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Iftc WLicMfo gailit gagfe: j trofog- Itttfraittg, PtoxTt 9, 1890.
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gae
ByAUTHOB OF "BLnrapHSL11
T WAS ccttinjr to twi
light of a bright October
afternoon; the train had
snorted up to the Sum
mertown station on the
111 Natured line; it stood
tor some minutes screaming and steam
ing in a way that might have made one
think that it too had caught the tone and
manners of the line; but that could not
bo the case, and it is uncharitable even
to suggest it Most of the passengers
had got their tickets and taken their
places while it yet wanted three minutes
of the hour for starting, when there en
tered the booking office a girl flushed
from fast walking. She hurried to the
open shutter and said: "One second class
ticket to Coldburgh, please." The man
6tamped the ticket with the usual click
and thresv it down on the counter. She
handed him a one pound note. He lifted
the ticket and said: "We don't give
change here," tossing back the note to
her.
"Not give change? What am I to do?"
"We don't give it," he reiterated.
"Could you not?" she said in a tone of
to treaty.
"No; we are not compelled to do it,
and it is not convenient."
"Have I time to go to Sumrnertcwvn
for it?" she asked.
"The train starts in three minutes."
She knew it would take iive minutes
to run to the nearest place where she
could get change; she need not try that,
and she turned round, vexed and anx
ious, to soe coming in at the door of the
office a big, good natured looking wo
man, accompanied by a boy carrying a
basket. She addressed this woman, who
listened till she gathered her meaning
that she wanted the loan of a shilling
the fare was one and fourpence, but she
had coppers till they reached Cold
burgh; then she waved her off without
even a wrd, as much as to say, "What
is thereabout me that you should think
I can be so easily imposed on?"
Her son, seeing the blank lcok of dis
appointment in the girl's face, said:
"Mother, ye might lend her the shilling."
"Laddie," said his mother, "by the
time ye've been as lang in the world as
I've been, ye'll ken no to gie a shilling to
everybody that asks it, or ye'll come
easier by ye'ro shillings than I've done."
Yet she looked a good natured, moth
erly woman, but having probably had
her own tussle with circumstances, and
suspecting imposture, she did not relent
for a moment.
Next there came in two ladies, mother
and daughter, apparently. Our cllange
less passenger addressed the elder and
explained her circumstances.
"Well," said the lady, "it would be
nothing to mo to lose a shilling, but I
havo been so often imposed on that I
have made up my mind not to run the
risk again; it's only encouraging dishon
esty. It's a pity, my poor girl, you
should like to such a trade, and such as
you hinder honest people being helped."
The girl did not speak, but glanced at
the young lady, who, supposing she was
appealed to, lvkod at her mother and
said, "Quite riht, mamma, it's becom
ing a regular dodge at all the railway
stations." Then to the girl, "Can't you
go to the town for change and wait till
the next train?"'
"If I do that I shall not get home to
night." But the young lady was not to be made
a fool of, either; she knew that it is quite
as ea;y to tell a circumstantial lie as a
single htupid one, and it must bo very
much more interesting and amusing and
stimulating to the artist, oiiq would sup
pose. The nest person to enter the station
was a man. a young, pleasant looking
man; to him in desperation and breath
less haste the girl told her story once
more, ending with, "Will you lend me a
shilling?"'
"Oh, yes," he said, "I'll give you a
shilling."
"Ill return it when we gat to Cold
burgh." "I'm not going so far as Coldburgh."
"Then give me your address and Til
send it."
"It's hardly worth while," hesaid,"and
I have not a card."
She whipped out a little brass bound
note book and a pencil from her pocket
and said: "Write your address here; it is
worth while. I don't want your shilling;
I only want the loan of it till to-morrow.
If I don't get home to-night my mother
won't know what to think; she'll be
awfully anxious."
While he was writing his address in
the little note book he said: "It would be
a pity to make her anxious."
"It would be more than a pity it
would be a sin."
In an instant she got her ticket ana
was out into the darkness and into one
of the carriages before the clerk could
stamp another ticket fcr the last passen
ger, and hewasprettyquickatthat busi
ness. The man who had thus invested
.1 shilling took things more leisurely, as
if he expected the train to wait for him,
out he. too, got in, the guard shut all the
loors with a bang, and the engine, clear-
mg ils heavy breathing, took to the road
again.
IL
The young man who had thus thrown
is silver coin on the wide world had got
,n to a first class carriage in which were
die two ladies who had been appealed to
in vain. It seemed thev were his aunt
and cousin, and after expressing surprise
IlailSr
H Me a SMIiog.
