Show S WO 1 DEBTS When Ashbel Dean died and his earthly d debits bIt and nd were vera looked into it discovered s-discovered that the credit wag wM ng waS nearly as as' spotless as the theet et that bad covered Ashbel's still f forth form r n while mortgages for fer the tho full value of or the tho farm were ero recorded on the other side siaa Ashbel had been considered considered con con- eldered forehanded His Ilia neighbors said eaid he speculated spec West 11 and v were weYe re astonished when his death revealed the fact t that at ho had sacrificed all in an endeavor to save s sOme somo me shreds of his his' financial reputation None Non were more surprised than his own 11 0 family This included the widow and Amanda and Israel twins twenty years ears old They were crushed They shrank from it as from the presence of ot the death death the tho first ono in ono in the tho family For Tor days they thoy dared not speak of it it but it was always in their thoughts At last the tho widow roused he her ber energies and su summoned h her r chi chil dren dron Wo We can save the farm she said S Manda Mand you can keep the district Israel and I will carry on tho the farm W We 0 must all stand together Fo Fot twenty years they were pos pos- tossed tessea of that one thought urged by that one ono motive motive to to pay tho the debt Tho The mother looked scarcely a day older The Tho work ork of directing had kept her faculties acuIties fresh and vigorous I Jut But ut eon son and daughter had passed from j youth routh into dulled middle age The debt unscrupulous and ava ava- had left lert them no enjoyment lt It t had robbed them of lifes life's most desirable de do- desirable part When Amanda was twenty she was called pretty Gatherings had been without her After that she sho never attended another The at- at of young men which came uns were refused Now ehe eho md had become thin an nn s sallow Sho Bho know v enow she sho could hope for no return of loves love's pleasures If a thought of marriage crowded itself upon her bel she s shook hook ook it oft off as ns unwelcome She could give jive up hez her school now and devote her time to florae home to her mother and brother And 1 el elas was as free He lIe took along a n long bre h and und s stood up straight aIled of er th the bur d l d just cast ast oft off Life looked pleasant ant d fl enly Ho He would make somo sOIlO ne le V iTT tho place Th house hould should have a coat of paint lie Ho st stood od in the sunshine and looking up through the June Juno folia foliage o of ol tile the maples es the seed-pods seed l looked like the legs o of 01 so many elfin painters painting the tha sky Then he be laughed at him himself himself- and said eaid be he must be begetting young and und frisky When ho lie- wa Wt was 9 twenty he hail had thought to bo boi married Now v at forty be bethought bethought bethought thought ht of or it again fig Whoa When ho he stopped his visits to 10 Harriet Downer she Understood understood un un- why She Sho had had no company com corn COmpany pany It he bo told himself since then and his heart pave gave a great grant reat bound at the tho thought W Why y pot not otOne ot- ot t One d day dyb ho c came camo t to his his mot mother and rand sister and ad n l tt am going to tobe be married to Harriet Downer Thero vas was silence for a lon long moment mo mo- ment- ment then ment-then then his his- mother said coldly W We l n w 1 By the tone and attitude Israel understood un un- that his mother and sister would not welcome the woman he hem m meant ant to marry He understood that they thought the tb tie of constant efi effort rt of tho the past twenty years jears rs as binding as wedlock aid did Hot jt wish it broken But once after that Israel spoke of of his marriage ml I Iam I am to marry Harriet Harriett t i to Shall Sha you b be there And nd his bis mother answered No o. o J Bu u Israel would ouId keep his vow YO to Harriet lb twenty wenty j years years' ears ears' struggle straggle hall had cultivated d in him tho the dogged resolution resolution- inherited from his hia mother lb IIo lIo married Harriet and after a week eek brought her homo No one appeared ap up feared to fo gr them S Mother SMother he called as he went through the house In II two remote rooms he ha mother and sister Harriet is out there there said aid ho h And we ve are aro here we wo shall stay here said aid his mother about dazed He lIe 10 se- e afterwards that he ho saw a stove with pots poti and pans and dishes and in the Iho other room a a. bed a table aM chaIrs women all stil preparations tor for for- living living- by them them- And this was the tho brides bride's homecoming home com ing lug Yet the married two 1 lived a a. happy life to together ether I Israel rael felt keenly the mental misery his wife wite must endure and strove to alleviate it by every kindly attention in his power and sloe she understood his motive resolutely hid all aU traces tracos of pain Life Ufo for each was vas wasas as 18 the other made it There was vas no communication between be be- between tween tho the two parts of the house and ond no DO messages passed no visits were ex ox- changed Thus Ihus for lor two VO years when a baby taby was Vas born orn Then one day Harriet said to Israel rake Take the baby and go to your YO mother He understood and taking the child child In in his arms went vent and knocked at the door Who Vho is it UP said his mothers mother's voice olce Your eon and grandson he re re- re- re plied There was vas a slight noise and a n pause within Then Amanda sai said We Ve are too busy to see you I He lIe returned and laid the baby byI by fay I his wife wife- She did not need to I t him by word or eye j I Two year yeara moro more went wont by Ores One morning Israel called cilla 1 W ld b wUI to come down Into down Into the garden lie IIo had hod some vegetable wonder Vond r to show herBut her bel But I cant can't tako take the tho baby out In Inthe Inthe inthe the dew she objected Leave him where ho he is Hell He'll do elo dono dono no harm for minutes Then toddle toddle away the away tho little feet knew v the tho path that was forbidden them them straight straight on through the unuSed passageway vay to the tho door at the tho end He pushed and shuffled against it It- What's that queer noIse at nt thedoor tho the door MandaP fl Sounds like Uke a dog saId eaid Amanda But wh when n the tho door op opened ried In tottered tot tot- tottered a baby triumphant happy eng eager r of othis his baby face every curl CUll had been graven in the tho widows widow's heart for forty Jorty years and anel it suddenly ope opened to her the likeness i 4 Its HUS Israel over she cried And in it a moment sho she was vas vason on the floor care caressing sing kissing the tho little one Blighted Amanda leaned on n her broom bewildered looking at this tills strange happening And Israel and Harriet hastening hastening- after the child stood in tho the doorway witnessing the first step in reconciliation Come ome to to mamma Israel said Enid Harriet to the tho child Ho lIe looked ather ather at ather her laughing laug-hing over his grandmothers grandmother's sl shoulder ulder Turn Tum to mamma he ho repeated taking a stop and p pulling at her finger nger The Tho widow wido hesitated but a fi moment between mothers mother's love and hard selfish pride tI I will said she sho firmly And Manda put down your broom and come too T Then en le led by the the tho little truant truants she coo camo came toward Israel and Harriot harriet My childr cried Har Harpers Harper's ers er's Weekly |