A Rditrie,
If w oonlcl moot who Imv* t>n long opart
I wnmUr what flmt word* yonr lip* would
nay.
And what flrst thonglita woald wakon in your
haart
If we eoald mart by any rhanoa to-day.
If fea to foca lon thia fouly lana
We two should otaud with paoae of sudden
feat,
Which would l>e ft nit—a sense of joy or pain— !
If we could meat?
Ton would not IH< the light you used to know
In eye* that have grown ditn with many
taarx,
Nor erar more tho smiles of long ago
On lip* made sorrowful by wasting years,
Aud. looking at you. I might also find
Rome trace* of "thehordcn and the heat,"
Of youthful grace and gladuww left behind— I
If we could meet?
Ah, well! The sky is cloudless overhead,
The sunlight never fell with fairer gleam,
And flow'ry held* tu.d woods are round tnc
spread.
And singing waters murmur through my
dream;
Bui yet I know what brighter beams would
fall,
How ov'ry wind and flow'r would grow
more sweet,
Wlmt richer glory would encompass nil—
If we could meet?
Forever and forever, duur, I know
I may not hear your voice or see your face.
But, oh, my darling, if it might lie so
Al this calm hour and in this quiet place!
Yon might be cold, or careless, or estranged.
With scarce one swifter throb your heart
migh heat,
Bnt you would find uay IOTO at least un
changed.
If we could meet?
JACK'S MARY.
•* I was younft, T was fair, I had
once not a care," sang Hettina Lyons,
in a doleful tone.
" ' Yet you pined like a slave,' not 1
by the sad sea wave exactly, hut at
the old farm," broke in a merry voice.
"So I did, Clare, and often wish my
self hack again."
" What ! and leave all your Iftight
prospects ?"
" If you mean Visions of the future 1
as they present themselves to me now.
yes, if I could take up the old, happy
dreams of the past again."
. " Hut you cannot make me believe
you would forsake your brilliant pros
pects and return to the hum-drum life
you quitted."
" I would indeed, |fi>r I cannot even '
think of my brilliant future, as you
term it, without a shudder."
"Come, girls, if you are going to the
fair it is time you were dri"sssi," said
Chalmers, entering the room where
the two cousins were seated.
"Aunt Winnie, I wish you would
leave me home. I am not in the
mood for pleasure to-day," said liettina.
" I ild not bring you here to mope.
You had plenty of time for that in the
country. When you have secured your
own comfortable home you can mope
In it to your heart's content, but not
now."
" One would think that securing a
comfortable home was the end and aim
of a woman's existence. lam heartily j
tired of being preached to about set
tling in life, and to tell you as I told
you a hundred times before. Aunt Win
nie, I will not marry for the sake of a
home."
Mrs. Chalmers looked at her with se
vere disapprobation.
" I gave you credit for l>eing a reas
onable woman, Hettina; not a way
' "ward child." she said.
" Of course I'm waywar/l for claim
ing the right to th.nk for myself on
the subject of matrfiuony."
" That will do, my dear; remain at
home and return to tho ftirm to-mor
row, if you choose; I have no desire to
Influence your conduct. Coms Clare,
you, at least, are always ready to please
me."
"Yes, auntie; lam quite prepared
and will only detain you while I put
on my bonnet aiM gloves," was the
prompt reply.
liettina spent the afternoon commun
ing with her own thoughts, which
were far from pleasant ones. "I will
be true to my own love whatever may
betide," she was singing when her
aunt and cousin returned.
"Oh, Bet," exclaimed the latter
when they were alone, •• we had a
lovely time, but Aunt Winnie was dis
appointed, she is so anxious about your
future, you know,"
"Now, Clare, hush; don't you be
gin a sermon. I get enough of that
from auntie. I have been question
ing my heart this afternoon, aud have
determined that no one shall persuade
me to marry a man I do not hive for
sake of a comfortable home. What
comfort could I And in sitting down by
his tlreside with longing regret" for
the presence of another. I would be
acting false to myself and falsi' to Mr.
Wetherill, and alth # •' i do not like
him he deserves a icttcr fate than
that."
" Hut if that other person doesn't
care for yon f
" I never said he didn't, rare former*
and Bcttina's eyes flashed resentfully.
