Manchester Democrat., 1919-01-22
T1[ L|6HT
IN TIE PLEARlN[1
ii A TALE OF THE NORTH COUNTRY
III IN THE TIME OF SILAS WRIGHT
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kl'rn W Win LIZZIE He, Ec
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lssN HOLDEN prM AND / DARREL o. 1f1 BLESSED Ell4
kHpNo Up Win uzzR, &c, &c

Avn
sssN HOLDEN, pai AND /
klEpikD Up Wn
Nov, God bless your soul, boyl" he
exclaimed. by and by, as he put down
his instrument. eve shall have a good
time together-that we win. Not q
stroke o. work this dayl Come, I have
Z guide here that will take us down
10 the land O. the fairies"
Then with his microscope he showed
me into the wonder world Of littleness
Of which had no knowledge.
'.The microscope Is like the art O. the
teacher" he said. 'sIve known a good
teacher to take brain no bigger than
. hy's foot an make It visible TO the
naked eye"
One Of the children, Of which there
were four In the Hacket home, called
% TO supper. Mrs. Hacket, stout
woman with q red and kindly face, sat
at one end Of the table, and between
them were the children Mary, pret.
Y daughter Of seventeen years; Mag.
gis, . six-year-old; Ruth. Z delicate
Siri Of seven, and John, q noisy, red.
faced boy Of five. The chairs were q
plain wood like the kitchen chairs Of
today. In the middle Of the table was
On empty one-painted green. Before
~ sat down Mr.. Hacket put his hand
a the back Of this chair and said:
"A merry heart to you, Michael
Henry"
wondered at the meaning Of this.
but dared not to ask. The oldest
daughter acted - . kind Of moderator
with the others
! 'Nary u the constable Of this hous4
with power to arrest and hale into
court for undue haste or rebellion o.
lmpoliteneaa" 1r. Hacket explained.
Il believe that Sally Dunkelbers IL
your friend" he said to me presently.
sYes, sir" l answered.
"A fiae slip OF girl that and born
scholar. saw you look at her ~
the Persian looks at the rising sum-"
blushed and Mary and her mother
and the boy John looked ut me and
laughed.
"Puer pulcherrime! Mr.. Hacket
exclaimed with kindly smile.
Uncle Peabody would have called It
. "stout snag." The schoolmaster had
hauled It out Of his brain very deftly
and chucked It down before mo In .
kind Of challenge.
''What does that meanf' I asked.
"You shall know In q week, my s0n." ."
be answered. II shall put you into
the Latin class Wednesday morning,
and God help you to like it as well a.
you like Sally"
Again they laughed and again I
blushed.
"Hold up yer head. my brave lad"
he went on. "Ye've perfect right to
like Sally If ye've heart to.
"A lad in his teens
Will never know beans
II he hasn't an eye for the girls"
, It was q merry supper, and when It
ended Mr.. Hacket rose and took the
green chair from the table, exclaim-
ing:
michael Henry, God bless you'll"
Then he kissed his wife and said:
"Maggie, you wild rose Of Erin! I've
been all day in the study. must take
q walk or shall get an exalted abdo-
men. One is badly beaten in the race
o. life when his abdomen gets ahead
Of his toes. Children, keep our young
friend happy here until I come back,
and mind you, don't forget the good
fellow in the green chair"
Mary helped her mother with the
dishes, while / sat with q book by the
fireside. Soon Mrs. Hacket and the
children came and sat down with me.
Lets play backgammon" Mary pro-
posed.
II don't want to-" said John.
"Don't forget Michael Henry" she
reminded.
"Who is Michael Henry?" I asked.
"Sure, he's the boy that has never
been born," said Mrs. Hacket. "He
was to be the biggest and noblest Of
them-kind an helpful an CHEEKY
hearted an beloved o. God above all
the others. We try to live up to him."
He seemed to me very strange and
wonderful creature-this invisible oc-
cupant of the green chair.
know now what knew not then
that Michael Henry was the spirit Of
their home-an ideal Of which the
empty green chair was constant re-
minder.
We played Backgammon and "c1d
maid" and Everlasting" until Mr..
Hacket returned.
The sealed envelope which Mr..
Wright had left at our home. long
time before that day, was in my pocket.
AT last the hour had come when
could open it and read the message
of which I had thought much and
with growing interest.
/ rose and said that I should like to
60 to my room. Mr.. Hacket lighted
candle and took me upstairs to
little room where my chest had been
deposited. There were in the room a
bed, chair, portrait Of Napoleon
Bonaparte and small table on which
were dictionary, Bible and q num-
ber of schoolboOks.
These were Mary's books" said Mr..
Hacket. II told your uncle that ye
could use them an welcome"
/ sat down and opened the sealed
envelope with trembling hands and