Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1922-07-26


TO the, other houses of the New Eng
land village. At the foot of the hill
nestled the tiny brown farmhouse, half
buried in lilacs, climbing roses, and
hollyhocks.
Years ago when Reuben had first
brought Emily to that little brown cot
tage, he had said to her wistfully ::
sWeetheart, faint much of a place,
know, but Wen save and save, every
cent we can get, an by an by We'll go
up to live In the big house on the
nil = And he kissed so tenderly the
pretty little woman he had married
only that morning that she smiled
brightly and declared that the small
Drown house was the very incest place
In the world.
But as time passed, the "big house,
came to be the Mecca Of all their
hopes, and penny by penny the say
1ngs grew. 1t was slow work, though,
and to hearts less courageous the
thing would have seemed an impossi-
D1i1ty. No luxur1es-and scarcely the
pare necessities of life-came to the
little house under, the hill, but every
month tiny sum found it's way into
the savings bank.
Reuben never smoked. While other
men used the fragrant weed to calm
their weary brains and bodies, Reuben
ate peanuts. It had been q curious
passion of his, from the time when as
boy he was first presented with q
penny Of his very own, to spend all
his spare cash On this peculiar luxury
and the slow munching of this pie
befan delicacy had the same soothing
effect on him that a good cigar or an
old clay pipe had upon his brother
man. But from the day Of his mar
rage all this was changed; the dimes
and the nickels bought no more pea
nuts, but went to swell the common
fund.
1t is doubtful If even this heroic
economy would have accomplished the
desired end had not a certain railroad
company cast envious eyes upon the
level valley and forthwith sent long
arms of steel bearing putting engine
up through the quiet village A large
tract OF waste land belonging to Reu-
ben Gray suddenly became surpris-
1ngly valuable, and sum that trebled
twice over the scanty savings Of years
grew MI IN a night.
one crisp October day, Mr. and Mrs
Reuben Gray awoke to the fact that
they were little under sixty years of
age, and in possession Of more than
the big sum Of money necessary to
enable them to carry out the dreams
OF their youth. They began joyous
preparations at once.
The big brick house at the ton of
the hill had changed hands twice dur
Ing the last forty years, and the pres
ent owner expressed himself as moth
ing loath to part, not only with the
mousse itself, but with many of its
furnishings; and before the winter
snow fell the little brown cottage was
sold to a thrifty young couple from
the ne1ghborihg Village, and the Gravs
took up their abode in their new home.
"Well. Emily, this is livin', now,
amt it?' said Reuben, as he carefully
let himself down into the depths of a
velvet covered chair In the great par
lor. "A1y! amt this nice"
Just perfectly lovely" quavered
the thin voice of his wife. as she
threw surreptitious glance at Reu-
ben's shoes to see if they were quite
clean enough for such sacred pre-
cincts.
1t was their first evening in their
new abode, and they were a little
weary, for they had spent the entire
day in exploring every room, peering
into every closet and trying every
chair that the establishment con-
talned. 1t was still quite early when
they trudged anxiously about the
mousse, intent Oh fastening the numer-
GUS deors and windows.
Dear mel" exclaimed the ,it+1a
woman nervously, I'm most afraid to
go to bed, Reuben, for fear some one
will break In an steal all these nice
things"
swell, you can sit up if you want
to-" replied her husband dryly, 'but
q o-NA o. ~ DSu. AhAOSt VI lQoSe lll0gS
have been here nigh on to twenty
years, an guess they'll last the night
through And he marched solemnly
upstairs to the big east chamber
meekly followed by his wife.
1t was the next morning when Mrs.
Gray was washing the breakfast
dishes that her husband came in at
the kitchen door and stood looking at
her thoughtfully.
"say, Emily said he, you'd ought
er have a hired girl. faint your
place to be dom work like this now )"
Mrs. Gray gasped-half terrified.
half pleased and shook her head.
but her husband was not TO he
silenced.
"Well, you had-an' you've cot To-
too. An you must buy some new
clothes-lots Of 'em! Why. Emily
we've got heaps Of money now, an we
hadn't oughter wear such lookin'
things" @
Emily nodded; she had thought Of
this before. And the hired-girl hint
must have found a warm spot in her
heart in which to grow, for that yery