"An ugly old cousin whom he is
pledged to marry stands lietween us,
and the worst of it is she does not
pretend to care for him. Their parents
concocted tho match when they were
too young to understand anything
about such matters. Fred would give
up everything, friends, home, fortune,
if I would consent, hut how can 1
when the failure of her pet scheme
would break his lady mother's hpart.
My coining out of the affair heart
broken is of no consequence, for I am
only a JKKIT girl who is expected to
marry the first man that offers a com
fortable home."
" Did you ever see this cousin ?"
" No," replied Hettina wiping her
eyes.
" Then how do you know she is old
and ugly?" •
" I know she is older than Fred, and
I think she must he awful homely,
else lie would have learned to care for
her."
"A very logical conclusion," laughed
Clare. "Perhaps the assertion that!
she does not love him is based on one."
"Hut I aiu sure she doesn't love j
hiin," interrupted the other, eagerly. |
" llow could she hide it if she did?
Fred knew that I loved him long be
fore we talked about it, hut you see he
felt In honor hound to his cousin, and
knew it was not right to speak of love
to me."
" Ife evidently overcame his
scruples," observed Clare.
" Yes, after he was perfectly con
vinced that his cousin didn't care for
him. Indeed, she told him so."
"T'nder such circumstances, if she
is a true woman, she would conceal
her love, even though her heart were
breaking."
Bettina lmikeil up quicklv.
" Were you ever in love, Clare?" she
asked.
Clare Hushed a little. " You don't
suppose I would tell you, even if I j
were? Ido not approve of parading
such matters before the world."
" Oh, perhaps you are one of the
kind who woaid 'let concealment like
a worm"— What is the rest of it? I
Something ai>ut damask cheeks;'
only your cheeks could hardly be 1
called damask, for you are fright
fully pale."
Clare smiled good-naturedly.
" I trust lam one of the kind who 1
wouldn't make a goose of myself, and j
fret altout a man who didn't care for
me."
" Yon evidently don't believe that ;
Fred loves me. lam half inelined to j
convince you all that he docs. I'll!
tell you another thing, Clare. 1 l>- i
lieve if auntie would let Mr. Wetherill
alone he would transfer his affections
to you in no time. You don't know
how oddly he looks at you sometimes.
If I were in love with him I would be
horribly jealous. I really lielieve if he
had seen you before he asked me to
marry him he would never have asked
the question, although I am younger
ami—"
"'And prettier,'you were going to
say, you vain girl."
" Well, ever) if I am, I'm not half
as good ao' you, you dear, sober old
Clare. But, good or bad, I am not
going to sacrifice myself to please two
old women—for that's just what it ,
amounts to. I gave up Fred to please i
his mother, and am going to marry Mr- ;
Wetherill to please Aunt Winnie ; at !
least she thinks I am."
For a week or more after the events
just related llettina appeared to la
one of the most docile creatures Im
aginable, and Aunt Winnie and she
were again on the most amicable terms,
but Clare felt instinctively that she
was plotting mischief. One day Mrs.
Chalmers went to pay a long-promised
visit to a friend residing in the coun
try. As soon as she was gone the
young girl dressed herself in a neat
walking costume and left the house.
Clare did not miss her until she had
occasion to go to her room, where she
expected to lind her, but found instead
a note addressed to herself, which she
opened with trembling fingers, and
read;
" Dr.AH CI.AKE—I faney that you
will not be much astonished to learn
that I have gone to meet Fred. Every
thing is arranged, and we will IK> mar
ried in a few hours. Aunt Winnie
will lie furious, but will recover from
the shock more rapidly than I would
from a broken heart if I followed her
i Ml vice. Will you please tell Mr. Weth
erill when he comes to-night? Dear
Clare, don't he angry with yoiij own
" BKTTINA."
"Thank Godl" ejaculated Clare, fer
vently, as she finished nailing. "They
are both saved, but how shall I ever !
tell him? Capricious little pet, may
you never have cause to regret the sthp
you have taken!"
She met Mr. Wetherill with a com
posed air, although her heart was
throbbing painfully.
" Miss Lyons is net at home," she
j said.
"Not at home?" in a tone of sur
. prise.
44 No, Mr. Wetherlll; fthe'a gone !
away, leaving me HII unpleasant task
to perform. 1 hope you will not bn too
much shocked," she went on, ner
vously; "but I am afraid she is mar—.