JT- . E ..
mW
'W1L
t or K&Tr,
and pleasure at meeting unexpectedly,
and explaining how they happened to be
there, and where they were going, they
talked chiefly of the kind of things that
we talk of in railway carnages the
weather, the occasional lateness of the
trains, accidents, people returning to
town for the winter, etc, till the young
lady said: "Mamma, I saw the girl that
attacked us for a shilling come into the
train; she must have succeeded in getting
it from some one."
"I don't doubt it." said the elder lady.
"It is deplorable that such a young, nice
looking girl should take to such dishon
est courses."
"The people who encourage her are
as much to blame as she is," rejoined the
young lady.
Don't you know, Sarah," said her
cousin, "that a wise man ha3 said, 'All
things are double; a race of unblushing
assei'ters of falsehood have a race of easy
believers provided for them?' I am one
of tho easy believers, and certainly she
told her story without blushing."
"Do you mean to say that she asked
you for a shilling and that you gave it to
her?' Miss Wright said.
"I was simple enough to do that," an
swered Mr. Jamieson.
"And do you ever expect to see it
again?"
"I bade it an affectionate farewell in
case of accidents," said he.
"I think you were right, James."
"And yet she was an innocent looking
little thing, too," he said.
"Of course she was; her innocent looks
are part of her business plant. Mamma
has been done in that way before."
"I wonder, now," said he, "if she would
know what 'business plant' is? She did
not look clever."
"There is no harm in knowing what
'business plant' is, is there?" asked Sarah.
"Not at all; only every young lady is
not familiar with commercial terms. Did
she not pffer to return the money when
you reached Coldburgh?"
"Oh, yes. but what would have hin
dered her from making off in the crowd?"
"Sarah, you are terribly sharp. I al
ways thought suspicion was the vice of
old age."
"Experience teaches fools," said she.
"I don't think it will ever teach me."
"Then it follows you are not a fool."
"Thank you, Sarah. Now, I shall have
to bid you good-by. I get out here. I
am going to see Aunt Russel."
"Well, good-by, James," said Mrs.
Wright. "Remember us to the old lady."
Katherine or, as she was generally
called. Katie Bertram had walked a
good way to the Summertown station,
and being a little wearied with her walk
and the little excitement of her ticket
adventure, when she got iuto the corner
of a carriage she leant back and fell
sound asleep; but when the train stopped
she suddenly woke and put her head out
at the window to see what was to be
seen, and at that very moment Mr.
Jamieson passed, and under a flare of
gas from the station lamps their eyes
met she who had unblushingly asserted
her little story, and he of the race of easy
believers.
"Certainly," he thought, "I shall got
my shilling again. Yet she may forget.
If she does not return it, it will only be
because she has forgot, and one is apt to
forget a trifle of that kind." So that,
whether he got his money or not, Mr.
Jamieson was prepared to adhere to his
easy belief in the honesty of this speci
men of humanity. But the talk with
the Wrights and the involuntary bright
glance of tho girl as he passed her car
riage in leaviug the train printed the cir
cumstance more deeply in his memory
than might havo been expected from its
trifling nature. In truth, he could not
forget the face: it went with him, and
he could not help it, and never tried to
help it.
Katie had to transfer herself to an
other train when bhe reached Coldburgh
and
doing so she encountered the i
Wri
hts: their eyes met hers, and she,
looked quickly another way. These ladies
had not left a pleasant impression on her,
and people don't care to live an unpleas
ant impression over again if they can
avoid it.
"Do you see that, mamma?' said Miss
Wright; "she shrinks from our sight, the
girl who imposed on James. Oh, you
need not lcok for her now, she has disap
peared in a hurry."
"Poor thing!" said Mrs. Wright; "but
one could not have done her any good; it
is a kind of hopeless business trying it in
such a case as hers."
III.
Katie's mother was sitting in an arm
chair by the side of tho lire knitting, and
her brother was lying on a sofa, sleeping
or meditating as the case m'g'at be. Mrs.
Bertram looked at the little clock on the
mantelpiece and thought, "It's time Katie
was here."
At that precise moment the garden
gate opened and shut with its well known
creak and click, apd in an instant Katie
was standing in tiie room, having tho
effect of a sudden illumination, her face
glowing from the clear sharp air and her
eyes gleaming. "I've had an adven
ture," she said. "I never had anything
like an adventure before. I thought I
shouldn't get homo to-night."
"What .happened? No accident on
the line, I hope?" said her brother.
"Oh no. I say, I wish you would
look at me, both of you. as if you had
never seen me before, and tell me what
you think of me what you would take
me for or suppose I was."
