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Show V W xV Vu xV Mty ty xV xV xV V V ; sfi si i? 54x V4C VT xj ix K ? ff C 5Jx J"K XX 'I 't I An Antique Treasure S v j xV xV xV xV xl v xV xV y V xV V xV V xV V xty xV V xV w x ?K y 5x ;? ix i yt 7;c ? 5x ?? 5x acceptance of one marriage proposal. And the same afternoon saw the desk in question duly delivered at Marc'a Carton's house. With it came a rote written on the free stationery of a down-town dry goods house. "Dearest Marcia: In remembrance of the anniversary of your marriage to our beloved brother, to whom I am sure you will never fail in wifely duty and obedience, I send you both, with my dearest love and congratulations, this ancient mahogany desk. It has no duplicate in thi3 country. I have had an agent of one of the best firms in the city looking for something of the sort for the last three months. I know that you, with your esthetic tastes, will prize it as beauty deserves. I make no reference to the Commercial value of the gift. That speaks for itself, it-self, as inquiry will prove. Your affectionate af-fectionate sister, "Matilda Carton Dobbs." With a slow he.id?hake and a long-drawn long-drawn breath Mrs. Carton laid down the note. Not one of the Wrights could have written such a note of presentation pre-sentation as that! "Thank God, they couldn't!" she said. And then, "Come in!" Through days of sorrow and of mirth. Through days of death and days of birth, Through every swift vicissitude Of changeful time unchanged it stood. Longfellow. The Cartons were an effectionate family. They embraced each other when they met. They kissed each other oth-er when they parted. They gave each other presents on birthdays, on anni-I anni-I versaries, at Christmas and Easter. When they met each of the five sisters asked each minutely and in detail as to the children of the other. They admired ad-mired each man who had married a Carton girl. They rivaled each other in affectionate admiration of the offspring off-spring possessing such desirable parents. par-ents. And they were quite convinced that the Cartons, separately and collectively col-lectively considered, were of the elect of earth and destined to an Immortal- around, their hats on and cigars gripped diagonally between their teeth. Women chiefly Jewesses the proud proprietors of South State street stores rubbed elbows with each other in a-frenzy a-frenzy of bargain getting. The old auctioneer, white haired and white bearded, aristocratic of aspect as the Earl of fiction, called out the wares placed before him with a fine air of contempt for the crowd of secondhand second-hand dealers, with the idiosyncrasies of whom he was familiar. Catching the eye of the newcomer an auction tenderfoot ten-derfoot in fact, his glance and voice became more respectful. Half hidden by a monstrous folding bed that boasted the bold front of a cottage piano, "young Mrs. Carton watched the sale of her maternal possessions. pos-sessions. She wished she had had sufficient suf-ficient will to retain them. She wished she had the firmness of which the Car- Itons - made re-ppated boasts. She almost al-most wished that in marrying the Ity of unusual splendor. When their only brother married Marcia Wright, the family, with Us proud unity and generosity, took her into the sacred enclosure of the Carton contingent She shared the inestimable inesti-mable pleasure of being one of them. She, too, received presents and caresses. ca-resses. She was patronized with the utmost nrbanity. It was Matilda who took the lead in these demonstrations. Matilda was the oldest. She was also the wealthiest Had the Cartons been addicated to the singing of hymns it is unlikely that they would ever have chanted in the original "Praise God from whom all blessings flow." The name of the deity would unconsciously ' have resolved itself into that of 'Tilda at whatever sacrifice of correct musical cadence and devout laudation. It was Matilda who suggested names for the new babies, who inspected the shop windows for new styles, and beat the familV rtrPSKmnL-M. nirn rt K.,. Matilda Dodds, raaiani in iau nnery, rustled into the room. "You have received it safely!" she cried, and clasped her fat hands. "Isn't it e-le-gant?" "Indeed it is!" returned Marcia fervently fer-vently and honestly. Just then fate, which will have a finger in every pie poor mortals concoct, con-coct, played Mrs. Matilda Carton Dobbs a scurvy trick. It reminded Marcia's young brother, who happend to be passing, that he had forgotten his football foot-ball at his sister's the previous day. He went in to get it "Cricky!" he yelled, and capered like one possessed. "If you ain't got grandma's old desk! I learned my letters let-ters on that, Marcia. See, here's where I cut my initials. I thought you said Joe Carton was going to make you sell all her old furniture?" Marcia looked up. She was pretty white, but. It was Matilda who gave her nephews and nieces tin toys