The Newtown bee., 1909-05-07


 Forever, A little more than moptt
 aiter this Sarah was married te Will
 liam Dane and Silas found homes
 closed to him, no friend to console
 no patrons for his work, The world
 m 2 month had become loVeless and
 cold His friend had thrust upon
 nm q black crime, But Silas will
 i've down the curse right in his na-
 i've village; but the strain is too
 severe, and at last Lantern Yard
 dH9hn tU find that Marner had dee
 parted from the town. And, sad to
 say and perhaps not 10 be wondered
 al, silas in shaking the dust of the
 town from his feet, shook also faith
 m God and Tun flum his heart.
 And so we find him fifteen
 years after in the distant town Of
 Rayeloe with this past hanging over
 him. And In Rayeloe he had become
 q miser, In Lantern Yard his weekly
 wage had mostly gone to the church
 or loMa'd harity, for his heart was
 tender toward men and God. Rut in
 Rayeloe, he had no longer any tens
 derness toward earth's needs, and
 With no one to support he hoards his
 gold and hides it under the floor of
 ais home. He had toiled so dili- gently and so hard that the village said he was rich and rich he vas, and the iron pot in which he used to con- reel his coil beneath the brick under his loom had been superseded by two 'eatherr bags which after the fall of night and after he had locked the doors anu closed the shutters, he hauled from their place and poured his IT 'hfs on the table. Ah! how he loved to bathe his hands in the yell low stuff! How he would count and recount his guineas and his silver! How ne felt their rounded outlines between his thumb and fingers. An! to such as this Silas Marner had transferred his love and life had no other pleasure to him than to see his wealth grow.
 One stormy winters night, Silas bebt 0n an errand, went out from his home ard lief. unlocked the door of his little cottage home, for he was not long to be gone. But while he. was away, the prouigal son of the village squire strolled through the rough enyirons of Silas' home and came upon his lighted cottage. En- tering he found the place vacant and It on' e there came into his mind the gossip of the village that the mys- terious weaver was rich. Where could he keep his gold? Lookingabout he saw fingcrprints in the sand which covered the bricks in the floor where the weaver hid his guineas. The youth sprung forward, stopped be- heath the loom, removed the bricks md To! there was the treasure. Quickly were the leatnern bags in lis possession, the bricks replaced, ,ae sand smoothcd over them and the youth gone out in the wild winters night. Hardly had he crossed the threshold and disappeared in the im- 1enetrable darkness, when Silas Warner returned to his humble lwelling. The room was hot, the ire still burned brightly, the roast for lis evening meal was yet uncooked, 70 as his evening pleasure was, he would haul forth his gold and "bathe lis hands in the yenow stream" Stopping beneath the loom he re- moves the bricks and To! the hole is ,mpty. The savings of his life time were gone. Stricken with despair he earches the house. He kneads he Jed, ne looks within his oven, every look and corner is penetrated with ut avail ana then with wild cry ike that Of an animal he rushes out nto the night to tell the village authorities. No clue to the crime ould he unearthed. The thief har lone his work and left behind no Z race and Silas Marner returned to ; is cottage a broken man. Thereafter 1 g The sat at his weaving he every { Uw ana tier monrned low, like one l n iii. * * And every evening T g :le sat in his loneliness ny his dnll ' re, he leaned his elbows on his knees i nd clasped his head with his hands, I nd mourned very low, yet not as :: ne who seeks to be heard f
 Tin e goes by. Silas' life is lonely t ri-hCut his gold. It was the only r hing he loved and that was gone. t nd now 'tis New Years Eve, so it t as said, for in his grief he had 'st all reckoning of time, and he was t ,I.. that he must sit up and hear the g :" year rung out and the new year D
 ng in. And while the village was W erry Silas sat beside his dull New ( ears fire and reflected, His past a eld no pleasant memories and soon T