"I should at once suppose you were
foolish," said her brother, "and liable to
be taken half way to London by express
instead of coming here."
"Well, but should you think I was
wicked? I surely don't look wicked. I
wish I could sea myself without knowing
it was me."
"1 doubt you'll hardly get your wish,"
said Mrs. Bertram.
"And she wouldn't enjoy it if she did
at least I didn't; not that I wished it,"
6aid William Bertram.
"Oh, Will, did you see yourself with
out knowing it was you? How did you
manage it?"
"It was very simply managed for me,"
Will answered. "I was walking the
whole length of a warehouse in Cash
burgh, and I saw a man coming to meet
me. I said to myself. 'What awkward,
seedy looking mortal is this?' when I
nearly ran my nose against a mirror. I
found I had got an entirely impartial
glimpse of mvself once in mr life, at
least."
"I hope you were the better for it,"
said Katie, "you ought to be, according
to Burns."
"Well, as there is no Englishman here,
I mnT cir in ct-mrf vnrlnKA 1.nn.nn
'it 'm not M fllrtha- x L
Burns is sometimes wrong. If "wS'saw
ourselves as others see us, we might
be apt to lose heart altogether. There's
nothing like self conceit, and plenty of
it, especially to a person with common
6ense; of course a fool can't make a
good use of it."
"I have had the self conceit taken out
of me pretty effectually to-night," said
Katie; and she told the story of her re
peated attempts to borrow a shilling.
"What would you have done, mother,
if I had not got home to-night?" she
asked.
M
ail'f
aMA
"I have had the self conceit taken out of me
pretty effectually to-night."
"Well, I should not have been very
easy about you."
"Done?"' said Will; "we should have
gone to bed and slept as usual."
I know 3-0U wouldn't; my mother
would not have slept a wink, and vou
would have set out to seek for me."
"If you have lost some self conceit,
vou havo still some left, Katie," said
Will.
It is not self conceit. I know quite
well you would have been dreadfully put
about."
"I don't know that I shall ever let you
go away again alone; you show neither
presence of mind nor resource. You
might have got into the train and paid
the fare when you reached Coldburgh,
or you might have waited for the next
train and taken a cab from Coldburgh,"
her brother said.
"I did not think tlrey would let me
travel without a ticket, and a cab would
have been very expensive."
"You could have had weeding in the
garden for a fortnight at nirpence a
day, and that would have paid it, but I
suppose you prefer begging to honest la
bor. I hope you see your error. "
"No, I don't. Who would have thought
they would not give change at a railway
Station? I never heard of such a thing
before. I don't believe it is common, and
I still think I did the best I could do in
the circumstances."
"You must at least be convinced now
that women are not equal to men that
they have neither tho large hearts nor
the broad faith nor the very gray brains
that men have."
"Oh, I dare say the man who gave me
the shilling had a good heart I am sure
of that but I don't see that he needed
brains for the action."
"His brains must bo very curiously
twisted, though richly fed with blood
vessels, to enable him to take your meas
ure correctly, which he seems to havo
done; and I feel obliged to him."
"Very well, give me a dozen postage
stamps and I'll address them to him;
you'll post them to-moirow morning."
She took out her note book and read
for the first time the words, " 'James
Jamieson, Justinlee, Kingsburgh.' He
is James the son of James. Justinlee
that's rather a pretty name; did you ever
hear it before, Will?"
"I think I have; it's a farm as far on
the other side of Coldburgh as we are on
this."
"How shall I write it?" sho asked
"Mr. or Esq.?"
"Oh, Esq. to be sure," said Will. "I
address every human being as iisq., from
the queen on the tin one to the beggar on
the dunghill, unless they have some other
title: good words cost little and are worth
much."
"Well, I've just said, 'Tuesday night,
Oct. 10, with hearty thanks.' I have
dated it. for I want him to see that I have
lost no time. Will that de?"
"Oh, yes; I dare say you might have
omitted both date and thanks, but it is
no matter."
"But it is matter; it would be a blank
thing to get only the stamps; and I was
very thankful, I can tell you."
Will put the letter in his pocket to post
in the morning, but his memory regard
ing some thing3 had folds in it as well as
his brain, and when an article got into
them it at times did not get out in a
hurry, which was the case with this let
ter; he never remembered more of it till
about a fortnight after, when he was
searching his pockets for a bit of paper
to light the gas. He pulled it out. and
looking at it said, "I declare, Katie,
James Jamieson, Esq., will think you are
a swindler as sure as anything: here are
his stamps lying snug in my pocket yet."