Bend this note; it will expluin all."
She trembled like an aspen as she
watched him reading the note, ids face j
growing pule and flushed alternately, j
" I am so grieved, Mr. Wetherlll."
"You need not lie, Miss Clare. I
admire Bettinn's courage and honesty j
in refusing to give her hand where she [
could not bestow her heart. She has
saved us both from life-long unhappi
ness."
Clare gazed at him, too much amazed
to speak.
"Miss Clare, will you listen to a
story that has been trembling on my !
lips since I first met you here?"
Without waiting for a reply he con
tinued:
" Many years ago there was a young
man—a mere lad—whom we will call
.lack. He was a farmer's son, and
poor. Near his father's place lived a
widow and her only child, Mary. Jack
loved this little girl from her baby- '
hood, and'when she was fourteen and
lie nineteen the two promised to be
true to each other as long as life lasted.
Shortly afterward Jack went out Into
tho world to try to make a home for
the child who had promised to he his
| wife. Several letters were exchanged !
until Mary's mother discovered what
was going on, and forbid her to write
any more. About year after their
separation her mother died, and she
went to a distant city to reside with
relatives. .Tack did not hear of these
events until he returned to his old
home, two years later. Then he made
inquiries fur his little love, but could
gain no further tidingsof her. Several
years passed, and he was successful
beyond even his boyish expectations
During this period he met many beauti
ful women, hut little Mary's Image
refused to leave its shrine in his heart. '
One day be saw a notice of her mar
riage. Then hope died, but memory
remained. As time passed he he- j
came weary of his bachelor's life, and
concluded to marry. Chance threw
him In the society of young girl
whose unconventional manner* proved
a strong attraction, and in a short time
he a*kcd her to be his wife. He thought
the reluctant air with which she con
sented was due to badifulness, but
later on discovered that her heart be
ionged to some one else. Then he de
termined to question her closely re
garding the matter, and if his conjec
tures were true to give her back bei
promise. Meantime hejiw-t a woman
wonderfully like his lost love. Yet she
was not cnlhd Mary, nor did she |x-ar
the name of the man whom she had
married, and, while bound to the young
girl, lie could not ask her for an expla
nation. At last he found himself ftce,
and—Miss Clare, it rests with you to
decide how the story of Jack's love
shall end."
A profound silence reigned for a few
moments, then Clare exphiinisl in a
low. tremulous voice:
" After the death of Mary's mother \
she went to live with her father's
brother, whose daughter was also
named Marv Latnson. In order to
avoid confusion Jack's Mary was calhsl
by her second name, Clare. It was
Mary's cousin who married, hut the
orphan girl remained true to her early
love."
" And her constancy is at 1 ast re
warded," said Mr. Wetherlll, drawing
her to his breast.
.She laid her head in a restful way on
his shoulder, and thus Aunt Winnie
found them when she returned in a
great state of excitement, having re
ceived a telegram from Bettina an
nouncing her marriage.
"Well," she ejaculated, when the
situation was explained, "I am glad
wo are going to keep you in the
family. But I must say Bettina would
have made yon a brilliant wife."
"Clare will make a loving wife, and
I am satisfied with the exchange, Mrs.
Chahneis," he answered, fervently.
A Phenomenal City.
The city of Tcxarkaaa. though small
in comparison to some of the other
cities of the Union, is the most phe
nomenal. It lies in two States—Texas
and Arkansas, henee Its name. The
.State line runs through the center of ,
its chief street. Its population is
fi.OOO. It is considered the gateway
of the Southwest. Four railroads
center there, the climate Is like that of
Italy and tramps are not tolerated.
Money is plenty and the people ar
prosperous.
When people < ravi lc<l by diligence
in France one traveler in every 835,-
<M)O was killed and one in every
j -K),(XX) wounded. Now. with rail
ways, one is killed per 5,178,490 and
! one wounded per 580,4.50. Stage
J owh traveling was therefore twent; j
! times as dangerous as the cars. •
THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT.
A I'oarfnl Snri.nl ol Nrajriy -100 I'm 111.
onrtlril liy n >ln a nlfl. ,-nl View.