and bulk candy. It was Matilda who, when she bestowed a china teapot on a bride or a graduate, gradu-ate, stuck a bunch of violets in the spout and swathed the whole in tissue paper, tied with baby ribbon which thus clearly indicated her artistic tendencies. ten-dencies. It was Matilda who, when the first anniversary of Marcia's wedding came around or was about to come around informed the young wife she should send her a valuable commemorative commemo-rative present ,-1 . . Marcia politely protested. "It doesn't seem any time since you sent Joe and me that beautiful vase," she said. Her glance sought the vase in queston. So did that of Mrs. Dobbs --which, by the way, was the marital cognomen of Matilda, nee Carton. "Almost a year, my dear. We always al-ways observe anniversaries we Cartons!" Car-tons!" "So sweet of you," murmured Marcia. Young Mrs. Carton made no mention of the fact that, while both the price Inscribed on the box and on the vase itself was fifteen dollars, the edges where breakages had been duly joined were, on close observation, apparent "Sometimes," went on Mrs. Dobbs brother of the Carton girls she had not married the whole family. "We have here," called the sonorous voice of the auctioneer, "a valuable old mahogany desk. I would beg your attention to the fact that this is old not new mahogany, and consequently more desirable. It is in good condition. condi-tion. Its brass clamps are of charming charm-ing design. Give me a bid. Five dollars? dol-lars? That is absurd. It Is worth a hundred dollars if it is worth a cent Five-fifty? You, sir! I'm astonished. Six six only bid for this antique treasure! Seven seventy-five make it eight! Eight going for eight going go-ing going " A woman waved an umbrella at him "Eight-ten!" she screamed. At sound of the voice Marcia Carton jumped. "Eight-ten! Going at eight-ten! Going gone!" The man beside the auctioneer held out his hand for the customary deposit and pocketed the same while he wrote down the name and address of the pur chaser. An hour later an express wagon bore from the rear of the auction auc-tion rooms the desk at which Marcia Carton's grandmother had written her Brave as ne wno leaps me wan By angry musket flashes litten! "It was sold at the auction-rooms on Wabash avenue today, Robbie. I was there." "All of it?" He was staring at her In bewilderment "How have you got this then?" "That's what I'd like to know," said Joe Carton, who had come In unobserved. unob-served. Marcia handed him the note. "It's an anniversary gift from Matilda," she explained. "I am delighted to have was a freezing silence. Matilda Matil-da Dobbs arose. "Marcia!" Her voice was sepulchral: sepulch-ral: "You should teach your your relative better manners. In the Carton Car-ton family unseemly conduct in the presence of guests has never been permitted per-mitted young people." And she carried car-ried her red face and portly person loftily away. "Jerusalem!" exclaimed Carton. He was looking from the note to the desk and back again. Marcia hugged th antique treasure. .She laughed till she cried. "Gee!" said Rohbie Chicago Tribune. dreamily, "one feels that to give an article of personal significance of individual in-dividual interest far exceeds those that may be purchased for a certain occasion, or a specified sum." "Indeed, yes!" assented the bride of the brother of Mre. Dobbs. She was thinking of the lot of lumber lumb-er that had accumulated in the attic of her new home. She had taken out of storage the furniture of her mother who, being passed into the big blackness, black-ness, had no need for furniture, nor for anything else material. It was only that morning Joe Carton entreated his wife to get rid of It "I know there are people who like old trash," Joe had said. It may have been lack of mutual opinion on such matters which made these diverse natures so attractive to each otw I like the new furniture the kind you can smell the varnish on. Let an auction auc-tion man take the truck. Sell them for whatever they will bring." The varnish! Marcia had suppressed a groan. Varnish! The deep, reddish gleam of that old black mahogany flickered before her eyes. And the golden gloss of the hand-polished birdseye maple! And the dusky glimmer glim-mer of rare butternut wood! "I know," said she. "But TM nv. reserve the brass-clamped desk Joe" "Reserve nothing!" J0e had 'decided. 'decid-ed. He was dictatorial like Matilda "Tell the Wabash avenue people to take the lot!" Marcia had early learned the Carton virtue of smiling submission. So with many an Inward pang and innumerable oupinessea protests, she saw her an cestral treasures carted from her door It was only when Matilda had talked of the value of hereditary possessions she had faltered for a moment Her resolution to be present at the auction sale on the following day was one not to be contested. It was with some misgiving, mis-giving, though, that she entered the P-eat, dreary room. Men walked |