Evening star., 1897-02-27

| fng.'' drew forth the spoon and held 1t uI
| In full view.
IT'S my spoon," cried Mrs. Gears. fair
| ly shrieking, 1.-The one / lost-my holly.
sprig;" and she stretched out her hand
| as if to recover It, If need be. by force.
''At any rate it's not mine," said Mrs
Wampler. Out of sheer confusion she
spoke curtly: she looked as If in another
moment she must collapse.
''Oh, it's mine. it's mine! 1 should kno"
| II anywhere" persisted Mrs. Gears excit-
| edly. and Wampler handed the spoon over
| to her.
II remember the design. and it's not like
| any of mine. I never saw 1t, unless al
your house, until this moment. and the
! turkey / dressed and put frte the over with
my own hand
Even with the precious spoon restored tc
her possession. and her ownership of l:
thus fully acknowledged by Mrs. Wampler
Mrs. Gears did not wholly recover herself
Until the company broke up her manner
retained a tinge of pugnacity, and she wore
look rather hard and suspicious The
other guests made particular show OF
ease and gaiety. They commented a little
on the singularity Of the incident, and ven
tured to make joke or two upon 1t, then
dropped it from the talk and were studious
rot to recur to 1t. One and all departed
however with it still sufficiently in mind,
and more than made themselves amends
ultimately for any self-denial they may
have suffered regarding 1t in the presence
of their host and hostess. Thus very soon
the whole town knew the story, and Mrs.
Gears holly-sprig spoon became celebrated
Never did a dinner party leave the givers
of 1t with heavier spirits than theirs left
Mr.. and Mrs. Wampler. Wampler would
have been not a little disturbed simply al
q misadyenture in his carving, and Mrs
Wampler at one in her cooking. But te
these occasions of discomfort the affair
of the holly sprig spoon added or at Least
seemed to them to add, the possibility OF
l. L4g~ hov, fry.a avaA h.
sense Of this moved them finally to find Of
fense In the behavior of Mrs. Gears. The
more they thought 1t Overland the habit
of people in Osceola was to think over
found; SO that the feeling Of both soon
came to be as expressed by Mrs. Wampler
"She might as well have said 1 stole heI
spoon in SO many words
In point of fact, no such thought had al
that time entered Mrs. Gears mind. Fol
| ten days she had fretted continually. suf'
fering IN her appetite and in her sleep
| over the loss of the spoon. and the conse-
auent break in the set. When the spoon
reappeared SO strangely, the sight of !,
threw her into kind Of frenzy, and she
felt that she must clap hands on 1t at once
| or 1t would disappear again. And when she
| had got 1t in her hands her feeling was as
| If some cruel prank had been played or
| her and she must look sharp or it would be
repeated. How the spoon came to be where
1t was found, which was the question OF
] first interest to the rest of the company
| did not occur to her until later; and when
| 1t did occur, IT at first started no doubt ir
| her of the honesty Of the Wamplers. But
the crazy, dull sense of having somehow
| been victimzed continued to harry her, an6
| for that she began imperceptibly to hold
| the Wamplers answerable.
Under a fortnight's pricking by these
| fantastic grievances, the next time Mrs
Gears and Mr. and Mrs Wampler met
they barely knew each other; and the next
| time after that they knew each other moi
| at all Then 1t became impossible to in
| vite them into the same companies, anG
| through the circle of their common ac
| quaintance there began to steal, like line
| of split oil across a floor, a separation ou
| of sympathy. By the time the separation
| became fully defined, Mrs. Gears umbragt
| at the Wamplers had come to positive
| grounds. She did not scruple to think, ant
to freely say: I'VE have no direct proof
| but it's very singular that the spoon snoult
have been found In their possession; anc
| they've never offered any explanation"
The Wamplers. too. had by this time
| taken an open stand. On all convenient oc
| declared that they preferred not to have
| the friendship of people who thought then
capable of stealing a spoon.
| Thus the difference grew into an open
| feud. Finally 1t was carried into the
| church. A document was laid before the
| session urging 1t to summon Mr.. and Mrs
| Wampler to an explanation Their con-
| duct, the document set forth, in thus far
Il
/ erly nor Christian; ii savored, II not OF
/ guilt, at least of self-righteousness and
/ pride; and in either case they were amen
able to the session. There was prolonged
/ argument In the session, and some plain
/ speaking and strong feeling At the vote
the lay members divided evenly, and 1t de-
volved on the pastor, the Rev. Cornelius
| Holt. to decide. He was a man of rare
| humility, but of a ready sense of Justice
| and an obstinacy in following 1t that nc
/ amount of aggression could outwear. He
/ decided against the petition and in favor
| Of the Wamplers- He had talked with
| them, he said. frequently about the affair
| of the spoon; they had, indeed. severa
/ times sought his counsel He was con.
| WINGED of their honesty; and II they offered
| no explanation II was simply because they
p u none to give; the appearance of the
spoon In their house was as inexplica BILE
to them as to others. He would not say
that they had always borne themselves al
| frankly and forgivingly as Christians
| should; but there had been. he feared, mis-
| takes made on both sides. The difference
| that had grown up had been a great grie1
| TO him. AS a pastor and as friend he ha6
| employed all his persuasions to heal It. He
| believed that in time 1t would be healed
| and that right feeling, the loving spirit
would yet prevail; but II 1t were brought
into the church 1t would only intensity anG
deepen. and the day Of its removal be pu
farther on.
There was moisture In his eyes and &
half sob in his voice a. he concluded will
| Let US pray" and In the prayer he ofReret
la brief. fervent prayer for gentle coun
vels and conhding hearts-he was checked
several times by his emotions. The othe
members of the session were deapr
| touched, and repaired to their homes witt
deliciously pure and exalted feelings an,
with mind resolved. every man Of them