"That is excessively vexatious," said
Katie, and the tears almost sprang to her
eyes.
"Never mind, Katie,' said her mother,
"it does not signify; they'll do yet."
"I said I would send them next day,
and what will he think?" Katie, said.
"Just that you're a swindler. He
should have asked for a reference be
fore he parted with his coin; he has
only himself to blame," said Will.
"Come, it's not worth while vexing
yourself about it. I'll post it when I go
out, and keep it in my hand till I do
post it."
"Give it to me," she said, "and I'll
explain the delay to him; I can't do
less." And sho wrote on the outside of
the envelope: "I gave this to my brother
to post a fortnight ago, and he forgot;
please excuse the delay," then inclosed
it in another envelope and said: "I
would take it to the post myself, if I
thought you could possibly forget it
again."
"I shall not do that, for I have other
letters to send away business letters
that must not be forgotten."
TV.
As Mr. Jamieson returned home two
days after over the same line of railway,
he said to himself: "My shilling will be
waiting for me when I get back.' It
was not merely from general benevo
lence he thought this, or because the
bright look of the girl as he passed her
carriage window had stuck like a burr to
his memory, but he felt that he had pit
ted his wisdom against that of his aunt
and cousin, the Writrhts, and he verv '
... " - . .- i
much wished to bo triumphant, xnis
hist was a small motive, but unfoi iu
nateiy people are occasionally subject to
VfLlfTJI-,"
small motives.
When he got into the'house he looked
through the letters lying for him; there
was only one the least like the thing he
expected addressed in a woman's hand.
This one he opened first, but it was
merely an account for hay "which he had
been buying from a man whose -wife
acted as her husband's clerk. Besides it
there were two trade circulars, three
newspapers and two balky packets
from limited liability mining companies;
the frequency with which he got mis
sives of this class led, him to sup
pose that in some quarters it must
be thought he had a few odd mill
ions to invest. All these, but not the
.shilling he had so securely calculated on;
and when a week passed and no word of
it camd he gave it up, not without a
pang to think of such an innocent look
ing girl well, forgetting her promise.
Next time he saw Miss Wright she
said: "Have you heard from your dis
tressed damsel?"
"No," he said: "I dare S3J she forgot
the thing immediately."
Sarah shook her head. "You'll know
better next time," she said.
"I shall not know a bit better next
time."
"When I'm hard up I'll come to you."
"Do," he said.
As often happens when people are ex
pecting any particular letter, it does not
arrive till they have givenjfc up and for
gotten about it, then it p6p3 hi, so at the
end of the fortnight Katie's stamps came
into Mr. Jamieson's hands. Rarely have
' twelve postage stamps given so much
pleasure, He was m a hurry to let his
relatives know, and he paid them a visit
immediately Onlv Mrs. Writrht was in
whoa he went, and'the first thing he said
to her was. "The jrirl who borrowed a
shilling at the Summertown station has
' sent it to me."
"I'm glad to hear it," said Mrs. Wright
quite calmly, "but for one such case
there are a dozen impostures;" and she
wandered off into another subject; but
when Sarah appeared she said to her,
"James tells me he has got his shilling."
"You have heard from your distressed
damsel." Sarah exclaimed with interest
and animation: "and who, what, where
or how is she?"
"I can answer none of these things, '
but I have got my shilling with hearty j
thanks."
"I wish I had lent it, since it has
turned out so good an investment," said
she.
"'Nothing risk, nothing win,'" said
Mr. Jamieson.
"It was a risk. I hate to be imposed
on," Sarah said.
"I don't; I rather like it."
"Do you? I think one looks very
foolish."
"But it is an amiable, satisfactory kind
of folly. You have no idea how happy
and virtuous I feel at present."
"Oh, yes, when it has turned out all
right."
"But if it had turned out all wrong
nothing could have deprived-, me of the
satisfaction of Jiaving done a stupendous
act of 'benevolence from the best motives.
I am not responsible for the results, don't
you see?"
"No, I don't. I think you iiro respon
sible for doing a foolish thing;' no thanks
to you if it turns out well."
'"There are none so blind as those who
won't eee."
"Does she not give her name and ad
dress?" "No, she gives no information except
that she has a brother who fonreta to
post her letters."
"Have you her note? Let me see it,
will you?"
"Oh, certainly: there's nothing to bo
seen."
"All! 'hearty thanks,' " said Sarah!
'that should cheer you in your solitary
abode. She writes well."
"Part of her 'business plant,' proba
bly," said he.
"I think so." said she. "Most likely
her brother is a baker and she keeps the
snop: girls in that position generally
write well."
"Do they?"'
