The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1897-04-01
POOR old cretur. Ihcn you can Borry

poor old creturs 1hcn you can borry
t."
seTAat's so, 1 be. You shall have
that money back il ! live, old lady,
and int'rest too, l promise ye. 1 feel
like a man ag'in, and it's you that
made me-"
"Oh. no! You was q man afore, but
kinder unfortunate. that's ALL"
"Well, here's your note. I've wrote
it to pay in a years time, If that will
do"
1T will, less one OF us should die,
and then 'twouldn't be Al il we hadn't
got that note to show"
/ The man laughed Q laugh-of amuse-
ment and relief. ! watched him as he
went to the door, and this time his
head was up and his shoulders were
square. In listening to the colloquy l
had entirely forgotten or overlooked
the fact that l had constituted myself
the guardian of the old lady's slender
fortune. What to do I did not know.
The man seemed anxious to pay the
borrowed money, and she was ready
to trust him. Perhaps l would better
let the matter rest as 1t was, and In
case he did not return to pay 1t in a
year pay it myself as a fine for my
negligence, which would then have
been proved culpable.
When l descended, which / did rs
eoon as the man had been gone several
minutes, l found the old lady to be
very nervous.
"Why |" sue said, starting to her
feet in alarm at my entrance, 81 clean
forgot there was anybuddy in the
house but me-"
$50 you wish l had come down be.
fore and prevented the loan You
made?"
"No, I pitied the poor cretur' SO.
He'll pay it back if he can and if not
it'll be jest another orphan we've
helped. Most like bein' SO old, 10th
of us up'ards of seventy, We shan't do
Tor no more as We have done, and We
shall git buried some way"
"Don't worry. II he doesn't pay it
l WILL" was my reply.
"You needn't think nothin' about
it. I've saved the mortgage money
and given a man a lit on the road to
heaven, and I'd oughter be satisfied
| be satisfied" she said fervently.
"Ana you have reason to be-" said.
We did not go to bed, either of us,
and in the morning j returned to the
city.
But ! did not forget the old lady
nor the burglar. / felt convinced that
he would return the money on the
exact date when the note was given, If
at all, and accordingly, in just one
year, 1 made it convenient to visit the
old lady at her residence.
This time / was so fortunate rs to
see her husband, and | Immediately
discovered that he was just such an.
other guileless person as herself. They
we're expecting the nan to pay the
note, and it lay ready for him on the
mantel when l entered.
Sure enough, Mt ten o'clock n firm,
stalwart man walked up to the door,
where the old lady met him with a
cordial grasp of the hand.
"You did git work." she said.
eyes, l did, and it was you that
saved ME from crime. l had tried
every way to find something to do un-
til that, night. and the fifty dollars
put me on nv feet square and firm. J
got a chance in a shop where l gdt
good pay, and here's the money ID
the interest"
"The interest! I didn't ask You 10
interest"
'But / mean to pay it,"
/ do not know whether he ever heal d
that | was in the house that night Or
not. 1t doesn't matter. | saw him
several times afterward, and he seemed
both prosperous and honest, and !
don't doubt that he was. The fact dit
not tendto make me neglect my hobby,
which was that crime, when it is nos
disease, is either the result of Inherit
ed evil tendencies or Of misfortune,
and that circumstances keep aud mako
some men honest and others dishonest
-Wavcrley Magazine. =,