Year: 1873

- - - W. S


have awakened any wild and foolisl
hopes in our well.balanced minds
whatever it might have done in hers
but truth compels me to say thai
when the two sat costly down t,
their rather late dinner, there was
feeling of proud satisfaction in tha
woman's heart, that would foreve
set apart this as one of the red lette
It days of her quiet, uneventful lite.


The dinner was excellent-whole
some, well.cooked country fare, anG
plenty of it, nor was the complacen
guest at all sparing in his praise
of it.


sWhat superb corn! and thos,
beans (thank you! l will take few
more, if you please), are perfectly
splendid-such rich flavor! A new
variety, l should judge?'


Mrs. Mason smiled, we'll pleased
with the compliment to a favorite
vegetable, while she told with pleas
ant volubility, its history-how the
seed had been sent to them by mail
. from a cousin in Indiana, and how
she had planted in her own flower
garden, saving every ripened bean
for the next years seed, and that
this, the third years crop, was large
enough for their summers supply,
with plenty for next years plant.
ing.


! Would she be 80 kind as to spare
him just few for his vegetable gar.
den at home? To be sure nothing
cou d give her greater pleasure, and
the hands that fumbled with the
faded strings of little Molly's dinner
bag trembled quite as much with
pleased excitement as with tender
memories.


There is nothing else handy to
put them into,' she whispered in
excuse to her own heart, "a box or
basket would be so inconvenient for
him to carry


And so the little calico bag,
freighted with it's sad and tender
memories no less than with its visible
and unromantic load, found the way
into the pocket of the colonel's trav-
cling coat, while its owner, as he
rode briskly away from the hospita-
BILE farmhouse smiled confidentially
with unuttered comment:


'This young Masol is a man of
note among his country neighbors,
and his good will is worth winning,
if one does have to fatter his pretty
wife little to win it,


And he laughed-a low self:satis-
fed laugh, as. glancing fursively
over his shoulder, he caught
glimpse of the trim little figure that
fingered upon the portico, where he
had SO lately bidden her so very inn
pressive an adieu.


It's saying that all aspirants for
political honors would do well to
remember, 'fatter the calicoes if you
want to make friends of the tustian.'
A sage conclusion, the wisdom of
which seemed to stand fair chance
of being proved that evening at John
Mason's tea table.


'He's perfect gentleman was
Mrs. Mason's comment. so free
from anything like affectation or
pomposity. Why, l don't believe
he noticed that the forks were steel
and the coffee-pot tin; and he ate as
if he really relished his food-didn't
make me feel all the while as if he
wasn't used to such homely fare, as
some people in his place would
have DONE


sHer husband smiled good humor-
edly. 'Oh, the colonel is too we'll
bred to put on any silly airs of super
iority in the house where he is a
guest, but with slight compress.
sion of his bearded lips, I'VE need
something more than that in our
governor. The man who fills that
position must be something more
than a we'll bred man. To be sure,
he added thoughtfully, 'the colonel
promises well and his friends boast
that he is thoroughly honest, a man
who means and will do exactly what
he says. | wish l could have seen
him and sounded him on some points,
the liquor law for one thing


'Oh, he's all right on that inter
rupted Mrs. Mason, briskly. Il
thought of that with a little com.
placent prinking of her pretty mouth,
'and so | just mentioned it in a
careless way, you know, that intem-
perance was sadly on the increase
even in our quiet town, and that
something ought to be done to check
it, and, oh, John,' her eyes sparkling
enthusiastically at the remembrance,
'how do wish you could have heard
him talk, and he was SO sensible
about it, too. He said that moderate
drinking was the curse of the day,
and that, if he had his way, laws
should be made that would Danish
the rich mans wine aud brandy from
his sideboard as effectually as they
would keep the glass of whisky
from the poor toper's lips. He
looked so determined when he said
it that it came across me all at once,
what would sister Miranda say if she
could hear him now? You know he
has put up at their house several
times, and Mira is as proud as O
peacock OF it. But / guess if he
should uphold a law that would
empty their bar she'd sing another
song


81 think in that case.' laughed
Mason, evidently pleased with his
wife's shrewdness, i should be like
Artemus Ward, willing to sacrifice
all my wife's relations for the good
of my country although l honestly
believe that Watson would make al
much in the long run if he kept a
temperance house as he does now
4 $50 I've told Mira hundred time
rejoined his wife, sand | do think
that since poor Briggs was frozen to
death with the empty jug that he'd
filled that evening at their bar by
his side, that they've been more
careful who they sold to, at any
rate
A mocking laugh fitted for mo
ment across the young mans face
but he could not grieve his wife by
uttering the harsh comments that re
marked in his usual kind, CHEEKY
tones


"I'll help Able about the milking