Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1901-05-22
THE BEST OF ALL

Ii was early morning. and tie great
house was very still as its mistress pass
ed with noiseless' footsteps along the,
empty halls, down the back stairway and
into the kitchen. She stopped lust across
the threshold and made a movement in-i
| dicatiye of surprise. In the range she
had expected to find cold and black and
| comfoytless rudy fire was burning.
The bright copper kettle was kissing and
singing, emitting trail of steam, and its,
cover was bobbing up and down.
AT this unexpected sight a half smile
came to her lips, and again she solilo-
quized. "The pixie workmen have surely
been here before me- Then she looked
at her hands-the well preserved, deli
cate hands of middle aged woman to
whom fortune had been kind, hands that
had, like the lilies they resembled in
| wilderness, toiled not, neither had they
spun. Il am glad" thought she, that
the pixies came. / should hardly know
how to make fire or wish to do it."
| Mr.. and Mrs. Bertram Wayne had
married for love when they were young
and poor and had been happy. But the
young husband had talent for money
making. given the opportunity, and as is
not always the case the opportunity pre-
sented itself. 1t does not at all matter
whether it was in oil or gas. or what 9TH
er branch of profitable investment. his
little capital was turned over and over
and swelled and grew, and the income
increased and multiplied itself again and
| again.
1t is only to the purpose here to state
that by strictly legitimate methods Of
business Mr.. Bertram Wayne had inside
4 of x 60 b., sotx
not multimillionaire by any means, but
wealthy enough to move out of the pref
| ty cottage in which he and his wife had
begun their married life into spacious
dwelling in a more fashionable part Of
town and set up an expensive establish
ment, with a complicated system Of
household service. And, as is usual un-
| der such circumstances, Mr.. Wayne be-
came too busy in adding to his principal
and multiplying his interests to give much
attention to home affairs. He furnished
| the money and looked to his wife to
! spend it in lubrcating the wheels of the
| ponderous domestic machinery.
| Mrs. Wayne gave her time, as was nee
essary, to her servants society and the
onerous task of entertaining, for when
| goods increase they are increased that
| eat them" Both she and her husband
were members of their several clubs, and
| the wife was directress in half dozen
| NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. for the promotion
of various laudable objects-all of which
demanded time and attention. Some
| times in the rush and whirl of 1t all she
could not help wondering if she had had
| children of her own what would have be-
| come of them.
/ In the course of time 1t came about
| quite naturally, in order to avoid clash
| ing with each others hours of rest and
retirement. each being busy in divers
ways, that they occupied separate suits
of apartments, seldom meeting save at
| table or perhaps for little time in the
| early evening.
| And now, by no fault of his own and
with nothing to reproach himself for, but
| owing to the uncertain condition of the
times, the fortune had collapsed, the
| home was gone. and the varied occupa-
tons of husband and wife had disappear
/ ed. In a few days the costly furniture
would be auctioned off, the house sold,
and, empty handed, they would begin life
over again.
| When Mr.. Wayne came in with bit
| of beefsteak he had just bought, he found
his wife standing at the table, stirring
something with an iron spoon in a yell
| low bowl. She looked up and smiled at
him. II am making drop biscuit" she
| said. "Do you remember how fond of
them you used to be when we first kept
house?" Some half forgotten memory
| stirred in the husbands heart, and he
put his arm about her neck and kissed
her forehead. Her heart thrilled beneath
that touch and kiss as it had not thrilled
| for years. No diamond necklace or 9th
| err precious material gift could have
brought so pretty flush. so full Of pleas
ure. to her cheek.
When breakfast was ready and they
sat down together to serve themselves.
she confessed that she had been doubt
full about quantities used in her drop bis
cult; it had been SO long since she had
made any. But, although they were
rather yellow, as if from too much soda,
the husband, coming more and more un-
der the happy spell of the olden time.
| honestly declared that they were deli
cious.
He sighed when her fair hands plunged
into the dishwater pan, but he, no longer
the wealthy capitalist, took up the tea
towel, with certain sort of pleasure, to
dry the breakfast china, Don't you re-
member?' and Have you forgotten? y
| Lie otdpic VI tLSii Nohfti SdeAoiis
not, it Is true, unmixed with the involun-
tary sigh or surreptitious tear, for the
grim specter Of poverty, by whatever
sweetened. is something of which human
creatures are sore afraid.
Still there Is poverty and poverty, one
form of which differs essentially from the
other. And when the tea towel had been
hung on the rack behind the range Der
| tram WAYNE sat down in one of the
kitchen chairs at hand and took his wife
upon his knee. 1t did not occur to him
that she was heavier than she used to be.
He only thought how soft her cheek felt
as it lay against his own and wondered
how it was that it had been so long since
last he felt it there. Then he told her In
reassuring way he had found there
would be little left as salvage from the
wreck when all was settled up-enough
to rent a tiny house like tot they used
to live in long ago. with maid of all
work in the kitchen to do the toughest
part of the household labor. He had