If one feels a desire to sup full
horrors in Washington, says a letter
from the nat ional capital, there is no
way in which success is so certain and
se speedy as an ascent of tin- .'175 feet
of the unfinished Washington monu
ment. Although no accident of any
kind whatever has happened since the
work was begun, owing to the admi
rable precautions that have been ole
served, the mere contemplation of the
d aigers to he avoided would give Gen
eral Washington himself, if he were
alive, tho cold creeps. It must be re
membered that the monument is already
among the highest structures
hi the world, while the transporta
tion of the gigantic blocks of stone
to the top is something which lias no
parallel in this country, and has sel
dom been equaled anywhere. Whether
the ascent is calculated to inspire fear
or not may lie imagined from tin- reply
made lv one of tlie highest officials in
\\ ashington to the inquiry, " Were you
—were you not just a little frightened
going lip?" * Frightened! I was per
fectly terrified!" was the hearty re
sponse given with all the force of em
phasis.
The ascent is male by the elevator,
which runs through the middle of tin
great obelisk- This elevator is a mere
open platform, which does not deserve
the name of an alleviator, as Mrs. Hi n
eral Hiitlory puts it; it is rather t!
terrifter. Every time it goes up it
carries from live to ten lons of stzti'-,
and the only way fyr visitors to g t
to the top is to huddle around
the immense mass of stone on
the diulxdical • bxiking machine.
The platform Ix-gins to move
slowly and laboriously upward,
grinding and creaking at every inch
from the enormous weight it lifts, in
half a minute the light of day totally
disappears, and at that moment the
horrors of the jiositioii suddenly swoop
down upon inc. To I*. dangling hun
dreds of feet above a chasm with only
a nqte between a fall to the bottom
with lo.oon pounds of stone is enough
to appal any imagination. Although
the darkness is blackness inconceiv ■
able and the intense silenccjirokcn only
by the groaning of the great ma -
feeling its way painfully upward, ret
the frightful abyss appears t<> lxs-onie
of itself Ixith audible and visible. Tie
last 150 feet of balancing between
heaven and earth is like hanging lx
tween life and death. Even the ele
vator man gives up his heroic effort*
to keep up the courage of the party.
At length light from the top begin
to apjx-ar, and in a minute or two a
pallid party of pleasure seekers step
unt on the platform at the top. nearly
100 feet in the air. There is an enorm
ous iron structure running through the
middle of the obelisk and around this
the stone is blocked, "NX feet are added
•very week in thr<-.- tiers of tw<ef<it
blocks. The structure s then si* feet
above the temporary platform, which
thereupon raised, and the work of
■ringing it six feet als.ve the level is
commenced. A network of rope is
lecurrly fixed around the top of the
ahaft, extending several feet off. to
-atch any unfortunate man who might
drop over—the workmen are compiled
to lx' on the very edge in order to
complete the outer layer of stone.
A young lady not long since, in
a spirit of bravado, threw herself into
this life-saving net. A weak spot in
the rope would have sent her nearly
four hundred feet .to the earth. A
contrivance like the rigging of a ship
la on top of the shaft, and the wind
howls through it with enormous force.
When a tier or two is laid the work
mcu are protected in a measure from
the violence of the wind, hut they ac
knowledge that when they are work
ing on a level it is something terrific.
If anything could repay one for the
horrors of the ascent, it would lie the
view after reaching the top. Even
the nust hardened sightseer must be
enthusiastic at the great panorama
spread out liefore him. The
vast treasury building looks
like a liliputian house. The
plan of Washington becomes as
well defined as a checker board. The
full grandeur of the capitol is then for
the first time realized. When it is re
raemberod that the capitol is of almost
the identical dimensions of the great
pyramid and of Bt. Peter's, being per
haps a few feet longer than either, it
may seem that it has nothing to lose
l>v looking at It from any point of ele
vation. Everything else grows minute
from the top of the monument except
the white splendor of the capitol. It
sccrns to lie on a mountain instead of a
hill, and atnid the ilimiaishinguf every
other object the great white dome
stands gradually out, so high that it
looks as though poised in air. '
Fire lays a grievous tax upnn Lon
don. The losses from it amount to
$500,000 a month.
The Greatest I.lGnr French Fainter.
