Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1921-08-04
Old Holzapfel's Jar
of Peaches
90. 1874. western Newspaper UnIon-D
By HAZEL SMITH.

People said that old Rogers was q
miser. but that statement was incoF-
rect. Rogers had been a miser. He
had seraped and boarded during thirty
years OF labor. so that now. though
he was barely fifty years Of age. he
looked Older. But Rogers had retired
three months before. thanks To some
wisely made investments. aud Low,
Niin eileen thousand dollars at his
disposal, he was still living on In his
little twO-room fiat on the East side
Of New York. and trying to stretch
his cramped imagination and plan his
life anew.
Bitterly he regretted that he was
an old bachelor without q friend or
wife, sweetheart or child.
Rogers had gone to the deIIcatessen
store OF his acquaintance. Holzapfel.
to buy something for supper. He
cooked his own supper upon u tiny
stove In his apartment
Il think" he said after he had made
his purchases, that I'll take some pre-
served fruit"
"Why, Rogers. you're becoming q
spendthrift, a regular spendthrift."
said HoIzapfel jestingly.
Rogers patroDized the old German
from long habit.
well. I've got some preserved
peaches" said the old fellow. "But
they wasn't put up yesterday. Rogers.
Ill let you have them for n dime.
They're homegrown, and they're worth
twenty-five-If they was fresh"
Rogers took the peaches and walked
out Of the store.
The peaches were bad. But that
fact had nothing to do with the case.
For inside the jar was little folded
square of oiled paper. And In this
was q folded piece of paper on which
was written:
Lucy MOrreil, Egan, n. T."
That compensated old Rogers for
the loss of the peaches. II was ose
of those little harmless pranks played
by country girls who put their names
into bottles of fruit preserved by them
and destined to go long distances and
fall into strangers hands. Often they
had led to correspondence and some
times to romance.
Old Rogers racked his brain. He
could not remember anyone in Egan
named MorreIl.
But that evening the loneliness OF
his fiat oppressed his spirit; and the
very word Egan, written out on the
| Napcr, made him hcCaesick for the lit.
lie town. In the end he sat down and
wrote:
Lucy MorrelI: l found your note
In the peaches"
Days passed; old Rogers resumed
the tenor of his life. He had not
/ found the courage to break loose
from his surroundings. But about
a week later the postman left letter
| In his box. II was the first he had
ScceIved for months, except bank no
| tees and bills. 1t was addressed to
him in u delicate. feminine writing.
and inside he read:
Dear Friend: II got your letter,
but you didn't say how you liked the
peaches"
That was the beginning of q cor
respOndence. and 1t brought a new
happiness into old Rogers heart.
lie had asked for her photograph.
hut she had not sent 1t, nor alluded
TO the matter again.
| She wrote less often. But one day
-eIIlaa.-Errfi--sUuhG,nm perilousIy like
love. And then old Rogers knew
that he had no alternative So he
wrote back. wild letter such as he
would not have been capable OF a
year before, In which he told her.
Then n week passed. and then her
answer came, and IL said simply:
Come up to Egan. The third house
from the depot. LUCY"
On that same afternoon old Rogers
drew his money from the bank. Then
he turned his back upon Thirteenth
street forever and set forth for Egan.
lie reached the little place at five
| on an autumn afternoon. 1t had not
changed as he had expected.
lie descended at the depot and
walked slowly toward the cottage. So
he passed through the Iatched gate
and knocked at the door. A pleasant,
gentle-lOoking lady OF about forty
years opened to him.
Il am James Rogers" said the Wis
itor simply. Il have come TO see your
daughter" He said the last word with
Il tone of interruption. Yet he felt
sure that this was Lucy's mother.
This was just such a mother as he
would have expected Lucy TO have.
And yet 1t was strange that she had
never mentioned her in her letters.
Il am Lucy Morsell," she said, trem-
bling.
Old Rogers looked ut her incredu-
| lousy, and then took her In his arms
and kissed her.
He knew then that he loved her the
more truly because she brought to
him n mind ripened by experience
and n love whose strength was only
the deeper for the passing of the
years. And she had feared as he had
feared. when the correspondence, be-
gun in jest. had ended in earnest.
And then his letter had comet
But there's one thing l can't uu-
derstand. dearest" he said that eve
ming. as shey sat before the fire.
'Why did you write your name on the
paper and put In the bottle Of
peaches? I could imagine that of you
as young girl. but not now"
"My dear" she answered, smiling,
Il bottled those peaches 20 years ago"
Heaven bless old HolzapfelI" was
Dnuars,s hal "A.