The Monmouth inquirer., 1926-10-28

proved a poor tonic for coneumptives
and tho doctor lad Ageely, Gguratively
spealin lid jso 5asc os ihst l:ssl U
ment 10 attendance on tie Turner's.
Now, L reasoned. Why not cnploy
Mr. Turner and deduct their unpaid
bill The FIRST part OF my reasoning
worked Hike charm-but not the last
part.
He called the day after the monE.
menl was in place. sat uesiSv eae
south window, pretending to sew, but
in reality, gazing at the sieadef SAT-
which crowned the ridge CT the celae-
terry and ornRmented our htslc lot
l knew what he had come for ehe
instant he opened the Office door and
vailed into ny sitting room. ! hard
ened my heart.
I thought Of the elegant black silk
gown his wife had appeared IL the
previous Sunday. and OF the new
hroadcloth suit which had adorned his
comedy proportions determined he
should pay his bin. But be did not.
When he left he carried with him
not only all my money. but two glasses
Of my best ounce Jelly and two bot
Ties of cod liver oil from the ONCE
the latter was better. he explained
than he could get at the drug store.
/ can't tell just how it happened.
There was a tale of woe and want
which caused me to weep into the gar
ment / was mending. I felt heartless
when he explained that Mrs. Turner
had purchased the elegant black silk
to be laid out in. and, pending the time
of laying out. was getting bit OF ao-
tual wear out Of 1t. while the black
hroadcloth he had bought especially
to mourn in.
could see for myself, he said, that
the time appointed for his mourning
was not far away, and it beloved
him to be prepared!
It CHANGED that Mrs. Turner got al
most all the wear out of that dress be-
fore it was put to its original purpose
she also. incidentally, wore out the
doctor and me.
Being Of the same name and sitting
so near them in church, and being
such congenial spirits, SO said the Tur-
ners, we seemed like members of their
own family. This was an unfortunate
circumstance for US, because it led
the Turner'S to borrow nearly all our
transportable possessions nd-climax
of Borrowing one which was not
transportable,
This IS the way the dreadf.l eli
max was reached. The day after Mrs
Turner died her husband appeared to
me as sat in the south window His
time of mourning" had come, "a he
was simply dissolved in grief.
He had come to beg a great favor
a favor not for himself, but fer bis
dear departed the loan of cur cel }e
terry lott Might he not lay bis angel
wife under the shadow of our moIu-
ment until such time as he could raise
money enough to take her back to her
old Iowa home?
He had noticed, such were the in
scrutable dealings of Providence, that
there was every likelihood of the lots
being unoccupied by its owners for
years. For this dispensation we ought
to be thankful and loan bit of the
ground to such as had not been kindly
dealt with.
loaned it.
When the doctor heard my story he
whistled hard, and went to the barn.
He has done that for twenty years
when he has wanted to say unbecom
ing words to me, AS thought it were
not painful to me TO have my dear
lot desecrated by strangersI
/ felt so badly that / could not go
to the funeral and in the south win
dow turned my chair that might not
see the granite shaft
Still, even the doctor softened a lit
tie in the matter when the youngest
Turner followed her mother in less
than month and followed her to our
lot, too, pending the time they both
should be taken west.
l became positively mellow in the
matter when a cold snap carried the
second daughter to our lot in four
months And when the third and last
child died and rested beside the others
the doctor himself headed a subscrip-
ton paper with which burdened my
self.
I remember the snow was deep that
week, and l had cold, but l tray-
eled miles with the paper.
People gave literally, because they
all knew Of ours unfortunate connec-
ton with the Turner's. Many gave with
the express understanding that Mr..
Turner would use the money to send
the present inhabitants Of our lot to
Iowa.
He received the money with thanks
and blessings, and sent west the only
member of his family that had es-
capped our lot
The blow fell on us Unexpectedly
one morning at the breakfast table. A
neighbor flew in and exclaimed wildly
did we know what use Turner had
made Of his gift money?
arose and ran to the south win
dow, expecting to see men with spades
and pickaxes~ at work on the ridge.
-ras r<oa 11os5 NV the n al oh nn1-se veliee