Personally Meissonier In man whom
it in difili'iilt to describe. Picture to
yourself a little hit of a fellow, a*
'•risk and merry a* if hi> Wit , listening
to some stimulating music, to which
all other ears were deaf. On this body
♦of a dwarf is set a magnificent head -
a head that is almost that of a vision
ary—with long locks of waving and
| snowy white hair, and with a long
..heard as white as the hair. lie reminds '
! you of one of those personifications of
rivers in which the ancients delighted,
or, rather, of one of those musing fath
ers of the earth that Coysevox has
carved for us under the thick linden
trees of the park at Versailles, When
one looks at this Imposing head and
venerable beard, one entirely
j loses sight of the slender body
j that ends in a pair of trousers
i like those x>f the Eng]jsh horse
trainer, Learned and witty to the ut
most limit, and, like a true Parisian,
fond of ridiculing everything, with a
sharp eye to his own glory, the great
painteris more interesting within the
i walls of liisstudio, surrounded by the
j tokens of his work. The studio is an
! enormous one, and fairly flooded with
light. It (swell stocked with pictures,
incomplete sketches, precious furni
ture, arms and hangings. It is so large
t hat even the "Marriage of ('ana" could
have been painted in it with case, and
yet it is here that Meissonier touches
and retouches,with a religious patience,
those diminutive pictures that the.
amateurs are so glad to COVT with
gold pieces and hank notes. In spite
of its si/ethe studio is arranges! witheo
queUislincKs tliat is almost feminine.
Here and there on the arm-chairs and di
vans are negligently cast clothes of rich.
I Iv colored velvet s,a musketeer's hat with
its white, trailing plume, a theatrical
sword with an elaborate carved hilt, a !
I>ilc of brilliantly colored silks and .
Eastern stuffs. Everywhere, drawn |
ujt in line, on easels, hanging on the
wiills and even resting against the
tables, pictures and quartettes, which
we never grow tired of admiring. The
work of the artist that is now the
furthest advanced represents two
lovers singing a duet. The man,
• draped in a purple sitnarre, is allowing
hLs fingi r to wander over the keys of
an organ, while his head is thrown
back toward her who stands beside 1
( him. The picture contains all the
' harm of a mystic ode, all the tender
ness of two hearts which are filb-d
with hut one and the same feeling.
The r<*l and gn-n color* in the
picture are as dazzling a* oriental
g'l* spread out in the intense glare j
<>f an Eastern sun. The master chats
pleasantly with such visitors and
friends as come in. His voice is clear,
but, at the end of his sentences it Ise
coioes weak, and has some almost
childish inflections. He taught easily
and readily, and, from force of habit
can listen gravely and calmly to the
hyperbolical praises that are so prodi
gally bestowed upon him and his work-
Meissonier does not content himself with
Iwing one of the great contemporary
masters. He is. also, as learned a col
lector of rare old books as any biblio
pbilist of the institute. It is by study
ing those that he is enabled to produce
in his pictures such faithful representa
tions of the centuries that have
vanisbisl, and of scenes of adventure
and chivalry that have lxx-n forgotten
hv the common herd.
Brought in the Ur*r% Meat Alive.
A Toronto lawyer, who was one of
a party out hunting lately in the Mns
koka district, had a narrow escape
front the rather dangerous embraces
of a l>car. The incident is an amasing
one. It appears that the members of
the party had arranged that they should
take turns at the cooking. The gent le
man in qtiestion .lid not take kindly to
this work, and when the remainder of '
the party returned from the chase he
was invariably asleep, not having pre
pared a meal. His companions l>e
came tired of this conduct, and on
this occasion ordered him out to
bring in some game. This he
proceeded very gladly to do. In j
a few minutes, however, he was
seem returning at the top of Ids speed,
with an immense I tear in hot pursuit,
lie ilashisl into the shanty, the heavy
doors of which were at once barrel
against the would-be intruder, the gal
lant hunter exclaiming: "lloys, here's
your fresh meat, all alive." After
sonic dozen shots had lioen fired into j
th boar's laxly from the roof of the
shanty, where the gallant hunters had !
managed to crawl through one of the j
numerous smoke-holes, they descended,
and after some slight delay in re
moving the skin were s<xm enjoying a
hearty dinner of liear steaks. It aje I
pears that when the liear was first j
seen by the hunter he had his tack
turned toword that gentleman, whn,
taking aim rather nervously, managed, j
if not to seriously wound tho lrute, to
at least irritate Idtn, the brute turning
I upon the hunter.—Toronto Ufa*.
