THE MORTGAG KE,
We worked through spring and winter,
through summer and through fall.
But the mortgage worked the hardest and
the steadiest of all;
It worked on nights and Sundays; it
worked each holiday ;
It settled down among us, and it never
went away,
Whatever we kept from it seemed almost
as bad as theft;
It watched us every minute, and it ruled
us right and left.
The rust pnd blight weirs with us sometimes,
and sometimes not;
The dark browed scowliby mortgage was
- fotever on the spot.
The weevil and the ent-worm, they went
as well as came ;
The mortgage stayed forever, eating hearty
all the same,
1t nailed up every window, stood guard at
every door, .
And happiness and sunshine made their
home with us no more,
Till with failing crops and sickness we got
stalled upon the grade,
And there came a dark day on us when the
interest wasn't paid ;
And there came a sharp foreclosure and I
kind o’ lost my hold,
And grew weary and discouraged, and the
farm was cheaply sold.
The children left and scattered, when they
hardly yet were grown ;
My wife she pined an’ perished, and I found
myself alone,
What she died of was a “mystery,” an’ the
doctors never knew ;
But I knew she died of mortgage—just as
well as 1 wanted to,
If to trace a hidden sorrow were within the
z doctor's art,
They da ha’ found a mortgage lying on that
woman's broken heart,
Worm or beetle, drought or tempest, ou a
farmer's land may fall,
But for first class ruination, trust a mort.
gage "gainst them all.
ROSE DURM ER.
Mr. Erasweus Scott was a little man
with thin gray hair, and pink-and-white
complexion and a meek and kindly
fuce. He was about forty-seven, but
seemed older. He had written a |
learned book and no one had read it. |
His mature was too gentle to be
sourad, but he had said sadly, “I shail
never do unuything well,” and had loft
the world and gone back to his quaint
ol waneor-house and to his dull, solitary
life.
He'was humbly content with every-
thing, and admired with all his heart
his nephew, Dick Scott, a fine broad-
shouldered fellow of twenty-two, who
Was now away shooting im Seotland,
He had hitherto been the one and only
‘suman interest in Mr. Scott's Ife, but
ately there came a4 new element into
the narrow world of the manordiouse.
This was in the shape of a }istde cousin
«of Mr. Scott, Rose Dormer, wwho had
come with her widowed mether to live
in a cottage near by.
Rose was 18, and as sweetarid bright
as & pretly, wayward mizl cap be, Beau-
tiful she was not in the striet sense of
the word, but she had all the charm of
youth and health and gay spirits. She
soon became- a queen at the manor-
house, Dick and she svere always
«quarreling, but with Erasmas she was
on excellent terms,
She came to see him neafty every day
on some errand of her mother’s or on
some device of her own. he picked
his flowers, ate his fruit, and vainly
turned over his books inthe hopes of
finding pictures; for she was very much
of the same opinion as “Alico in Won-
derland,’ that a book withert conver.
sations and illustrations ise very poor
invention. And so the sssamer and
early autumn had slipped away, and
one day Mr. Scott had wsealized to him.
self with a start what « change Rose's
coming had made in his life. Then he
tried to shake off the idea, asi he open
ed his books and begas £0 read; but in
betweed the lines, over and eser again
he read nothing but Rose's .naxse, until
he closed the books i= despeir, and
stood with his eyes vaguely looking
.across the quiet fielde int space,
« dreaming of a sweet, foedh face with
innocent childish eyes; of a swillowy
sigure and dancing feet; of g vaise that
Was as gay and careless ss the’ of a
siimple, affeetionate nature am! win-
wing ways; of Rose Dormer, in.ghort.
ie pictured ke: standing i: the oriel
window, framed by the gray atone and
ihgart-shaped ivpleaves, dresssd in gome
defi brown staff with a kat of pale
gnc ribbons op her dress and her
hauds full of eamations and nigeon-
eta; or sitting at he head of the .gkl-
fashioned oak tale pouring emt tee,
with:ihe gravity and dignity of an ac-
comp shed housekeeper,
Seal: thoughts as these were @aou~
pring Erasmus Seolt as he paced up,
and down the terrace. And as so often
haspens, the very persaa he was think.
ing of espe tripping by herself to wa
terrupt is meditations, A large green
cooking-agple was thewst uuder his
eyes
i
1
“It is really too unwholesame,’”’ be-
gan Mr. Scott, timidly, and a little
sadly —he could pot bear to refuse her
#uything.
