Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1895-10-03

see when vuur mother wears those
twenty-thousand dollar diamonds she
viii he wearing the capital x tNenty
people. or Of four families
What do yvu mean b. that papa
Do o mean that Il mzmna has twenty
thousand dollars worth Of diamonds.
twenty other people viii have 70 90
without anything at all1
That Is about the size - t. nv
dear II there are twenty people and
twenty peaches TO be divided among
them. and one man takes half u the
peaches, there will not be bat ten lest
for the other nineteen people, viii
there
Il should not like that II I was one %
the other people-but ! do want NAM
ma 70 have her diamonds, Mr~ Van
smith has beautiful diamonds and
they are not half 50 rich a. sou are,
papa
4 fear you do not realize the value
q money
Perhaps not, I hope I never viii
I should hate to be poor, BF-ov.
Edith is ON her steps aud we 90 ~
gether
He watched her. lovingly. As she
DOWN the stone steps and joiued her
friend who was that ~hurrying uaSt
the window ~ the side door Was il
Hobbes7"
A moment Iatsr the butler appeared
barring a letter on a silver tray
He brings my death warrant. was
the Thought hat passed through Mr.
&H--~- I'D aaNf.LE.@ .AeV a.s s1~-ar
he has written. The heal has failed
1t IS my death warrant
lie waited until the butler had left
the room and then opened the letter
with trembling fingers II was As be
feared The deal had failed. lie sank
INTO a chair and covered his face with
his hands caring nothing about partic-
ularS IL was enough 10 know that he
was lost All the world must know bis
financial distress to-morrow. Ruined.
Ruined. Could he face the world and
begin again Could he face his own
familvs The words II his daughter
u should hate To ne poor, rang in his
ears In his mental distress. those
carelesStv spoken words. uttered with
out thought. weighed more than they
should It seemed 10 him that they
expressed the sentiments of the whole
family How could he tell them that
his wealth had vanished even quicker
than IL had come lie started up and
paced the ioor. his thoughts acting
like whips to s,ourge him on
In this. his hour Of despair. his whole
life passed in review before him. He
thought ~ the high hopes Of his
youth. when he had wished to be num-
bered among those who fought for
Justice aud truth and the rights OF the
people. In the mad scramble for wealth
he had ceased to be just,h he had diShou.
oret truth. he had trampled upon the
rlghts0f OF hers. lie bad sold the hes,
part Of hi n self for wealth. and now
even that. the price of his tntamy. wa.
gone. His life had been 4 failure
from first To last-a miserable failure.
Measured by the highest standard il
had always been a faiIure-eveu
though his checs hat been good foe a
miIIiaa. Measured BY the Ioxei
standard Of worldly success Tomorrow
men would write upon his trow-f2il
ures Il was uncomfortable. WHY
should he continue 70 live when If,
had lost its vaiuea With a sudden re
solve. born Of s~elf-contempt and de
spaIr. he stepped into another room
ant came BAGS with a revolver.
And yet-he could not 20 out Of IIf
witout one last word To MARY. Poo
MARY. She might take it hard. II,
I would assure her that it was no
through lack OF love for her that h
l ended his existence. but-what reason
could he give for deserting his post a
? her side tie sat Down - hi> writIn,
desk and tooS out some paper
Dear Mary he wrote, AMI thel
words failed him How could he tel
herr He stared blaHSIy At the paper
After all, would 1t be the act of
coward To leave his family alone l
; fight povertys Had he a right to do il
Suddenly a soft white hand glide
| past ais, seized the revolver aud RI
= moved it
: Robert. Robert. What IS the mat
= ter What are you about u do erie,
his wife IN distress John told m
= that he brought you a letter. and the
you began 70 walk up and down til
b rsom- crazy-lixe, with a revolver /
Your hand Why didn't you come an
tell me about its Nou have no RICH
a 10 Try 10 bear trouble alone What
L, Robert, dear
Her arms were around his neck. an
she wa covering his face with kisset
1t means. Mary. that we are pnol
ms house VIII have to be SoId, yo
Vii have no carriage, M diamonds. Z
trips % Europe I shall not say
enough out Of the general wreck
pay the running expenses Of this hou.
for another sIx month. We ar ~
MarEs psA1r. our wealth has take
wings toItself and iown away. There
: nothing left but the little house vog
father eave IN and narhanz fsv,