to the letters before him. He cunningly examined each superscrip- ton postmark and envelope and bal anced each letter in his hands, as though they were scales, before he opened 1t.
 "Umph! Check for this fellows last quarters rent. Month behind. He'd better look lively. Umph! This one can't meet his mortgage. Oh, no, of course he can't. Prays for a little time. Oh, yes, he'll get little time. 'Struth- CT Hammock gets that place. Umph!- Bah! Can't 'Struther Kannock help the Millvale charity fund? Hard win- ter coming on-many mouths to feed. Not much"
 And thus, on and on he told his own miserable story to his own miserable self; joyous in ruin, unmoved by pite- ous appeals, scorning all human suffer ing and hating all humankind.
 He gathered up the filtered mass to place it in pigeon hole of his desk To do this he had partly raised himself to a standing posture and was leaning forward. Suddenly he sank back into his chair with wildly staring eyes.
 There before him, where 1t had pre- viously escaped notice, lay a letter plainly addressed to him in his dead