"Yes, they do. One can't make out
the postmark, it is so blurred."
"What does it signify ? and why are
you so interested in her?"
"Because you are."
"I interested! Yes, I am interested In
knowing sho is honest."
"And in being appealed to by youth
and beauty in distress?"
"I do not think she is what you would
call beautiful."
"Perhaps not, but she is what you
would call beautiful. How many cor
respondents have you whose letters you
preserve so carefully ?'
"I did not preserve that carefully, I
merely happened to put it in ray pocket
as a curiosity."
"It certainly is very curious. Well,
I'll keep my eye about me. If I hap
pen to see her I shall know her again,
and so will you; aad wo have two points
to start from she is honest and she has
!X hrnthor. film mio-ht l,nv hPn q vpII I
without the brother; we must
, .,- . . i
uuptj
that he is all one's fancy could paint
him, and that there are no more of
them."
"There is a mother."
"How do vou know?'
"She told me."
"She told you? And how many other
things did she tell you?"
"It was to prevent her mother being
anxious that she was so eager to get
home that night. There's another good
thing we know of her her attention to
her mother."
"I don't call that an extra good thing;
she would be very bad if she was not
attentive to her mother. She is honest,
has a brother and attends to her mother.
I'll make a note of it; and there's your
curiosity for you," handing back the
letter.
"Thank you; it would be a great pity
to lose it. I think I must also set aside
the stamps from a common to a sacred
use."
"What sacred use could you put them
to?"
"Only use them when I write to you."
"Many thanks. That's what one gains
by being truly sympathetic."
V.
Katie Bertram was very attentive to
her mother; only that phrase does not
convey a full impression of the constant,
helpful regard with which she watched
her without any fussiness or sentiment
ality, but with the effective strength of J
deep love. Not that Mrs. Bertram need
ed attention particularly, for she seemed
in very good health, and only spoke oc-
! casionaliv of a nervousness which she
could nor control, that made her start
at a sadden sound and sro-vr easily 1
alarmed at trifles, so that Katie knew
that her absence when she was expected
home would have made her miserable,
probably ilL This caused her to remem
ber the ticket adventure better than she
would otherwise havedonojalso when she
used her little brass bound note book hex
eye sometimes fell on the words: "James
Jamieson, Justinlee, Kingsburgh;" and
she thought kindly of the owner of the
name, and all the circumstances of that
October dav came up vividly before her.
William Bertram was the manager of
a paper mill, and the house ho occupied '
with his mother and sister was a pretty
cottage, in which the manager of the
mill had lived since the mill had a being.
It stood by the waterside in a low-situation
very picturesque, but not, people
might think, very wholesome. Never
theless, all its inhabitants had been re- j
markable not only for good health,' but
for long life, Mrs. Bertram's nervousness
being the only chronic ailment it had
ever harbored. William Bertram was a
working man, but not a baker, as Miss
Wright had suggested. His father had
not been a working man; he had been
an idle and profligate member of the
upper classes, in consequence of which
his son had Degun lire a good many
rounds down the social ladder. Perhaps
this fact also accounted for his widow's
nervousness.
There were few places that on a sum -
mer day looked more sweet and dreamy
than the Bertrams' house at Oxhaugh.
It was only five minutes' walk from the !
mill, and did not escape the disagreea
bles connected with tho transmutatiou
of crrassea and rnrs into tnd p-m-ii !
smootu, oeauniui weos or paper on t
' wh5ch the news of the world was to be
' pnmeu; out wnen tue wina was in the
direction for blowing tho smoke and
odors away from it, it was specially '
pleasant. Besides, these things don't '
annoy people whose hearts and interests
are in a manufacture. J
You could not take a prettier walk of !
its kind than from the railway station to j
the village of Oxhaugh past the milL
The distance was a milo and a half. On
, Jour Ie" hancl was a range of pictur-
I esquely serrated hills; they looked quite
near, but u you had set out to reach
them you would have found that appear
ances are deceitful. Those nearest were
swelling and rounded and green; those
farther off, dark and rugged and scarred;
away to the right was an open, smiling
country cultivated like a garden.
Her eye sometimes fell on the tvords.
Wealthy people had found out that it '
.,, r, i .l k., u-Tti
. ...... ..
