Year: 1869

ears JEhae they 5cere asleep; and fyOu


ever play such another trick upon me,
you arc q dead mani"


She was in earnest, and Dick must have


thought so, for he WINGED, as he turned


upon his heel and entered the house.


When dinner was ready he made him


self 90 uncommonly agreeable, that after


he was gone Mrs. Ellis said:


f'Upon my word Maggie, was never


so agreeably mistaken in a man, as I


have been in your husband, for yester-


day he was so silent was afraid was


not a welcome visitor, but see he ia


very agreeable person"


Maggie made some common place re-


ply. Her aunt was only going to re-


main a few days, and she did not care to


mar the pleasure Of her relatives visit


by RECALLING her with an account Of Dick


Marcy's little meannesses, and her own


domestic troubles.


Eight years more sped by and it was


plain to every one that Maggie Marcy


would soon be a widow. The short,


hacking cough that is the inevitable fore
runner of consumption was Dicks con-.
slant, and disagreeble companion.


Day by day his face grew paler, and
thinner, and his cheek more sunken.


The weaker he became, the more perth
naeiously he stuck to work, and the
more avaricous he became, and if Mag
gle called upon him to purchase any
thing, no matter how indispensable, it
threw him into a passion. He acted
precisely as if he thought his wife, and
two children could live on air.


Maggie dreaded his temper to such a
degree, that rather than ask him for the
necessary clothing, and food, she had the
termerity to go to the stores, and buy on
credit, reasoning that when pay day
came, Dick would, when the bills were
presented, settle them and his anger
would be spent in one great burst Of
passion, and then it would end.


Maggie was not prepared for the vio-
Ience of the storm which was to burst
at the end of the year. There was no
bounds to his rage when he found that
his wife had dared to make a store-ac-
count. In the heat Of his passion he de-
nouneed Maggie as the cause Of all the
trouble he ever had, and swore she had
'iTuined him"


If his wife had had an able bodied
father, or big burly brother to stand up
to her, it is not likely that Dick would
have heaped the abusive epithets he
did upon her. But Maggie was alone,
and there was no redress.


She was conscious that she had not
really injured her husband, foT although
he took pains never to let his wife know
where he kept his money, she knew
he must have enough, and more than
enough, to pay for all she purchased. |
She only said:


~ have bought nothing but what
was absolutely necessary, and thought !
was doing right"


The only answer Dick gave to her
truthful remark was a dark scoWl.


constant dripping will wear away |
stone" If Maggie had loved her hus- |
band with all the warmth of her gener-
Gus soul, his ilI-nature, selfishness, and
crushed every feeling of Rf-
lection, for woman Of sensibility can
not continue to love man who never
gives her a kind, CHEEKY word or does
not show by some act that he properly
her. Indifference, and |
harshness, will destroy the love Of any
true woman.


Little did Dick Marcy care for the al.
teration in his once merry, laughing I
wife. He never observed that she rare
ly spoke in his presence. he did not
notice that she had given up all social
and that her life had become
a barren heath.


All he thought of was the almighty
dollar" The human heart must either
go forward or backward, there is no
''stand still, ;" and so Dick Marcy grew
older and more grasping. So contract
Cu 44du 4AA6 pOO4g 5OAN4u SOuA bCEOl4D
that there was not room upon its mar
row limits for a generous sentiment or
feeling to find resting place.
Every day widened the distance be- ,
tween him and the woman, who but 1
for his narrow minded, calculating dis I
position, might have been an angel Of {
brightness in his path, spreading sweet.
ness, along the highway Of earthly life, Z
md shedding lustre upon the dark :
'oad Of death lighting his soul even to
he brink Of another, and better world. I
Like the cock upon the dung hill, Dick I
Marcy tossed the priceless jewel aside, {
needless ofits value, to grasp that (which I
moth and rust doth corrupt" Ii


He did not know the danger he was
n, for while consumption is the most I
it is also the most fiattering =
md deceitful. With Dick Marcy it at
asst performed its errand, and it was Z
lot until the world was receding from s
he gaze Of his mortal eyes and the por- q
ais of eternity were opening to his spirit q
hat he saw the utter worthIessness Of =
filthy lucre;" but it was too late! {


Maggie watched, and nursed her I
husband faithfully through his last ill
less. There was no acute grief cutting t
It her heart, none Of the hopeless &
which overpowers awo- Z
nan when the man she has "wildly wor. d
hiped' is about TO be forever seperat- a
d from her. r


When the grave closed over the atten- I
ated form she wept, but It was more d
rom sympathy than from inconsolabIo y
orrow. =
For some days after the funeral the n
widow was unspeakably sad, and she a
onned the sable weeds without reluct- a
nee as she felt this mark of respect I,
yas due the father Ofh two children. n
It became necessary for the admins a,
rator of Dick Marcy's effects to investi- I,
ate the state of his affairs. An inven- ,,
Dry of household furniture, etc, was Al
aken and the officers Of law proceeded n,
, the little shop Of the deceased, accom- is
anied by Maggie to take a list of the Ia
rticles therein contained. o,
While the men were busted in over Is
fl,., ubog, nd ffg .