Williston graphic. (Williston, Williams County, N.D.) 1895-1919, 1901-10-10

y
way"
"And another thing" she interrupt
ed him, in the same even tone. yes
terdav morning you left the furnace
with only very little coal in it, saying
you would come back after breakfast.
I am afraid your mother was worse,
or you certainly would have come, es-
pecially as it was such cold day."
emo, man, 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
and I thought just for once maybe
it wouldn't be any hardship for you to
put on shovelful or two, till"
''No hardship at all, assure you. fol
I didn't do it,. I 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 thought it 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 sawmill. perhaps it
would be as well to 60 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.
"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 stu
alton 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; 1t 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
pane two weeks ago.
Ill thought few more days
wouldn't matter-and wasn't expect
ing the freeze yet, and anyhow I put
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 bargaln!"
Some of Mrs. Byrd's friends had
never seen her angry, but she had her
full share of human nature, and now
she was fairly ablaze with wrath and
scorn. Her tone and the look she gave
Tom made him burn with shame.
There could be no possible doubt about
her opinion of him, and for the first
time in his life he felt that it was the
opinion he deserved.
"Never went back on a bargain!"
she repeated. "You never did any
! thing else! I knew your record, but
I 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! 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, I amt! Excuse me,
but I ANTI" 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. II
was, but my luck's changed, and ]
amt now"
go! I 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. =
When she reached the kitchen Tom
was at the door ready to 60 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, I amt. Excuse me, but
really I 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?
I amt asking pay from you or from
them; only to make it up to you. lean
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! It used to be
that you wouldn't stay in situation,
and now you won't stay out of one!
Well, 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 a barn,
and I 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 tho
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 cleo
trical works, and there he has stayed
ever si1ss.-Youth's Companioa.