The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1895-12-04
IA Brothers Wife.
ny =. Barring GOULD.
lAuther of "Meha1ah." kitty Alone
"Tho Queen of Love-" Etc.
cor,,,gb,. lca5 by Irving Bachcller.,

Copyright. 1905. by Irving Bacheller)
.My dear" said Mr.. Murgatroyd, the
banker. TO his wife. lit is the first Christ
mas without our boy, and, please heay-
en- IL will be the last; but under
the circumstances IL was inevitable"
II suppose so,' acquiesced the lady,
with little hesitation in her tone.
.You see, Eliza continued the bank
err 1--WE could not tell when my father
would die. and, with his death and the
funeral. the house would be SO upset
that we ecouldn't--really couldn't-have
Jack here, with his tremendous spirits
and noise. After all, it won't matter
much; we can send for him next week;
and darcsay he will not mind"
II think he will mind it a great deal"
said Mrs. Murgatroyd. 'He only went
TO school at Michaelmas, and he viii
have been counting days till the Christ
mas vacation and now"
, "WeI., Eliza, he will have TO remain
on at school one week after the rest
of the boys leave, that is all"
.'But he has been making n holiday
flower"
'What is that?"
"Oh. sort of rose or chrysanthe-
mum. or something of the nondescript
sort of flower, with AS many petals
gummed on as there are days in the
fern. Then every day leaf is removed,
and by the time all are gone holiday has
arrived. Poor Jack, he will have his
stripped chrysanthemum-and no hol-
5day."
'Yes. he will have holiday, but de-
ferred.'
THAT cuts his vacation short by a
week"
''It could not be helped. With my
,father dying, then dead in the house,
It was quite impossible TO have him
home till all was settled"
We'll" said Mrs. Murgatroyd, with
n sigh, "then next week he comes"
"Next week he comes" repeated her
husband. ITO me the privation is
greater than TO you. You have your
servants to attend to and occupy your
mind"
"But not my affections. And you
have your clerks, Samuel"
"well, well, well,' said the banker,
"we will not argue about the matter
j ara happy to say that Jacks future
is likely TO be fortunate one. My
father has left me everything, and, of
course, that means that all will event.
ually go TO Jack"
Nothing been heard of George,
suppose p,
"Oh, nothing; not likely that there
would"
"Did not your father ask after him ?"
"Of course he did. But what could
4 say--that we had received no favor
able news"
You mean no news at alp"
''Well, yes; none at all. But of
course we know pretty well how mat
ters go in such cases" 80
"How long ago is it since your broth
er fell out with you?"
"He dnot fall out with me at all, but
with my father. i have had nothing
whatever TO do with his affairs. He was
sndependent in his ways, and independ-
ent-spirited, and did not incline to en-
ter the bank. Tried one thing, then
another; cost father good deal; vexed
him dreadfully. Rolling stone he was,
never settled TO anything very long, and
then came the crash"
"Crash?"
II mean his marrying that singing
girl"
THAT was bad" said Mrs. Murga-
troyd, gravely.
1T was certain ruin. After that"
The banker did not conclude his sem
tence.
mo, suppose not" said his wife,
who understood what was implied with
out more words being said.
my father did his level best for
George. That cannot be denied. He
offered to see him again. He might
come on visit--without his wife"
"And be refused?"
"He refused. He said that he would
not enter his fathers doors without her.
Where he was acknowledged, there she
must be, acknowledged also"
''That was hopeless" said Mrs. Muir
igatroyd=-
"Quite so. We could not have pub
Tic singer cross the threshold OF our
banking establishment. 1t would not
be decent. 1t might affect the stabil
div of the affair People might saw he