* x * ... t
Wilflif,
i/*nni to wait! hardest I rases,
Coiinad iwreh/wce lhro Btf h blinding tears,
W lid* tilt heart throl, nadly echo
To the tread of panning years.
Iwarti to wait Hop*'* nlow fruition!
Fail not, ib&utfii the way WIO! l ong !
There in ) ™ in each condition ;
Hearts, though Buffering, may grow strong-
Constant sanshinS, bowe'er welcome,
Ne'er wool J t/pen fruit or firmer;
Giant oak* <me half their greWoeee
To the scathing tempest's power.
Thn a soul untouched by sorrow
Aim* not at a trappier slate;
Joy seek* not a brighter morrow—
Only sad hearts learn to wait.
Human strength and human greatness
Hf.rmg not from Life's sunny side;
Heroes must Ire more than dnftwrod
Floating on a waveioe# tide.
PUNGENT PARAGRAPHS.
C utting a swell—Lancing a carbun
cle.
The skilled burglar may not lie
wealthy, but he takes things easy.
" Blood will tell," ho bo careful how
you make confidant*** of your relations
Home ata'j'rtical fiend estimates that
courtships cost three tons of coal each
'rii an average.
" There's no time like the present,*'
gleefully remarked the Iroy who ha/1
received the gift of a watch.
St I.'ruis lias 7,000 cats, and in spite
of this discouraging fact still experts
Ur become a great city in time.
The time wasted by men in feeling
in the wrong pocket would make the
next generation rich if they had it.
A mortgage on a house is like a
worm-hole in an apple. Before you
know it there is tnore worm-hole than
fruit.
An old fellow who has ha/1 his wig
stolen several times has coine to the
conclusion that there is rjo rest for the
wigged.
The coal-tail flirtation is the latest.
A wrinkled coat-tail bearing dusty
toe-marks means, " I have spoken to
your father."
This is a hurry cane in earnest
thought the IKV, as the old man rained
the blows ujHin las shoulders with
lightning rapidity.
A gentleman had his picture taken
recently; cost him s•!'*', and still he is
not happy. A fellow took it out of
the hall when the latch was up.
" How clumsy you are 1" said the mis
tr<iss at the table, as tin- waiter spilt
the sauce over a guest's rich dress.
"There won't !>e sauce enough to go
round now.*'
Walt Whitman exclaims in one of
his jsK-ms; "Give me solitude!** Very *
easily obtained, sir. Start to take up
a collection for the Washington monu
ment.
The advance agent of a had show
luis the l>est time. He can get out of
town Wore hiscoinpnr performs. It
is the manager who must stay and pay
salaries and hear the complaints.
A farm that recently yielded a profit
of SIO,OOO a year ha* Im left by a
wealthy bachelor of Oregon to aschool
for young la/Li/*. Very few men who
have escajcd matrimony exhibit so
much gratitude to the girls.
General Wolseley, the hero of the
tyO'ptian war. is the author of a book
called " The Soldier's Pocket Book for
Fi/#d Service." As the British soldier
gets only twenty cents a day, he can't
have much use for a pocket book.
A shirt has two arn. the same as
pantal/sins have two legs; yet one i
called a pair and the other is only one.
Isn't it time that we let up on astron
omy and paid more attention to every
day trifles that vex the clearest minds ?
Four-year-old Augustus is found
shaving the hea/l of his cat with his
father's rasar, and is severely reproved
by bis nurse. " But," says the little
fellow, "men always have such a hard
time shaving, I want to practice Wore
my l-card grows."
An old farmer bought a work called
"Hints on Fencing," supposing it set
forth the advantages and cheapness of
one fence over another. He cxprrased
himself very vigorously when he dis
eovered that the book related to an
entirely di Stare" t kind of fencing.
"Mamma," *ed little Edith, "be
all grown folks hateful ?" •• Why,
Edith," replied licr mother, " what
put that idea in your head?" "Noth
ing. mamma, only I know everybody
who comes here is hateful, 'cause I've
always heard yon say so after they
went out,"
They were talking about midnight
assaults, when a dWor spoke up and
said he was never handled roughly but
-inee; but then he was nearly killed.
However, he was lucky enough to dis
cover his assailants. - Who were
they; who were they?" exclaimed
everybody. "Starving undertakers,
starving undertakers, brought down
from affluence to penury after I came
to reside In the town," said the docto