:rX U; jix I
11 W
gsi i -' 4y ft
localitv, and thev had come and bought I ross the narrow foot bridge that took
ground and built fine big houses; there, Jrlm tbe shofttt road to l10 a"U' and
weroThe Elms and The Larches and atie sP?nt th,? foc,noon about tho gar
The Yews and The Hawthorns, and ever I 3en 'ter d'spatcug that meal and
so many more; and a speculator had Keing her mother comfortably settled
run up a whole terrace along the slope fr a rest, she set off to walk a milo or
to the west sido of the village. Then
the spirit of the age laid his hand l
gently on the shoulders of the quiet,
easy going, sleepy little shop keepers,
and stirred them up to put a second flat
on their houses and plate glass in their
shop windows, and generally to look
more alive than had been the habit with
them or their fathers. But after all was
done it still to people from the city
seemed a delightfully innocent, drowsy
little place. Not that the inhabitants
were by any means dear to tno wisaom
of the proverb which says, "JIako hay
while the sun shines;" on the contrary,
you paid moro for probably an inferior
article than you did in townut then
it was sold to you not as a mcro cold
matter of business, but as an act of
friendship done with the expression of
much genuine interest in you, your fam
ily and your health; and when you
threw that into the bargain you found
it actually cheap.
At this epoch The Hawthorns was to
be let, and it was advertised in the Cold
burgh newspapers, and described as "an
excellent and commodious house, with
large, well stocked garden, park, sta
bling and coach house, together with the
right of fishing in the Oxhaugh water;
shooting for two guns could also be had
if required." The fishing must have
"""" lw,'c L"- ""i ' w ""- fuF"-
wnat aia tne trouts tniniz
who came
down on a voyage of discovery from tho
clear mossy pools among the hills and
found their dainty snouts plunged in
chloride of lime or something equally
powerful and pungent? They must either
have gone back the way they came, or
have fallen martyrs to their intense
ardor for piercing the unknown. This
advertisement fell under the eye of Mra.
Wright, as most things in the shape of
advertisements or news did; and she,
being on tho lookout for summer quar
ters, directed her husband's attention to
it. The Wrights always went some
where in summer, and of course they
had been at a great many places; but
Oxliaugh, although so near, Mrs. Wright
had never even seen, and she thought
that, other things being equal, it might
be a very pleasant and convenient change
of residence.
Mr. Wright was aself made man. You
sometimes meet self mado men you
think might have been strikingly im
proved if some other person or persons
had had a hand in the making of them.
Yon would not have been long beside Mr.
Wright till this idea occurred to you. He
read the advertisement and said, "There
can be no harm is. looking at the place.
It seems as if the shooting is to be paid
for or not as you want it, bat I have no
doubt the fishing i3 considered in the
rent; in which case I don't choose to pay
for what I don't want."
Mr. Wright had never fired a gun in
his life, and as for fishing, he would as
soon have picked oakum. Ths bores of
Scctiaod sound musical to hun? Why.
the gurgle of Bass beer out of a bottle
was better to him than the music of any
itreani, bo its nationality what it might.
If such a thiss: had been suggested to
him, he would h3via5tactlr dzdi&i it 1
was nonsense, and the burns would have
ceased to fiow before you could havo dis
lodged that opinion from his mind.
James Jamieson, coming in, was token
into the family council. Ho had been
in the Oxhauh district, and reported fa
vorably of it, and offered to go with the
ladies to view The Hawthorns.
"We can drive out." said Miss Wright.
"I like a distance one can drive then
you are not tied down to rail way hours.'
"There's a paper mill out there. I've
never been in a paper mill," said Mr.
Wright. 'Til go with you, too; I know
the owner a little.'
"I should like to see it of all things."
said Miss Wright; "one should feel
ashamed not to have seen a paper milL"
"I have seen itt but I can look at it
again," said Mr. Jsnieson.
They set off the following Friday morn
ing at 10, Mr. Jamieson driving, with
Miss Wright beside liim in tho front of
I the wagonette, and Mr. and Mrs. Wright
behind.
"I suppose we go to the mill first?"
said Mr. Jamieson.
"No," answered his uncle; "business
first and pleasure after. We'll look at
tho house, and then, if wo havo time,
we'll look at the mill."
So be it," said Mr. Jamieson; and
, tuev tirove on ouc or xno suouros or
' Coldburgh, away among gentle smiling '
! scenery. They paed tho homo of the
i.. . i"j, , ,
! manager ct the Oxuaugn mill, and, hke
other people, looked at it.
"That's a pretty cottage," said Sarah,
"with its jessamine and its apron gar
den." "Yes. Surely good, innocent, tasteful '
peoplo live there." said James. ;
"Hallo, my ladr cried Mr. Wright to j
a boy on the road, "who lives in that
house?"
"Mr. Bertram, sir."
"And who or wliat is Mr. Bertram?
"The manager o' tho mill, sir."
"And who are you"'
The boy looked without answering.