“Nothing ever makes me
the reassuring reply.
“Must you eat i" asked the peor
man, hesitatingly. “Won't anything
riper do as well?” bpd re
y I dave this to est—ol, may
ill,” was
that the spoilt child burst sut lsaghing. |
Then with a pretty smile, :
“If you don't want me to do it I
wollh” hv - ois
He stood looking at her with bis |
So they went foto the sunny
and sat with a big book on her knees
listening to his explanations of it. She
had grown suddenly quiet and absent,
He was afraid he had wearied her,
“I tire you, perhaps?’ he said: ‘‘you
cannot understand how I care to live
in this library with all these dusty
books—such a life wouldn’t suit your
tastes,”
“I think one could be very happy
here,” she answered, softly.
He dared not look at her, the room
seemed to swim before his eyes. Was
it possible this sumbeam ever could be
content to brighten up so dull and
drab-colored a life as his? Presently
she stipped off her perch.
“I mustn’t stay longer now. Please
give me tha news paper for mamma. And
way I come on Saturday to tea? You
must have a cake made expressly for
me!” .
**You shall have anything you like,”
he said, with a little husky cough that
was habitual to him. Then he opened
his mouth to speak—and shut it again,
By this time she was gone,
Ah! well, On Saturday he would
say something. What? And then he
fell to composing his own speech, and
her answers—but he scarcely ventured
to think what those might be.
So the day slipped quietly away, amd
he was sitting idly by the hissing
wood-fire, when the door was flung
open, amd, to his sarprise, Dick walked
in.
“Why. my desir boy, where did you
come from? 1theught vou were shoot-
ing in the Notth for the mext three
weeksto come.”
“I changed my mind, uncle,
stay here, mayn't 1?"
The
I
may
permission wus readily given,
far from clear sighted, that something
was amiss. And when
Dick came to the study, drew his chal
into the flames, his uncle at
tured on a remark.
**Nothing wrong my dear boy?”
“Nothing except that I've
reply.
Then there followed a long
timid voice, *You were eaying, Dick
that you had been —eh?"
**Well, it comes to this—I'm in love
worth for
Put it only
cared
all
without
t
iv
I thought I'd ses if going
change wowld set me up
made worse, 1 never
girl before, thought
rot; but mew I can’t live
Oh! vou can’t think what
it
for
and sued
was,
uj
greal meors alone, with: nothing but
the dogs'to talk fo
her fae her
me!l’’
“She?” begun
quiringly. “She is
is the mame of the
and WAYS
Erasomw
what
again,
did You
voung lady?"
1
Sa
fashion of
malady, “I think she likes me. 1
never Thought about amythiog at first
then # came over me sll
you mow. And when I said good-by
awfully down in the meth, too,
I think she likes me. She didn't say
anything-—-well, I suppose girls don't
they expect one to begin.”
Te idhis general obsesvation
Scotlantl?”’
“Ia Fcotland!
think
course?”
Why, wio do
meant—Rose Bormer,
oT
Ya
story. But, as it happened, he could
cares for yeu, my dear boy?"
“Well, Fim nearly sure of &..
were always quarreling—bu. then
proofs of his assertions,
Mr. Seoti jiistened very patiently,
fancied he suffessd more in thai wne
whole life.
wrorch and buen dis very heart.
“Then when Dick had done he sald,
kuow you will do yore best to make
ber Gappy. Ab mel two young people
together.’
“Dear old fellow” thopght Dick, ‘It
young. ™ Fi
self with eare and put u white rosebud
in his butteshole and strode off to the
the window thought how enatural
it was that shomld prefer Dick to
him, and whats foolish thing It was
and Rose elimbed up the library steps |
a good listener, and this was all Dick
wanted,
When the engagement was announced
in the neighborhood every one said
how “suitable it was, and how nite
for Mr, Scott to have a niece he was
50 fond of! Only, poor man, he seemed
to have been suffering se muck from
toothache lately. Of course he was
delighted about the marriage, but he
really lopked miserably ill. It would
be far better to have every toolh oul
than to suffer in this way!’
