Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1901-09-02

laugh. BED felt so good, l lay little
too long"
Just a little" said Mrs. Byrd.
smoothly. Now that you mention It,
] think You have been little late ev-
cry morning; half hour or so.
Tom gave her an apprehensiVe look.
swell. you see. them warm mornings
I thought il wouldn't make Sny differ
ence. You see"
"But isn't bargain Bargain she
asked. calmly. "You know you agreed
TO be here every morning at half-past
six, and don't you think / had right
TO expect you at that time? may De
wrong, but il seems 10 me il was none
of your business what the weather
was"
"oh. well. if you look at it that
way"
"And another thing" she interrupt
ed him, in the same even tone. Yes
terday morning you left the furnace
with only a very little coal in il. saying
you would come back after breakfast.
/ am afraid your mother was worse,
or You certainly would have come, es-
pecially as it was such cold day
"N-no, man. mother wasn't any
worse. but--rll tell you. One of our
neighbors came in and wanted me TO
put up her stove-just thank-you job
land l thought just for once maybe
II wouldn't be any hardship for you TO
put on a shovelful or two. till
"No hardship at all, assure you. for
/ didn't do il. 1 was out most of the
day and all the evening. Didn't you
find the fire rather low when YOU came
in the EVENING""
"Yes, maam, but coaxed il up as
well as could. and thought il would
be-"
II imagined so, for the house seemed
cold to me when came in. Don't you
think it is little below normal this
morning. even?"
She led him into the dining-room; it
was as cold as a sawmill. Perhaps IL
would be as well to go down now and
see what can be done TO improve mat
ters," she said, and with the same dam
gerous sweetness of manner she
opened the cellar door and followed
close behind him down the stairs.
ooh! OIL OH"
AT the foot of the stairway Tom
stopped, pale. speechless. overwhel lined.
The cellar was flooded with water, and
a small cataract was still pouring into
it. The water pipe had burst.
Mrs. Byrd, close beside him, uttered
a cry of fresh dismay Bad as the stu
alton had been Is minutes earlier, IL
was worse now. Her voice reused Tom
from his stupor, and he splashed away
through the water to the cutoff,
turned It, and so stopped the rush.
Then he waded to the furnace; it was
fireless, and had been so since the
night before. There. staring him out
of countenance, was the vacant space
into which he had promised TO put a
pane two weeks ago.
81 thought a few more days
wouldn't matter-and ! wasn't expect
ing the freeze yet, and anyhow put a
board against it last night. 1t must
have blown in" he muttered, trying to
excuse himself.
"And you are the one that never
went back on a bargarn!"
"Never went back on bargaini"
she repeated. "You never did any
thing elsei I knew your record, but
/ thought you might have learned a
lesson at last, so / gave you one more
chance; and this is the use you have
made of it'll You have. cheated every
friend recommended you to. Even pa
tient Judge Grey could not put up with
your dilly-dallying! You are an out
and-out swindler from first TO last!"
"No, ma'am, ANTI Excuse me,
but / ANTI" He came and looked
straight into her angry eyes. There
was a new sort of dignity in his re-
spectful tone and in his pale face. IL
was, but my luck's changed, and !
amt now"
"Gol ! have no patience for any
more experiments. Got"
He went meekly up the stairs. She
followed him slowly, with the uncom-
Portable feeling every sensible person
has after fit of anger; she had said
more than she had meant to say, al
though no more than the occasion
called for. Besides, there had been a
ring of sincerity in his voice and look
in his eyes that added to her discom-
fort.
When she reached the kitchen Tom
was at the door ready TO go out. He
faced her, and in businesslike tone
said the most unexpected thing pos
sible: what plumber shall go for?
That pipe must be fixed right away"
what have you to do with that?
Don't you understand? You are dis
charged"
''No, ma am. / amt. Excuse me, but
really / amt. You see, it's just this
way. I've got to keep on working for
you, and for all the rest of the folks
that dropped me, so as to make up for
the way I've been doing. Understand?
/ amt asking pay from you or from
them; only TO make it up to you. can
see now that I'm in debt, and / want
to pay up, that's all And want to
prove that my luck's changed"
She wavered an instant, then laughed
in spite of herself. 81 really believe
your luck has changed 1t used to be
that you wouldn't stay in q situation,
and now you won't stay out of onei
Well, run off and get Brown, the
plumber, here as soon as you can.
Then come back and build that furnace
6ra The house is a q noId &c a barr