Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1895-08-29

sounds as cave, trap door, slidin;
panel, bullion, ingots, or Spanish col
lars. For, besides IS own specia
bliss, who ever heard of a secre
drawer with nothing in it? And, oh
1 did want money so badly! l men
tally ran over the list of demand.
which were pressing me the most im
periously.
First, there was the pipe L wanted
to give George Jannaway. George
who was Martha's young man, was
shepherd, and a great ally of mine
and the last fair he was at when Et
bought his sweetheart fairings, as {
right minded shepherd should, he haC
purchased a lovely snake eXpreSsl!
for me; one Of the wooden sort, will
joints, waggling deliciously in thu
hand; with yellow spots on a greer
ground, sticky apd strongsnelling as
a fresh-painted snake ought to be; anC
with a red flannel tongue, pasted cum
ningly into it's jaws. l loved it much
and took it to bed with me every
night, till what time its spinal cord
was loosened and it fell apart, and
went the way of all mortal joys.
thought it so nice Of George to think
of me at the fair, and that's why
wanted to give him a pipe. When the
young year was chill and lamb-time
was on, George inhabited a little
wooden house on wheels, far ont Oh
the wintry downs, and saw no faces
but such as were sheepish and said
baa: and when be and Martha were
married, she was going 20 carry his
dinner out to him every day, two
miles; and after it, perhaps he would
smoke my pipe. 1t seemed an idyllic
sort of existence, for both the parties
concerned, but a pipe of quality, q
pipe fitted to be part of a life such rs
this, could not be procured $50 Martha
Informed ne) for a less sum than
eighteen pence. And meantime
Then there was the fourpence l
owed Edward; not that he was bother
ing me for it, but | knew he was IN
need of it himself, to pay back Selma,
who wanted it to make UP a sum of
TWO shillings to buy Harold an iron
clad for his approaching birthday-H.
NJ. S. Majestic, now lying uselessly
careened in the toy shop window, Just
when her country had such sore need
of her
And then there was that boy in the
village who had caught a young
squirrel, and | had never vet DOS
sessed one, and he wanted d shilling
for it, but l knew that for ninepence
but what was the good of these
sorry, threadbare reflections? | had
wants enough to exhaust any possible
find of bullion, even if it amounted
to half a sovereign Ny only hope
now lay in the magic drawer. and
here [ was letting the precious min
utes slip by. Whether findings Of this
sort could, morally speaking, be con
Sldered keepings, was a point that
did not occur 10 me.
The room was very still as | up
preached the bureaiI-possessed it
seemed 90 be, by sort Of hush of en-
pectation. The faint odor of orris root
that foated forth as / let down che
flap seemed to Identify itself with the
yellOWS and browns of the old wood
till hue and scent were of one quality
and interchangeable. Even so. ere
this, the pOt-pOurri had mixed itself
with the tintS of the old brocade. and
brocade and pot-pourri had long been
one. With eXpectant fingers | ex-
plored the empty pigeon-holes and
sounded the depths Of the softly slid
ing drawers. No books that | knew
of gave any general recipe for a quest
like this: but the glory, should [ sue
coed unaided, would be all the
greater.
To him who is destined to arrive,
the fates never fail to afford, on the
way, their small encOuragementS; in
less than two minutes / nau come
across a rusty buttonhook. This was
truly magnificent. In the nursery
there existed a general buttonhook,
common to either sex; but none of us
possessed a private and special but
to lend or refuse as suited
Tie high humOr of the moment
pocketed the treasure carefully aud
AT the back of another
drawer three old foreign stamps to-
me l was on the high road to fortune.
Following on these bracing incen-
tives, came a dull, blank period of I'M
rewarded search. In vain / removed
Ill the drawers and felt over every
inch of the smooth surfaces, from
front to back. Never a knob, spring
Dr. projection met the thrilling finger
tips; unyielding the old bureau stood,
Stoutly guarding it's secret, if secret it
really had. l began to grow weary
and diSheartened This was not the
first time that Uncle Thomas had
proved shallow, uniformed, a guide
into blind alleys where the echoes
Knocked you. Was it any good persist
ing longer? Was anything any good
In my mind [ began to
review past disappointments, and life
seemed one long record of failures,
and of non-arrivaI.
DiSillusioned and depressed, | left
nv work and want to tho window