Evening star., 1926-05-09

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NH the Winter morning dark
U ness and reflected upon the
horrible injustice of destiny.
Nj. Cuftcnty was a most
respectable gentleman--ind q con
1Iection OF the celebrated Joseph Cur
ienty OF LongShaW, ana. be IL admit
ted, a great deal more dignifed than
Joseph ever was. He had never done
anything wrong: his conscience was
slnleSs. Fly nature and long practice
he was intensely proud and independ-
@nt. All the world addressed him as
Nh" Once he had lost It situation
through his employer emitting the
Nh OF course, he had not openly
resented the omission. for he was not
a fool, but the omission had put him
ia frame OF mind favorable to quar-
reling, and 4 quarrel about some trifie
had ensued. Nevertheless. he had
soon obtained a new situation, which
unhappily he had lost through the
death Of the new employer
Since that disaster-noW rather
more than n year aso--he had been
workless and. therefore. wageless
Society seemed to blame him for being
80 years old. The fact that he had no
particular trade also counted against
him. lie had always had posts such
IS Watchnan, doorkeeper, timekeeper,
inSpect0r-postS which meant doing
nothing with dignity. Hence. no
doubt his feeling of superiority to
people who actually did things.
Somehow he could scarce hide this
feeling-even from his daughters nus
hand, who secretly resented it, Jim
Cn-owther was q Young miner living
At Iongshaw. and. in the opinion OF
~ NYf,-1 1eatNfF
married beneath her. Mr.. Curtenty
was mistaken in supposing that he
had concealed this opinion from jim
and Harriet. Every week he disliked
Jim and Harriet more and more be-
cause they were contributing to his
subsistence. They were not SD crude
IN their methods Of charity as TO give
him money direct. Such clumsiness
would have made an everlasting
breach between the two generations.
Mr. Currently knew naught. officially,
of any help. Only it inva riably hap
pened that when Mr.. Curtenty had
not shilling Mrs. Curtenty had 10
shillings or so, which she produced
as 1t were, apologetically. Mr. Cur
tenty was diplomatic enough never TO
inquire whence she had obtained the
money. Thus the - lean months had
run preCariously and unsatisfactory
on
But a crisis was now upon Mn Cur
tenty. For his wife had told him that
Harriet had told her that Jim had told
Harriet that Mrs. Curtenty could so
and live with the Crowthers at Long
shaw If she liked. and Mr.. Curtenty.
too. And little by little Mr.. Curtenty
was given to understand that either
he must submit to this humiliation
or starve. Wel, Mr.. Curtenty had
his pride. and he swore to himself
that he would not submit to it. He
simply could not Imagine himself as
a helpless pauper, dependent in the
home of his son-in-law. lie conveyed
his decision to Mrs. Curtenty and
the next thing he heard was that
If he wouldn't go she would! All, He
saw well enough that the notion was
to force him into submission!
Two days previously, it being then
a. Wednesday, Mr.. Curtenty had been
informed that Mrs. CurStenty would mi
CRATE to- LOngshaw at the end of the
week--Saturday. 1t was now Friday.
The supreme catastrophe was indeed
shaping. All his life Mr.. Curtenty
had worried about the future, and
his relatives and acquaintances had
laughed at him for worrying. But
was he not justified by the event?
Had he ever been wrong? They
twitted him about being miserly. He
was not miserly. He had always
been careful, and was he not now
justified Of his carefulness also?
Financially, there was the matter of
the Post Office Savings Bank account.
They did not positively accuse him of
keeping a private hoard in the Post
Office Savings Bank; but they limited
at il, and no amount of denialS would
stop their hints.
r = = ::
MR.. CTRTENTY slid our or bed and
A'A began with deliberation to dress.
The first part of his dressing he did
in the dark. Then he lit n candle
behind the beds head. and with o
morsel of backing and an old stumpy
brush he softly cleaned his boots-or
such poor fragments of them as were
left to clean.
A miserable small room, but the to.
tality of Mr.. Curtentys home, Once
he rented a whole house, and could
walk from one room to another and
go upstairs and downstairs ard still
lie at home. A few pitiable bits of
furniture, including the little oil stove
on which his wife. cooked their So
called meals. Once she had held
sway over whole kitchen range.
In a dignified way he was sorry for
his young and ingenious, quietly
grumbling wife. Not really young,
for she was the mother OF a. mother.
But he at 80 had married her at 10.
and to him she had always remained
curiously young. There she lay, on
the verge of so, and looking to the
impartial observer more than her age
she had had a. wearing life-but to
him she seemed rather like girl
foolish, reckless. helpless. Yes, he
was sorry for her. SO she intended
on the morrow to migrate to her
daughters at Longshaw, whether he
went or not. Unless he yielded. she
meant to leave him-leave him to his
own devices. 1t had come to that
On the old tin tray was just enough
bread and dripping and bits of cured
fish to last them till the next morn
ing. Thenceforward-the fiat had
been issued from Longshaw-there
we're to be no more supplies. And
then what? He knew that his wife
was wondering and Harriet was
wondering. and Jim was wondering,
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