"What do you do?"
"I whiles work in tho mill and whiles
run errands."
"And how much aro you fined every
week for being behind the hour at your
work?'
"Naething, sir Im never abint."
"And have you a good master?'
"Mr. Thamson, do you mean? he's on
the continent the now."
"No Mr. Bertram; is he a good mas
ter?" "My faither says a better man never
walked tho streets o' Oxhaugh."
"AJ1 right; there's a penny for you,"
said Mr. Wright, tossing tho copper to
the boy.
"Aro there any streets in Oxhaugh?"
asked Sarah.
"They must have what are called
streets by the inhabitants," James aa
wered. "And no better man walk3 on thm
than Mr. Bertram," said Sarah. "I feel
curious to seo him."
"It is a good sign of a man when peo
ple under him 6peak well of him."
And they drove on, nothing telling
them that thoy liad or ever would have
any personal interest in the manager's
house or its inmates. j
Will Bertram and his sister were
standing outside their garden by the
waterside, talking and laughing for a
few minutes, and thoy saw the wagon
ette pass along the road with no" sense of
afnnity or even curiosity; many car
riages passed every day, and that wai
. iir.n . r.n
simuiyyuuoi meiu. in cui mimiiv
t-vo to seo a friend. Sho had not been
gono a quarter of an hour when a boy
camo from the mill (the samo
who had given Mr. Bertram such a
high character) with a note, which
said: "Dear Katie Some people havo
been seeing the mill; I must bring
them in. Could you get something
for them to eat? there are four. W. B."
B"at Katio was gono beyond recall. Mra
Bertram read the note, nnd got some
thing ready for the 6trangers to eat.
The strangers were the Wrights and
their relative. They had been to Tho
Hawthorns, which had exceeded their
expectations as a dwelling placo, and tho
owner seeing his proposed tenants num
ber but three, with no children, wa3 not
difficult to deal with; therightof fishing
was eliminated without a word, and Mr.
Wright got the rent screwed down near
ly to his satisfaction; so that thoy were
all in good spirits when they camo back
to the milL
"And you are the manager, are you?"
said Mr Wright to Will Bertram.
"Yes, and I shall bo very happy to
show you through the works."
"You seem to manage well; you havo
a good going concern here. How much,
now, may you turn out a week?"
"Oh, well, an ordinary machino turns
out about four miles a day."
"Miles of paper!" exclaimed Miss
Wright. "What in tho world do they
do with it all?"
"Write love letters on it, Sarah," said
her father, laughing at his own joke.
"Newspapers use immense quantities,"
said Will; "we send it all over the world
j for newspapers."
"I dare say paper and printing must
have been invented together," Sarah said.
"No," answered Mr. Bertram, "paper
was invented first."
"Who invented it?" asked Sarah.
"The wasps were tho first paparoak
era, and then the Chinese; i: wa3 not
made in Britain till 15S3, but it had been
made on the continent long before that-
"Ay," said Mr. "Wright, "I should not
have thought wc would havo let them
beat us in anything. Well, wo are faf
ahead of the-m now anyway. It pay
well; you papermakers are all rich.'
"I haven't grown rich yet," said the
manager.
"Ah, but yon mnst get old Thomson
to give you a chare in the business; then
youll make money fast.
"There are raany thing3 connected
with the manufacture more important
than making money, altncugh we can't
do at ail without it."
"Money u power,7 said Mr. Wright.
"Yes. as a means, bat not a3 an end.
hundred years or two after this pspte
will bugh at U3 for our clazzsr, vnsu
ful, dirty ways of working, if tfcy don't
rather pity us."
"Now," said Mr. Jamieson, "I was
just going to compliment yoa on th
perfection ui yoar machintry uxi ar
raneicents. "Wei!, they are as perfect as we know
now to make them yat, t look at that
stream. I hate to o it; erery living
lhin m it di-as.
"Wltv. whetfs t'-s vac cf a stress If
not to carry away nuisances?" asked Mr.
Wright
"It does not carry away nuisances
cheaply; evon if nothing were offended
but the eye, it is not cheap," said Mr.
Bertram.
"Can you tell me how yoa would get
rid of your rubbish more cheaply?
"Oh, it is cheap to us, but that does
not make it cheap absolute). And look
at that chimney; it is polluting the sir
with what we ought to make use of. Yes,
we are clumsy and wasteful and dirty;
but when we get the tides to do our work,
and have the sun's rays for a motive
power, we shall get on; but, as the pro
verb says, we must creep beforo wo gang,
and one gets impatient of creeping."
