The daily morning journal and courier., 1894-08-11

l peoi VI psei5t hasssses S'S wv huskily..
 Yes. of six. at least. Joe. Now. you know you cannot ring their changes properly. Your devotion to our. old bells has been grand. Joe; but crowan. Heiston, Wendron. St. Hilary. even St. Earth. are all replacing their old chimes with peals. stithney cannot fall behind"
 The old fellows hand sought Polls unconsciously and he held it close and hard for time. Then he asked assert iveiy:
 "rha'll ma be sax new beeiis?"
 "oh. no. we'll need but three-four
 i've and six. they are called"
 "Hown't sellin' un-tha four. i've. sax?"
 "They will cost at least a hundred pounds, Joe, put in place."
 "Doan't ee know. an tha a passon Stithney'll braak under tn drug Our den)?" retorted old Joe desperately.
 Joe. there's no. user replied the rector sadly but emphatically. Poor as we are at Stithney. the bells must be had. They must be rung properly. besides. Here now. both of you, listen! {! I'll will put ten pounds in your own and Polly's hands. the day your mar ried. and you. Joe. will let some young | CT man take your place at the bells!" This was a grand burst of generosity for so poor cleric as the rector of Stithney. He patted each of the griz- | zled old lovers kindly on the shoulders, as though the thing were done. with his blessing on 1t besides: and. hum- ming a pleasant melody. stepped light ly away to the messy rectory behind the ancient church. pretty, quizZical face greeted him at the rectory door; a smiling. doubt full. half-mocking. but altogether lov- ing, face; and, as the rector entered. its lips parted with,
 Well, father?" .. Well, Rose-it is we'll" T don't believe 1t! "Assuredly 1t is daughter. Why, showed the obstinate old fellow how useless was his persistence; the neces- sity for the change; and what do you think did besides?" '-- Told him he was standing In the light of the whole parish?" suggested Rose teasingly.
 No. "said her father gravely, though that should not have been omitted. But I actually promised to give them a gift of ten pounds if they would mary and Joe would step aside for some younger and more competent man.
 And you believe Joe Davy will do this?" Certainly he will" Certainly he will not! Father, noth- ing but death will ever loosen his hands from the tenor bell of Stithney church And that poor, half-demented old Polly Treenoodle would shed her last drop of life blood, before she would let him do it"
 Nonsense, Rose! We shall have no more annoyance from that quarter" Why, father. you don't know old Joe and old Polly. When Will Hardy was down here from London-you know he has genuine literary penchant for odd characters?-I made him acquaint- ed with them both. He said there was the stuff in the old couple for a grand romancew
 The rector laughed good-humoredly and ventured the opinion that if the young London literator, William Hardy, based his hopes for literary fame on the portrayal of such a pair, he had better take a haberdasher's clerkship for livelihood at once
 But, father, you don't understand them;" urged the rector's daughter "Joe's love for those bells amounts to madness. In proportion to his very ig- norance is his intensity of idolatry for them. To him, they are wife, home, love-all. And old Poll has but one dull. dead, endless hope before her, to minister in some dumb way to his pas sion for them. So Will Hardy says, and I believe it too."
 Well, we'll, well!' exclaimed Rector Dunlea dubiously, just as stumping, sturdy footsteps were heard approach ing over the gravelled walk.
 He parted the vines of the open win dow and looked out. Hand in hand old Joe Davy and old Poll Treenoodle were approaching the door. The rector noticed that Joe was very stern and white. and he asked him kindly:
 Well, Joe, what can I do for you now?"
 Its naught tha can do for me, pas son. It's sumet we s'll do for thar!
 About the bells?" This to Joe; and then to Rose behind him: You see he has come to give in, like the good fel- low that he isv'
 "Aboot tn beels;" he answered la conically.
 Well, Joe?"
 -"Weel, passon, Poll an me'n bren (buy) tn beels fra Lunnon. Poll has saved prill Ca bit of gold) fra growder sellin', an I ha' saved scrubmaw Ca little wreckage) fra tn sea. We'll bren tn beels fra Lunnon-an' passon, Gods word ont! I'll ring em t tn eend"
 He said this determinedly and fierce ly and old Poll chuckled hoarsely and strangely, as, still clutching each oth- CTS hands, they turned on their heels and stumped proudly away.
 Rose Dunlea came close to her fa- thers chair, gently pressed her pretty finger tips over his astonished eyes, and as she bent and kissed his flushed fore head, she softly murmured:
 What does father think of Will Hardy's judgment now"
 TT think" he said feelingly. as he raised his own hands and held his daughters for moment where she had lovingly placed them, that God alone can fanthom the depths of the