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Show 0 Nem 0 Year's lpentance Katherine fyfffi ELdelman t 1 TT"T WAS nearlng the midnight I g-i hour and all over the little jfS town there was an air of (tto8 eagerness and expectancy. U'! A New Year was about to tfi'L be born ! Lights gleamed J . from- almost every window J and from many homes came the sounds of cheer jsgS: and mirth, telling that a Blgjg New Year's party was In ,3 progress. I.iolrln ftnn hnma hmrPYdr nnrl It was the largest and handsomest that the town boasted, there was no sign of the joy and cheer that other homes held. Dantel Trent and his wife, Martha, Mar-tha, sat by the Dre in their living room and neither of them had spoken for a long time. Presently Martha Trent spoke, but her voice was tittle more than a whisper: whis-per: "Daniel, dear, won't you let bygones by-gones be bygones, won't yoo forgive and forget because It is New Year's? You know tomorrow Is his birthday, too, Daniel he is our only child." Daniel Trent answered his wife with a sharpness that almost startled her, even though she had expected a rebuff: re-buff: "Don't mention his name again," he almost shouted; "he made his bed, now let him lie on It. If my son Martha Trent Argued and Pleaded for Her Boy. chooses to marry a nobody, to Ignore all the plans nnd hopes 1 had for him. let bim take the consequences." Again silence filled the bouse for many minutes. This time It was broken by the loud ringing of the telephone. Trent and his wife start ed to their feet abruptly. Daniel had nicked up the phone. Soon he was 1 listening to a woman's excited voice , saying: "Claude is quite 111. In fact the doctor thinks there is real danger dan-ger tonight, and he Is begging for you to come. Won't you please relent just that much, Mr. TrentT' Then Daniel heard Elsie's voice die away in a sob us he abruptly hung up the receiver. Then for a few minutes the great house was startled. Never before had it heard Martha's voice as it was now raised With a strength born of mother-love she argued and pleaded for her boy, with a voice trembling with emotion she told Daniel of his real duty and of the misery he was eauslng to them all. In less than an hour they were on their way to Greenfield. And when they reached Claude's bedside Daniel's Dan-iel's heart was as tender and as full of forgiveness as Martha's. As all the world knows love is a wonderful tonic, a potent, health-giving agency that has no rival, and before be-fore many days had passed Clnq.de had responded to its power. But still Daniel and Martha lingered In the little lit-tle cottage. Thfy wece loth to leave the place where so much happiness had come to them all, and when they did finally go Clanu'e and Elsie accompanied accom-panied them. And now the big house in Trenton Is no lunger filled with silence and gloom. Love and happiness fill It with ihelr snns and cheer. . tCEi 92i Wester Newioaoer L'nlua.) |