The Ogden standard. [volume] (Ogden City, Utah) 1902-1910, 1910-04-16
r HE old white house was a square structure sur

w of the nineteenth century The slopnc roof
supported oy great Cormthan pillars extended over
wide porch, and like many houses of that period both
root and cupoa were ornamented by low wooden rail-
inGS;
pruned ior years. and the once trim. box-bordcred
garden beds weLc apglc OF Japan and Bermuda lilies,
phloN and Haunting holyhocks.
In spite OF ITS general dilapdation it was a place
winch would have suggested infinite possibilities to
artistic eye, but Tom Hilary closed the gate of the
old fashioned white rail fence with impatient bang
"Iye white elephant on my hands all right all
right, he reflected irrlby but il I'd forccloscd
SINNERS mortgage as he directed, and the property
lad been put UP public sale in all probability the
place would have brought than enough sat
isfy the lien 1t, and there would have been nothing
Lett ior poor old Willard
He paused to regard with cove,ous eyes ornate
Queen Anne villa III process OF erection,
Something like that. now, was what I'd had in
mind he thought wistfuy. Mothers been used to
living in handsome house ever since Cclc married
Then his face cleared Ill tell her just how was,
he decided Bless her heart she'll be glad to know
that was able TO do good turn to the old who
so kind TO me when | was kid!
And, any how, he continued with increasing cheer
fulness Il can furnish the old ark in G, and
with fresh pant-pnk instead of whitc-al that
shrubbery cut down. nice smooth lawn, and per
haps fountain with the figure Of child holding an
umbrella her head like that / saw IN Peoria
it will look like different place
His mcditations were interrupted by an eager,
paintivc voice.
"Oh, Thomasw Miss Marla Buckingham cx-
claimed, "Im delighted to have met you Sister
and were intending to call at your Office this after
consult you 4 matter of-of grave i'm
portance. But there seems something $3.50 indeli-
in ladies' calling gentleman that, perhaps
that you in the ncighborhood, you won't mind
stopping
Hillary had swept off his hat and stood looking
kindly down at 4 shabby little woman in rusty black.
sured her cordially,
Nevertheless. he seemed trle depressed as he re,
yd @ the [e%uGus Ia hands Ssd Of do some e. pu small small
ngham all his life and he aware that, like many
other women left alone in the world. they had al
lowed comfortable competency TO slip through their
fingers He OWNED the nature of the matter OF
grave Importance" and his prophetic soul told him
that he would be called to solve the hopeless prob
lem Of making their impaired capital yield living
come the still more hopeless OF pointing out to
two proud. luxuriously, broughup women past mid
die age some means of earning livelihood
Hillary himself had been 4 poor boy but he had
come of sturdy working stool; and his mother. left
Piled herself TO the task with such indomabe pluck
and that the little cottage where she bent daily
over her wash had been happy home And now
Hillary. glancing at the delicate worn face beside him.
realized the difference between the cheerful hopeful
poverty of his boyhood and that which confronted
these two helpless women IN their old age.
For an instant he tempted to plead forgotten
engagement and thus avoid painful scene. But as
small boy with an unsuitable appetite for cookies and
apples the Misses Buckingham had often appeared 70
him in the role OF Lady Bountful. and gratitude
not merely with Tom Hillary
His manner showed no trace OF bis inward perurba
ton when Miss Marla ushcrcd Inn into the dim
drawing room where sat Miss Lucinda, frail, thin,
shadow edition OF the younger sister 1T was PLAN
that in his capacity Of legal adviser the sisters regarded
their former protcgc with and their natural re
cencc made it difficult for them TO acknowledge the
straits 10 winch they had been reduced; but by dint
Of sklful sympathetic questioning Hillary at length
succeeded in obtaining clear idea OF the condition of
their affairs
That gold-minc promised so wcll' sobbed Miss
Marilla. conclusion.
How could We possibly imagine that the bank was
going 10 fail when the cashier himself not week be-
fore he was arrested cmbezzlement, assured us
that il was as solid n rock" sighed Miss Lucinda
Sister = and Iea cannot no s we 4R RoygEt wgat
Thomas, that you could tell US what IS best 10 be
done"
keep up began Hillary. tentatively. Have never
thought of disposng OF it?'
sell the home that has been in our family Tor fou1
women cried as person "
The only plan which seemed TO him at all feasible
being thus summary rejected, Hillary sat thought
fuly frowning the apparently insoublc problem
presented him when the silence was broken by MISS
Thomas" she said, family, ct would be exceed
ngy painful to our most sacred scnsibilities-bu-but
we might consent to disposng OF some OF our-so to
spcakVLarcs and Penatcs We could spare what
would completely furnish small house without the
fact becoming apparent to IA casual observer DO
YOU think Thomas, that you could hnd US Gus
iomer who would regard such tranSaciion as-as
Hillary looked doubtfuly about the dim drawing
room, whose treasures of old mahogany rare china
aud quaint brca abrac fruits of the voyages OF ad-
vcnturous ancestors, would have caused connos-
sour to swoon with rapture But II may as wen p
at once admitted tina! the young, attorneys ideal deal
homo was that Of his sister Celia who, at sixteen had
married rich plumber and had gone TO Peoria TO
reside" according of the local papers, IN
ono OF the most elegant mansions Of which our en-
,crprising city can boast The plumber was gcner-
ous man who had been quite ready to undertake tho
maintenance of his wic's impecunious relatives but
Tom although only boy at the time, had elected 70
remain in his native town, where he had managed
10 work his way through tho law school and later
into good pratisc by dint of pure grit and deter
mination.
lie had however. made frequent visits in Peoria
where he had been nnoceDty clated to hnd his mothc
and sister living in aggrcssivcy modem mouse, o
above rcproach and which was furnished with all