Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1907-09-03

broken chair. tfst old sack was stufred
into the window and the rope-that
never to be forgotten rope-dangled
from the hook to which he had fasten'
ed it.
The sight brought lump into his
throat. He sank to his knees, pressed
down, he felt, by some superior power
Mother" he said humbly, forgive
me and ask God to forgive me fof
what l would have done were you moi
watching over me-"
In the spiritual eXaltation Of the mo-
ment lie almost expected to find thai
sweet face peering at him benignantly
from out the dim background. But he
could not see her, and he rose, revivi
fed by this spoken communion with
her. He had no shadow Of doubt as t.
her presence. God to him was the uni.
verse and his mother the unquestiOna.
BILE means Of communication with the
Providence that governed his life. He
would die rather than abandon that
belief. Were 1t dispelled from his
mind he was quite certain that his
wealth would vanish with 1t. 1t was
no haphazard accident which had sent
the diamond laden meteor headlong
from the sky. He was despairing, dy
ing. His mother appealed for him.
and, behold! The very elements that
control the world obeyed mighty be,
hest.
He began to work methOdically. IL
the first place, lie lit fire, for the
evening was chilly; then lie shook his
mattress and swept the floor, gather
Ing into heap all the tiny particles
with which it was Uttered. These he
collected in a piece Of newspaper and
folded them into parcel, which again
he inclosed In a stouter sheet Of brown
paper, finally tying the whole with Il
yard of string he carried IN his pocket
There were hundreds Of tiny din
monds in that Insignificant package
and not few the size of small peas
As a matter Of fact, he discovered sub
seuuently that the net result Of his
sweeping brought him In over f1,OOO
Having examined every nook and
crevice of the apartment by the aid
of the candle. he satisfied himself that
naught remained which would indi
cate to the most curious eye any event
out of the common having occurred II
that humble dwelling.
1t was typical Of Philips implicit
faith that he did not unlock the bach
door until his Interior task was ended
He knew that his meteor was untouch
ed.
There was no wind without. The
candle, feeble as It's rays were. illumi
mated the small yard sufficiently to re
veal Its debris of white stones ant
darker Jumps Of metal. Beginning a
the doorway, he swept vigorously, bu
with minutest care, until he had form
ed four good sized piles on the flag
stones.
He could not afford to differentiate
between the debris Of the damaged
pavement and the fragments Of tn,
meteor. 1t was easy to distinguish the
larger pieces of broken glass from tht
window inside the house. In the yart
he had neither the time nor the light
to select the bits Of shattered stone
All must go together, to be sorted Will
leisured care subsequently.
He scrutinized the external window
stills. the door posts the chinks of thu
small coal house door at the farther
end Of the yard, even the rough sur
faces Of the walls, and removed every
speck Of loose material. More news
paper was requisitioned, but after util
izing the twine on his parcel Of cloth
Ing he ran short Of string.
He coolly went up the stairs, unfas
tened the rope with which he had in
tended to hang himself and lcosene(
its stiff strands. Soon he had IN abun
dance Of strong cord. and four bulk,