The record-union., 1897-08-22

sharp voice. 1t was more naturaI-lilze
all the same and a man didn't feel so
strange and lonesome If only his
missus hadn't served him such a trick!
No man would stand that-and Jacks
meditations generally ended in a glow
of anger and resentment.
The months wore away; Christmas
had come and gone. and spring had ar
rived, and one day lit chanced that Jack
on returning from work met a girl in
the street selling wall-f1owers The
sight of the great basket full of brown
and yellow and amber blossoms the
familiar scent, the touch of the velvety
punches as she brushed past, were too
much for him. He leaned for a mo-
ment against a lamp-post, trembling.
Fine wallflowers, a penny bunch!"
shouted the girl, paying little heed to
this tall gray old laborer She was
now out of sight, and Jack, heaving a
deep sigh, walked slowly homewards
So they were in season again, He
wondered how the missus was getting
on. She'd never be able to cut them,
not She! And if she hired a man to
do it, what would become of her profit? i?
She'd have to get some one all the
idea of any outsider hacking at his
wallfiowers-th they'd spoil the plants
among them, most like He himself
had always been so careful never to
break or injure them, to avoid bruising
the roots, to economize the buds All
that evening he thought Of his field of
gllly-fowers and of the old life and of
Margery. He felt a certain pity for
| bas1
OF them, that she wouldn't Happen.
by this time she was sorry enough for
having "druv'' her husband away from
her Shed never make no hand of
they gily-fers, it 'ud really be Almost
worth mans while to step up Thorn
leigh way and see how she was gettin'
on.
That night he dreamed of his eil1v-
efs' ana the next day as he went to
his work he still thought of them. and
ldancleu ne smelt them, and, sometimes
even STelched out his hand as though
W lake hold or Them And at last the
shly i eis drew him countrywards, and
ire Iound himself walking rapidly in
Tie dlreouon OF his home. His face wore
d very sheepish expression as he ap-
proached Thornleigh; the neighbors
Moulo laugh at him, he reckoned, and
Margery-how would she receive him :?
ne hau not quite made up his mind
as TO What he should say to Margery
olil ne knew that he was very tired
ol peing away from home. He ap-
proached his house by a circuitous
route, not wishing to meet any of his
former friends, and being most anx-
louS 10 avoid the neighborhood of the
stocks. He insensibly quickened his
| pace When the familiar o1or of the
WaMiIoWers first greeted his nostrils.
ana ms heart was humping. and his
eyes fun of tears, as he passed through
the little gate and in at his own door.
A woman was standing in the kitchen
experimenting something in a small
saucepan ON the fire-not Margery. as
the flrst glance told him; at the second,
he recognized with some alarm the
| poruly Inquire, red face and sdlIinting
eyes of a very different person-Mrs.
Nancy FIRTH, Who was charwoman,
WaSnerWoman manager of the shop
on ordinary occasions, but whose real
| vocation lay in what she termed
nussin'.' From the administration of
clndertea" to a baby, to the adroit
| 'chucklng away of a feather pillow
from under the head of a dying man
TO haste his departure when his agony
appeared unduly prolonged there was
no branch of her craft in which she
was not an adept. Most of the infants
OF the Village had begun Life, and all
| the mor1bunds had become corpses, un-
der her superintendence Occasionally.
| 1ndeed, the former had been unhand-
| some enough to upset her calculations
OIL lrAfr Il l,e..
the latter rarely disappointed her. From
| tine moment When, fixing her swivel
eye upon their blanching countenances.
she had first Informed them they We're
sadly warsening'' TO that in which,
When the patients We're tall and the
stairs narrow-she had cheerfulv rec
commended their removal to a room ON
| the ground floor, it being s'a dale o.
trouble to get a coffin out o winder,"
they had ever justified her confidence
and submitted to her DEGREES.
Jacks heart sank as he saw her: and.
pausing abruptly, he thrust forward
his shaggy head and inquired tremu-
lously if the missus were ill.
God bless us!' calculated Mrs Firth
It's never you, Jack Rutherford! Well.
it's time ye come to look arter your. poor
| Ye're nobbut just in time, too. for she's
sinl1in fast An the way sh've took on
about you-it nd melt a stone. it would.
Only a tWo-three minutes ago she saws
to me, when she was choosin' tn sheet
I've to wind her in, En- she saws. sto
| think as it won't be me ull have TIL
| layi2 out O poor owd man, I've allus
said as wan O. them sheets there 'ud
| be for him, an tn t'other for me- she
says, am to think as it's me as has to
go first, an niyer knowin' where he is
nor what's come to himi AM happen
she says. ft'll be tn parish as 'ull Law
him in s coffin wi nobbut some cotton
rag or other to lap him in Eh she
| did take on.
Jacks jaw had dropped and his face
had turned am ashy-gra color.
'She's-she's deein'?' he asked in an
awe-stricken whisper.
AN what else could ye expect 2" re-
sponded Nancy, fixing him with one
eye, while the other gazed steadily out
of the window. You goin' off am leay-
in her to fend for hersel an she lone
woman, an gettin' ON in years an
frettin-eh, she did fret She niver
looked up arter We left. am comm on
| Christmas she took to her bed an there
she's been mostly iver since All. ye'd
best go in to her, Yell not have her SO
| long
Jack staggered across the kitchen and
opened the inner door, closing it after
him, and standing for moment, with
out speaking just within the room