Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1903-06-29

good reader, happens to be Jones, let
me say he was no relation of yours;
nor yet of the Jones round the cor
ner; nor of the Jones at the foot of the
hill, whose wife has just had twins
for the third time, and all living; but
another Jones altogether.
Now, just mention this by the way,
and not with any intention of giving
an account of my dead husbands an
tecedents; for, if there is one thing
l dislike above another, it is tracing
back ones pedigree.
Not but what I think Mr.. Jones
might have lad an alderman, or even
Judge, among his great uncles or
eat-grandfathers; but l mar
ried him for what he was, and not for
what any of his relations We're. And
/ hope that none of my friends who
are "living on the reputation Of their
deceased relatives" will think that
am limiting at them; for am not.
AS l said before, it is just fourteen
years since l was left q widow with
one child, girl of eight. We had laid
three beneath the willows, over the
hill; so you may be sure / clung to this
one with fourfold affection.
When the funeral was over Qt was
quite a respectable funeral; there were
twenty-nine carriages, besides two men
on horseback), Deacon Wilson was
called in to look over my husbands
papers. Mr.. Jones had asked him to do
1,te 1NocA 1,N tnI II l. ln
deacon to be an honest and trust
worthy man, l was sure they would be
safe In his hands, and that he would do
the right thing by me and my father
less child.
After all debts were paid, there re-
mained just S400. OF course, the house
and lot were my own; l had the deed,
and saw it registered myself; but $400
was very small sum, and my heart
sank when the deacon handed it to
me with the remark:
'I've done the best I could, Mrs.
Jones, but Pm afraid it won't go far.
My wife and l were talking of you
last night, and we thought 1t would not
be a bad plan for you to start small
grocery. The village is growing, and
this new factory will bring a good deal
of trade here. Then there are my own
hands at the mill; think could send
a little your way through them. If this
partition were taken down, you would
have plenty of room for the shop, with
your kitchen back of st, which would
be real handy" I thanked him for his
advice and promised to think it over.
The partition pulled down! Well,
well, and my beautiful little parlor
turned into filthy grocery! The pretty
green carpet and the nice caneseated
chairs, that did not look a bit the worse
for ten years wear. put up, perhaps,
under the auctioneer's hammer! No,
no, not this; anything but this; at least,
not yet! What would poor, dear An
thony have thought of pulling the
house to pieces; the house that he had
taken such q pride in. too? 1 looked
over at his big armchair, almost ex-
pecting to see him frown Indignantly
at the very thought of such thing;
but, there It Stood in It's old place,
and It wQs empty. . Gi4...sS. -.l,,..s.f
{. Thsn 1 thought Of Hetty's rosy
checks, and Of the money in my hand.
How long would it last? Even with
the strictest economy, one year would
make big hole in it. These things
passed rapidly through my mind, and it
became evident that something would
have to be done, and that very soon.
The deacons proposition came up
again, and I thought OF Tomkins little
grocery with its atmosphere of smoke
and its carpet Of tobacco juice; with
its daily loafers and its evening
loungers; with its unceasing clatter of
cowhide, and its great outlaws.
"No, now said aloud; at can never
be" For, to use the words of Charles
Lamb, "the more 1 thought of it, the
less l thought Of it"
Weeks passed by and had come to
no decision about my plans for the
future, when one day Mrs. Porter. a
neighbor, who had proven "a friend
indeed' many time, suggested that
it would be good thing for me to take
III Il lew bOtlutlH, WOulu llOl lctl
so lonesome like, she said-with deli
cacy that l could not but admire.
Now, strange to say, l had not
thought Of this before. and the idea
rather pleased me, as l prided myself
on my housekeeping, and had plenty
of room to accoHmodate three or foul
persons-the house being a two-story
frame; so | set about furnishing the
two upstairs rooms, which had ncvel
been used, and at the end of three
months after my dear Anthony's death
l was ready for my first boarder.
l had said nothing to Deacon Wilson
of my intentions, but somehow hi:
folks got wind Of 1t, and he called one
day to testify his approval of the steT
which l was about to take, and kindly
offered me his two apprentices to star
with
"Jane and Liza were going back t.
school for SPELL" he said, "and Mrs
Wilson had too much TO see afte
alone"
l.,