Waterbury Democrat., 1901-09-26

70 expect you at that time? may De wrong, but it seems to me it was none 9f your business what the weather | was"
 "Oh, we'll, 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 very little coal in it, 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"
 sN-no, mann, mother wasn't any worse, but-I'll tell you. One of our neighbors came in and wanted me to put up her stove-just thank-you job i and I thought just for once maybe It wouldn't be any hardship for you to put on shovelful or two, till" l "No hardship at all I assure you, for I didn't do it. 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, ma'am, but coaxed it up as we'll as could, and I thought it would be-
 ''I imagined so, for the house seemed cold to me when I 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 sawmill. Perhaps it would be as we'll to go down now and see what can be done to improve matt ters," she said, and with the same dan- | ura1. nf a mn O cha opened the cellar door and followed close behind him down the stairs. "Oh! Oh! Oh!"
 At the foot of the stairway Tom stopped, pale, speeches., overwhelmed. The cellar was flooded with water, and small cataract was still pouring into it. The water pipe had burst.
 Mrs. Byrd, close beside him, uttered cry of fresh dismay. Bad as the situ- ation had been Is minutes earlier, it 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 l of countenance, was the vacant space into which he had promised to put pane two weeks ago.
 CT thought few more days wouldn't matter-and I wasn't expect | ing the freeze yet, and anyhow put board against it last night. It must have blown in,' he muttered, trying to excuse himself.
 "And you are the one that never went back on bargam!"
 "Neyer went back on bargain!" l she repeated. 'sYou never did any thing else! I knew your record, but I thought you might have learned 1 lesson at last, so I gave you one more chance; and this is the use you have | made of it! You have cheated every 1 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, I ain't! Excuse me. but I ain'ti" He came and looked straight into her angry eyes. There was new sort of dignity in his re- spectful tone and in his pale face. '1 was, but my luck's changed, and l ain't now"
 "Go! I have no patience for any more experiments. Col" He went meekly up the stairs. She followed him slowly, with the uncom- fortable feeling every sensible person has after fit of anger; she had said more than she had meant to say, al- l though no more than the occasion | called for. Besides, there had been 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 a businesslike tone said the most unexpected thing pos, sible: ''What plumber shall I go for? That pipe must be fixed right away" "What have you to do with that? l Don't you understand2 You are dis charged"
 'No, ma 'am, ain't. Excuse me, but really ain't. 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? ain't asking pay from you or from them; only to make it up to you. lean see now that Pm in debt, and I want to pay up, that's all. And I want to prove that my luck's changed"
 She wavered an instant, then laughed in spite of herself. "I really believe your luck has changed! It used to be that you wouldn't stay in situation, and now you won't stay out of one! We'll, run off and get Brown, the plumber, here as soon as you can. Then come back and build that furnace fire. The house is as cold as barn, and want my breakfast"
 He went and came. And all winter he kept coming and going, not only to that house, but to one after another of the houses that had dispensed with him. His employers wondered if the reform would last; but long before spring all were convinced that his luck had changed indeed. Before another winter came he was back in the elec- trical works, and there he has stayed ever since.-Youth's Companion.