One cold December evening, when
Dick and Rose were sitting by the fire
in the twilight, Mr, Scott, against his
will, overheard a scrap of their conver.
sation. He was arranging his books
in a corner, and they had quite for-
gotten his presence,
*“‘How strange it is,” Dick was say-
ing, meditately, ‘that some people
seem so content to be without happi-
ness like ours, Look at my uncle, The
dear old boy never seems to want any-
thing more than his books.
“Do you know, Dick,” answered
Rose, very gently, “I think he would
have very much liked things in his life
to haye been different. Not that he
ever said anything tome. Butitis a
fancy of mine,”
Could it be that Rose had understood
dimly something of the pain he had
suffered, something of the sacrifice he
had made? He liked to think so, There
was a vague comfort in the (hought
that she knew that his own happiness
was nothing to him in comparison with
hers,
]
(
Advices to Briges,
Do pot be in a hurry to buy all the
ew fabrics you see. A richly dressed
Woman runs the risk of being mistaken
for a servant girl.
Do not threaten to go howe to your |
mother oftener than five times a week,
As you don’t go, he may eventually be- |
gin to doubt your sincerity.
Do not get angry when vour husband
first asks you to darn his stockmgs.
Smile sweetly and suggest that it would i
be cheaper to buy new ones,
Have a house with a furnace in it and
keep both it and the range going over |
night. They will improve your chasces |
for happiness G00 per cent,
Your husband’s wardrobe will fre- |
quently require repairs in the way of
button Always leave the needle, |
thread and button bag where be can get
them,
If your husband complains that you |
cannot cook as his mother does, comfort {
him with the reflection that you proba- |
bly will by the time vou are as old as |
is,
Many women make a practice of pro- i
testing against the word “obey” in the |
marriage service after the marriage has i
taken place, This isa mistake. Po pot |
protest against it. Quietly ignore jt, |
If you told him you lewe 1 the oder of
tobacco while he was oeurting you, do |
not begin to speak of smoking as a “hor- i
rid, disgusting. beastly habit? right i
{ after you are married. Walt at least a |
week.
If you ueed a pair of now shoes sav |
nothing abeul them, but get themoney |
and then while he fs |
away slip ont and select the shoes your- |
self. Even.a pair of sevens look small
i
|
§
i
' i
'
she
i
3
i
for something else,
§
to a man se dou: ax he does not know |
the number,
If you heve a pot dog always keep
him around, and then when your hus.
band relaxes his attentions By to the
dog for comYort, hugeing and Kissing
him right before your husband. if he
gets mad and kicks the dog, 1t wil be a
sure sign that be still loves you
Remember that getting married is no
reason why seu should shut yourself up
in the house. Accept all invitations
Just the same.as before, and have g good
time, When he comes home. and finds
both yeu and the fire out be will realize
how cheerlese life would be without you,
in the cowse of a anonth sour hus-
band will probably ask why you never go
near the planc.any nore. All mes do,
An effective yeply 13 to haut up an old
book of exeraises aml practise three
hours every evening fora week whilk: he
is ut howe. Me will attend to hiv ewn
affairs after that,
}
!
i
+
BEacing Through Fee.
Three persons were killed and twenty
four badly burned on the wain which
plunged inte a river.of oil, near Brad.
ford, Pa., recently. The tacrible heat
from the barning «il instantly cracked
and shattered every ssindow in the car, |
The flames leaped in through the doors,
the windows and theough the ventila-
tors,
The car wiwels splashed thesugh the
burning ofl, séattering it along the bot.
tom of the cara, 1 were seas of
flames on all sides and death seamed to
stare « very passenger in the face, Those
nearest to the ends of she cars.dashed
Jhuough ue doors to be met by hissing
mesfwhich, lapping thew heads, faces
and hands, left terrible barns belénd,
The high snow banks whieh lined ghe
road and came almost to & level with
the imprison.
Led passengers a possible means of safety,
Men, women and children jumped of
were forced through the windows, The
saajority fell into the snow aad rolled
down the steep hillside,
An eye-witness says it was the grand.
eat and yet the most awful scene that
human eyes ever witnessed. For a dis.
