The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-11-02

I the room who're sat pupil and teacher, he would accost them facetiously: well. Lizzie. my deari oo-ay-lar l quizzineer? oo.ay Ter Shah? oo-ay | His accent was Iamentable, but he | was understood both by Miss Black | burn and by Lizzie to be asking for I news of the cook and the cat.
 stick to it," and he would laugh | heartily. Stick to 1t, my little fairy.
 Among us we mean to make lady of | you-sarne as all the young misses in | Hill Rise."
 l He laughed thus with Lizzie about French. but 1t seemed that he had no laughter nowadays for other people and | other things Why was papa turning moody and gloomy, and yet more stern? 1 It troubled her to think that father was troubled. It irked her, who was 1 so happy, to feel by instinct unhappy | thought in those she loved.
 l One day there came to her sudden l most dreadful fear; that papa must
 be about to become what they called l bankrupt. This, as already she had | gathered, was an enigmatica1 but ca- lamitous state into which builders were | apt to fall The bankrupt condition
 was, 1t appeared, to the, best of build. | CTS what measles are to the best of | children--a thing not to be avoided by | personal effort; thing for which you | could not properly be blamed. No l such annoyance, however, threatened | Mir. Crunden. Mamma and Mrs. Price | at once reassured her. Papa had never been more prosperous than at present. | Middle-aged. beaming, hard working Mrs Price was a cousin of the house as well as its "quizzineer." and no secrets were hid from her. She was valiant, | modest creature, who was servant always until you reminded her that she was member of the family. She never presumed; she went on cooking for you. waiting on you. asking no questions, but if in a moment you craved 8 confidential chat with rela- I tive-well. there she was, ready to come along the stone-flagged passage and enter the room as sympathetic cousin. No arrangement could be more convenient or comfortable.
 Certainly not" said Mrs. Price, re- assuring Lizzie. your father Is as safe as the Bank of England"
 What worried papa was merely Dick. and public affairs He was anxiously planning the career of his natural suc- cessor, R. Crunden, Junior; and he was much occupied and harassed by his duty to watch over the future welfare of the town of Medford.
 "Your father" said loyal Mrs. Price. "is the wisest. long-headed man of the Council, and. they don't listen to what he says as they ought"
 He was Councillor Crunden--if you gave him his full title. F'ancyl N With a solid stake in Medford, he had wished for seat on the Town Council, had thought he could be useful at the municipal board, and had offered him self as an independent candidate to the burgesses of the lower Hill-ward. | Now he had obtained his wish; Coun- ciilor's chair was his to git in. and he found himself quite useless. No one would listen to him: he was constant lly in epposition. Sometimes---as on this question of the new Town Hal he was quite alone; 6 compact mtnori- ty composed of Crunden.
 The town felt that the time had come when 1t really must build itself grand municipal palace. Since MT. ] Crunden was a builder, one might sup I pose that his only anxiety would be to secure this building job and build the I Town HaIi himself. But not a bit Of lit He deeried the scheme, strenuous lily maintained that no building was necessary; these dingy old tunble-down rooms at the corner of Market street were admirably fftte1 and altogether sufficient for the deliberations of the town fathers; 1t was folly, vainglory, unworthy nonsense to burden the rates | with large and avoidabie outlay. Such narrow views were highly offensive to l the dignity of his colleagues, and, odd I Iy enough. proved unpopular with the rate.payers.
 councillor Tn council assembled; T call that talking like a hedgehog. Any hole may be good enough for some people, but it isn't good enough for us"
 This rude speech summed up public opinion, and was widely applauded. I-@ rrf, frnv yard, soon had occasion to chase, or
 nretend to chase, a vulgar urchin who had mocked him and called him
 "IFdpe-'og Crunden." If he offered
 himself to the lower Hill-ward for rs- election he would no doubt be heavily burgesses might request him to resign because he no longer represented their
 opinions correctly.
 MT. Crunden, walking through the street to and from his work, perhaps
 had bitter sthoughts just now. Ht
 manner hardened; but he was, as h'
 had always been, extraordinarily re
 spectful in his attitude towards thu gentry of the place. This deferenc' was characteristic; he was a plair
 man, without pretension-a successful
 workef, nothing more. In fact as t. garb and aspect, he seemed seeking t' stand below his real station rathe than above 1t. He wore apparently II all seasons, the same grey suit ant the square, black felt hat that was [ compromise between G topper and ;
 bowler. He touched his hat to most O
 the Eentlemen--they nearly all knev
 him; or if a gentleman was accompa
 nied by a lady, he would step from thu
 pavement into the road, and, taking of
 his hat, show them his stiff grey hair
 Seeing him thus, one might hav'
 guessed that he was a superior sort O
 workman-say, a builders foreman
 perhaps, but scarcely the builder him
 self and an employer of much labor.
 Yet, in spite of all this characteristi
 deference and-courtesy while abroad
 he would speak now when at hom
 very slightingly of the union of grea
 gentility and slender brains. The gen
 tlefolk had disappointed him. "Hoy
 do, Crunden?" they said patronizingly
 as he stood lowing or touching hi
 hat; but none stopped to pat him ol
 the back for his sound common sens
 about the Town Hall.
 Mother" he told his wife, it was t
 them I looked for support. They ough
 to have supported me. They'll all fec 1t in their pockets but they haven :, the brains to see beyond the end c
 their supereilious noses.%
 This, then, was fathers trouble--no
 much, as considered by Lizzie. MT
 Price felt sure there was nothing els
 always excepting Master Dick an
 his career. But that would come 8
 right in the end; everything would b