Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1895-08-08
A TEMPTATION.


When Leander Clarke married Mabel
Thorpe, he had no expectation Of ever
being a rich man, but as his affairs ap-
pear at the present time he is on the
broad highway to future wealth. It all
arose from the fact that he took time by
the forelock, the only way poor mortals
have of ever getting even with him Of
the scythe and hOurglass.
Now, Mabel Thorpe did not expect
her hero to swim the Hellespont of life
with ali his armor ON, but she did de-
mand from him, as she had right to
do, high moral standard, for she had
not married him until she had seen, as
she believed, his whole past life laid
open before her as book There is no
time when man is as weakly senti-
mental and as religious as when he is
trying to live up to the standard of a
pure young girls ideal, and Leander be-
came almost an angel
There are very few of us capable of
making human angels Of ourselves.
Good and evil are as persistently pres
ent in our moral nature as light and
darkness are i'll our atmosphere, and one
serves as the complement of the other
To Danish night we use the light Of
science, to counteract wrong we invoke
divine help, but so largely is our world
ly nature in excess Of our spiritual pow
ers that we are constantly in danger Of
erring to be forgiyen-in other words,
SHINING and repenting
Mabel Thorpe believed in an infexi-
BILE uprightness The command to do
evil that good may come was to her a
perverted text. She was not aware that
there are sins Of omission as well as of
commission, and that her unrighteous
condemnation of sinners and her severe
judgments were in themselves Of a sin
full nature. The self righteous are often
harder to live with than the sinner.
Leander Clarke had been a good son,
and he intended to be good husband
He was both proud and fond of his
wife, but certainly regretted that he
could not give her all the Injuries that
she could appreciate, not oven the grand
piano that her musical talent deserved
But he went to work with a will to
make her happy and hoped in a few
years to be able to add all other needful
things.
Among the wedding presents Of the
young couple was one that far outshone
all the rest--a superb set of diamonds
sent by an uncle Of Leander's who was
near to death and gave the residue Of a
large estate in this extravagant present.
Leander himself was genuinely sorry
that such an undesirable gift had been
made, but he argued that his wife was
a sensible woman and would turn them
into something more suitable to their
condition il life-a piano, for instance,
which was necessity rather than a
luxury. What was his surprise when his
bride said:
II never was so pleased i'll my life.
Diamonds represent to me the crystalh-
zation Of everything beautiful i'll art and
nature. never dreamed that l should
possess such magnificenco +"
tBut these have no associations, said
her husband. "They are not heir1ooms. !"
''They Will be- All diamonds were
new at some time. And arc they not as
sociated with the dear old man who
gave them?"
The dear old man had been terror in
the family and had only given the dia-
monds to Leander's wife because he
hated that nephew a little less than the
others, whom be hoped to make horri-
bly, jealous and angry and had succeeded.
When Leander asked his wife to keep
her diamonds III the bank, she promptly
declined
"But you surely will not wear them,
dear?" he suggested.
'Why not:" She asked
''It would injure our prospects and
not be consistent with our position. I"
"They were a gift to me. Surely 1
have the right to do as l please with my
own. 2
"The right, yes. But 1 thought my
wife had more discretion. | did not
know you cared for gewgaws, Mabel.
So the first cloud came ON the horizon
of their love, but Leander was good
tempered and Mabel satisfied, and it
disappeared. The truth was that Lean
der had expected a handsome sum Of
money from this very uncle, who was a
bachelor and very old. But age had not
mellowed an ugly disposition to thwart
his relatives, and after raising the young
man S hopes he took a malicious pleasure
in disappointing them.
The young couple began life in a
pretty furnished cottage ON the modern
plan of a chatting dish and hand painted
china, and it worked like a charm Ma
bel presided over the dainty cuisine, the
buffers pantry, the parlor, and really
did wonders Leander fell in love with
her over and over again. But for the
diamonds they would have been as hap
py as larks-
Did they hear sound at night-it
was burglar after those precious gems.
They We're afraid to leave the house
alone lest thieves break III and steal,
and one or the other of the two was
compelled to be the hiding place of the
jewels when they went out together.
Mabel did not care to adorn herself with
diamonds when she Went to market or
to church, but She could not listen to
sermon in peace if the gems were not
about her And somehow it did annoy
her to carry concealed wealth like a
brigand OF u smuggler
But when Leander had chance to
buy shares in the Little Catawba Lum-
ber company and to make as much in