1 of nearly half a mile the road-bed
was covered with oil. At points it was
over the rails, The moment the gas
came in eontact with the fire-box it ex-
igniting the oil, In
one minute the engine and cars were
enveloped in flames, Great black pillars
of ascended heavenward and the
driving-wheels of the
the blazing oil in d
might
& rush and roar, , have been
heard ¢ flames leaped
fora lle, the : ful
P50 ahead of the locomotive, whi
fire,
The Hammook in Care,
An advertisement before us in an ex-
ptical. The ar-
Is a “car-seat hammock,” and
# picture of the hammock
ing, sleep.” The girl seems to be
The hay in which the man had been
was reduced to a compost by the heat
of his body and moisture from repeated
rains, On his person were found a
receipted bill paid in Bt, Paul, a rusty
old brass watch and a watch key of the
kind supposed to wind any watch. Ie
had been imprisoned in the place where
he was so providentially discovered
since Saturday night, November 17, so
that he had been in the stack twenty-
four days without a particle of food or
a drop of water. The story was almost
beyond belief, and details were eageriy
sought for, The account given by the
mau is corroborated by all the facts in
i
8
Such a hammock might be
m the floor. In the first place, the per-
‘ompany would allow, unless the girl
a. friend of the brakeman. It
Imagine such a
The drummer for the gro-
would look at her and say: “She looks
he has two galls,” and would go up to
the hammock and say: **Is this seat all
th fase. 1
he condition of the patient was
eagerly inquired after the other day.
In company with Dr, Anderson, several
newspaper reporters went out to the
poor farm to see the man and learn
from him further details of his harrow-
ing experience. Dr, Renggley, the city
physician, and Dr. Marquadt arrived at
the same time, and all proceeded to the
roomn where the living skeleton lay
stretched upon a bed in one of the
spall rooms. He took no notice of any
one, His breathing was short and in-
audible,
When spoken to however, he glanced
toward the speaker with an intelligenee |
that showed that he still knew what was | ¢
going on about him, He is a young |
man of 21 years of age, was born in
Sweden, and has only been in this
i
t
i
tf
i
The gir! would open her
and give him a look that would
ina hurry. ‘The brakeman would go to
the hammock girl and touch her on the
vaccination mark and say: **Miss, you
will have to take down your circus tent
and Jet somebody help you occupy this
seat,” and she would paralyze the brake-
man with a look, and he would go off
The eoun-
would bring the big grocery
with him, and say: “Can't
1
it
and then she would be mad. At sta-
tions along the line of the road, gran-
gel
100k in the windows at the curious spec.
tacle, and, as the train moved off
with the sleeping beauty, everybody
would be tired except the girl. Girls
can think ot enough ways to make pas.
#sengers on a raliroad train wish they
dead without harnessing them.
selves up in a hammock at the tpp of
the seats, and an inventor who places
.
wele
by which they -are enabled to ammoy
country two years. Nevertheless, he
i
i
t
reduced physical condition, His face |
has a death-like pallor; his eyes, which
are light biue, are sunken deep into
the forehead, and are the only fea- |
speaks, :
Still the face does not appear so badly |
as one would imagine, His limbs are |
slowly to avoid pain. His hands are |
{ dry, and stained with some dark-cdlored |
| matter; his hair and nails do not seem
to have grown much during his impris- |
onment, but this can be accounted for |
on the theory that absorption was going
on very rapidly. The thorax and ab- |
domen were devoid of flesh, The pulse |
was 120; respiration, 34; temperature, |
99 4-107; tongue dry and clean, i
Aftar a careful examination, the |
doctors poncluded that Anderson would
probably fully recover. He never asked |
for food on being discovered, but begged
continuously for water, which was given |
passemgers Is doing a great wrong, It
is bad enough to drive slong the road
and see a girl swing in a hammoek be.
tween two trees on a lawn, where the
tance trom the object isso great that
yeu cannot tell whether the stocking is
ik or lisle thread, but to have a girl in
th
Gis
& hammock right across the aisle of 8
that something would break and that
the beautiful sleeper would drop down
between the two seats, her body shut
murder and calling for
brakeman to uncouple her foot, would
be enough to cause the hair of the aver-
age man to turn gray on a single trip.
