The Canton times. (Canton, Miss.) 1893-1906, 1896-12-18

OHpSN tAAc IN y AA>S~-
ally.
irenoughmayb be you't
tpulled the box towart
ormoney-making are slim
o hunting for q needle in !
4, as pa says" remarked Lot
.cally, reaching out in turn for hi
IF. n. FIX
Depends on the one that's hunting
res got to know 'em when he sees EN-
lBecket slipped the box back into ths
case and nodded sharply at the boy
Sometimes they're 80 close Il twas
snakes they'd bite you"
! "There amt much danger" said Lot
with toss of his head, as he turned
Iaway.
mot on the ball ground!" retorted
! Beckett, as he snapped the case together
4 adding with slow shake Of the head as
Lot slowly sauntered out the door: "A
chip of the old block"
Lot went down the steps and up the
road as much depressed as twas possi-
| BILE for one with his careless nature to
be. He stopped and looked over on the
commons. He had half mind to turn
back and ask his father to take the
sugar home when he went; but he re-
called that Meg wanted the sugar soon.
She had said she must make something
to take the place Of the milk that they
| must go without now. This thought
brought again current of Indignation
! that the cow-"mine and Aleg's," he as
! serted stoutly to himself-should have
gone to pay that debt. He decided to
take the sugar home himself.
He went on with growing irritation.
Rockets unwillingness to trust him,
the intimation about chances, and that
remark as he turned away from the
ears-all contributed to increase rather
than allay his state of feeling.
.He knew chances" he contended
with himself. There weren't any,"
His eyes gathered sarcastic CLEAN AS
he glanced over the Reyburn acres. The
idea of a chance there was preposter-
GUS. The small farm had never looked
so forlorn. There was no fence about
it. The boards were off the cow-shed
and the barn-yard gate was fiat. But
what need for gates or shed? He felt
disgust for it all as he tripped over q
fence-rail half-hidden in the grass.
Eyes; there was a chance" He
laughed mockingly to himself. "Meg
wanted some baking wood. The rest
of the fence had gone the same way.
What difference did another rail more
or less make?" He picked it up and
shouldered it, and trudged on.
II can't see why some folks have SO
many more chances than Others" He
did not notice that he was grumbling
his thoughts aloud as he passed be-
meath the pantry window, until tart
voice replied:
"Folks have chances that make EN-,
and if I'm going to have one to bake to-
day I suppose I'll have to do the same"
Meg Reyburn did not intend to be
quite SO snappish, but she, too. had
felt keenly the loss of the cow, and un-
derstood better, perhaps, than anyone
else what it meant for the family. 1t
had been Meg that had kept the Rey-
burn family together since her mother
died, SO the neighbors had boldly as
serted.
For years Asal Reyburn had felt 1t
his sole duty to preach the woes of the
poor while he was growing poorer
each day, as his neglected farm showed.
r. was common talk that he saw moth
ing that paid, and it was evident that
until he did there was little hope that
the Reyburns' fortune would change
for the better. The buildings were de-
caying. the fences disappearing and di-
generally was fast overtak-
ing what had once been prosperous
and desirable piece of property.
Meg and her mother had been able to
make fair support with eggs and but
ter, and Asal had grown to depend upon
them entirely, expecting, as Beckett
put it, "the women would do it with
len and cow" But the burden had
been a heavy one for Meg when left
alone.
Lot was no help. He had grown up
without sense of responsibility. and
was thoroughly imbued with his
VIEWS" If such a negative
state of mind toward his own family
fortunes could be dignified by such
term.
Meg turned, therefore, with a frown
as Lot came in at last to throw down an
armful of wood. "Only a pine rail?
How do you expect me ever to bake
WIFI such stuff. I'm going to give up"
Then Meg did something Lot had
never seen her do before. Meg usually
arose to emergencies. Now she dronned