Rogue River courier. (Grants Pass, Or.) 1886-1927, 1901-07-11


the sense to leave few hundred dol
lars in the bank, and when the folks
that held the mortgages shut down
on him, his doctor took a room for
him in a cheap lodgin' house and had
him move into IT, Seemed quite
comc-down, but nobody pitied him
very much.
"Weil, TO make long story short,
in the course Of year or two the
county was voted new poorhouse,
and the Hone property being for sale
the committee concluded it'd be
cheaper TO buy that than TO build.
You see, there was about 20 acres
Of land and not a neighbor within
quarter of a mile. The squire had
another stroke when he heard what
they were goin' to do with it, and his
landlord, fndin' that by the time the
Doctors bill was paid he wouldn't
have dollar left, turned him over
to the town. | dare say the select
men were sorry to do it, but Of
course they had to treat him the same
as the rest o. the town poor; and
when he came to himself there he
was in his old home under an over
seer, and herded with paupers.
II.
Two years later ! chanced to be
passing over the same road with
Capt. Bob Moreley for driver.
"sayl' he cried, facing about as
we came in sight Of the Hone place,
member my tellin' you bout the
old squire? Wen. sir, there's been
great doin's up there, and they say
the old mans so changed that his
.vu wife wouldn't know him. Seems
% 1o1rhtcr long bout that time
% '" husband. and when -'r' of
.r t'ud. wrote her what tA' old
."s.tu.u bad come 10 she packed
i-bi mp and hurried ON ca' with
her little girl aud took a house down
in the edge o. the village SOS to be
near him. Tell you what. the way
some women in this world forgive
helps a fellow to understand the for
givin'ness Of the Lord
But she hadn't more'n go; here
when she was taken down with
hcumatic fever. and not bein' able
to go herself, she sent her little girl
over to ask about the squire. The
old man was sitliu' on one o. the
benches there by the gateway, with
his chin on his cane, when the little
one come In, and he started as il
he'd seen a ghost They say she's
the born image of her mother when
she was her age, and she's named
after her too, and when her grandad
called her Annie she run right to
him and clumb on his knee and be
gun chattcrin' as If she'd known him
all her life. He's gently rough as a
bear with children. but they say he
broke down and cried like baby.
"Wcll, that little midget KEEP COM
in right along, hriugin' flowers and
iells and lovin' messages from her
mother, aud bout the first question
she'd ask him would be: Have Won
said your prayers this moruiu',
grandpa And then she'd make him
rccite with her Our Father And
before folks knew what was goin
ON the old squire was converted
You know the Bible says: A little
child shall lead 'cm, and it seems as
| n the Lord must have sent that little
one there on purpose to bring him
| To repentance; at least, that's the
way IL looks To me. His daughter,
soon as she was able to be up, want
ed him to come live with her. but
he was afraid he'd be a trouble and
| thought he'd better stay where he
was To be sure, he said, twas the
| poorhouse, but twas in the poor
house that he'd found the way TO
Heaven"
At this point the of horse began
TO balk. and II was several minutes
before the captain could go on.
Queer" he remarked. as he set
tied back in his scat. what ups and
downs sometimes come to people
| All OF sudden, one day, bout
year ago, the squire had letter
sayin' that new vein had been
struck in the mine that he'd invest
ed in, aud that the stock had doubled
| Iva value. Seems he'd been smart
enough to hold ON To the paper. So
hc was once more rich man; aut
the first thing he did Vss to decd
90 acres Of land to the county and
buy back his home. Then he had
the house put in order from top 20
bottom. aud to-day his daughter An
mic amt her little girl are u,n' there
with him. and the two ncphevs that
/ hc 'prcutccd to shoemaker are
/ brtu' fitted for college. Curious.
wasn't b. how &c happened? Makes
You think ~ old Nrbuchaducfgcr hay-
an Go 40 down ou hi, marrow bones.
and then rcttn' back his throne aft
en- he'd learned his lesson Anyhow.
| the slurc's clothed aud in his right
mind at last, and I've come to the
conclusion that his wife's prayers
. weren't wasted after nh N y In.