The girl in a hammock, on cars, must
go.
-—-
Puried Under fiay,
On the afternoon of the 10th of
cember while a party of boys were play-
John Wacher, near La Ceosse, one of
clothes almost torn from lus body.
They gave the alarm, and a Mr. Byrne,
together with officers Duncan and Jack.
son repaired tothe spol. @n reaching
the place, a horrible picture-of suffering
was presented Lo their view. The skel-
eton of a wan, still breathing, was lying
upon the hay, where the boys had un.
covered it. His clothing was hanging
in shreds, :
Mr. Byrne asked the msn how long
he had been in the hay, to which he re-
sponded ‘Since Saturday, Nov. 17.
“That can’t be possible,” responded
Byrne. *‘Do you know what day of
the month it is now?’ The poor fellow
answesd that he did not and Byrne
told him the date. He eald he was
positive as to the date on which he was
imprisoned. He stated that lus name
was Louis Anderson. He loft St. Paul
where he has two brothers, John and
Andrew, about two months ago. He
went toavork for a railroad.contractor,
at Chippewa Falls, who wasdoing some
grading.
He quik work Wednesday, November
14, and was paid off. He sent $15 in
a money arder from the Chippewa Falls
post office to his brother Jehn at St.
Paul, and started off with $5.0r $6 for
La Crosse, svhere he expected to get a
Job in the woods, Most of this money
ke spent for railroad fare. He reached
La Crosse Friday, and ap that
night at a boarding house in the Fifth
wird and took breakfast there the next
day. His money was all aptot, aad the
next night, not finding work, he went
to tis haystack Lo sleep,
During the night a violent storm
came zip, “It rained very hard, and he
ot wet. Then the wind blew and Le
ecame very cold. Suddenly the top of
the stack rolled ower on him. His
hands bed been pinioned by the falling
hay in such a manner that he was un.
to extricate himse¥ from his livi
ple
He got over being Bc
ut
not know when it was es
i
ven u
to his ald. p
He gould,
hin sparingly. He clutched at the |
walter when it was offered him, and he |
| prized it wore than anything in the |
| world. He seems, however, to feel |
ithe importance of heeding the doec- |
|tors’ orders not to take too much |
| whiter, i
i
-_—
AL the Stamp Window.
i
“Has postage been reduced to two |
foenta?” !
“Yes'm.”
“For letters?’
“Yes'm."”
“Then a two-cent stamp will actually
carry a letter?”
“It will.”
“And there’s no
three cents?"
“Not a bit,”
“Do you know Mrs, Blank*”
“No'm
‘She says it’s two cents in the city.”
“It is two cents anywhere the
country.”
“She says she sent a letler to her hus.
| band in Chicago with a two-cent stamp
on it, and he never got it.”
“I can™ helpt that ma‘am.”’
“Then two cents is enough?’
“Plenty.”
“And her husband probably
letter and didn’t answer it?"’
“Probably. "
“Well, I'll take a two-cent stamp,
bul if there's any doubt about the mat-
ter 1'd as soon pay wore. It will go,
will it?”
“Yes'm.”
“Go right out today”
“Yes'm.”
“Well, I hope so, for it is a very im-
portant letter. You know Mrs, D—
who used to live ot — street?”
“*No'm.”
“Well, it's for her, She lives in Buf.
falo now. She asked me for the best
way to pickle mixed’
‘he woman had to stand aside for
two or three minutes, but as soon as the
window was clear she retuned to say:
“I've got the stamp on.’
“Yes'm
“Two cents.”
“1 see.”
“And it'll go?"
“It will.»
“If it don’t !
“And she probably didn’t sleep a
wink last night.”
{
i
1
!
{
!
{
i
|
:
i
need of (putting on
$y
iid
|
i
i wot
anh
the
fry
Building Contract,
—— A ——
Scandal will run out like dirt when
t is dry.
Riches are chiefly good because they
He who has jost his honor can lose
He is not likely to be a true man who
He who loses hope may then pat
Any truth, (faithfully faced, is
trength in itself,
All those who know their mind do
10t know their heart.
