The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-10-23
S1LAS MARINER.
CONDENSED FROM ORIGINAL
CHAPTER II.

4 /. When SiIas Mariner left his own coun-
try and people and camo to settle IN
Raveloe nothing could be more unlike
his native town than this low wooded
region, where he felt hidden even from,
tho heavens BY the screening trees and
hedge rows. Thcro was nothing here that
seemed to have any rcla ton with that
life centering in Lantern Yard which had
once been to him the altar place OF high
dispensatons. There were no lips In RAJ
ycloe that could stir Sllas Mariners be-
nulnbed faith to n sense of pain. and
poor Silas was vaguely conscious OF come
thing not unlike The feeling off, primitive
men. 1t seemed to him that the Power
lie had vainly trusted In at the prayer
meetings was very far away from this.
q land where he had taken refuge. where
men lived In careless abundance. 1ic
hated tho thought OF tho past, and the
future was all dark. for there was no
55 Unseen Love that cared for him.
g. lie went on unrcmittingly With his
work. lie seemed to weave, liko the
spider. from pure Impulse without reflec-
lion. At last Mrs. Osgood's table-lincn
was finished and lie had I'VE bright 3 guln-
cas- put into his iland. For twenty years
mysterious money had stood to him as
the symbol OF earthly good. lie had seem
cd to love 1t little IN the years when
every penny had It's purpose for him. Now.
as lie walked homcward across tho fields.
! In tho twilight, he drew out the money
and thought 1t was brighter in the gath
crlng gloom.
8. About this tim can accident happened
wIcl, seemed to offer possibility OF
neighborly fellowship Ono day as Sas
took Il pair OF shoes to be mended he saw
sallIe Oates, the 4 cobbler's wife, seated by
the fire. suffering from symptoms Of
heart disease and dropsy Recalling the
ut, !, Ind Ell
preparation OF fox glove, he promised to
bring her something that would case her.
The fact Of her obtaining help from Slas
Manners STUFF became a matter Of gem
eral d DISCOURSE among the neghbors who
associated him with the Wise Woman
at farley who had charms as well as
L ''stuff. = Silas found his cottage beset by
mothers who wanted him to charm away
the whooping- cough. and by men who
wanted ''stuff'' for the rheumatics or
knots in the hands. He drove them away,
+ but no one believed him when he said he
knew no charms and coulu work no cures,
and every man or woman who had an ac-
cident after applying to him set 1t down
TO Master Marncr's Ill will. Thus his
movement OF pity, IN the end, made his
+ Isolation moro complete.
L. Gradually tho guineas, the 6 crowns and
7thalf-crowns grow to a heap and Mariner
drew less and less for his own wants. lie
had taken up some bricks In his floor un-
dcrneath his loom, and here lie had set
tho iron pot that contained his guneas
ana silver coins. Not that tho idea OF
being robbed presented itself often or
strongly to his mind; boarding was COM
mon III those days; there were old lab
orcrs in the parish OF Rayeloe who We're
known to have their savings by them.
proba bly, beside their s lock-beds; but their
Arustio neighbors, though not all Of them
as their ancestors In tho days OF 10 King
Alfred. had not imagnations bold enough
10 lay plan of II burglary,
S. So year after year silas Mariner lived
In solitude The prominent eyes that used
70 look trusting and dreamy, now looked