"I never do," said Mr. Wright; "it's a
poor business dreaming and scheming.
Stick to turning out miles of paper, my
lad, and don't disturb yourself as long a
it pays well."
US?? J
"Stick to turning out miles of paper.
"Now, I think you have seen all that's
to be seen," said Mr. Bertram as ther
looked at some paper, tho product of the
mill. "That paper will be better worth
lookinjr at when tho thoughts of tho
world aro printed on lb."
"It is all very curious and interesting,
said Misa Wright, "I wonder who in
vented printing?"
"That is not known," Mr. Bertram
answered. "It was often invented, and
lost again for want of material to print
on. Tho nncient Assyrians printed on,
bricks of clay; their libraries aro only
turning up now after four thousand
years. It takes us about as long to dis
cover backward as forward."
"And what's tho uso of it?" said Mr.
Wright; "what tho better aro wo to bt
of what is printed on an old brick?"
"You keep tho mill remarkably clean
and tidy," said Mrs. Wright, as she
walked alongsido tho manager on their
way to his house, "and I havo enjoyed
tho sight exceedingly. Parhipa cia.y
have tho oksssare of: seeing it occadon
illy when we have friends with us; wo
are coming to reside in your neighbor
hood for a littlo."
"Indeedl" said Mr. Bertram.
"Yes. Mr. Wright lias taken Tha
Hawthorns; we were looking at it today
beforo wo cam here."
"That's a placo Tvo always had an
eyo on," said tho manager; "I havo
thought if over I grow rich I should like
to stay there."
"Well, I hope wo shall not keep you
out of it."
"If you do I shall not envy or grior
at the good of my neighbor."
"I say," said Miss Wright, who was
walking bosido her cousin, "isn't that
manager very clover and intelligent?"
"You find ho knows a good many
things you don't?' said Mr. Jamieson.
"And a good many you don't, cither."
"I daro say he does, but ho is clever;
ho not only knows that's part of hia
'business plant' but ho thinks."
"I don't like servants who think; thoy
have no business to think they ehoald
only do their work. I wouldn't adviao
Thomson to take that young man Into
partnership," interposed Mr. Wright
"Why not, papa?'
"Because if ho had tho power ho wouhl
waste monoy in experiment."
"But," said Sarah, "he might invent
or discover something by which a grcal
deal of money could bo made."
"There is tn to one against that, Sa
rah, and a bird in tho hand is worth two
in tbe bush. Dreamers aro always use
less creatures."
"Mr. Bertram may dream," said Sa
rah, "but he is not useless; ho is rcmarb
ably effective, I think."
I But having that opinion in his mind,
' Mr. Wright was likely to stick to it a
long as tho print to the bncks of Babylon.
Mrs. Berttam had bometliing ready for
tho strangers to eat, and they ato it and
went on their way, arriving at home f n
time for dinner, and all in good humor
with the day's enjoyment.
YIL
"Ycu missed visitors, Katie," said Mr.
Bertram to her daughter when sho came
in not fivo minutes af tor tho wagoncttu
drovo off.
"Did I? Who? Nobody to bo sorry
about, I hope?'
" Well, the people who aro coming ta
Tho Hawthorns for tho rammer; thr
wero through tho works, and WUJ
brought them in."
"And what kind of peoplo are thy?
"Oh, well enough, I daro say."
"Will, what do you gay? Aro tbsj
peoplo that won't know you again when
they see you?
"I don't know; I ehall know thcra
again at least."
"Is it a family?"
"Only father, mother and daogbVrr,"
said 3Irs. Bertram; "they had a yoacjc
gentleman with them whom I took to be
the daaghtcr'a betrothed."
"What made you think that, mother?
asked Will
"Thy were yoang and oa very intV
mato terms apparently.
"That's rather a vaguo reason to gi
upon. Well, ebe b a remarkably pretty
girl and waa not ajhanted to ask for ia
formatioa about what she did not know,
and looked very iaterested when ihm
got it.
"In short, eh liked to hear a sensible
man speak, Will, did hs?
"It was a great pity sh had not an op
portunity of hearing a iensfhla woman
spak," said he.
3 assy have that yet who knows?
said Kaue.
In July the Wrights arrived and set
tled thocaseiTea at Tho Hawthorns. ,
The chorea at Oxhaugh there w
only one, not a common circcisstance in
Scottish vflhges, bat thare were other
at the distance of two miles, to whieb
t4r sectarians wast adilcrred by
!eat ofwxy ie cfeorch is dm Tift
kst is. its t pg of oae of Its salkrrles a
i
m ? -- - je.
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&m
terx.'r.-'
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