Contact with the world either breaks
1f you desire to be held wise, be so
He who cultivates a taste r reading
n his youth plants good seed,
He who knows only his own side of
he case, knows little of that,
A smile is a simple thing, but it has
ridged over many a precipice,
Falsehood always endeavors to copy
Intemperance shortens life, while
The world is 4 comedy to those who
hink, a tragedy to those who feel
He who ean conceal his joy is greater
han hie who can conceal his griefs,
Reason wrapped up in a few words
8 generally of the greatest weight,
Poverty may excuse a shabby coat
jut it is no excuse for shabby morals,
We
cannot ucip suffering from so
if thou wouldst bear thy neighbor's
to the warnings of con-
Hearken
The judgment of this world is oftenes
and
truth,
To suffer through those we love
n to suffer our-
is
If eur eye be towards God “in duty
his eye will be ever towards us
mercy.
What is mine, even to my life, is hers
love; but the secret of my friend
not mine,
It is ddngerous to as
questicns, whe n she is 2
cery bill,
Nothing excep
heart can render even
pleasing.
*Tis the privile
alk nonsense, a
ad
fa
XK a woman idle
ding up a gro
what flows from the
: fs 9
external manner
ge of
1
a
ship to
nonsense
frie;
fags
t 0 have
respected.
Predominant opinions are generally
the opinions of the generation that is
wag
Envy not the appearance of happiness
in any man, for thou knowest not his
em Suh ¢
SQ Vanvages,
Modesty has great It
! grea
enhances beauty and serves as a veil to
ut of a win-
and ask the
Throw a sensible man o
dow, he'll fall on
way to his work,
Money you earn yourself
brighter than any you can
dead man’s bags.
The beam the benevolent eye
giveth value to the bounty which the
hand dispenses,
Hard work
his feet
is much
g £ :
4 syd Py
©: Out ¢
&
La
is the SUCCESS,
price of
kind of currency.
The feeble tremble
we foolish defy it, the
ue skilful direct it.
Oftener the world discovers a wan’s
moral worth only when ifs injustice has
iILs
before opinion,
wi judge it
a $
3 iv,
Divine love is a sacred flower. which
in its early bud is happiness, and in its
full bloom is heaven.
As daylight can be seen through very
small holes, so little things will illus.
trate a person's character,
Every man bas three characiers: that
which he exhibits, that which he has,
and that which he thinks he has,
It is easier fora camel to swallow a
whole paper of needles than for a delin-
quent subscriber to get to heaven.
There are many vices which do not
deprive us of friends; there are many
virtues that prevent our having any.
The human mind is like the ground,
which acquires a quality according to
the pains bestowed on its cultivation.
The more self is indulged, the more
it demands, and, therefore, of all men,
the selfish are the most discontented.
Tears are to be looked at not as proof
of very deep sorrow, but as a gracious
relief to the Killing intensity of such
grief,
He who can irritate you when he
likes is your master. You had bet ler
NS, sued B. for $405.60, the balance
due him for building a two-story brick
house, and B, made a counterclaim for
defective diterisl How out and
money expe n i the un-
skillful work of 8. The Ah pales
was 2.535, and the plaintiff had been
hd 2.40; the counterclaim was
1085, which the defendant got « judg.
ment for, The defence to counter-
claim was a most novel one: That the
intiff “no experience in laying foun-
ions, as the defendant knew.’’ The
case--Shermau vs, Bates—was carried
lo the Supreme Court of Nebraska,
where the judgment was affirmed,
Judge Maxwell, in the opinion, said:
“A party entering into a contract to
construct a building thereby agrees that
all parts of the structure shall be put
agreement. As La
1
erect a building In a
ho unt. coup
and no
or any of his wo
tors will
certain manner,
or
a
turn by learning the virtue of
To do good which is really good, a
man must act from the love of good,
and not with a view to reward bere or
hereaiter, y
Bad temper is its own
One of the most effectual wa
and of making one’s self
cheerful;
of
ved
joy softens far more
“What men want,” says Bulwer, “is
In other
the power to acnieve, but
he will to labor. ;
When misjudged by others, as all are
fable to be, it is a comfort to know
We must look downward as well as
to run through a
Glia ad, ob. wan Kile vo
25-L.¢ cat
in aioe county, Ga.
tly