The Forrest City times., 1914-07-24
CHAPTER 1.
The Tea Table.

squat brown teapot as she SHOOK out the last bit of leaf from the canister. The canister was no longer hers, nei- ther the teapot, nor even the battered old pewter spoon with which she tapped the bottom of the tin to dis lodge the last flicker of tea-leaf dust. The three had been sold at auction that day in response 10 the auction eers inquiry, What am l bid for the lot?"
 Nothing in the familiar old kitchen was hers, Angeline reflected except Abraham, her aged husband, who was taking his last gentle ride in the old rocking chair-the old armchair with painted roses blooming as brilliantly across it's back as they had bloomed when the chair was first purchased forty years ago. Those roses had come to be a source of perpetual won. der to the old wife, an ever-present ex- ample.
 Neither time nor stress could wilt them a single leaf When Abe took the first mortgage on the house in order to invest in an indefinitely locat- ed Mexican gold mine, the melodeon dropped one of it's keys, but the roses nodded on with the same old sunny hope; when Abe had to take the sec ond mortgage and Tenafly Gold be- came forbidden topic of conversa- uon, the minute hand fell of the par Tor clock, but the flowers on the back of the old chair blossoined on none the less serenely.
 The soil grew more and more bar ren as the years went by; but still the roses had kept fresh and young, so why. argued Angy, should not she? If old age and the pinch Of poverty had failed to conquer their valiant spirit. why should she listen to the croak- ing tale? If they bloomed on with the same crimson Haunt of color, though the rockers beneath them had grown warped and the body of the chair creaked and groaned every time one ventured to sit in it. why should she not ignore the stiffness which the years seemed to bring to her joints, the complaints which her body threat. ened every now and again to utter, and fare on herself. hardy perennial bravely facing life's winter-time?
 Even this dreaded day had not talk en one fraction of shade from the glory of the roses, as Angeline could see in the bud at one side of Abra- hams head and the full blown flower below his right ear so why should she droop because the sale of her household goods had been somewhat disappointing? Somewhat? When the childless old couple, still sailing under the banner of a charty-forhid- ding pride, became practically reduced to their last copper, just as Abes joints were loosenin up" after a five years siege of rheumatism. and de- cided to sell all their worldly posses sions, apart from their patched and threadbare wardrobes and a few mea- ger keepsakes, they had depended upon raising al least two hundred dol lars, one-half of which vas to secure Abe a berth in the Old Mems home al Indian Village. and the other half to make Angelne comfortable for life. if little lonely, iii the Old Ladies' home in their own native hamlet of Shore vile. Both institutions had been gen. erously endowed by the same estate. and were separated by distance of but five miles
 Might as waal be five hunderd. with my rheumatiz an yer weak heart. " Abraham had growled when Angy first proposed the plan as the only digni- fled solution to their problem of living
 But" the little wife had reioined, "it'll be a mite O comfort a.knowin' a body's so near, even ef yer cant git tew 'em'
 Now, another solution must be found to the problem; for the auction was over, and instead of two hundred dol lars they had succeeded in raising but one hundred dollars and two cents.
 That air tew cents was fer the fiour-sifter," inwardly mourned Angy. an it's wuth double an tribble, fer it's been good friend ter me fer nigh on ter eight year"
 ''Tew cents on the second hunderd, 9 said Abe for the tenth time. Eve counted it over an over. One hun. derd dollars an tew pesky pennies. An l never hear a man tell so many lies in my life as that air auctioneer. Yew'd a thought he was sellin' out the empery O Rooshy. Hy-guy, it sounded splendid. Fust off l thought he'd raise us more n we expected. An mebbe he would have tew, Angy." bit ruefully. "ef yew d a let me advertise a little sooner. l don't s'pose half Shoreville knows yit that we was gwine ter have auction sale. " He watched the color rising in her cheeks with a curious mixture of pride in her pride and regret at it's conse- ruences. Its no use a-talkin'. moth