Iron County register., 1898-12-22

slender, leafeSs branch; On the brig ht-
ness and intense blue of the sky; on
the feathery snowdrifts piled on every
side. Mr. Jones had noticed none Of
these things; he had been affected only
by the inconvenience Of the walking
and the loss of his day in the city. But
such good humor as that shown by his
neigh bors was contagious, and, since
his attention was directed 10 ii. he real
lied that the snow-covered landscape
was truly magnificent 'No artist
could ever begin to represent its beau
ty." said his neighbor's wife. what
were all the art galleries of the world
compared TO this?''
BY the time Mr.. Jones was set down
at his own door, his feelings had un-
dergone an entire change. He felt
ashamed of his petulance. and especial
" of the slap he had given Robbie. He
determined 10 find the little fellow and
make the best amends he could. He
also felt glow of kindly sympathy for
his wife IN her care for the ba bies that
was somewhat unusual to the hurried
business man. Yet he shrank from
meeting his wife directly; he was not
quite ready TO acknowledge the mean
ness of his irrita ability and language of
the morning. SO he decided 10 go
through the dining-room. which was
still very cold, ard make a detour
through the basement and kitchen 10
look at the furnace.
In the kitchen Bridget, who had long
been the faithful maid of all work.
stood gazing into the cooking stove,
where smouldered a few black dying
Goals Her countenance wore an ex-
preston that was mixture Of distress
and anger. An hour before Mr.. Jones
would have begun at once 20 rate her
sharply for her badly prepared break
fast. but now he only said:
why, Bridget. what's the matter
with the stove?"
We'll. sir. sure there's 10 dbraft at all
at all, and whin thry TO make 2 quick
it's the CRATE that's broken and dropped
down that chokes the fire. \ poor gell
can't do any cooking on that stove"
Mr.. Jones conscience pricked him.
His wife had told him several times
about the broken CRATE; had written
Gown the name and number of the
stove and begged him send it from the
city, but he had forgotten It He saw
the imPossibility of doing any good
work with such a poor instrument as
this. and then he said:
We'll, Bridget. l believe the best
thing in this kitchen would be new
stove entirely"
Bridget's face frightened 20 sir
she said. ~if only had good stove. and
the pump fixed, sure I'd stay. / gave
The mistress warning this morning"
Again Mr. Jones conscience pricked
him. How often had his wife asked him
TO be sure and send the plumber TO fix
that pump. But it had seemed very
small thing 10 him that stove and pump
were out of order. and so he had paid
no attention TO the matter.
Passing into the furnace-room his eye
fell on poor old Haas. the man whom he
paid dollar week 10 take care OF the
furnace He was Cn his knees in front
Of the furnace trying with all his poor
old strength 70 shake the heavy CRATE
by means Of the iron lever Ii was pa
thetic face and figure the old man pre-
sented- Bridget had overheard Mr..
Jones. message about the furnace and
had conveyed il 10 Hans. who had re-
ceived IL as the kneH of his hopes; for
the poor little dollar that he thus earned
was all that enabled him TO keep peace
with the shrewish daughter-in-law who
gave him shelter and bed. But for
zone reason the shaking of the furnace
had been almost impossible for more
than . week, and old Hans was in de-
spair. When he saw Nr. Jones he